Bulk diet advice - Dbflgirl, comments please

[MarkY]

My typical (maintenance) diet for a day is posted below. I currently eat between 2300 and 2400 calories to maintain a body weight around 150. I’m probably going to start Waterbury’s ABBH program soon but I was thinking of changing it to do a M, T, TH, F. My weekends are pretty full and I like having Saturday and Sunday off.

I would really like to get to about 160 with very little BF increase, IOW a clean “bulk”. I was callipered a couple of days ago at 9.7%. I’m thinking 3 months should allow me to accomplish this. I'm thinking of increasing my calories by about 300 per day (2600). Thanks for the help.

Breakfast:

6 egg whites (usually Egg Starts from Costco)
¼ cup shredded low fat cheddar
2 cups Go Lean cereal (need the fiber)
1 small banana
1 cup skim milk

Morning snack:

1 serving Low Fat yogurt (Danon or Blue Bunny)
1 hard boiled egg

Lunch:

1 can tuna fish mixed with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, flax seeds.
8 small green olives
½ cup of peas and/or carrots
1 cup sugar free Jello

Afternoon Snack:

2 slice whole wheat bread (oro wheat)
4 oz sliced turkey or london broil
1 slice low fat pepper cheese

Pre workout:

Apple

Post workout:

1 scoop whey, mixed with 6 oz of Gatorade (don’t have this on non workout days)

Dinner:

6 oz skinless chicken breast
½ of large yam or broccoli, spinach, or beans

Night Snack:

3 tablespoons of cottage cheese
1 tablespoon of peanut butter
1 scoop whey

This is about a 38P/34C/28F ratio.

[stahlhart]

Originally Posted by MarkY

2 cups Go Lean cereal (need the fiber)

(butting in)

I'd go with oatmeal here instead -- I'd be willing to wager that it's comparable to the Go Lean on fiber, and you wouldn't have the refined sugar.

C.K.

[ChocoChick]

Hi Mark

Ok, do you weigh 148 or 150? You posted 148 in the abs thread. In any event, if you want to gain 12 pounds in 12 weeks, then you are going to have to take in 3500 extra calories per week, or 500 extra per day. 300 calories will get you to your goal, but slower. Slower isn't bad, imo, as it lets you control fat gain more easily. As you saw with the abs contest, you took 12 weeks to lose 7 pounds, but you did it without sacrificing muscle, so slow can be good.

That said, your diet looks pretty good. I would make a few tweaks:

Breakfast:

6 egg whites (usually Egg Starts from Costco)
¼ cup shredded low fat cheddar
2 cups Go Lean cereal (need the fiber)
1 small banana
1 cup skim milk

You've got a lot of carbs here with the 2 cups of Go Lean, and, like Stalhart, I prefer Oats, but the Go Lean is probably the best boxed cereal if this is what you like to use. You could add some oat bran to your oats if you want more fiber. Anyway, if you're going to do 2 full cups of starchy carb, I wouldn't also do the banan here. So 1 cup of Go Lean + banana or 2 cups of Go Lean and no banana.

Morning snack:

1 serving Low Fat yogurt (Danon or Blue Bunny)
1 hard boiled egg

Is this a sugared yogurt? Where's the protein in this meal? An egg has ~6g. Not enough. You want to take your daily protein and split it more or less evenly across your meals. At a minimum, you'll want 25g per meal. I'd also add a healthy fat here.

Lunch:
1 can tuna fish mixed with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, flax seeds.
8 small green olives
½ cup of peas and/or carrots
1 cup sugar free Jello

Move some of this fat to another meal. It's not that it's too much fat, just too much all at once. Also, I'd swap the peas/carrots for a better quality veggies like broccoli (the king of veggies), asparagus, spinach, cauliflower, etc.

Afternoon Snack:
2 slice whole wheat bread (oro wheat)
4 oz sliced turkey or london broil
1 slice low fat pepper cheese

ok. How much protein is this?

Pre workout:

Apple

Huh? You're gonna lift heavy weights with nothing but an apple to fuel you? How long after your snack is this meal? Any chance of combining it for a pre-workout meal? If not, add some protein to your apple.

Post workout:

1 scoop whey, mixed with 6 oz of Gatorade (don’t have this on non workout days)

ok

Dinner:

6 oz skinless chicken breast
½ of large yam or broccoli, spinach, or beans

Have the yam or beans AND the broccoli or spinach. (Yam and beans = starchy carbs, broccoli and spinach = fibrous carbs.)

Night Snack:

3 tablespoons of cottage cheese
1 tablespoon of peanut butter
1 scoop whey

Ditch the whey here. Have a full cup of the cottage cheese instead. PB is A+.

[MarkY]

Originally Posted by dbflgirl

Hi Mark

Ok, do you weigh 148 or 150? You posted 148 in the abs thread. In any event, if you want to gain 12 pounds in 12 weeks, then you are going to have to take in 3500 extra calories per week, or 500 extra per day. 300 calories will get you to your goal, but slower. Slower isn't bad, imo, as it lets you control fat gain more easily. As you saw with the abs contest, you took 12 weeks to lose 7 pounds, but you did it without sacrificing muscle, so slow can be good.

I fluctuate between 148 and 150. I'm thinking of going the slower route. I'd rather be in more control of the fat gain.

Originally Posted by dbflgirl

You've got a lot of carbs here with the 2 cups of Go Lean, and, like Stalhart, I prefer Oats, but the Go Lean is probably the best boxed cereal if this is what you like to use. You could add some oat bran to your oats if you want more fiber. Anyway, if you're going to do 2 full cups of starchy carb, I wouldn't also do the banan here. So 1 cup of Go Lean + banana or 2 cups of Go Lean and no banana.

I thought 2 cups might be a bit much. I eat the Go Lean due to time. On the weekends, I eat oats. I'll cut back on this.

Originally Posted by dbflgirl

Is this a sugared yogurt? Where's the protein in this meal? An egg has ~6g. Not enough. You want to take your daily protein and split it more or less evenly across your meals. At a minimum, you'll want 25g per meal. I'd also add a healthy fat here.

This is my poorest meal of the day and I agree with you. There is 6g sugar in the yogurt. One problem with this meal is that I eat it at work and a lot of times, meetings interfere. I'll have to work on this.

Originally Posted by dbflgirl

Move some of this fat to another meal. It's not that it's too much fat, just too much all at once. Also, I'd swap the peas/carrots for a better quality veggies like broccoli (the king of veggies), asparagus, spinach, cauliflower, etc.

I'll switch this meal up some. Add some broccoli, get rid of the olives. I have to mix the tuna with something, so I'd like to keep the olive oil.

Originally Posted by dbflgirl

ok. How much protein is this?

There is 23 grams of protein in the turkey.

Originally Posted by dbflgirl

Huh? You're gonna lift heavy weights with nothing but an apple to fuel you? How long after your snack is this meal? Any chance of combining it for a pre-workout meal? If not, add some protein to your apple.

I eat my afternoon meal about 2:30, the apple about 3:30 and work out about 4:30. Should I move my 2:30 meal later and combine the apple?

Originally Posted by dbflgirl

Have the yam or beans AND the broccoli or spinach. (Yam and beans = starchy carbs, broccoli and spinach = fibrous carbs.)

OK.

Originally Posted by dbflgirl

Ditch the whey here. Have a full cup of the cottage cheese instead. PB is A+.

I thought you might say that. I struggle with cottage cheese by itself. The fact of the matter is that I don't NEED whey at this time of day. So I'll learn to swallow the cottage cheese without it.

I currently average about 225 grams of protein a day. It doesn't seem to be bothering me, do you think that is too much?

Thanks again for all your help.
Mark

Maybe JacktheBlack can post his.

[ChocoChick]

Originally Posted by MarkY

I fluctuate between 148 and 150. I'm thinking of going the slower route. I'd rather be in more control of the fat gain.

This is my poorest meal of the day and I agree with you. There is 6g sugar in the yogurt. One problem with this meal is that I eat it at work and a lot of times, meetings interfere. I'll have to work on this.

Here's something I do with yogurt for those days when I am on-site with a client and can't bring something smelly like tuna. I get a fat-free, sugar-free yogurt and add abuot 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, a bit of stevia and a scoop of micellar casein. It's not optimal, but it's better than most snacks I would have, can be eaten quickly, and doesn't leave any evidence You can also bring things like hard-boiled eggs (discard the yolks of any you don't want to eat) and keep them in the office frig for up to a week.

Also, when I was in an office on a regular basis, I would keep my desk drawer stocked with snacking foods: pouches of tuna, Kashi bars, whole wheat crackers. Again, not necessarily optimal but a lot better than what I would end up with if I was jammed for food. Something else I have just started doing: I make a big crustless quiche in a 9x12 pan. I typically use about 6egg whites and 2 whole eggs, zucchini, onions, mushrooms, etc. I bake it for about 10 min and then sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top and broil to finish. Anyway, I cut that up and keep it in a tupperware in the frig. I can then grab pieces and put them in the microwave for a minute or two and I am good to go.

I'll switch this meal up some. Add some broccoli, get rid of the olives. I have to mix the tuna with something, so I'd like to keep the olive oil.

Yes, keep the olive oil. The olives are good, too, just not so much fat all in one meal. Share the love

I eat my afternoon meal about 2:30, the apple about 3:30 and work out about 4:30. Should I move my 2:30 meal later and combine the apple?

Yes. See if you can bring that meal to 3:30 or so without messing up the rest of your day.

I thought you might say that. I struggle with cottage cheese by itself. The fact of the matter is that I don't NEED whey at this time of day. So I'll learn to swallow the cottage cheese without it.

One thing that helps (for me, at any rate) is to blend the cottage cheese and freeze it. Combinations you may not have thought of: add some peanut butter and sweetener (yes, this is surprisingly ok); strawberries (frozen are ok) and sweetener; apple (diced fine), walnuts, cinnamon and sweetener.

I also keep a bunch of home-made protein bars on hand for the night-time. I make mine with a mix of proteins (egg, soy and casein) and always in chcolate, so I can feel as though I am having a "treat" for that last meal.

I currently average about 225 grams of protein a day. It doesn't seem to be bothering me, do you think that is too much?

This is ok. Just keep in mind that you will need carbs if you want to grow.

[MarkY]

Thanks for your advice Dbflgirl. I'm going to make the changes you suggest. I'll probably just eat at maintenance for the next 2 weeks because my wife and I leave for Hawaii for then. We;ll be gone for 10 days and I'll start the bulk upon our return.

Hopefully, JacktheBlack will be up for it as well.