Getting Enough Calories

Pharma / TRT
1

I have questions about how to get enough calories. I am currently 6’2" 235-240lbs, ~10% BF. I eat about 6000 calories per day, 1000 calories every three hours. When I was about 200 lbs 7-8% BF I was eating ~3000 calories each day to maintain.

I began taking steroids and am now stuck at my current weight. I get stronger here and there, I’ve taken time off, I’ve pushed hard, I just can’t put on weight without the calories. I tried going 7000 cal/day for two weeks and I gained about a pound per week, but it came off as soon as I came back to 6000 calories per day.

When I eat more food I tend to get really f-ing warm and I sweat a ton, but I don’t put on much weight, if any.

The guys in my family are all tall and skinny so I know I’m working against the grain here, but this seems ridiculous. Perhaps some people can share their stats and caloric intakes, and maybe some eating strategies and recipies.

I heard something about how some pro bodybuilders take in like 12000 cals per day, while at the time seemed ridiculous I can see it being a possibility now. It this what it takes to get any larger?

I can’t have lactose (but cheese and cottage cheese are fine) or gluten (no wheat, rye, barley, or oats. I’m stuck with corn and rice). I literally can’t eat that much food without it backing up on me. It just doesn’t digest fast enough. Would Poliquin’s HCL supplement idea work here?

I guess I’m asking half for suggestions and half for stories I can relate to so I don’t feel so bad cramming in food every day. Thanks.

2

Ouch, no wheat, and no milk, that has got to make it tough.

I find the toughest part of getting bigger is what you have just touched on, getting enough food down on a regular basis. It’s taken me a better part of 2 years to get my body to hold a weight of 235 without cramming. If I want to stay heaiver than that, I have to eat.

Eggs, steak, peanut butter, anything with fat to make up for the lost cals of carbs. Good luck with it bro, let me know if you find something that works for ya. I read a while back that when Mike Matzarro (sp?) was bulking, he’d eat till he was sick, then put the remaining food in a blender and drink it down!

Knowing how hard it was to get to 250lbs, I know it’s going to be even harder to gain another 50.

Monopoly

[quote]Schwarzenegger wrote:
I have questions about how to get enough calories. I am currently 6’2" 235-240lbs, ~10% BF. I eat about 6000 calories per day, 1000 calories every three hours. When I was about 200 lbs 7-8% BF I was eating ~3000 calories each day to maintain.

I began taking steroids and am now stuck at my current weight. I get stronger here and there, I’ve taken time off, I’ve pushed hard, I just can’t put on weight without the calories. I tried going 7000 cal/day for two weeks and I gained about a pound per week, but it came off as soon as I came back to 6000 calories per day.

When I eat more food I tend to get really f-ing warm and I sweat a ton, but I don’t put on much weight, if any.

The guys in my family are all tall and skinny so I know I’m working against the grain here, but this seems ridiculous. Perhaps some people can share their stats and caloric intakes, and maybe some eating strategies and recipies.

I heard something about how some pro bodybuilders take in like 12000 cals per day, while at the time seemed ridiculous I can see it being a possibility now. It this what it takes to get any larger?

I can’t have lactose (but cheese and cottage cheese are fine) or gluten (no wheat, rye, barley, or oats. I’m stuck with corn and rice). I literally can’t eat that much food without it backing up on me. It just doesn’t digest fast enough. Would Poliquin’s HCL supplement idea work here?

I guess I’m asking half for suggestions and half for stories I can relate to so I don’t feel so bad cramming in food every day. Thanks.[/quote]

3

Schwarzenegger, I’m really glad you posted this. It seems like I have a lot of the same problems as you and I’m not nearly your size. At 3000cals/day I can maintain 185lbs, at 4000-4500 I can maintain 195, (where I am now,) and to get up over 200 I have to eat 6000+ cals, and I get all sweaty and heat flashes like you were talking about. It definitely doesn’t feel healthy.

Last winter I experimented with some volume loading in my workouts that helped a fair amount. What I did was I progressively increased the volume of my accessory movements (I train westside style) over the course of three weeks. On the fourth week I dropped it back down and started over again. The theory was that my metabolism would slowly adapt to the increasing volume and then when the volume went away, my muscles grow. It worked pretty well, take it for what it’s worth.

Not to hijack the thread, but the hardest part for me is my job. In the summer my work can get pretty demanding. What’s worse is that I don’t always have time to eat for up to four or five hours, although this isn’t as bad as it was in years past. Does anyone have any good tips with regards to this? Right now I just end up relying on a lot of shakes and bars, which isn’t ideal, but it gets the job done. Any help would be much appreciated.

4

[quote]Schwarzenegger wrote:
I can’t have lactose (but cheese and cottage cheese are fine) or gluten (no wheat, rye, barley, or oats. I’m stuck with corn and rice). [/quote]

I remember getting a bunch of gluten-free oats for my dad about a year ago. They’re not expensive and would be worth it even if they were IMO.

And Lactaid is an easy fix for the milk situation. Sure you can make do without, but there’s so many easy kcals available there. Helps keep things simple.

5

[quote]Schwarzenegger wrote:
I began taking steroids and am now stuck at my current weight. I get stronger here and there, I’ve taken time off, I’ve pushed hard, I just can’t put on weight without the calories. I tried going 7000 cal/day for two weeks and I gained about a pound per week, but it came off as soon as I came back to 6000 calories per day.
[/quote]

well it is “normal”.
If you need more cal to grow, you need more cal to maintain.

When I’m “on” I have the same effects.

I’m on the opposite side. I need to pay really high attention to cal to avoid fat.
I’m a FFB. I’m far from your leaness (I’m at about 15%, but with hight abdominal fat).

BTW I think you need to raise the “maintain” cal value near to 7000cal/die

if you can grow at 7000 try 7500-8000 to avoid “fat gain”.

try to supplement with “gainer” as Surge

6

Well, first off read Barr’s “Bulking Tips” articles, there are two of them.
Second off, yes I recommend digestive enzymes. I use NOW Super enzymes. I also suggest supplementing with CLA.

Some other advice (which some of this might be in the bulking tips):

  1. Eat a huge breakfast. I know this might be hard if you work. I found it easier to do in college. But my typical bulking breakfast consists of:

AS SOON AS I WAKE UP
-Suck down whey protein
-mix pineapple/blueberries with plain organic yogurt (small bowlful)
SHOWER
-4 egg whites, 2 whole omega fortified eggs
-mix spinach and cheddar cheese into the eggs
-1/2 cup plain oatmeal with banana
-4 strips of center cup bacon
-8 ounces organic whole milk

  1. Eat as many liquid calories throughout the day as you can. A convenient and economical way to do this would be to go to a bulk store and buy a huge pack of low carb slim-fast. Drink one before every meal (after breakfast) … but that might be a problem with your lactose issue.

  2. We have talked about this before, but add olive oil to your protein shakes.

  3. Buy liquid fish oil. You get more bang for your buck. 2tbsp of that stuff can supply close to 50g of fat. Suck that down with 50g casein before bed.

  4. While you are preparing your meals, eat some cottage cheese or some other “snacky” type food that won’t fill you up. My roommates used to laugh at me for this one. I would be cooking up a huge meal and pacing around the kitchen with a container of cottage cheese and a spoon.

Ummmm … if I think of more, I will post up. Bulking is hard work.

7

7000 calories a day. Ouch. I’d be sick of food. I’m lactose intolerant and yes lactaid milk does the job. I dont think it’s that necessary though.

Nuts, oils and good fats are the easiest way to up the calories IMO.

But, when on cycle, isnt it better to eat the “90s” way of 50-60% carb, 30% protein and 10-20% fats?

If so, old school weight gainers are your friends. They’re only good on cycles IMO, but they do work for that specific purpose, as it is easier to stuff yourself with liquid calories.

8

[quote]Schwarzenegger wrote:
Would Poliquin’s HCL supplement idea work here?

I guess I’m asking half for suggestions and half for stories I can relate to so I don’t feel so bad cramming in food every day. Thanks.[/quote]

HCL rocks, I use it on carb up weekends. I think I would explode if I didn’t use that stuff.