Muscle & Fitness - View topic

Pencil Neck **Joined:** 29 Oct 2009 **Posts:** 21

hey guys, i am starting a clean bulk and was hoping some of you might have some advice for me.
i am 5'6", male, 146 lb, 21 y.o, active lifstyle, lift 60+ min/day 5 days/week, cardio 3-4 days/week 15-20 min/session, mesomorph.

my old diet is completely clean. no cheat days, ever. get proteins from fish/chicken/turkey/lean beef/eggs/nuts/beans/whey
carbs from: oatmeal/sweet potatoes/fruits/veggies/brown rice/100% whole wheat bread/beans
fat: nuts/olive oil

my previous diet was around 1600-1800 cal/day (well below my required calories...my metabolism was incredibly slow from this) and my previous training was lifting/crossfit 5 days/week for 60+ min/day and cardio 6 days/week for 60+ min/day.

my new diet is around 2400-2500 cal/day. is this too big a jump considering my ne training schedule and my goals in comparison to my old schedule (i.e., less cardio, heavier lifting)

Example day-by-day diet:

0630 breakfast:
1/2c plain oatmeal
1/2c skim milk
4 egg whites
2 whole eggs
1 scoop whey

0900 snack 1:
1 clif builder's bar
1 can chunk light tuna in water

1200 lunch:
8-10 oz. lean meat
8c green leaf salad
2 tbsp. balsamic vinaigerette
3-6 oz. baby carrots

1500 pre-workout:
1/2c dry oats
1 scoop whey

1800 post-workout:
10-12 oz. lean meat
1 med. sweet potato
1 scoop whey

2000 pre-bed snack:
1c 2% milkfat cottage cheese

is this a bad idea to jump my calories this much higher this soon/dramatically? it has been a week of this now and while i am noticing a bit of size increase in muscles, i feel a little softer. my bf% has not gone up much as far as i can tell (based on visuals only) but i don't know for sure.

Getting Buffed **Joined:** 13 Aug 2008 **Posts:** 1183

In just one week, your muscles have not gotten (noticably) bigger and you have not gotten fatter.

And at 146, I wouldn't worry about separating your eggs (or anytime for that matter). Whole eggs all the way. Also, red meat as much as you can is a good idea. Don't worry about the fat in it - it's good for you. In fact, your diet looks to be incredibely low in fat. Throw in a couple tbsps of extra virgin olive oil at the very least. Maybe some nuts or nut butter as well.

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Pencil Neck **Joined:** 26 Jul 2009 **Posts:** 397

stuff your face on full fat yogurt, WHOLE WHOLE WHOLE eggs, whole milk, red meat, avocadoes, olive oils, nuts, BEANNNNNNNNNNNNNS

everytime you have a scoop of whey exept post workout, y ou should eat what i wrote up imo.

you will need a shit load of healthy fats, quality proteins, and a bit of carbs

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Muscle Head **Joined:** 12 Feb 2006 **Posts:** 2938

why do you lift five days a week?

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The Beach Mayhem 2008 Smackdown Champion

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Pencil Neck **Joined:** 29 Oct 2009 **Posts:** 21

Here is a pic of me to better assess what I look like and whatever you can get out of it/conclude on how I need to diet would help. I was leaner than this just last week before I started eating more...is going from 1800 to 2500 cal/day too big a jump in too short a time period? 1800 was well below my maintenance...it should have been around 2400 or so...Even now it is calculated at about 2680. But since I began eating more, I have noticed that I have become softer around the stomach...Maybe it's water weight (I am drinking like 1.5-2 gal of water a day now).

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Pencil Neck **Joined:** 29 Oct 2009 **Posts:** 21

btw...those abs WERE deeper just last Friday. Is that fat around them now or water weight? Being that I ate so little prior to just Saturday, is my lowered metabolism not keeping up with this food intake or is that possibly all just water?

And I lift 5 days/week because I am a mesomorph, I am in the military (and often times don't have much else to do) and it fits my split best.

Olympia God **Joined:** 23 Mar 2005 **Posts:** 7412

For the most part it looks fine. I don't think you need a scoop of whey in addition to the other stuff you are eating at breakfast or post workout.

More fruit and veggies.

Also, you say you get your fat from nuts and oil, but I don't see either of those listed there?

Finally, how much weight did you actually gain over the last week?

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Pencil Neck **Joined:** 29 Oct 2009 **Posts:** 21

I weigh myself every day with the same scale at the same time of day. Last friday night at 1800 i was 14 lb...last night at 1800 i was 147.6 lb. this is just one day of my diet demonstrating the cleanliness of how i eat...i cycle some foods in/out for others...i do throw my almonds in there usually after lunch

Olympia God **Joined:** 23 Mar 2005 **Posts:** 7412

rodawg69 wrote:

I weigh myself every day with the same scale at the same time of day. Last friday night at 1800 i was 14 lb...last night at 1800 i was 147.6 lb. this is just one day of my diet demonstrating the cleanliness of how i eat...i cycle some foods in/out for others...i do throw my almonds in there usually after lunch

Whoa, you gained 133lbs in a week! Razz

I don't think that increase in cals is a big deal. I'm sure any weight you gained was water weight. It certainly wasn't much muscle and I doubt it was much fat.

IMO, you are paying way too close attention to your weight and appearance. Stop getting on the scale everyday, once a week tops. Take a picture or two of yourself now, then again a month from now and compare them. The mirror can lie to you. Examining your self in the mirror and weighing yourself daily is just going to drive you crazy. There's going to be fluctuations from day to day, but you are not going to see any sort of meaningful change day to day.

Almonds or not, you need to up your fat intake. Put some EVOO in your salad, have some PB with that cottage cheese on top of having some almonds.

And for Gods sake, cheat once in a while! You're young it's not going to kill you.

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There are few things graven in stone, except that you have to squat or you're a pussy - Mark Rippetoe

Pencil Neck **Joined:** 20 Jun 2009 **Posts:** 403

bigstabile wrote:

rodawg69 wrote:

I weigh myself every day with the same scale at the same time of day. Last friday night at 1800 i was 14 lb...last night at 1800 i was 147.6 lb. this is just one day of my diet demonstrating the cleanliness of how i eat...i cycle some foods in/out for others...i do throw my almonds in there usually after lunch

Whoa, you gained 133lbs in a week! Razz

I was thinking the same thing, but I didnt want to be the first for pointing out a smart ass typo Cool

Muscle Head **Joined:** 30 May 2005 **Posts:** 2925

Search for Monkeynutz and his bulking plan. Best plan ever

Muscle Head **Joined:** 12 Feb 2006 **Posts:** 2938

HammerStrengthKid wrote:

Search for Monkeynutz and his bulking plan. Best plan ever

One day you are going to recomend that plan and somebody is going to actually follow it.

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Dan

The Beach Mayhem 2008 Smackdown Champion

DNW431 for 5% off your True Protein order at trueprotein.com

Pencil Neck **Joined:** 29 Oct 2009 **Posts:** 21

I don't want to cheat. I enjoy clean foods and you get out of your body what you put into it. But thanks for the advice guys, if anyone has anything else please just let me know. A big concern of mine is since I am jumping from 1800 cal/day to 2600 cal/day is this going to negatively affect me somehow? At 1800 cal/day I was well below maintenance and on top of that doing tons of weights/cardio so my metabolism was significantly reduced (I couldn't even lose weight anymore at that point). How is this caloric jump going to affect me and will my metabolism catch back up?

Pencil Neck **Joined:** 20 Jun 2009 **Posts:** 403

rodawg69 wrote:

I don't want to cheat. I enjoy clean foods and you get out of your body what you put into it. But thanks for the advice guys, if anyone has anything else please just let me know. A big concern of mine is since I am jumping from 1800 cal/day to 2600 cal/day is this going to negatively affect me somehow? At 1800 cal/day I was well below maintenance and on top of that doing tons of weights/cardio so my metabolism was significantly reduced (I couldn't even lose weight anymore at that point). How is this caloric jump going to affect me and will my metabolism catch back up?

The only way it will affect you is that you will gain more weight like you want to.

Olympia God **Joined:** 23 Mar 2005 **Posts:** 7412

rodawg69 wrote:

I don't want to cheat. I enjoy clean foods and you get out of your body what you put into it. But thanks for the advice guys, if anyone has anything else please just let me know. A big concern of mine is since I am jumping from 1800 cal/day to 2600 cal/day is this going to negatively affect me somehow? At 1800 cal/day I was well below maintenance and on top of that doing tons of weights/cardio so my metabolism was significantly reduced (I couldn't even lose weight anymore at that point). How is this caloric jump going to affect me and will my metabolism catch back up?

It's going to make you gain weight.

Yes, your metabolism will speed up.

No it isn't going to negatively effect you.

Like I said, you are overanalyzing, or at least it appears that way.

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There are few things graven in stone, except that you have to squat or you're a pussy - Mark Rippetoe