Why can't I grow? Questions regarding best pairings for a successful cycle.

[TroubleGrowing]

My handle says it all. I've completed 2 cycles and my average weight gain was 5-8 lbs and noticed very little muscle gain compared to my workout partners who were on the same cycles. They literally blew up like balloons and gained an average of 10-20lbs. I'm now convinced that my body just won't develop in the way i's like it to.

I'd love to find an educated, interested party who I can talk to about my past cycles and what I may be doing wrong.

Thx much

[agalloch]

Not eating enough, maybe not lifting as hard.

/discussion

[bodybuilder88]

Just with the little info you put up it sounds like a diet issue bro. You can take all the gear you want but if your diet isn't on point for your goals your progress will be marginal at best. If your one of those guys that wants to walk around year round in stage shape you won't grow much if at all either. I'm not saying to go get fat either but you have to belly up to the table and eat to grow, sometimes a little body fat comes along with it but that can always be taken care of while dieting down. To keep fat gain down do a little bit of cardio either 30 minutes 2-3 times a week or what I like to do is 10-15 minutes after after training sessions.

[Docd187123]

It's diet, training, or hormone related. Have you done any bloods? Post your diet and training up. What's your TDEE and what macros do you consume daily.

[TroubleGrowing]

Thx for this. I'll post my diet and workouts. Part of the issue is I work 10 hour days + a 3 hour commute so my time is so limited. I've been shooting for 2,500-3,000 calories a day but know my workouts are probably weak. I really wanted to achieve some of my personal size goals this year but clearly have been depending on the roids to do the work.

[DontTaseMeBro]

there could be an underlying problem. get blood work to rule this out. Its a pretty slight chance, but you need to know for sure.

Assuming there isn't an underlying problem, you just need to eat more and train harder. I mean, eat a ridiculously uncomfortable about of clean food. Eat until you are real full and then do it again 2 or 3 hours later. Then do that day in and day out consistently. Many new guys on here think they are eating enough and fail to comprehend the huge amount of food you have to consume to get big. Look at the nutrition forum. The guys that post there are really helpful.

Of course, you have to train hard and smart, too; but this is the area where most guys do OK. A few are lazy or just train in a haphazard manner. Many are willing to put in the work, its the diet that fails.

good luck.

[TroubleGrowing]

Thank you

[Capebuffalo]

Please lis everything you ate yesterday.

[TroubleGrowing]

Instant Oatmeal
Egg White Omelet (6-8oz) with Chicken Breast
__________________________________________

SHAKE:
Protein Powder
Banana
Greek Yogurt
Blueberries
Apple Juice

__________________________________________
LUNCH:
Chicken Breast
1 cup Veggies (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower)
1 cup Brown Rice

__________________________________________
1 Apple
¼ cup Peanut Butter

__________________________________________
Whey Protein Shake

__________________________________________
Chicken salad with 2 cups diced chicken breast, corn and cheese

__________________________________________

Casein Protein Shake before bed

[Capebuffalo]

Instant Oatmeal
Egg White Omelet (6-8oz) with Chicken Breast
__________________________________________

SHAKE:
Protein Powder
Banana
Greek Yogurt
Blueberries
Apple Juice

__________________________________________
LUNCH:
Chicken Breast
1 cup Veggies (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower)
1 cup Brown Rice

__________________________________________
1 Apple
¼ cup Peanut Butter

__________________________________________
Whey Protein Shake

__________________________________________
Chicken salad with 2 cups diced chicken breast, corn and cheese

__________________________________________

Casein Protein Shake before bed

Your 5-10 180 lbs. your not eating enough. And drop the damn shakes. Eat real food. If you have to have a shake blend up real food and drink it.
You can drink egg whites and grits or oatmeal. Throw Greek yogurt in.
Boil chicken breast blend it put hot sauce on put in ziplock eat out of the bag.

Eat more

[DontTaseMeBro]

Instant Oatmeal
Egg White Omelet (6-8oz) with Chicken Breast
__________________________________________

SHAKE:
Protein Powder
Banana
Greek Yogurt
Blueberries
Apple Juice

__________________________________________
LUNCH:
Chicken Breast
1 cup Veggies (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower)
1 cup Brown Rice

__________________________________________
1 Apple
¼ cup Peanut Butter

__________________________________________
Whey Protein Shake

__________________________________________
Chicken salad with 2 cups diced chicken breast, corn and cheese

__________________________________________

Casein Protein Shake before bed

Double this (except the shakes).


King and Cape are hooking you up. Great advice from both!

[TroubleGrowing]

AGREED!! Thanks again guys!

[oldnsedentary]

Instant Oatmeal - use real oatmeal, no sugar added. How much oatmeal? Bulking? Eat 2/3 of a cup, DRY measure (i.e., before cooking), minimum.

Egg White Omelet (6-8oz) eat the yolks! Eight of them!

with Chicken Breast Great, some solid protein

What did you drink with this breakfast?
__________________________________________

SHAKE:
Protein Powder No need
Banana ok
Greek Yogurt ok
Blueberries ok
Apple Juice Ditch this sugary drink

__________________________________________
LUNCH: Whoa, wait, that's it until lunchtime? OK, look, your lunch looks pretty good, although I would substitute spinach sometimes for those other vegetables, but you need TWO of these. Maybe eat at like 11:00 a.m. and another one at 1:30 or 2:00. Seriously. Pack two of them and put them in the refrigerator at work. It does not take any more work to make two of these ahead of time than it does to make one. Do it!
Chicken Breast
1 cup Veggies (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower)
1 cup Brown Rice

__________________________________________
1 Apple
¼ cup Peanut Butter
OK snack, I suppose, no real comment except that most peanut butter is just jam packed with sugar. Read the label.
__________________________________________
Whey Protein Shake No need for shakes. These are a nice to have IF and only if you get in all your meat, fish, chicken. You are not getting enough meat.

__________________________________________
Chicken salad with 2 cups diced chicken breast, corn and cheese 8-10 ounces of chicken and where are the carbs? Get some more brown rice or a potato! Get some more spinach

__________________________________________

Casein Protein Shake before bed You really bought into those fancy advertising pictures in the bodybuilding magazines, didn't you? Just quit the shakes. You want casein? Eat some cottage cheese at bedtime. Add some almonds to it. Add some strawberries or pineapple or pears sliced up for flavor it you like. Stop with the shakes unless you are EATING SOLID FOOD and the shakes are merely an addition to what is listed here.


Two pounds of meat a day, plus the eggs, come hell or high water. It does not have to be all chicken. You can substitute salmon or steak or other meats, but 2 pounds it is. Look at the label and see how much your chicken breast weighs, then make sure you get two pounds of it and 8 eggs daily. Don't forget your brown rice and potatoes and spinach.

I hope this helps.

Trust me and your next cycle will have you passing up your friends by a large margin.

[TroubleGrowing]

This is incredible. Thank you and yes, I'm starting to see that I should change my handle to TroubleEating - LOL

[Capebuffalo]

Instant Oatmeal - use real oatmeal, no sugar added. How much oatmeal? Bulking? Eat 2/3 of a cup, DRY measure (i.e., before cooking), minimum.

Egg White Omelet (6-8oz) eat the yolks! Eight of them!

with Chicken Breast Great, some solid protein

What did you drink with this breakfast?
__________________________________________

SHAKE:
Protein Powder No need
Banana ok
Greek Yogurt ok
Blueberries ok
Apple Juice Ditch this sugary drink

__________________________________________
LUNCH: Whoa, wait, that's it until lunchtime? OK, look, your lunch looks pretty good, although I would substitute spinach sometimes for those other vegetables, but you need TWO of these. Maybe eat at like 11:00 a.m. and another one at 1:30 or 2:00. Seriously. Pack two of them and put them in the refrigerator at work. It does not take any more work to make two of these ahead of time than it does to make one. Do it!
Chicken Breast
1 cup Veggies (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower)
1 cup Brown Rice

__________________________________________
1 Apple
¼ cup Peanut Butter
OK snack, I suppose, no real comment except that most peanut butter is just jam packed with sugar. Read the label.
__________________________________________
Whey Protein Shake No need for shakes. These are a nice to have IF and only if you get in all your meat, fish, chicken. You are not getting enough meat.

__________________________________________
Chicken salad with 2 cups diced chicken breast, corn and cheese 8-10 ounces of chicken and where are the carbs? Get some more brown rice or a potato! Get some more spinach

__________________________________________

Casein Protein Shake before bed You really bought into those fancy advertising pictures in the bodybuilding magazines, didn't you? Just quit the shakes. You want casein? Eat some cottage cheese at bedtime. Add some almonds to it. Add some strawberries or pineapple or pears sliced up for flavor it you like. Stop with the shakes unless you are EATING SOLID FOOD and the shakes are merely an addition to what is listed here.


Two pounds of meat a day, plus the eggs, come hell or high water. It does not have to be all chicken. You can substitute salmon or steak or other meats, but 2 pounds it is. Look at the label and see how much your chicken breast weighs, then make sure you get two pounds of it and 8 eggs daily. Don't forget your brown rice and potatoes and spinach.

I hope this helps.

Trust me and your next cycle will have you passing up your friends by a large margin.

Nice

[Docd187123]

Instant Oatmeal - use real oatmeal, no sugar added. How much oatmeal? Bulking? Eat 2/3 of a cup, DRY measure (i.e., before cooking), minimum.

Egg White Omelet (6-8oz) eat the yolks! Eight of them!

with Chicken Breast Great, some solid protein

What did you drink with this breakfast?
__________________________________________

SHAKE:
Protein Powder No need
Banana ok
Greek Yogurt ok
Blueberries ok
Apple Juice Ditch this sugary drink

__________________________________________
LUNCH: Whoa, wait, that's it until lunchtime? OK, look, your lunch looks pretty good, although I would substitute spinach sometimes for those other vegetables, but you need TWO of these. Maybe eat at like 11:00 a.m. and another one at 1:30 or 2:00. Seriously. Pack two of them and put them in the refrigerator at work. It does not take any more work to make two of these ahead of time than it does to make one. Do it!
Chicken Breast
1 cup Veggies (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower)
1 cup Brown Rice

__________________________________________
1 Apple
¼ cup Peanut Butter
OK snack, I suppose, no real comment except that most peanut butter is just jam packed with sugar. Read the label.
__________________________________________
Whey Protein Shake No need for shakes. These are a nice to have IF and only if you get in all your meat, fish, chicken. You are not getting enough meat.

__________________________________________
Chicken salad with 2 cups diced chicken breast, corn and cheese 8-10 ounces of chicken and where are the carbs? Get some more brown rice or a potato! Get some more spinach

__________________________________________

Casein Protein Shake before bed You really bought into those fancy advertising pictures in the bodybuilding magazines, didn't you? Just quit the shakes. You want casein? Eat some cottage cheese at bedtime. Add some almonds to it. Add some strawberries or pineapple or pears sliced up for flavor it you like. Stop with the shakes unless you are EATING SOLID FOOD and the shakes are merely an addition to what is listed here.


Two pounds of meat a day, plus the eggs, come hell or high water. It does not have to be all chicken. You can substitute salmon or steak or other meats, but 2 pounds it is. Look at the label and see how much your chicken breast weighs, then make sure you get two pounds of it and 8 eggs daily. Don't forget your brown rice and potatoes and spinach.

I hope this helps.

Trust me and your next cycle will have you passing up your friends by a large margin.

Why the hate on sugar and shakes? Time is a limiting factor for him and nothing is quicker than a shake. He works 10hrs a day and is commuting another 3 on top of that. A high calorie shake could be exactly what he needs. Eating chicken and rice while driving is frowned upon but having a good shake won't get him a ticket lol

[Honkey_Kong]

Why the hate on sugar and shakes? Time is a limiting factor for him and nothing is quicker than a shake. He works 10hrs a day and is commuting another 3 on top of that. A high calorie shake could be exactly what he needs. Eating chicken and rice while driving is frowned upon but having a good shake won't get him a ticket lol

You can make rice balls with shredded chicken breast in the centre and eat those while driving.

[kelkel]

Why the hate on sugar and shakes? Time is a limiting factor for him and nothing is quicker than a shake. He works 10hrs a day and is commuting another 3 on top of that. A high calorie shake could be exactly what he needs. Eating chicken and rice while driving is frowned upon but having a good shake won't get him a ticket lol

Yep. I do pretty much three per day. One in the middle of the night, one with breakfast and one post-workout. They're not in place of meals but between them for me.

[oldnsedentary]

Why the hate on sugar and shakes?

Sugar should be cut out of a bodybuilding diet.

There is no hate on shakes, though. Please note I said only not to consider the shakes until after the meals are in. The diet originally posted is using shakes as meal replacement for most of his protein. He needs to eat his meat and eggs.

I have been there and done that on the long hours and long commute. I packed baked chicken breast, rice, and spinach salad (two meals) in Tupperware and tossed them in the refrigerator at work. I warmed them up and ate at my desk.

8 eggs and the oatmeal was downed before hitting the road.

Another chicken breast and rice and spinach upon arriving home.

Cottage cheese in bed.

Whey protein shake during workout.

I still think he can go a long ways by modifying his diet, and I hope he comes back and provides an update.

[king6 II]

Need more food. Check out the nutrition section. You need a bulking diet tailored specifically to you. As far as your cycles go, you likely were not eating enough then either.

[slfmade]

You need to eat more....plain and simple. You diet is horrible. Not trying to be a jerk, but you're just not eating enough. You need to sit down and write out a meal plan and post it in the nutrition forum to have it critiqued.

[TroubleGrowing]

Thx so much guys. I appreciate your time. I'll move it over to the nutrition section and see what I come up with.
I have to be honest, I feel like I'm eating all the time but need to shift that perception I guess.
Thx for the advice re: cutting down the shakes. I assumed that since they were a good source of protein they would help me grow - LOL.

[king6 II]

Thx so much guys. I appreciate your time. I'll move it over to the nutrition section and see what I come up with.
I have to be honest, I feel like I'm eating all the time but need to shift that perception I guess.
Thx for the advice re: cutting down the shakes. I assumed that since they were a good source of protein they would help me grow - LOL.

Just to give you an idea of how much you need to eat, this is an outline of a bulking diet. And even with all of this food there are not enough carbs, I had to add some more brown rice and grain bread just to get to 380 grams of complex carbs. Believe me, you will know when your eating enough.

Meal 1- PRO/CARB
1 cup oatmeal 54 g carbs
1/2 scoop whey 20 g protein

WORKOUT

Meal 2- PWO Nutrition
3 scoops of whey 60 g protein
60 grams dextrose 60 g carbs

Meal 3- PPWO Nutrition
2 cup brown rice 72 g carbs
chicken breast 20 g protein

Meal 4- PRO/FAT
1/2 lb ground hamburger 36 g fat
1/4 cup walnuts 51 g protein

Meal 5- PRO/CARB
1/4 lb ground turkey 30 g protein
2 cup lentils 72 g carbs

Meal 6- PRO/FAT
2 servings salmon 30 g fat
1/4 cup walnuts 29 g protein

Meal 7- BEFORE BED
1 scoops casein protein 20 g protein
1.5 tbspn flax seed oil 14 g fat

[oldnsedentary]

Meal 1- PRO/CARB
1 cup oatmeal 54 g carbs

I should have read the entire thread before posting. Right off the bat king6 II has you eating an extra third of a cup more oatmeal than I do . . .

LOL! TroubleGrowing sounds like trouble eating - follow any of what has been posted here and grow.

I BET you can grow even off cycle by improving your diet as outlined. Don't wait for your next cycle.

[Docd187123]

Thx so much guys. I appreciate your time. I'll move it over to the nutrition section and see what I come up with.
I have to be honest, I feel like I'm eating all the time but need to shift that perception I guess.
Thx for the advice re: cutting down the shakes. I assumed that since they were a good source of protein they would help me grow - LOL.

I love salads but they're not energy dense like a lot of items you're eating. Pick foods that lack a lot of calories for the volume like peanut butter, oil/butter, red meat, etc. It'll help you get your calories in. Also liquid calories fill you up less but the drawback is they go through your system much quicker. Fill in the gaps between your bigger meals with some shakes lerhaps

[PBJtime]

King = awesome !

[David LoPan]

Have you looked at ar-r product GHRP-6 5MGS, it will increase your lab rats appetite among other things. Read up on it. Also might want CJC-1295 along with this. Hope this helps

[kelkel]

It simply takes work to eat enough. Learn to cook larger amounts and package your meals up for several days to come. It's worth it and really helps your progress.

[havanakid]

Yeah Im with Doc.I love shakes as well.Not to replace food but as a supplement.Nothing like quick feeding the muscles like 2 scoops of whey protein right after a workout but you gotta get your big boy food shortly after.

[diesel101]

Nothing wrong with a shake in the morning if you're short on time I just dump everything ( oatmeal, egg whites, etc) in the blender and go.

[jm1429]

Nothing wrong with a shake in the morning if you're short on time I just dump everything ( oatmeal, egg whites, etc) in the blender and go.

Dumb question....Are the egg whites cooked already or are you using just liquid egg whites uncooked?

[diesel101]

You can make rice balls with shredded chicken breast in the centre and eat those while driving.

I would like also that recipe.

[DontTaseMeBro]

Great advice from experienced guys here. Lots of detail and very useful. I think we can all agree that diet is the most important, and certainly the most difficult part of what we do. We may train for an hour or two, 5 or even 6 days a week, but we have to eat well all day, every day to see those gains. Best wishes.

[diesel101]

Yep. I do pretty much three per day. One in the middle of the night, one with breakfast and one post-workout. They're not in place of meals but between them for me.

Same goes for me.

[king6 II]

I have tried bulking diets with mostly food, and my most recent one with with shakes. When I say shakes however, I mean protein powder in water along with a complex carb supplement such as carbo gain. I really didn't see much of a difference between real food and supplemental nutrition.

[diesel101]

Dumb question....Are the egg whites cooked already or are you using just liquid egg whites uncooked?

Uncooked pasteurized out of a carton
I've gotten tired of cooked egg whites so I normally just drink them now.

[jm1429]

Ok. I have been buying the liquid stuff from Costco so I will check it out. Thanks

[jdpeters]

Great thread... Where is the Like button?

Some of these guys have posted tons of food in a day. I really tried to eat a lot during my first cycle. I ate a lot more than usual, but still probably not quite as as I should have. Still gained a solid 15 lbs though. I do more shakes to. I am a pilot and am on the road 4 days a week. It's hard to pack enough pre-made food for that long... So I bring lots of protein powder.

Good luck, I know your going to see some results. I noticed a big strength gain when my calories went up.

JP

[NaturalUN]

Great thread... Where is the Like button?

Some of these guys have posted tons of food in a day. I really tried to eat a lot during my first cycle. I ate a lot more than usual, but still probably not quite as as I should have. Still gained a solid 15 lbs though. I do more shakes to. I am a pilot and am on the road 4 days a week. It's hard to pack enough pre-made food for that long... So I bring lots of protein powder.

Good luck, I know your going to see some results. I noticed a big strength gain when my calories went up.

JP

You think that's hard? Try being in the military & going away for 7 months, 3 meals a day and a NAAFI (shop) that only sells crap like chocolate bars & crisps... The struggles I have to go through, only plus side is I'm friends with the chefs (I'm not just a pretty face..) so they hook me up

[irlkev]

I'm on the road a lot and I bring 2 shakes with me each time.. 125g oats , 60g whey, 500ml water.