# My Bulking Diet - Am I approaching it right?



## IVIarZ (Sep 24, 2014)

Hi there,

I am trying to put on weight as I currently weigh 140 lbs (10 Stone). I am 22 years old and I'm 5 ft 10" in height.

I have been currently eating the following for my diet as well as going the gym regularly (3 - 4 times a week). I have also been using the My Fitness Pal app on my phone to track what I eat and keep an eye on calories and nutrition.

The food below was what I had yesterday and totaled 3,237 cals

protein: 191g

carbs: 510g

total fats: 42g

sugars: 152g

Breakfast (640 cals)

4 Shredded Wheat with semi-skimmed milk (446 cals)

glass of semi-skimmed milk (105 cals)

1 banana (89 cals)

Workout

Lunch (489 cals)

tuna (113 cals)

50/50 kingsmill bread (4 slices) (376 cals)

Critical Mass shake with water (920 cals)

6pm Snack (484 cals)

Met RX protein bar (395 cals)

banana (89 cals)

Dinner (704 cals)

full tin of baked beans (328 cals)

50/50 kingsmill bread (4 slices) (376 cals)

My dinner usually consists of chicken breast chunks, peas and broccoli and jacket potatos and tuna. This was just a quick and easy meal as I got home late from work.

Would anybody be able to point me in the right direction?

Am I doing this right?

Thanks

Adam


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## Bensif (Aug 28, 2011)

Couple of questions first;

140lbs, 5ft 10 - I would presume you are VERY lean? I shy away from the word skinny as we all started somewhere. Is this correct?

Can you give a brief overview of your training? Don't go into detail, just split and time spent in gym.

Couple of observations;

No protein at breakfast and none at dinner although you did mention this was a one off.

IF you are naturally very lean and currently struggling to put weight on in general then higher carbs is a good way to go. I would however drop them slightly and add some more fats in. Keep your fats around 80g for the moment and carbs down to 400g. Protein is about right provided that's counted from whole sources only, e.g. meat and fish.

I'm not a fan of gainers personally but if you do use one get one that is natural ingredients, e.g. its isolate and oats rather than high sugar alternatives.

You are relying to heavily on supplements for calories and protein. Switch to more nutritious whole foods.


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## Major Eyeswater (Nov 2, 2013)

Fats are crazy low. It's not healthy to be that low, and it's forcing you to eat more carbs than you really need to get your cals in.

I eat the same amount of carbs as you, and I'm a high-carb enthusiast who is half as heavy again as you, bulking, doing a couple of hours of cardio a week *and *on gear.


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## IVIarZ (Sep 24, 2014)

Yes you are correct.

My training sessions are usually 1 hour a day at the gym.

Day 1 Biceps, Chest

Day 2 Triceps, Shoulders

Day 3 Legs

Day 4 Back

and I throw Abs in here and there.

I have always found it difficult to put on weight and never seem to have the time to constantly eat which is why I have started using critical mass (supplement) for calories.

What would you recommend?

and thanks for replying so quickly.


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## simonthepieman (Jun 11, 2012)

I think you are approaching it right, you are just executing it very poorly.

Taking a macro approach. fine, however your macro choice could be better. More fats would be beneficial though

filling it with poor food and using supplement to balance it out. Not ideal.

Try and get more meat and eggs into your diet and get more protein and fats that way.

Use this as a simplified approach.

200g of protein with a minimum of 120g coming from whole food.

100g of fat. with a minimum of 50g coming from meat and eggs

and then add in carbs until you are growing at a rate of .5lb to 1lb a week in weight. after a few weeks slow this down to gaining .5lbs a week.

easy

oh and eat your greens


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## Bensif (Aug 28, 2011)

IVIarZ said:


> Yes you are correct.
> 
> My training sessions are usually 1 hour a day at the gym.
> 
> ...


OK first - Plan ahead

- Prepare some meals on a weekend that are calorie dense and nutritious such as 100g rice, something red and something green, 150g lean protein source, some good fats

Second - Make time to eat it, set an alarm if you have to

Third - Make your breakfast and post workout meal bigger, as well as adding a meal before bed

Forth - if you aren't gaining weight on this many calories and it has been more than 4 weeks (even 2 weeks) then increase the calories by 350kcal until you start seeing changes.

Don't expect instant muscle, but a stead increase of half a pound a week is good (lean tissue). If you want weight and don't if it is fat aim for 1-2lbs but this will likely end in a fatter version of your current self.


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## BennyC (Mar 18, 2010)

Your extremely low level of fat intake will be negatively effecting your hormone production & function.

Fat is extremely calorie dense at over double the amount of calories per gram than that of protein or carbs so you can eat less voluminous food and still hit your calorie goal.

Get some peanut butter, eggs and mixed nuts (brazils, almonds, walnuts, cashews) in to your diet.


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## Major Eyeswater (Nov 2, 2013)

What Simon said

More fats & eat your veggies


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## IVIarZ (Sep 24, 2014)

Thanks for all your replies, I appreciate it!

Ok so say if I have the following...

Chicken Breast Fillets

Broccoli

Peas

Would that be a good meal?

and what foods would you recommend for good fats? Cashew nuts?

and rice wise, would you say 100g brown rice accompanied with a meat and veg?

Sorry, I'm pretty new to all this diet stuff.


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## simonthepieman (Jun 11, 2012)

IVIarZ said:


> Thanks for all your replies, I appreciate it!
> 
> Ok so say if I have the following...
> 
> ...


If i was you, i would be eating more chicken thighs, skin on. Beef. Lamb. Salmon than chicken breasts.

as others have mentioned. The fat from the mean will help your hormones regulate better ie more testosterone produced naturally and better brain functions


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## IVIarZ (Sep 24, 2014)

Ok, so more chicken thighs, Beef, Lamb and Salmon accompanied with veg such as broccoli and peas.

so if I have that for my dinner at night.

For breakfast if I was to have shredded wheat and peanut butter on toast would that be ok?


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## Bensif (Aug 28, 2011)

IVIarZ said:


> Thanks for all your replies, I appreciate it!
> 
> Ok so say if I have the following...
> 
> ...


No carbs or fats in that meal. Either add a carb source of some good fats.

Fats - EVOO, avocado, any raw nut tbh, flax, fatty fish etc.


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## Dan94 (Dec 29, 2013)

As the others said, fats are pretty low. Lower the carbs and add some more fats, I'm on 70g fats and I'm only bulking on 2,500.

I think general rule of thumb is 50g+ for actual health too


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