Counting Protein and Calories

Diet and Nutrition
1

I’m bulking and i eat about 5000kcal/day. One sources say that i have to count protein by taking percentage from daily amount of calories (let’s say 25%), others - that i have to count it according to weight. By first method, i get 300g of protein, by second - 80-150g. Now i use first method, but i started doubting. Which one is right?

With 5000kcal/day I gain lean mass, everything’s ok here. But all bodybuilding calories calculators tell me to eat much less - about 2400kcal. Wtf? How I’m not becoming fatass eating that much? Or i would gain the same if i would eat 2400kcal?

Edit: I posted my daily meals, but for some reason they now show up. I get message that post has to be confirmed by admins, but nothing happens next

2

  1. Maybe you’re not actually eating 5000 calories. Unless you actually weighed out your food, your just estimating. Most people overestimate just how much they’re eating. 5000 is a lot, unless your really active I’d be surprised if you’re getting this many calories.

  2. Or, you’re really active and have a naturally fast metabolism. Congrats, you’re never going to get fat.

  3. It really doesn’t matter what an online calculator says. It doesn’t know your metabolism, actual activity level, or level of muscle mass. Those are rough estimates used for average people. And if it says 2400, then I think you typed something in wrong or else it’s a horrible calculator. I don’t think theres a lot of people shooting for 2400 to gain.

  4. If you were actually eating 5000 and you’re gaining only lean mass, and you dropped to 2400 you would not gain the same. In fact, you’d probably drop a lot of weight. Think about it dude. Halving your calories?

  5. I have no idea how you got 80-150. Generally, people set their protein intake goal by their bodyweight (i.e. grams of protein equal to bodyweight, bodyweight x 1.25, bodyweight x 1.5), set a fat amount, and then fill in the rest with carbs. After that you can divide the calories of your protein by total calories to see what % you’re at.

My money is still on the fact that you’re not ACTUALLY eating 5000 and just assume/estimate you are. Why? Because A. that’s really pretty high, unless you’re doing construction or something. B. Most people don’t actually measure out their food. They estimate. And usually, they’re pretty off. C. You have 2 posts, claim that everything’s working great yet you’re asking if you half your calories if you would still be gaining the same. Makes me think you don’t know much about nutrition, and consequently, don’t know exactly how many calories you’re eating.

3
  1. I calculated my nutrition on eatthicmuch.com and i weigh every single meal.
  2. I’m lifting about a hour 4 times per week, rest of the time I’m sedentary. Last bite of meal barely goes in, but after hour I’m hungry again.
  3. Well, little bit more. But every online calculator i use gives me 2600-3000kcal for bulking.
  4. I know, it’s illogical, but that what online sources suggest, so I’m thinking - WTF?
  5. I’m 5’10 150lbs so yeah, 80-150g is what different calculators and studies suggest.

I know 5000kcal is really high, especially for small guy like me, but that’s what i eat. My post count doesn’t mean anything. I read a lot and know a lot, but only now decided to open an account and ask some questions. I understand that i probably wouldn’t gain with half of those calories, but that what sources say, and it messes with my mind, so I’m just making sure. And everything’s really going well. 5’10 150lbs may not seem like a lot, but I’ve started from being a skeleton. 25lbs with just minimal amounts of fat every year is good in my opinion. This year will be even better, because earlier I wasn’t so serious about my lifting and nutrition.

4

You have to understand the doubt we all have that you’re eating 5000 cals/day…why not post your typical meals (with weight, ex. 12oz chicken breast, with 8oz potatoes, etc.) you have everyday to help us understand just how those calories add up? Macros other than protein can also give a better picture. For someone 150lbs, 5000 just seems obsurdly overkill unless you were some kind of high level athlete vs the average bodybuilding enthusiast.

I can see if you’re roughly 250lbs eating 5000 cals or drinking in a lot of your cals.

5

yep, post what you’re eating each day. Unless it’s McDonalds or dense shakes every meal, 5000 is an absurd amount of food especially for a fairly non-active person who only weighs 150 lbs.

6

I was eating this for a few months on lifting days and it was MAYBE 4,000 cals and I was constantly so full, I was never hungry.

breakfast: 4 eggs, 4 oz lean ground chicken breast, 4 oz ground chicken sausage, med. serving of carbs (about 150 cals worth), 2 tbsp coconut oil, 1 piece of fruit, handful of peppers, handful of onions (about 1,000 cals)

Snack1: 2 scoops LC MD, 16 oz unsweetened almond milk, handful of mixed nuts, 1 piece of fruit, 1 handful of veggies (about 550 cals)

Lunch: 8-10 oz of meat (raw), 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, handful of mixed nuts, 1 piece of fruit (about 600 cals)

Snack 2: 2 scoops LC MD, 16 oz unsweetened almond milk, handful of mixed nuts, 1 piece of fruit, 1 handful of veggies (about 550 cals)

Dinner: 8-10 oz of meat (raw), med serving of carbs (about 150 cals worth), 2 tbsp butter, 2 servings of veggies (about 700 cals)

Snack 3: 2 scoops LC MD, 16 oz unsweetened almond milk, handful of mixed nuts, 1 piece of fruit, 1 handful of veggies (about 550)

And the only way I got that many calories in was b/c of the high amount of fats I was eating (coconut oil, nuts, olive oil, butter).

I’ve since cut out 2 of the shakes b/c I was gaining to much fat so I’m more around 3,000 cals on lifting days. I’m 189 and about 15% bf.

7

Guys sorry for delay, i had problems with posting. Here is my daily meals:

Meal 1 (836 kcal)
Milk 300ml
Cereal 170g

Meal 2 (734 kcal)
Rice 120g
Chicken breast 155g

Meal 3 (734 kcal)
Rice 120g
Chicken breast 155g

Meal 4 (734 kcal)
Rice 120g
Chicken breast 155g

Meal 5 (734 kcal)
Rice 120g
Chicken breast 155g

Meal 6 (946 kcal)
White bread 6 slices
Peanut butter 80g

Meal 7 (388 kcal, workout days only)
Milk 300ml
Whey protein 60g

Total: 5106 kcal
55% carbohydrates
25% protein
20% fat

8

Are the weights before or after cooking?

If it’s before cooking, I think you might be overestimating by about 1k calories.

But the biggest issue I see here is you hardly have any nutrients in your diet. No veggies or fruits?

Further, on non-lifting days, you are only getting like 140g of protein.

I dunno, something isn’t adding up my man unless you do have a job like construction or something?

How do you even fit that much rice in your stomach 4x/day? You literally eat 9 cups of cooked rice or a 5lb bag of rice every 4 days.

You must have a food baby belly all day every day at a 150lbs lol

9

I weigh before cooking. Sorry. my english is pretty bad, by “overestimating” you mean that I eat less than I think I do?
Is micronutrients that important? I don’t usually eat fruits/veggies, but i take multivitamin.
I get about 300g of protein. Or am I counting something wrong?
Seriously, I eat all that.

10

You said you’ve been gaining weight. How much weight have you gained, and how long did it take?

How long have you been eating 5000kcal/day?

11

[quote]flipcollar wrote:
You said you’ve been gaining weight. How much weight have you gained, and how long did it take?

How long have you been eating 5000kcal/day?[/quote]

read his original post man…

12

I don’t really know when I’m started eating 5000kcal/day, or at least when i started eating that amount seriously, without cheating, but I’ve been gaining about 10kg a year. Some of that weight was from my height growth (young dude here). But now, i’m already 10 kg heavier than in was at the end of summer. Almost no change in height.

13

Dude, first off none of this matters. If you are gaining, and you like your progress, then keep doing EXACTLY what you’re doing.

With that said, I also suspect you are overestimating. For your chicken & rice meal, you show it as 734 cals. While I have to convert your (crazy) metric measurements, you list 120g of rice. Assuming that’s dry/uncooked, then that comes to about 1.2 cups cooked which equates to 246 calories and 53g carbs. Your chicken, assuming that’s cooked weight, comes to 5.5 oz with 257 cals and 48g protein.

I get 503 calories, over 30% less that what you list. My conversion numbers could be off or you have a brand of rice that differs from what we have in the states, but it’s not really adding up. If my numbers are right, that’s a nearly 1k calories difference right there. Meals 1 & 6 look about right.

14

[quote]creatinejunkie wrote:
I weigh before cooking. Sorry. my english is pretty bad, by “overestimating” you mean that I eat less than I think I do?
Is micronutrients that important? I don’t usually eat fruits/veggies, but i take multivitamin.
I get about 300g of protein. Or am I counting something wrong?
Seriously, I eat all that.
[/quote]

Yes, overestimating means you are eating less than you think you are.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lot of food still so don’t think you are crazy or anything.

well your chicken, which is about 5.2 oz in US measurements, if it’s raw, is only about 30g of protein. So from your chicken meals you get 120g of protein. Your milk is about 12-15g of protein. You don’t want to count protein from anything else really, but you don’t have another 180 except your whey is an addition 40-45g on workout days.

And yes, micronutrients are that important. Micronutrients aren’t broken down directly for energy, but they are pieces of the puzzle needed to create energy. Even the pigments (stuff that gives fruits and veggies color) have benefits for your body.

Many times a body will need way more food not for calorie reasons but to make up for the lack of nutrients devoid in the diet.

You know what would be really awesome is if you take a pic of your meals on a regular size dinner plate or something.

Ok, so now that my little rant is over, Tyler is right. None of this really matters if what you are doing is working. If it’s working, keep doing it. As long as you are consistent with whatever it is you are doing, you are able to adjust easily enough once it stops working.

15

And i noticed, that ‘simple’ rise has much less calories than Indian ‘basmati’ rice I eat, or something.
Should i weigh my chicken uncooked too? And how should i incorporate fruits/veggies in to my eating plan?

16

And ZJStrope, sorry, i weigh my chicken after cooking. Or how’s that word? Well, i put it in pan with oil.
Could someone make me a real eating plan? It’s good that this one works for me, but it’s just not right, when i think that i eat more than i am.

17

[quote]creatinejunkie wrote:
And ZJStrope, sorry, i weigh my chicken after cooking. Or how’s that word? Well, i put it in pan with oil.
Could someone make me a real eating plan? It’s good that this one works for me, but it’s just not right, when i think that i eat more than i am.[/quote]

Don’t make it complicated. If you are gaining lean mass, then what you are doing is right.

For health reasons, I’d probably add 1-2 pieces of fruit and 4-6 servings of vegetables a day and drop some of the rice. But that’s a personal opinion.

18

[quote]bobMartial wrote:

[quote]flipcollar wrote:
You said you’ve been gaining weight. How much weight have you gained, and how long did it take?

How long have you been eating 5000kcal/day?[/quote]

read his original post man…[/quote]

what the hell? I re-read his post, and nowhere did he answer these questions.

Please stop following me around. Let it go.

19

[quote]creatinejunkie wrote:
And i noticed, that ‘simple’ rice has much less calories than Indian ‘basmati’ rice I eat, or something.
Should i weigh my chicken uncooked too? And how should i incorporate fruits/veggies in to my eating plan?[/quote]

Don’t weigh your chicken raw too. Cooked weight should come out to about 70 - 75% of raw (unless you way under- or over-cook it). Grilled skinless, boneless chicken breast will have about 9g protein and 47 calories per ounce. Create a simple spreadsheet of the foods you eat and just punch in the amount you eat and total it up. You eat roughly the same thing everyday so this should be very easy.

Also, when in doubt, go to http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list to look up the nutrition profile of a particular food. Don’t make this (weighing, logging your food) more of an effort than it already is.

And at this point you already know what you’re doing is working. Don’t change it…just maybe get a more accurate view of how many calories you’re actually taking in then keep your head down and keep trucking.

20

[quote]Tyler23 wrote:

[quote]creatinejunkie wrote:
And i noticed, that ‘simple’ rice has much less calories than Indian ‘basmati’ rice I eat, or something.
Should i weigh my chicken uncooked too? And how should i incorporate fruits/veggies in to my eating plan?[/quote]

Don’t weigh your chicken raw too. Cooked weight should come out to about 70 - 75% of raw (unless you way under- or over-cook it). Grilled skinless, boneless chicken breast will have about 9g protein and 47 calories per ounce. Create a simple spreadsheet of the foods you eat and just punch in the amount you eat and total it up. You eat roughly the same thing everyday so this should be very easy.

Also, when in doubt, go to http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list to look up the nutrition profile of a particular food. Don’t make this (weighing, logging your food) more of an effort than it already is.

And at this point you already know what you’re doing is working. Don’t change it…just maybe get a more accurate view of how many calories you’re actually taking in then keep your head down and keep trucking.[/quote]

THE DUDE has spoken