Am I on the right track?

[btrizzyb]

Id like to start off by saying that I originally started this conversation off in the Supplement section of the site because I was asking about protein shakes, but a few people pointed out the fact that maybe I should be addressing my diet overall first.

Backround info:

Im 27 years old, 5'9" 181 lbs.
According to the handheld body fat checker at my gym, I have 12.5% bodyfat, although looking at the bodyfat thread on this forum with pictures, I would say I am somewhere between the 15% and 20% pictures. My goal is to Bulk up most importantly, but also try to slowly drop my body fat %. I dont want to go into all out cut mode and loose out on bulking up.

So basically when I came up with my dieting plan, I was directed to IIFYM — | If It Fits Your Macros to figure out where I should be at with my macro nutrients and calories. When I put in my info, Im being told im burning around 2537 calories a day. Reading that cutting that # by 15% should help me eat away at that body fat. So that in mind I am brought to 2156 calories a day, 174 carbs, 181 protein, 81 fat, and 36-45 fiber. I spread that out over 5 meals, so Im at about 430 calories, 35 carbs, 36 protein, 16 fat, 7-9 fiber per meal.

My first question is really a 2 part question:
1). Being on gear, I should actually be hitting 2 grams of protein per 1 lb of body weight instead of just 1 to 1 correct?

2). Do you guys agree that what ive been trying to follow is a good plan?


Ive been using Egg Whites and Chicken and Tuna to try to hit my protein intake, and bread and rice to get a lot of my carbs. Im still trying to figure out if I really need to hit that 16 grams of fat per meal, or just to make sure not to go over it, because im usually way under that. Im also still trying to figure out a good way to hit the fiber per meal, because most foods that I have looked at contain little to no fiber.

My second question would be that I struggle to eat enough chicken and eggs just to hit the 36 protein per meal, if I am to shoot for a 2:1 protein per weight ratio there is no way i would be able to eat that much chicken and eggs to do it, so I was wondering if adding more protein shakes to my day would be a good way to reach the 2:1 ratio, or if that would be a bad idea.

What other foods do you guys like to eat besides the few I listed above? It gets old eating the exact same thing every day...

[bazzaman]

Id like to start off by saying that I originally started this conversation off in the Supplement section of the site because I was asking about protein shakes, but a few people pointed out the fact that maybe I should be addressing my diet overall first.

Backround info:

Im 27 years old, 5'9" 181 lbs.
According to the handheld body fat checker at my gym, I have 12.5% bodyfat, although looking at the bodyfat thread on this forum with pictures, I would say I am somewhere between the 15% and 20% pictures. My goal is to Bulk up most importantly, but also try to slowly drop my body fat %. I dont want to go into all out cut mode and loose out on bulking up.

So basically when I came up with my dieting plan, I was directed to IIFYM — | If It Fits Your Macros to figure out where I should be at with my macro nutrients and calories. When I put in my info, Im being told im burning around 2537 calories a day. Reading that cutting that # by 15% should help me eat away at that body fat. So that in mind I am brought to 2156 calories a day, 174 carbs, 181 protein, 81 fat, and 36-45 fiber. I spread that out over 5 meals, so Im at about 430 calories, 35 carbs, 36 protein, 16 fat, 7-9 fiber per meal.

My first question is really a 2 part question:
1). Being on gear, I should actually be hitting 2 grams of protein per 1 lb of body weight instead of just 1 to 1 correct?

2). Do you guys agree that what ive been trying to follow is a good plan?


Ive been using Egg Whites and Chicken and Tuna to try to hit my protein intake, and bread and rice to get a lot of my carbs. Im still trying to figure out if I really need to hit that 16 grams of fat per meal, or just to make sure not to go over it, because im usually way under that. Im also still trying to figure out a good way to hit the fiber per meal, because most foods that I have looked at contain little to no fiber.

My second question would be that I struggle to eat enough chicken and eggs just to hit the 36 protein per meal, if I am to shoot for a 2:1 protein per weight ratio there is no way i would be able to eat that much chicken and eggs to do it, so I was wondering if adding more protein shakes to my day would be a good way to reach the 2:1 ratio, or if that would be a bad idea.

What other foods do you guys like to eat besides the few I listed above? It gets old eating the exact same thing every day...

First and foremost props to you my friend for giving so much detail! Secondy, Welcome!

You are definitely someone who is going to succeed, judging from the research you have put into achieving your nutritional goals, you are going down the right road. I used to work as a PT and those handheld BF machines are about as good as guessing it yourself, they give you a good base %. If I was you, I would look into getting skin fold calipers, those always were quite accurate when I used them on my clients and on myself.

In my perspective, first what AAS are you taking? 2g/lb is a good base to create mass, you are right on that. 1;1 is pointless especially being on gear, and more importantly trying to gain mass. 2;1 will definitely help you recover & repair more efficiently and allow you enough room for proper protein absorption into your muscles.

For food, I would lean more toward lean beef (steaks, ground beef) because there is more fat in red meats then chicken and fish. If you are trying to bulk, red meat will be your best friend because chicken & fish you will see a lot of when you begin to cut down at a later phase. I like making steak skewers, tenderloin with potato, ground beef & rice, extra lean bbq burgers. As for protein shakes, yes they are good but nothing beats natural whole good old fashion food. If you cant get it in food, then resort to your protein rich shakes.

Hope this gives you some insight! GBrice I am hoping will chime in on this as he is the dietary specialist and would do wonders to help you. Look forward to following more bro! Cheers.

[btrizzyb]

In my perspective, first what AAS are you taking?

Test Enth, 1 mL twice a week

Thanks for the kind words and all of the info!

[btrizzyb]

What is a good food to get my daily fiber from? Am I actually supposed to be hitting 16 grams of fat a meal, or is that just a # to stay below/less is better?

[btrizzyb]

I thought I had this down, just to realize that I really dont think I do at all. Basically going off of my Original post, using the calculator on the site listed up there, I should be burning 2537 calories a day (obviously that cant be exact) and to lower my body fat percent, I should cut that down by 15%, bringing me down to taking in 2156 calories a day. That seems simple enough to grasp.

When I started, I was looking at 1 gram of protein to pound of body weight. Also seemed simple enough, bringing me out to 35 grams of protein, 35 grams of carbs, 16 grams of fat, 7-9 grams of fiber, per meal, 5 meals a day. That also seems simple enough, but after doing more research I realized that on gear, I should be shooting for 2:1, not 1:1. This is where I began to struggle to grasp the concept.

When I take the same calculator from above, and stick with the same calories (Im assuming that I need to, to keep from gaining body fat%) and sticking to 5 meals like before I end up with 72 grams of protein, and only 7 grams of carbs per meal!? From my understanding carbs are our energy, and 7 grams per meal, or 35 grams per DAY is no where near enough?

Thinking about it even more, Im not even sure I would be able to eat enough food to hit 72 grams of protein per meal without stuffing myself and feeling like crap. So I thought maybe I should try to work my way up to 2:1 by going to 1.5:1 first. That brings me to 25 carbs, and 55 grams of protein per meal. That seems a little better, but still doesnt seem to leave me much carbs for energy?

Hopefully someone can enlighten me on the whole carbs issue, and maybe suggest some ways that I can up my protein intake, without pretty much doubling my serving sizes.

[Brazensol]

I'm not sure trying to bulk on cycle and cut at the same time go hand in hand. Not exactly sure how you'd do it.

Also if I read correct you have trouble downing 36 grams of protein in one meal? That's about 6 ounces of chicken. Do you have an unusually small stomach? For breakfast today I consumed 35g protein, 94g of carbs and 23g fat. Also got in 13.3g of fiber. I consider my stomach size about average and while I felt satiated I did not feel bloated.