I really hate to ask this question, but what food should I eat for size? I believe in massive eating P+c and P+F meals and I do believe it to work but there wasnt enough selection for me in those articles.
Can somebody either tell me foods that will aid to success or a link with ALOT of different choices for CLEAN bulking foods. Any help would be good, I just nee more options because I am getting sick of nothing but chicken breasts and lean meats with vegetables. I really could use some variety. Aiming to gain about 30 pounds.
T-Man, it’s not just your CHOICES of food and how you combine them that will put on size. It’s the amounts in excess of maintenance calories, consistency and what John Berardi calls “outcome based decision making,” meaning that if you’re making slow and steady progress towards your goals, you continue doing what you’ve been doing, and if you find over the course of a couple of weeks that you’re not making progress towards your goals, you either tighten up a few notches or step it up a few notches.
Do you keep a food log, T-Man? If you post a sample of your diet, I’d be glad to share my thoughts and make some recommendations.
Meal 3:(Immediate Post) 2 scoops protein powder, milk, banana
Meal 4: (1 hour post) 2 cups of cereal, 1 cup of yogurt
Meal 5: 8oz. lean meat, fat free cheese, 2 slices of bread, and an apple
Meal 6: Chicken Breast, 1 TB of extra virgin olive oil, 1 cup broccoli/cauliflower mix
Meal 7: Steak and Mixed nuts
Meal 8:2 scoops protein powder, WATER, a spoonful of peanut butter
I also drink about 120 ounces of water everyday and do Chad Waterbury’s total body training Monday Wednesday and Friday, and go for a light 20-30 minute jog Tuesday and Thursday. The weekends are off for exercise, and I eat cheat meals on weekends too.
I personally think I do very well in this department but any help or alternative foods would be greatly appreciated
[quote]T-man21 wrote:
Also the only milk I drink is skim.[/quote]
Why, are you dieting?
You eat less than I do when dieting. Why “egg whites” and not the whole egg? Are you honestly trying to gain more size or are you eating this way and simply hoping some appears somehow? How much weight are you gaining by eating the way you are?
It matters little how “clean” any individual food in your diet is-- assuming we aren’t talking about McD’s or KFC-- but how “clean” the diet is as a whole, when the macronutrients are all added up. Butter can be a “clean” food if you’re short on calories and sat fat for the day.
Likewise, brown rice can be a “dirty” food if you’re already significantly over your quota for carbs and calories for the day.
Since you’re interested in Berardi’s methods, I sugest you consider the precision nutrition program, or at least the cookbook which can be purchased a la carte.
Add some salsa to your omelet, along with some veggies like green peppers, onions, mushrooms
A favorite P+C meal is chili with beans and either turkey or lean ground beef. The good thing about chili is you can make a huge pot and store individual portions. Cook once, enjoy many times. Very time efficient.
Eight meals a day are good!!! What are your per-meal protein requirements? You seem to run high on protein on some meals and low to no on others. Take your body weight and divide it by the number of meals you are eating and make sure you get at least that much protein every meal.
Granola, yogurt, fruit
Shrimp stir-fry; makes a great PWO meal if you add some brown rice. Made with ginger and soy sauce and maybe some pineapple and snow pea pods, it packs a lot of flavor
Deli meat with a swipe of mustard, wrapped around a couple of scallions.
Vanilla protein powder with canned pumpkin and pumpkin pie spices
Vanilla protein powder with apple sauce and cinnamon
Cook a turkey or a pork roast. Rub it with equal amounts of diced garlic, lemon juice and salt. Be generous
Use more spices, soy sauce, garlic, onions, mustard, lemon juice, horseradish in your cooking. I call these flavor carbs.
Buy John Berardi’s eBook, Gourmet Nutrition. He has a ton of really incredible recipes in there. I still remember a recipe of his the called for a half of an acorn squash, stuffed with a stuffing made from sausage, onions, apples, celery and my favorite stuffing spices (marjoram, thyme & sage). Here’s a sample of what’s in the eBook … http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=984688&pageNo=0
Yes, thanks for the ideas. Professor X I am curious what you would eat for a bulking phase. And in regards to the eggs, I eat the whites only as to not eat the fat because I am eating a P+C meal, I eat whole eggs but only if they are P+F meals. Though I guess calories come first and not the food combination.
Also, I was thinking about picking up the Grow! whey protein (the 5 pounder) and some Surge recovery. Are there any objections to this? Also I am well aware how to use protein powder but a little confused on the Surge recovery. How should that be taken? I read during and after but can somebody point me in the right direction?
I don’t know what others here advocate, I think that the reaction varies greatly from one person to another, however I personally feel that separating into P+C, P+F meals is not conducive to a successful bulk.
I gained nearly 65lbs between June and January and this was not achieved by separating macro-nutrients within meals. Keeping to macro-nutrient ratios for the day as a whole is a different matter of course.
Don’t be obsessed with eating ‘clean’ as much as with just eating. Once you feel uncomfortable with the amount of fat you have gained (if this happens at all) then think about changing things up.
To give you an idea, I consumed a pint of chocolate milk before and after every workout as well as a pizza with extra cheese PWO. My fat gains whilst doing this were not astronomical at all.
Your PWO meal is pretty damn weak, you should be replacing it with something far more substantial. A whole load of WW pasta with meat and sauce would be a good place to start, as would my ‘pizza diet’.
Also, I recommend eating as much steak as possible. Rump, Sirloin and Rib-Eye steak eaten in large quantities has served me well during my bulk. (As has Flank during my maintenance phase.)
Now that I have surpassed my initial goal of 200lbs I have started to dial my diet in with P+C and P+F meals and have managed to lean out whilst even gaining a couple more pounds.
Macro-nutrient separation is a valuable tool, learn for yourself when it is applicable.
[quote]T-man21 wrote:
Also I am well aware how to use protein powder but a little confused on the Surge recovery. How should that be taken? I read during and after but can somebody point me in the right direction? [/quote]
Take 3 scoops mixed in water and drink it as you start your workout and consume it throughout. Once your workout has finished take another 3 scoops with water and drink it quickly.
Start cooking straight after you finish your second Surge shake.
Eat your PWO meal.
If money is an issue, replace either one of the Surge shakes with a pint of chocolate milk.
[quote]etaco wrote:
It matters little how “clean” any individual food in your diet is-- assuming we aren’t talking about McD’s or KFC-- but how “clean” the diet is as a whole, when the macronutrients are all added up. Butter can be a “clean” food if you’re short on calories and sat fat for the day.
Likewise, brown rice can be a “dirty” food if you’re already significantly over your quota for carbs and calories for the day.
I like to make 1,000+ calorie shakes for breakfest very easy to do and get done.
I agree on the chili awesome stuff and tastes good, eat for lunch and dinner
I take Surge post workout, if you have the money eat it pre and post workout
the 5lb tub of Grow! Whey is a good deal, just no real taste to it, thats why I use one scoop of Grow! and one scoop of Metabolic Drive Low carb in my shakes to save me a little $$
Strawberry and Banana are my favorite Metabolic Drive flavors
Use plenty of Olive oil, nuts, milk, etc to add heaps of calories easily
Thank you very much for the posts thus far. I had an idea that I’d like to hear the input of others on. I have always heard only 500 calories above maintenance is the best way to go. However…I had a thought that maybe if I ate what a 210 pound guy would eat, eventually I will be that guy. Further still that would mean eventually those calories won’t be more they would be maintenance so in time fat would decrease.
Should I just find out the caloric , and macronutrient needs for a person who weights 20 pounds more than me and just use that as a guide for my eating? I weigh 187 now and my goal is about 220-230 but I just figured it be a bad idea to make such a big leap.
[quote]T-man21 wrote:
Thank you very much for the posts thus far. I had an idea that I’d like to hear the input of others on. I have always heard only 500 calories above maintenance is the best way to go. However…I had a thought that maybe if I ate what a 210 pound guy would eat, eventually I will be that guy. Further still that would mean eventually those calories won’t be more they would be maintenance so in time fat would decrease.
Should I just find out the caloric , and macronutrient needs for a person who weights 20 pounds more than me and just use that as a guide for my eating? I weigh 187 now and my goal is about 220-230 but I just figured it be a bad idea to make such a big leap.[/quote]
What is your training like?
whats your poundages like? fro DB incline, deadlift, rows, etc?
To tell you the truth I have never maxed out in anything. My dead lift for about 4 reps in 265, my bench press for 4 is 200 if i were to boost myself up with my legs on the bench i can hit about 215, my saquat for four times is about 235 (not to good I know).
But I heard about macro ratios thrown around back there. I know the RDA recommends 30% or less fat, 20% protein, and 50% carbohydrates. Is this what you veterans of the bulk try to do? Also your comment about P+F and P+C I am going to agree with. I think I was having trouble finding fats and it took from my calories input. I find I can get more calories in if I don’t worry about no fat or no carbs.
[quote]T-man21 wrote:
Yes, thanks for the ideas. Professor X I am curious what you would eat for a bulking phase. And in regards to the eggs, I eat the whites only as to not eat the fat because I am eating a P+C meal, I eat whole eggs but only if they are P+F meals. Though I guess calories come first and not the food combination.[/quote]
First, I think the entire P+C or P+F approach is so overrated that it makes most other overrated things seem highly underrated. I definitely don’t see the point in a beginner approaching their food intake this way. Beyond that, how I eat has nothing to do with how YOU should eat.
How I eat when gaining has changed along with the weight I gain making it pointless for someone who outweighs you by that much to list out how they eat when gaining. I would work on being able to eat a whole egg before you worry about what I eat for breakfast at my heaviest weight.