Eating every 2 hours or every 3 hours

[marcellius27]

- I have an ectomorph body type, I weigh 115-122 lbs
- I have never weight lifted in my life, so I am a newbie.

Questions:
Should I eat clean or should I eat dirty to gain weight? I don't want to get fat.

I was told to really gain weight you have to eat every 2 hours. If I do that I would be eating 9 meals day instead of 6 meals a day. And since I am a newbie I was told to start off with 2500 calories. That means I'm eating 277 calories a meal.

Or I can eat 3500 calories a day and with 9 meals a day I would be eating 388 calories a meal.

Should I eat the six meals a day (every 3 hours) or should I eat the 9 meals a day (every 2 hours)? I really need to gain clean lean weight. I want to reach like 170- 180 lbs in 14 months.

[willldabeast]

holly cow you are overthinking it. It is pretty simple.

eat more calories than you expend and you will grow. dont worry about 'clean" or "dirty" foods, how often you are eating, or how many meals you are eating.

personally,. I do best on about 5 or 6 meals per day. But that is preference, some people get great gains on one meal per day. Experiment, find out what works for you. but at the end of the day, calories/protein/fiber/EFAs are all that matter.

[marcellius27]

If I eat dirty won't I get fat?
Right now I can't lie, I'm not eating often I have like a Michael Jackson diet. That may be why I'm so skinny. But when I gain weight I don't want to get fat...I dont want to get big that way.

[sunngodd]

Eat clean foods with dirty condiments

[marcellius27]

dirty condiments?

[lee__d]

dirty condiments?

he's joking.

im sure u dont wanna bother with counting cals, so just eat and lift...aim for gaining .5lb-1.5lb/week (although ur young yo u could prob be toward the higher end of the range) to minimize fat gain.

[s.o.u.p]

Building lean muscle without storing fat is a slow process, and hard, and slow.

It's much faster to do a bulk, then a cut.

Eat everything, do the GOMAD (gallon of milk a day) diet and eat lots of clean carbs like oats.

As well as anything else you can chew.

the quickest way to gain is to eat and lift as much as you can, don't worry about gaining fat, look into a cut later, you may even find that you don't want/need to do a cut.

I just gained 8 kg's in a month (from keto, so over half of that's water, folks, calm down) and my girlfriend reckons I don't need to drop any fat.

I will tho, gotta be cut.....

[marcellius27]

so just eat? that's it? pop tarts and all that other stuff.

[mohrland]

so just eat? that's it? pop tarts and all that other stuff.

You might skip the pop tarts, I don't think they will get you far. I'd try to stick with cleans foods to start out. Hopefully you won't be getting fat. Try 6 meals to start out, 9 meals is just too much work and generally 6 meals is plenty. Start ramping your calories up each week to get to your goal. I wouldn't try going from MJ to 2500 in a day. Slow increase them with hard workouts and you'll build the appetite.

[Madsen89]

Eat any real food. Meat, vegetables, fruits, dairy, anything. I wouldn't worry about getting fat, I don't think you could possibly get more dangerously unhealthy than being 115lbs.

[FunkymonkAW]

If I eat dirty won't I get fat?
Right now I can't lie, I'm not eating often I have like a Michael Jackson diet. That may be why I'm so skinny. But when I gain weight I don't want to get fat...I dont want to get big that way.

Depends. Caloric excess/surplus makes you fat, not the type of foods you eat.

so just eat? that's it? pop tarts and all that other stuff.

However, if you're living off of poptarts and fast food cheeseburgers, you're gonna have a hell of a hard time functioning and getting in a proper workout.

Calories determine fat gain/loss.
Dirty/Clean has a big impact on how you feel throughout the day, mentally physically etc.

[Madsen89]

Depends. Caloric excess/surplus makes you fat, not the type of foods you eat.

Kinda true kinda false. All nutrients serve a purpose. For example, protein is required in the ketosis of fat, meaning without protein your body cannot burn fat at all. Someone meeting maintenence with a well balanced diet is likely to look far better, and more healthy than someone meeting maintenence 100% from carbs, fat, or protein.

[anti-steroids]

Building lean muscle without storing fat is a slow process, and hard, and slow.

It's much faster to do a bulk, then a cut.

Eat everything, do the GOMAD (gallon of milk a day) diet and eat lots of clean carbs like oats.

As well as anything else you can chew.

the quickest way to gain is to eat and lift as much as you can, don't worry about gaining fat, look into a cut later, you may even find that you don't want/need to do a cut.

I just gained 8 kg's in a month (from keto, so over half of that's water, folks, calm down) and my girlfriend reckons I don't need to drop any fat.

I will tho, gotta be cut.....

true building lean tissue with alot of excess fat is slow but ITS IS NO REASON/EXCUSE
TO EAT ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON
ALL WHILE HIDING UNDER THE GUISE OF "BULKING"

[FunkymonkAW]

Kinda true kinda false. All nutrients serve a purpose. For example, protein is required in the ketosis of fat, meaning without protein your body cannot burn fat at all. Someone meeting maintenence with a well balanced diet is likely to look far better, and more healthy than someone meeting maintenence 100% from carbs, fat, or protein.

Very, very, very true. Plus, as I mentioned earlier, someone who eats "well" (balanced, adequate micro intake, clean or clean-ish) will usually feel better and be able to perform better. There are many qualitative advantages that a clean(ish) diet has that cannot be measured on the scale or by using a caliper.

[s.o.u.p]

Depends. Caloric excess/surplus makes you fat, not the type of foods you eat.



However, if you're living off of poptarts and fast food cheeseburgers, you're gonna have a hell of a hard time functioning and getting in a proper workout.

Calories determine fat gain/loss.
Dirty/Clean has a big impact on how you feel throughout the day, mentally physically etc.

Wave~length would have something to say about that, his last prep cut consisted of pop tarts and marshmallows.

He regularily does all junk food diets and is cut like a freak.

[FunkymonkAW]

Wave~length would have something to say about that, his last prep cut consisted of pop tarts and marshmallows.

He regularily does all junk food diets and is cut like a freak.

I personally feel like crap and have a pisspoor day at the gym when I meet my daily cals on junk and not whole or "real" food.

[s.o.u.p]

true building lean tissue with alot of excess fat is slow but ITS IS NO REASON/EXCUSE
TO EAT ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON
ALL WHILE HIDING UNDER THE GUISE OF "BULKING"

One day, they'll make keyboards without the capslock button, and you my friend, will cry.

And much like the guy in the OP, I needed to gain quick, I lost a lot of weightdue to food poisoning after I recovered I was so thin some people said I was looking sick.

So I ate heaps and didn't care what I snacked on outside of mealtimes.

Even after all the weight gain, I can still see an outline of my abs.

The bulk and cut is a rather valid form of BB'ing.

Maybe you just have poor genes and need to be more careful with what you eat?

[Alyion]

OP, dont even worry about gaining fat or macros/calories for the time being, eat a hell of a lot of good food/ perhaps even do a GOMAD, you are new and with a good compound routine (such as SS or a 5x5) focusing on squats you will gain some good mass

wait, dude - didn't you make that previous post about the 4K SS diet? You are SERIOUSLY overthinking this - eat a hell of a lot of good food, hell drink a gallon of milk - you are young and doing SS - don't be afraid of bulking up man

[marcellius27]

yeah, Alyion. I was the same person that made the 4K diet. I really am overthinking this. I just want to do it right. I don't know how many calories I should start out with being 115-122 lbs. I should eat until I'm full I guess? How long should I not worry about calories and macros?

[Ukko]

At that weight and experiance you will see great gains as long as you work hard and eat lots ALL the time. Just to try to not eat **** all the time.

You set a pretty steep goal for yourself. 60 lbs of mucle in 14 months is more than a little unrealistic. But don't worry, you will see big gains.

[Flex500]

Building lean muscle without storing fat is a slow process, and hard, and slow.

It's much faster to do a bulk, then a cut.

Eat everything, do the GOMAD (gallon of milk a day) diet and eat lots of clean carbs like oats.

As well as anything else you can chew.

the quickest way to gain is to eat and lift as much as you can, don't worry about gaining fat, look into a cut later, you may even find that you don't want/need to do a cut.

I just gained 8 kg's in a month (from keto, so over half of that's water, folks, calm down) and my girlfriend reckons I don't need to drop any fat.

I will tho, gotta be cut.....

you don't increase muscle protein synthesis directly in relation to how much you eat. You can eat 5000 calories over or 500 calories over but most natural athletes are going to synthesize 0-.25 pounds of muscle a week. And most should be on there knees thanking whatever god they believe in if they could average .25 pounds a week.

this is basic anatomy and physiology. You are only going to synthesize so much muscle no matter how much you over eat. Building muscle is a slow process no matter how much you "super bulk" or how much weight you put on the scale. Building actual muscle is slow regardless of how much you overeat.

[Flex500]

- I have an ectomorph body type, I weigh 115-122 lbs
- I have never weight lifted in my life, so I am a newbie.

Questions:
Should I eat clean or should I eat dirty to gain weight? I don't want to get fat.

I was told to really gain weight you have to eat every 2 hours. If I do that I would be eating 9 meals day instead of 6 meals a day. And since I am a newbie I was told to start off with 2500 calories. That means I'm eating 277 calories a meal.

Or I can eat 3500 calories a day and with 9 meals a day I would be eating 388 calories a meal.

Should I eat the six meals a day (every 3 hours) or should I eat the 9 meals a day (every 2 hours)? I really need to gain clean lean weight. I want to reach like 170- 180 lbs in 14 months.

you need to get realistic first of all. You are not going to gain anywhere near 50 pounds of muscle in 14 months. Your body only synthesizes so much muscle. Generally...even in labs, studies etc. you won't find examples of natural athletes puting on a legit one pound of dry muscle per week. I know Dr. Horse (who is very knowledgeable) my disagree but you pick up any college level and above anatomy book and MANY if not all will have the firm statement of "your body can only synthesize a pound of muscle a week but most will find it impossible to even put on .5 pounds of muscle a week".

So let's get realistic. We obviously know your body will not synthesize the exact same amount of muscle each day or week or month it will vary. But for simplicity sake since you are just start off let's give you the dramatic benefit of a doubt that you'll average ..3 pounds of muslce gain a week for 14 months. That is like 17 pounds of pure muscle and add like 7 pounds for water weight. That is 24 pounds. Of course eating in a calorie surplus you will gain some fat no matter what...how much is up to you. Let's say you don't mind 15 pounds of fat gain...that's puts you at around 160 in 14 months.


I know I'm getting long and drawn out here...but again I'm not saying you couldn't be your goal weight. Honestly I bet I could get you 220. But you are only going to build so much muscle no matter what you do.

[Nefariousx1]

One day, they'll make keyboards without the capslock button, and you my friend, will cry.

One day bb.com will get rid of the rep system, and you soup, might just get taken seriously.

[loxleynew]

yeah, Alyion. I was the same person that made the 4K diet. I really am overthinking this. I just want to do it right. I don't know how many calories I should start out with being 115-122 lbs. I should eat until I'm full I guess? How long should I not worry about calories and macros?

Simple solution. Eat clean foods until you are not hungry anymore but try eat every 3 hours. You can have some cheat meals more so than other people but just don't over do it. Gradually start eating more and more as your stomach can expand and handle more food....

Just make the staple of your diet around clean foods then add dirty foods every here and there. Also lift heavy. The more weight you gain the cleaner you can go. Like don't worry about it too much until you hit 140+ then check and see how much fat you have gained compared to muscle and adjust your diet from there.

[marcellius27]

Thanks guys. But I did not say that I wanted all 50 lbs of muscle..some of it will be fat..I think it could be possible. Because some guy on bb. ehayes gained 55 lbs in 14 months and he started at 120 lbs.

Still kinda confused a little bit. Because everyone keeps track of those calories...now...I'm being told not too?

Shoot I won't even know know the macros. just eat all the time and lift hard. seems that's the motto you guys are giving me.