New Bulking Diet for Hardgainer

[28renton]

Hey everybody, I'm looking for some suggestions and help with bulking up again.

I'm 5'11", a lacto-ovo vegetarian, and used to weigh 127lbs. The epitome of a hardgainer. I started working out and ate well with a strict 40% protein, 30% fat, 30% carbs diet (egg whites, milk, veggies, cottage cheese, almonds, those kinds of things) and got up to 168lbs. Then I dropped to 140lbs to run in a 10km race. A couple years later I'm now 145lbs and looking to get back up to 160lbs/165lbs so I've worked out a new bulking diet (because the original one is too expensive for me). This diet is not only cheap but also includes a number of things I like to eat so I don't go crazy having to eat too clean (which is ok since I'm bulking), but still has a good macro-nutrient ratio. Any feedback on it is appreciated.

Breakfast:
Raisin Bran - 1 cup
Skim Milk - 1 cup
Protein Powder - 1 scoop

Snack:
Noodles - 1 Pack of Mr. Noodles
Skim Milk - 1/2 cup
Protein Powder - 1 scoop

Lunch:
Veg Dogs - 2
Olive Oil - 15ml
Ketchup - 15ml
Skim Milk - 1/2 cup
Protein Powerd - 1 scoop

After Workout Snack:
Potato Chips - 50 grams
Skim Milk - 1 cup
Protein Powder - 1 scoop

Dinner:
Veg Dogs - 2
Olive Oil - 15ml
Ketchup - 15ml

Snack:
Skim Milk - 1 cup
Protein Powder - 1.5 scoops

Calorie Total:
~2500

Protein %: 43% (265.4 grams)
Carbs %: 35% (215.5 grams)
Fat %: 22% (62.3 grams)

How does this look? Also, for a guy who weighs 145lbs, doing 3 days of weightlifting and 1 day of cardio a week, is 265 grams of protein a day too much?

-Sam

[Cumulonimbus]

Hardgainer is simply someone who moves a lot and doesn't eat enough/overestimates their food intake. Eat how much you're suppose to and results will come.

However, your protein intake is retardedly high for your weight, no need for associate a food as being clean or dirty, complete nonsense, and why so much whey protein? I mean there's no issue if you really don't like eating other sources or are in a rush, but if you think it's superior to other foods that's incorrect. You mentioned you're lacto-ovo, so consume more dairy and eggs. Read the stickies and get some calculations from there.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703981
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=129619163
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=133634471
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=129262261
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=123915821

[28renton]

This was my understanding of what a hardgainer is:

"In it's most basic definition a "hardgainer" is simply someone who gains muscle more slowly and with more difficulty than the average trainee. Then, because some general trends were observed, the term "hardgainer" began to encompass small, thinly built individuals - ectomorphs."

I'm a classic ectomorph, ergo, I figured I was a hardgainer.

Anyways, the reason for the high amount of protein is simple. If I'm eating 2500 calories a day and 40% is coming from protein, then that should be 1000 calories of protein a day. That equals 250 grams of protein. However, that does seem like a lot which is why I asked. Also, from what I've read, ectomorphs require more protein to bulk up than the average mesomorph or endomorph.

Thanks for your response.

[Cumulonimbus]

Read the stickies... it says do not follow a percentage (%) ratio... You eat more protein than I do.. and you weight a lot less.

Bulking = calories, mainly from carbs and fats.

You definition/quote of a hardgainer is still nonsense from a physiological perspective.

[28renton]

Well, can u find me your source of what a hardgainer is cause I couldn't find it anywhere. I found a tonne of definitions similar to the one I quoted.

I'd have to disagree that macronutrient ratio's don't matter. Example, if I ate 2500 calories that was all fat, do you really think that would give me the same results as a 40/30/30 diet?

[Cumulonimbus]

Ratio in percentages don't matter, that matters is requirements for your bodyweight and activity level/type of training...

A hardgainer is someone who naturally overestimates their food intake, has a small appetite, and is active.

Please, just read the stickies.

[mannydawg]

Words of Advise... Listen to what you are being told by Cumulonimbus

[28renton]

Ratio in percentages don't matter, that matters is requirements for your bodyweight and activity level/type of training...

A hardgainer is someone who naturally overestimates their food intake, has a small appetite, and is active.

Please, just read the stickies.

Here's another definition of hardgainer.

"A hardgainer can be defined as a man who has difficulty putting on muscle mass despite consistent workouts in the gym and consumption of vast amounts of food. It is not uncommon to see some of these individuals eating upwards of 5,000 calories per day to simply maintain the mass they have, let alone add new muscle tissue."

This is not someone who overestimates their food intake (or has a small appetite). Still waiting for you to quote your source on what a hardgainer is.

And you also ripped on my comment about eating clean. All I'm saying is I'm getting most of my calories from good sources but some from junk foods (like potato chips). And it is important to eat clean. If your diet is full of satured and trans fats, guess what, that clogs up your arteries. Don't give me this bs about the myth of eating clean. Instead of "eating clean" perhaps I should say "healthy". It's not nonsense. Is your diet nothing but fried chicken dipped in melted butter with cheesecake? No? Didn't think so. But you could probably get all the daily calories you need eating that so maybe you should try it out for a month and let me know how that works out for you.

But fine, ratio in percentages don't matter. I'll give you that.

[mannydawg]

Here's another definition of hardgainer.

"A hardgainer can be defined as a man who has difficulty putting on muscle mass despite consistent workouts in the gym and consumption of vast amounts of food. It is not uncommon to see some of these individuals eating upwards of 5,000 calories per day to simply maintain the mass they have, let alone add new muscle tissue."

This is not someone who overestimates their food intake (or has a small appetite). Still waiting for you to quote your source on what a hardgainer is.

And you also ripped on my comment about eating clean. All I'm saying is I'm getting most of my calories from good sources but some from junk foods (like potato chips). And it is important to eat clean. If your diet is full of satured and trans fats, guess what, that clogs up your arteries. Don't give me this bs about the myth of eating clean.

But fine, ratio in percentages don't matter. I'll give you that.

There is no such thing as a hardgainer unless you have an underlying medical condition. Those people who are thin simply don't eat enough calories over the course of the week thus cannot gain weight. Law of energy Balance buddy. Also trans fat should be avoided but there is no need to avoid saturated fat because it is not correlated to Cardiovascular disease.

[28renton]

There is no such thing as a hardgainer unless you have an underlying medical condition. Those people who are thin simply don't eat enough calories over the course of the week thus cannot gain weight. Law of energy Balance buddy. Also trans fat should be avoided but there is no need to avoid saturated fat because it is not correlated to Cardiovascular disease.

Fair enough about the hardgainer. Now we're debating semantics because there is a popular definition of hardgainer which is associated with ectomorphs. Can we just change "hardgainer" to "ectomorph" and be done with it?

[mannydawg]

Fair enough about the hardgainer. Now we're debating semantics because there is a popular definition of hardgainer which is associated with ectomorphs. Can we just change "hardgainer" to "ectomorph" and be done with it?

How about no. Ectomorph/hardgainer those terms means nothing. Just eat enough.