I’ve been bulking for about 3 months now. I’m 5’7" and went from 145lbs. to 160lbs. I need to increase my intake to keep growing but I am having trouble eating all the food already. I get full and stay full all day. I posted my diet and a picture to let you know where I am. I workout first thing in the morning so my shakes are my first two meals are shakes. Any advice on how to take in more calories would be appreciated.
PWO - 2 cups chocolate milk, 1 tbsp natural peanut butter, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 2 scoops protein = 775 cal. 82g protein
Breakfast - 3 whole eggs, 6 turkey sausage, 2 oz onion, 1 oz spinach, 2 pieces of cheese = 627 cal. 55g protein
Lunch - 6oz chicken breast, 1/2 cup brown rice, 1 cup peas and carrots, 1 celery stalk, 1/2 cup red bell pepper, 2 tbsp BBQ sauce = 723 cal. 59g protein
Dinner - 6oz chicken breast, 1 can chickpeas, 2 tsp olive oil, 2 oz onion, 3.5 oz tomato, 15g garlic = 747 cal. 73g protein
You gained 15 pounds in 3 months. This is great progress - congrats!
Why do you think you need to increase calories - why not just keep up what’s been working for you? Granted, you will need more calories as you grow bigger, but you seem to be gaining just fine as of now. 5 pounds per month of pure muscle growth is very difficult to sustain regardless of how much you eat. Some of your gains will be fat.
If you really want to eat more calories, try to add snacks like nuts in between lunch and dinner or before bedtime. Think caloric-dense foods (i.e. high fat but good fats). 300g of protein is probably more than you need (Go ahead and flame away if you please), so you could easily substitute some fats at 9 cals/g for protein at 4 cals/g and get more calories and not feel as full.
I’m not sure if my pic posted so I’m trying again. I reworked my calorie calculations, and if I did them right, I should be eating closer to 4000 because of the weight gain. Thanks for the quick responses. I look forward to reading more.
Maybe I have an extremely fast metabolism. According to John Berardi I need to eat more. I usually gained about a pound a week but i havent seen any weight gain in 3 weeks. Could that mean something else besides needing more calories?
[quote]Rocky2 wrote:
Add another meal. Perhaps before you go to bed. Obviously milk and PB have quite a bit of calories do them.[/quote]
Agreed, this is an easy way to boost calories. Bedtime shake always helps. Slow digesting protein and some fats. I like 2 scoops of Metabolic Drive with 2 tbsp of peanut butter.
Ex. 6 eggs instead of 3. More rice less celery. Boil some potatoes in chicken stock (water + chicken bouillon) and eat them with your meals instead of celery.
[quote]citmarine wrote:
Maybe I have an extremely fast metabolism. According to John Berardi I need to eat more. I usually gained about a pound a week but i havent seen any weight gain in 3 weeks. Could that mean something else besides needing more calories?[/quote]
Your weight gain will naturally slow over time. A pound a week is probably maintainable for a while for a lifter who is light to begin with and suddennly is eating right and lifting heavy, but you can’t maintain that indefinietly (without storing fat). Think about it - you would be up 52 lbs in a year, and within 10 years would weigh over 600 lbs if this were possible. It is normal to not see any gains for a few weeks while bulking, and then suddenly gain a few pounds almost overnight.
Whens the last time you deloaded? Take a week off and actually eat a little less. Then go back to balls to the wall and massive cals. And eating 3,500 cals got me from 185 to 198. Get checked for worms
Seriously, what about beer? Alcohol slows the rate you body uses fat or whatever. Have 2 or 3 bottles most nights. I heard sumo wrestlers do it to stay fat. And so do I!
[quote]citmarine wrote:
Maybe I have an extremely fast metabolism. According to John Berardi I need to eat more. I usually gained about a pound a week but i havent seen any weight gain in 3 weeks. Could that mean something else besides needing more calories?[/quote]
Just guessing from your name…are you a devildog?
If so, it wouldn’t surprise me if you’re not gaining from 3500 cals per day, what with PT and all.
Even if you aren’t, the simple solution is adding more calories into your diet, gradually. Don’t just bump up intake by 1000 calories suddenly…try an extra 200-300 every few weeks until you start gaining again at a good rate.
