Trying to Bulk, Not Gaining

Nutrition
21

@mckdean yeah, I measure my spaghetti BEFORE cooking… and the RAW weight is 160g the first time around and 110g the second time! so then my calculations are right?

@skwasny yep, my post workout shake is immediately after my workout followed by my 3rd meal after 45 mins - 1 hour. I am unable to fit in another meal coz by the time I wake up and have my breakfast its usually around 11:30 in the afternoon :slight_smile: My second meal (spaghetti and chicken/meat) is 2 1/2 hours before my workout followed by a pre workout shake 30-45 mins before my workout. I think I just need to increase the quantity I consume in each sitting :slight_smile:

22

While consuming more calories per meal does have certain advantages, there is also the potential for metabolic spill-over. The body can only accomodate and metabolize a certain amount of proteins, carbs and fats at a time. And, of course, depending on hormone levels (i.e. insulin, ethanol, cortisol) these amounts can change. By increasing the contents of your meals, you may end up wasting a lot of your food if it doesn’t become absorbed.

Plus you may potentially put on additional body fat. So I’d consider making the necessary adjustments so that you can fit an additional meal in. For one, I’d swap your current carb source for something less starchy - yams, sweet potatoes, brown rice. These sources are digested more efficiently, so you’ll feel less full and can probably squeeze another meal in with ease. I’d make your fourth meal your fifth, and add another protein-vegetable-healthy fat meal before that.

23

hmmm… so you mean replace some of that WW spaghetti with sweet potatoes? Yams arent available here :frowning: and I have an aversion towards rice, be it white, brown or any other color :slight_smile: I’ll try adding another meal in there somewhere… somehow :slight_smile: again, thank you for the help

24

If you’re waking up at 11:30, I’d venture to guess you’re also staying up late. Even if you have to cram another meal in around 9 or 10, do it. Just be sure to stay away from carbs so late in the day and you’ll be fine.

25

-Ani412

Get on Fitday.com and make a free account so that you can follow everything you are intaking. It will surprise you how much you are not intaking. Yes, you may be eating 250g of meat, but not 250g of protein since meat has a lot of water counted in the weight. Also, from now on dice up your meat and measure the volume in cups/liters and log that into fitday, that will help you stay pretty accurate.

I was in your situation not too long ago, both my size and perception of how much I was eating. Some of the biggest tips that helped me…

  1. Less supplements, they really are just to supplement a diet. Also, it prepares your body so that you can eat more later because it’s not easy to increase your diet and still have an appetite. Eat eggs for breakfast instead of your shake or get some meat and add some fats/oils.

  2. Eat as many carbs as you can. You won’t get fat. With that said, eat your protein source first so you don’t miss out on any of that. We burn carbs like its the thing to do and we should use that. You should try to eat enough carbs post workout until you get tired lol.

  3. Make your training the focus. What I mean is think about what you are doing all the time. When you sit down to eat think that the more you eat the better your body will look soon.

and training…
Don’t fuck around. It’s easy to do that. What helped me prevent this was 2 things. Looking into westside training. (upper body/lower body split) 2 heavy days per week and 2 light/dynamic days. The second thing was, on the heavy days, don’t touch any dumbbells/machines/cable/etc. That should force you to do heavy movements on every set. Make sure you hate yourself after each workout* (okay, maybe not, but you should feel awful afterwards).

26

[quote]fmaurice wrote:
2) Eat as many carbs as you can. You won’t get fat. With that said, eat your protein source first so you don’t miss out on any of that. We burn carbs like its the thing to do and we should use that. You should try to eat enough carbs post workout until you get tired lol.
[/quote]

Yes because most of America got fat on protein/fat diets…

From a genetic standpoint our bodies were not meant to handle massive amounts of carbs (with the exception of those in the Asian culture that have the inherent enzyme that allows them to do so). Are carbs bad? Not inherently, but going overboard on them which you seem to be suggesting, generally is going to lead to larger fat gain then if you were to control them, time them, and get more of your calories from protein/fat.

27

@fmaurice

Oh I already do the fitday thing. Well not fitday exactly, but I measure EVERYTHING I eat, look up the nutritional info either on the back of the cover or on the internet and make logs regularly. Apart from a couple of things, I have an exact caloric breakdown of everything. I used to eyeball stuff too, but not anymore :slight_smile:

The only supplements I take currently are protein powder and creatine (also gatorade if you call it a ‘supplement’). I never did intend to go crazy with them, but i’ll take anything that helps me.

As far as the protein intake is concerned, I am about 150lbs now, even with a 1.5XBW (around 225), I am well over my daily protein requirement. And FWIW, I like pain, so I make sure, everytime I workout I lift the most and the best I can, so that, hopefully, I am sore the next morning :slight_smile:

28

[quote]skwasny wrote:
If you’re waking up at 11:30, I’d venture to guess you’re also staying up late. Even if you have to cram another meal in around 9 or 10, do it. Just be sure to stay away from carbs so late in the day and you’ll be fine.[/quote]

How about if I ate bacon and sausages for my 4th meal and have 2-3 servings of nuts throughtout the day? Also, I am considering increasing the 3rd meal and splitting it so that 1 half is before the workout and the other half be about an hour after my post workout shake?

I dont know how, but even though I sleep at around 2 a.m everyday, I just had my 4th meal and its midnight here :slight_smile: time flies :slight_smile:

29

wheres the milk?

30

Fish? VEGGIES??
Eat more, if you aren’t gaining then regardless of how much you are eating, then eat more.
Nuts and dried fruit throughout the day is a good way to add calories too.
Also for a cheat meal when I was bulking, I would go get a large pizza, drizzle olive oil on it, and eat the whole thing with a quart of chocolate milk.

If you are not allergic to it at all then lots of milk is an easy was to add calories, however even mild, often unnoticed allergies or reactions to hormones in milk can mess a lot of stuff up. I had that issue when I was drinking 1.5-2 gallons of milk per day…

31

Eat more, eat some goddamn pizza, burgers, whatever.

You’re not eating anywhere NEAR what you think you are.

Eating crappy food occasionally is not the end of the world while bulking.

If you’re getting stronger and bigger and isn’t all going to your gut you’re doing it right.

32

Yep, I do seem to be allergic to milk (apart from the fact that I hate it). I am a big supporter of the Pizza Cheat Meal however :wink: reading your post made me order one right now :slight_smile:

33

anirud… If your measuring your pasta pre-cook and it is 160g, it can’t lose weight and become 110g. Unless you are cooking 160g for 2 meals and breaking it into 2 at 110g each post cooking. Is this the case?

If it is then for a fella who seems to be struggling to gain weight, a measly 64 of CHO per meal is too little (160g uncooked weight x 0.8 [80% CHO] / 2 = 64g CHO per meal).

Bump it up closer to 100g CHO and you might see some gains.

34

@mcdean

Oh no no!! I eat 160g of raw spaghetti for the first meal and 110g for the second.

35

[quote]anirudh412 wrote:

[quote]skwasny wrote:
If you’re waking up at 11:30, I’d venture to guess you’re also staying up late. Even if you have to cram another meal in around 9 or 10, do it. Just be sure to stay away from carbs so late in the day and you’ll be fine.[/quote]

How about if I ate bacon and sausages for my 4th meal and have 2-3 servings of nuts throughtout the day? Also, I am considering increasing the 3rd meal and splitting it so that 1 half is before the workout and the other half be about an hour after my post workout shake?

I dont know how, but even though I sleep at around 2 a.m everyday, I just had my 4th meal and its midnight here :slight_smile: time flies :-)[/quote]

Bacon and sausages - probably not the cleanest of choices. If that’s all you have available, I’d say it’s probably better to eat this than nothing at all.

About your third meal: are you hungry throughout your workout? Does your workout suffer due to lack of energy? It shouldn’t, but a larger pre-workout meal won’t necessarily solve that problem. Adequate workout nutrition doesn’t start with the meal directly prior to training; rather, it starts with every meal you take in since your last workout. In other words, every meal counts. So make them count.

36

[quote]skwasny wrote:

[quote]anirudh412 wrote:

[quote]skwasny wrote:
If you’re waking up at 11:30, I’d venture to guess you’re also staying up late. Even if you have to cram another meal in around 9 or 10, do it. Just be sure to stay away from carbs so late in the day and you’ll be fine.[/quote]

How about if I ate bacon and sausages for my 4th meal and have 2-3 servings of nuts throughtout the day? Also, I am considering increasing the 3rd meal and splitting it so that 1 half is before the workout and the other half be about an hour after my post workout shake?

I dont know how, but even though I sleep at around 2 a.m everyday, I just had my 4th meal and its midnight here :slight_smile: time flies :-)[/quote]

Bacon and sausages - probably not the cleanest of choices. If that’s all you have available, I’d say it’s probably better to eat this than nothing at all.

About your third meal: are you hungry throughout your workout? Does your workout suffer due to lack of energy? It shouldn’t, but a larger pre-workout meal won’t necessarily solve that problem. Adequate workout nutrition doesn’t start with the meal directly prior to training; rather, it starts with every meal you take in since your last workout. In other words, every meal counts. So make them count.
[/quote]

Very good post.

37

[quote]skwasny wrote:

Bacon and sausages - probably not the cleanest of choices. If that’s all you have available, I’d say it’s probably better to eat this than nothing at all.

About your third meal: are you hungry throughout your workout? Does your workout suffer due to lack of energy? It shouldn’t, but a larger pre-workout meal won’t necessarily solve that problem. Adequate workout nutrition doesn’t start with the meal directly prior to training; rather, it starts with every meal you take in since your last workout. In other words, every meal counts. So make them count.
[/quote]

Any other meal suggestions to replace the bacon/ sausages? Also, at the risk of sounding stupid, what exactly do you mean when you say ‘make every meal count’?

38

has anyone tried norateen heavyweight 2 tell me if it worth buying

39

[quote]dnlcdstn wrote:

[quote]skwasny wrote:

[quote]anirudh412 wrote:

[quote]skwasny wrote:
If you’re waking up at 11:30, I’d venture to guess you’re also staying up late. Even if you have to cram another meal in around 9 or 10, do it. Just be sure to stay away from carbs so late in the day and you’ll be fine.[/quote]

How about if I ate bacon and sausages for my 4th meal and have 2-3 servings of nuts throughtout the day? Also, I am considering increasing the 3rd meal and splitting it so that 1 half is before the workout and the other half be about an hour after my post workout shake?

I dont know how, but even though I sleep at around 2 a.m everyday, I just had my 4th meal and its midnight here :slight_smile: time flies :-)[/quote]

Bacon and sausages - probably not the cleanest of choices. If that’s all you have available, I’d say it’s probably better to eat this than nothing at all.

About your third meal: are you hungry throughout your workout? Does your workout suffer due to lack of energy? It shouldn’t, but a larger pre-workout meal won’t necessarily solve that problem. Adequate workout nutrition doesn’t start with the meal directly prior to training; rather, it starts with every meal you take in since your last workout. In other words, every meal counts. So make them count.
[/quote]

Very good post.[/quote]

Thanks dude.

40

[quote]anirudh412 wrote:

[quote]skwasny wrote:

Bacon and sausages - probably not the cleanest of choices. If that’s all you have available, I’d say it’s probably better to eat this than nothing at all.

About your third meal: are you hungry throughout your workout? Does your workout suffer due to lack of energy? It shouldn’t, but a larger pre-workout meal won’t necessarily solve that problem. Adequate workout nutrition doesn’t start with the meal directly prior to training; rather, it starts with every meal you take in since your last workout. In other words, every meal counts. So make them count.
[/quote]

Any other meal suggestions to replace the bacon/ sausages? Also, at the risk of sounding stupid, what exactly do you mean when you say ‘make every meal count’?[/quote]

Make every meal count. In other words, learn to eat as optimally and efficiently as possible regardless of lifestyle or schedule constraints. Here’s what I would do. Keep in mind I don’t eat pasta or other breads, so you may decide to incorporate pasta into your post-workout meals. It’s not perfect. It has it’s limitations but I think you’ll take a lot from it. Just try to eat immediately upon waking, then every 2-3 hours after.

Meal 1, protein plus fat
3 egg whites
3 whole eggs
1/2 cup veggies
1 slice fat free cheese
2 tsp flax oil, 2 tsp olive oil

(Training Session)

Meal 2, Workout Drink, protein and simple carbs
1-2 scoops intra-workout drink (i.e. Gatorade, Size On, Surge…)

Meal 3, Post-workout Drink, protein plus carbs
Same as above

Meal 4, protein plus carbs
1 banana
1 cup cottage cheese
1 scoop protein powder
2.5 cups high fiber cereal (Alternatively, you could throw in your pasta meal here)

Meal 5, protein plus carbs
1/2 cup oatmeal
2 scoops protein powder
2 slices low fat grain bread
1 piece of fruit
1 piece fat free cheese

Meal 6, protein plus fats
1 cup cottage cheese
1 scoop protein powder
2 tsp flax oil
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp peanut butter

Meal 7, protein plus fats
8 oz lean beef
2 tsp flax oil
2 tsp olive oil
1 piece of fat free cheese
Veggies