Bulking diet

[viper318]

I understand these types of threads are posted a million times a day but I would feel a lot more comfortable if I could get a second look from you guys on my bulking diet. This is my first time bulking after losing about 180lbs over the last year and half, so naturally I am nervous and neurotic about the whole thing.

Stats: 6'2" 165-167lbs
Goals: Add muscle mass and increase strength
Routine: All Pro's beginner routine (Lifting 3x a week with very light cardio i.e. walking, biking etc throughout the week)

Diet: 3k calories a day with 150-200g of protein and the remainder of the macros being carbs/fats (I have to keep my fat intake low as I have had several severe gallbladder attacks in the last month and won't be having it removed until the summer)

Also, in regards to my diet, I am taking an IIFYM style approach and although the majority of my diet will consist of natural/whole foods, I am also going to incorporate foods I enjoy as well since I have a lot more calorie leniency and will be getting sufficient protein daily.

I plan on bulking until about 180lbs and would like to gain as little fat as possible on this bulk.

Any feedback at all is appreciated

Thanks.

[AlwaysTryin]

Tdee??

[viper318]

Tdee??

About 2500 calories.

EDIT: I used Mifflin-St Jeor forumla for calculating my BMR which came out to about 1782 and multiplied it by a 1.4 activity factor (lifting 3x a week and light cardio throughout the week) so it came out to roughly 2500 calories then I took 20% of that (500) and came to my conclusion of 3k a day for bulking.

[germaine07]

About 2500 calories.

EDIT: I used Mifflin-St Jeor forumla for calculating my BMR which came out to about 1782 and multiplied it by a 1.4 activity factor (lifting 3x a week and light cardio throughout the week) so it came out to roughly 2500 calories then I took 20% of that (500) and came to my conclusion of 3k a day for bulking.

What are those 3000cal made up of in terms of macros? Protein 150-200g (more accurate?). Fat ?g. Carbs ?g.

[viper318]

What are those 3000cal made up of in terms of macros? Protein 150-200g (more accurate?). Fat ?g. Carbs ?g.

Well I am trying to stay under 70g of fat a day (gallbladder) so the rest will typically be carbs. I am more concerned that the calories/protein numbers are correct as I know that is what is most important for bulking and achieving muscle mass.

Sorry but I really don't have static macros as like I said in my OP, I will be incorporating a variety of foods so my macros are going to fluctuate from day to day excluding my minimum protein goal.

[kevi204]

I understand these types of threads are posted a million times a day but I would feel a lot more comfortable if I could get a second look from you guys on my bulking diet. This is my first time bulking after losing about 180lbs over the last year and half, so naturally I am nervous and neurotic about the whole thing.

Stats: 6'2" 165-167lbs
Goals: Add muscle mass and increase strength
Routine: All Pro's beginner routine (Lifting 3x a week with very light cardio i.e. walking, biking etc throughout the week)

Diet: 3k calories a day with 150-200g of protein and the remainder of the macros being carbs/fats (I have to keep my fat intake low as I have had several severe gallbladder attacks in the last month and won't be having it removed until the summer)

Also, in regards to my diet, I am taking an IIFYM style approach and although the majority of my diet will consist of natural/whole foods, I am also going to incorporate foods I enjoy as well since I have a lot more calorie leniency and will be getting sufficient protein daily.

I plan on bulking until about 180lbs and would like to gain as little fat as possible on this bulk.

Any feedback at all is appreciated

Thanks.

All looks good OP. Congrats on the weight loss, and all the best with your bulk. I think 3000 cals is a good starting point. Looks like you did your homework.
-Just don't get demotivated if you put on a few lbs after the first week...It will be water weight mostly.

[ironwill2008]

Well I am trying to stay under 70g of fat a day (gallbladder) so the rest will typically be carbs. I am more concerned that the calories/protein numbers are correct as I know that is what is most important for bulking and achieving muscle mass.

.

The 'daily calories' number you derive from any of the formulas isn't going to be exact, nor does it need to be. It's just an 'educated guess' to be used as a starting point. You'll weigh/measure/track your portions for several weeks (6-8) for starters, and at that point evaluate where you're at at that time relative to where you want to go. You'll then make adjustments as per the mirror, the fit of your clothes, the scale, and your log book, and then re-evaluate in several more weeks.

It's a process, and your requirements will change as your body composition changes.




BeeTeeDubya, you might want to run your nutrition plan past your doc, since your situation is out of the regular for this forum.

Good luck to you with your health issue.

[viper318]

All looks good OP. Congrats on the weight loss, and all the best with your bulk. I think 3000 cals is a good starting point. Looks like you did your homework.
-Just don't get demotivated if you put on a few lbs after the first week...It will be water weight mostly.

Thanks, I am anticipating the water weight gain so the first week of this diet won't really be used to evaluate it's effectiveness. Also when you say 3k is a good starting point, do you think it is likely the number will have to go up or down?

The 'daily calories' number you derive from any of the formulas isn't going to be exact, nor does it need to be. It's just an 'educated guess' to be used as a starting point. You'll weigh/measure/track your portions for several weeks (6-8) for starters, and at that point evaluate where you're at at that time relative to where you want to go. You'll then make adjustments as per the mirror, the fit of your clothes, the scale, and your log book, and then re-evaluate in several more weeks.

It's a process, and your requirements will change as your body composition changes.

BeeTeeDubya, you might want to run your nutrition plan past your doc, since your situation is out of the regular for this forum.

Good luck to you with your health issue.

Ya I understand it should be used as a guesstimate of what I will need to actually efficiently add muscle mass. Based on the information I have provided though do you think my starting of 3k will be too high or too low? I know it is difficult for you to say and I will likely just have to do my couple week sample to determine how my bulk is going but estimating my maintenance too high and adding more fat than muscle during this bulk is a huge fear for me.

[Botch]

dude. if **** like your gallbladder is in play maybe its best you see a nutritonist and a doctor to make sure you're doing stuff right.

[kevi204]

[QUOTE=viper318;853815433]Thanks, I am anticipating the water weight gain so the first week of this diet won't really be used to evaluate it's effectiveness. Also when you say 3k is a good starting point, do you think it is likely the number will have to go up or down?


-Most likely will have to bring the cals up a bit after a while.
-but everyone's different, so there's the chance you may have to bring the cals down. But at 6'2", i don't really foresee bringing the cals down.

[e00z]

just to give some perspective, i'm 145lbs. i started bulking about 2-3 weeks ago and ate at around 2700. TDEE is probably 2300. didn't really felt like i was gaining too much muscle. i would consistently wake up starving every morning. after a week i bumped that up to 3000. i'm pretty paranoid about fat gain too so i scrutinize myself in the mirror every morning but even at this number i've been waking up looking just as lean as i did when i started bulking but i've noticed more gains in my lifts by eating more. i'm going to stay at 3000 for a bit but i could see myself going higher in the future just to see how much i can push my calorie limit before it becomes obvious that i'm getting fat. i think you should feel confident in eating at 3000 for now and most likely you'll increase it as time progresses.

[viper318]

-Most likely will have to bring the cals up a bit after a while.
-but everyone's different, so there's the chance you may have to bring the cals down. But at 6'2", i don't really foresee bringing the cals down.

Ok, thanks.

just to give some perspective, i'm 145lbs. i started bulking about 2-3 weeks ago and ate at around 2700. TDEE is probably 2300. didn't really felt like i was gaining too much muscle. i would consistently wake up starving every morning. after a week i bumped that up to 3000. i'm pretty paranoid about fat gain too so i scrutinize myself in the mirror every morning but even at this number i've been waking up looking just as lean as i did when i started bulking but i've noticed more gains in my lifts by eating more. i'm going to stay at 3000 for a bit but i could see myself going higher in the future just to see how much i can push my calorie limit before it becomes obvious that i'm getting fat. i think you should feel confident in eating at 3000 for now and most likely you'll increase it as time progresses.

Ya thanks, that is very comforting. It is just hard to adapt to the "I need to gain weight" mentality after cutting for so long and putting the emphasis on weight loss. I have also seen a lot of horror stories of people bulking but putting on too much fat and I guess I just fear that after a week of eating 3k calories I will wake up obese, which is obviously an illogical fear. I am sure once I have bulked for a few weeks without drastic changes and realize that I constantly monitor myself (i.e. weight, mirror etc) making it impossible to obliviously become fat, I will lose a lot of the anxiety. My problem is that I don't realize I am much more educated on health and fitness as well as much more vigilant of my body compared to when I was morbidly obese.

My weight loss happened with me having complete control and my weight gain will as well.