Bulking Confusion

Training Beginners
1

Hey T-Nationers…

I’m rather confused now… I’ve been eating 3-4k calories per day for around 2months and working hard in the gym making some decent noobie lift improvements. But so far no gained size as far as I can tell.

My bulk is pretty much clean but I will occasionally have a burger with friends about once a week - 2 McDonalds cheeseburgers have more protein than one Big Mac just so you know and its cheaper. I don’t have a log book which is something I’m definitely contemplating doing. I feel like I get enough protein and somedays too many carbs but I don’t mind that especially if its an off day I find on off days eating a few more carbs really helps the following day.

Anyway. Sample diet.

Breakfast: Oatmeal + pint of milk.

Snack: yogurt/milk and fruit.

Lunch: Tuna pasta.

Snack: Sandwich, either tuna, ham or chicken.

Dinner (1hour before workout): Chicken, rice and vegetables OR Steak, jacket potatos and baked beans.

Post workout: protein shake mixed with 1 pint of milk.

Snack: more milk and I’ll eat some natural peanut butter stuff I have which is full of protein. This snack isn’t everyday just if I feel hungry.

Prefast (before I go to sleep): Protein shake.

Only drinks I have are water and green tea.

To me that looks pretty sound… Right now I’m about 16% bf so I don’t think I’m eating too much because before bulking it was only around 14-16% anyway. I think I am 140lbs + now but I don’t have any scales I go mainly by measuring…

Waist: 29"
Forearms: 11.5"
Upper arms biceps/triceps: 13"
Chest: 36"
Quads: 17.5"

I’ve only just recently got a bench which I’m doing 5x5 for and I’m making really good improvements there but body-wise it’s not doing anything my pecs feel more solid but apart from that nothing. This is what I’m trying to explain I eat like a gaddam horse… I do the best I can with the equipment I’ve got… I’ve cut out all cardio apart from walking around town and I’m still damn tiny…

I want to be 165lbs by May 22nd so I’ve got time to do the V-Diet before a holiday type thing I’ll be doing in June and after that I want to cut down to about 10% bodyfat I know I’ll lose some size but it’ll be a hell of an improvement from where I’m at now.

Please help me figure a good way to go about my goals what I’m doing just isn’t working.

2

3-4k is a big range of calories. You gotta be consistent. How do you know your getting this much if you say you don’t even keep a food log. Eat more fat. Minus the peanut butter its mainly P+C.

You plan to hit 165 and go on the V-diet? WTF…?

Your still tiny because you probably aren’t eating enough. Maybe do some bodybuilding workouts for hyperthropy, but you probably don’t have enough strength atm to make these worthwhile.

3

[quote]BruceLeeFan wrote:

Anyway. Sample diet.

Breakfast: Oatmeal + pint of milk.

Snack: yogurt/milk and fruit.

Lunch: Tuna pasta.

Snack: Sandwich, either tuna, ham or chicken.

Dinner (1hour before workout): Chicken, rice and vegetables OR Steak, jacket potatos and baked beans.

Post workout: protein shake mixed with 1 pint of milk.

Snack: more milk and I’ll eat some natural peanut butter stuff I have which is full of protein. This snack isn’t everyday just if I feel hungry.

Prefast (before I go to sleep): Protein shake.

Only drinks I have are water and green tea.
[/quote]
x2 to what was said above, you need to eat more. Let me give you my sample bulking diet.

Breakfast: 6 eggs, 1 cup chopped peppers, 8 oz of steak, 2 slices of cheese.

Snack: half a pound of pot roast, pork loin, or chicken and some broccoli

Lunch: 1 pound of whatever the first snack was

Snack: an orange, a hand full of nuts, and some beef jerky

Dinner 1: double quarter pounder with cheese, sometimes two

Dinner 2: whatever my wife has made at home.

I’ll also have a Surge post work out.

Do you see the difference in intake? I’m about 100lbs heavier then you, so you don’t need as many calories as me, but you do need more then you are eating now. Try adding 8 oz of milk to each meal, and 16 oz to each snack. Also, be sure to eat your last snack every day, even if you are not hungry.

4

Thanks guys… I definitely want to make a habit out of eating way more at breakfast… I was thinking of going on the V-Diet because it will get me down to 10% bodyfat right?

@ninja - I’m not worried about eating fats I’ll literally eat more or less whatever I can as long as it’s got protein in it.

5

Eat a bigger breakfast and eat a bigger post post workout meal (the meal after your pwo shake). And by eating bigger I mean eating alot mroe protein and fats.

You are a FOOL if you do the V-Diet at this stage. Your a noobie take advantage of the noobie gains you will get, if you V-Diet in May say good bye to the 20lbs you bulked up to and some of the muscle you worked hard for. You will be a stick at 140lbs…

6

[quote]MUthrows94 wrote:
Eat a bigger breakfast and eat a bigger post post workout meal (the meal after your pwo shake). And by eating bigger I mean eating alot mroe protein and fats.

You are a FOOL if you do the V-Diet at this stage. Your a noobie take advantage of the noobie gains you will get, if you V-Diet in May say good bye to the 20lbs you bulked up to and some of the muscle you worked hard for. You will be a stick at 140lbs…[/quote]

Alright I wont do the V-Diet… I’ve got a ton of nice steak in my freezer right now I’ll probably use that for post post workout.

7

[quote]BruceLeeFan wrote:
Thanks guys… I definitely want to make a habit out of eating way more at breakfast… I was thinking of going on the V-Diet because it will get me down to 10% bodyfat right?

@ninja - I’m not worried about eating fats I’ll literally eat more or less whatever I can as long as it’s got protein in it. [/quote]
The V-Diet will make you lose weight. I may or may not get you to 10% bf, and it certainly won’t make you look ripped, or whatever the hell it is you’re hoping for. You do not have a foundation to cut down to. I’m an inch and a half taller then you, and when I did the V-Diet, I was 225 lbs. I had already lost about 35lbs. I dropped down to 200lbs, and guess what, I looked like a skinny twig. I didn’t have the muscle mass to fill out my frame. So I took my 14" arms, and I started to eat like there was no tomorrow and lift as heavy as I could. I added 150 lbs to my squat, 100 to my bench, and around 100 lbs to my deadlift, as well as about 50 lbs of weight. And you know what, my arms gained 4 inches, and everything else grew as well. Don’t waste your time trying to get down in to single digit body fat until you have a foundation. If you really want to look like you lift, you need to add at least 60 lbs to your frame before you even think about trimming down.

8

[quote]hardgnr wrote:
3-4k is a big range of calories. You gotta be consistent. How do you know your getting this much if you say you don’t even keep a food log. Eat more fat. Minus the peanut butter its mainly P+C.
[/quote]

Have to agree with this.

From looking at your diet, unless you are having LARGE servings, my guess is that you aren’t getting 3-4K calories.

Start measuring your servings of oatmeal, protein powder, yogurt, well, everything and then use an online calorie counter to figure out how many calories you are actually getting. You might be surprised.

9

[quote]BruceLeeFan wrote:

Alright I wont do the V-Diet… I’ve got a ton of nice steak in my freezer right now I’ll probably use that for post post workout.[/quote]

You don’t want fats post workout, it slows the digestion of carbs, which is what is going to give you growth.

Fats after workout is a no no, it’s good to limit them even in the 2nd meal after your workout.

Have your carb/protein shake post workout then 1-2 hrs later have a plate of pasta and a chicken breast. Save the steak for later at night or before you workout.

10

well…if it helps to clear it up at all why you’re not gaining weight…ive had as calories as you eat in a whole day in one sitting before…

11

[quote]BruceLeeFan wrote:
Thanks guys… I definitely want to make a habit out of eating way more at breakfast… I was thinking of going on the V-Diet because it will get me down to 10% bodyfat right?

@ninja - I’m not worried about eating fats I’ll literally eat more or less whatever I can as long as it’s got protein in it. [/quote]

You have 16% bodyfat but a 29 inch waist?

12

Eat more, I know it sound stupid but if you’re legitimately trying to add mass you’d be amazed how much more you can eat sometimes.

Force feed yourself, if you’re getting too fat start adding some extra workouts in (like sprints, cardio, kettlebell stuff).

13

[quote]BruceLeeFan wrote:
@ninja - I’m not worried about eating fats I’ll literally eat more or less whatever I can as long as it’s got protein in it. [/quote]

dont limit yourself to just fats that come with sources of protein. be sure to get your oils, nuts&seeds. coconut milk & avocado’s could also prove useful for a few added calories.