I looked over that thread before I posted this one... just wanted to see what people on here had to say. That board is full of HST lovers and many of them seem to be newbies at training despite lifting for many years.
To monitor my diet I used www.fitday.com , which is, in my opinion, one of the greatest free resources for bodybuilders.
I would set two goals: a calorie goal and a protein goal.
I made sure I hit 3750 kcal/day with 150 g's of protein (1g/lb bodyweight). Usually I didn't hit these right on the nose but went over. Was that the right amount of calories? Probably. I'm one of those extreme ecto's with fiery metabolisms. That 14 pounds weight gain was accompanied by only 1 inch on my waist. I didn't measure bodyfat but can still see abs no problem.
This is not meant to be a slam but were you extremely skinny when you started bodybuilding? 150 lbs or 164 (depending on how I interpret that) after 3+ years? What weight did you start at?
Yep I'm a recovering ecto. Started 3 years ago at 5'11", 135. After three years of training incorrectly (knew nothing about diet, was sometimes inconsistent), I was 5'11" 147. Now I'm 162.