Need Some Diet Help - Cardio King Ready To Start Building Muscle Need More Calories

[DeuceRooster]

Okay so here is my story in short. I am 6' 3" and started out 1 year ago today at 302LBs and had never entered a gym in my life. After almost a year of doing tons of cardio and NOT eating right I am down to 231LBs. Problem is during all this cardio I never touched a weight nor did I eat enough protein so in the process I lost a lot of what muscle I had.

Fast forward to about a month ago I started a weight program and the first two weeks I seen some very nice gains. However me knowing nothing about dieting I had a friend make up a simple diet program for me to follow. It worked for a bit but it is only a 2,000 calorie a day diet because I was still trying to drop fat and didnt realize if I wanted to make gains in strength I would need more calories. So I am going to post up my current diet here and I would really appreciate if any of you guys could give me some input on what I can change to add more calories to it but still keep the program balanced. I am lifting 4 days a week and doing cardio 6 days a week. On this 2000cal a day diet I feel so week I can barely lift and I know I'm not going to make any gains that way and I always feel hungry and get a lot of headaches from hunger which really hurts my motivation.

I am eating once every 3 hours and drinking at least 1 gallon of water a day usually more.

1)Egg White 200g
Egg Yolk 15 g
Oats 16g

2) Shake & Five Raw Almonds

3)Chicken Breast 145g
Green Beans 100g
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (tsp)

4)Shake & Five Raw Almonds

5) Ground Beef (93%) 160g
White Baked Potato (w/skin)

6) Egg White 225g
Egg Yolk 20g

Totals:

Protein Carbs Fat Cals

201.3 150.1 65.4 2002



I am thinking I need to add about 700 calories to this but I may be way off? What do you guys think? Please make some suggestions.

Thanks!

[On Fire]

While I'd normally recommend boosting the cals on a bulk... in your situation I would give this a whirl and play it by ear. It seems you could stand to gain some muscle and lose some fat. You will still build muscle with this diet and heavy lifting. Don't let people tell you that because your calorie intake is low, your body will consume muscle faster than it makes it, it just wont happen if you're at 231 pounds and very light on muscle to start with. Diversify your diet too, no need for it to be too simple.

I would give it at least a month, with slow increases in calories IF you feel like you need the added energy.

[determined4000]

2000 is too low for your size
Probably need at least 3k or more but you should slowly increase
try 2700
250g protein, 100-110g fat, 180-200g carbs
Eat a lot more veggies (replace some starchier carbs like potato) and variety of healthy fats (olive/canola oil, flax, PB, avocado) instead of fattier cuts of meat,

[DeuceRooster]

bump

[DeuceRooster]

Meal #4 is usually my preworkout meal so I was thinking I could add 1/2 cup of oats to my shake and maybe an apple?

[DeuceRooster]

thanks to those who helped