What I ate to gain 13kg in 7 months and stay sub-10%

[|D_J^B_J|]

It's not rocket science. Simply eat relatively clean food most of the time without being too restrictive, aiming at 500KCal a day above your today daily energy expenditure (TDEE) and you will gain weight. If your training program is decent and you are getting enough sleep (I'm talking 8 - 9 hours a night depending on the individual), the majority of your gains will be muscle and fat gain will be kept to a minimum. Also, try divide your daily caloric intake into more frequent, smaller meals, do cardio several times a week to increase insulin sensitivity.

Click here to see my training journal, since I believe that training is most important if you are trying to gain/preserve muscle.

Click here to calculate your BMR based on the Harris Benedict Equation, then multiply by your activity level to calculate your TDEE (i.e. I multiply by 1.55 since I am training 5 x week).

Now, I'm not saying by any means that this diet will work for others. I am not big by any means, so most people will need more calories to gain than I do. I also do high intensity cardio and skill-specific training 2 x week so I need more than an inactive person at my weight would need.

Meal 1:
3/4 cup steel-cut oats
1 banana
3 TBSP mixed berries
1 bowl of natural yoghurt
1 cup egg-whites
1 scoop protein powder
1/2 cup of skimmed milk
1 Multi

730 cals; 40g P; 105g C; 7g F

This doesn't sound tasty but you'd be surprised. Whack the oats, banana, egg whites, milk, stevia powder and chocolate protein powder into a blender and make pancakes by cooking in a pan until brown. Delicious!

Meal 2:
1 tin of tuna
3/4 cup brown rice (occassionally - twice a week - I have the tuna with sliced tomato in sandwiches of 3 slices of rye bread; comes to roughly the same amount of calories)

300 KCals; 25g P; 42g C; 1g F

Meal 3:
3/4 cup brown rice (140g)
1 chicken breast (about 150g)
Mixed vegetables (tomato, celery, etc)

420KCal; 32g P; 42g C; 3g F

Meal 4:
1 salmon fillet (about 150g)
3/4 cup brown rice

420 KCal; 32g P; 9g F

TRAIN (3 x week)

Meal 5 (Post-Workout Shake):
35g protein powder
35g dextrose
35g maltodextrin

420 KCal; 35g P; 42g F; 70g C

Meal 6:
Large oyster blade steak (about 250g)
1 small sweet potato, 1 regular potato (about 300g)
Steamed green vegetables (broccoli/brussel sprouts/cauliflower

550KCal; 42g P; 42g C; 5g F

Meal 7:
Half a tub of 2% cottage cheese (about 250g)
1 TBP flaxseed meal
1 TBSP UDOs oil
1 TBSP casein protein powder
1 TBSP ANPB

500KCal; 42g P; 8g C; 32g F

Total: 3340KCal; 250g P (34%); 350g C (48%); 57g F (18%)

I use lots of soy sauce, hot sauce, lots of salt, spices, fake syrups and stevia. I also eat out once every week or so for dinner (meal 6), usually at an Asian restaurant and I make common sense choices (i.e. steamed rice, stir-fry, etc). Obvisously as I get bigger I will have to keep increasing the portion sizes of my meals to accomodate the extra mass. No problems there.

I am at university and enjoy partying and clubbing and night. However, I am aware of the effect alcohol has on muscle growth so I try to restrict my alcohol intake to once or twice a month (just gotta train yourself to be more confident naturally )

On non-training days my diet is the same without the PWO shake. However, if I have had a really long and intense cardio session I will have a shake afterwards to replace the calories burnt.

I have no problems sticking to this diet since I love rice and have never really craved junk or fast food. Occasionally I will replace the rice with 3/4 cup of whole wheat pasta, or 300g of potatoes as in meal 6. Comes to roughly the same amount of calories and carbs.

Just thought I'd share this with you.

 

[bran987]

wow... good job... can't believe you stayed sub 10% and gained 30 pounds with that many carbs!

 

[pintoca]

This guy has been bulking for as long as I have been cutting!!! DJ, you ae probably going to get shot for saying you eat that much fruit around here!!! lol

It is indeed remarkable, a true example of what a clean bulk means.

As for the carbs Bran, you really need carbs for fueling high intensity training, the kind that will initiate muscle "micro-damage" and growth.

note the ratios are very close to the baseline bulking diet of 50C, 30F, 20F

 

[|D_J^B_J|]

Bran, I guess my genetics make me unlikely to store fat with such a high carb intake, but as pintoca said, a diet high in carbs is necessary when you are lifting at such a high intensity and trying to gain muscle, as well as doing sports-specific training twice a week.

Pintoca, I wouldn't say I eat that much fruit. I eat 2 servings which is the recommended daily amount by the health department. I have always eaten plenty of fruit and not gained fat, even when I was a skinny kid. I'm no expert on cutting but I don't think a little fruit would be all that harmful when bulking.

Cheers for the comments guys, K to you both as soon as I reload my guns.


If you are trying to bulk while minimising fat gain, I believe that first and foremost you need a decent training program to stimulate growth. If you are new to lifting this won't be much of an issue, but if you are experienced and your training isn't well formulated, the excess calories will most likely be converted to fat.

Other than that, simply follow the same dieting rules when cutting with the exception of eating a bit more than your TDEE rather than less (obviously you don't need to be as restrictive).
General rules to follow: Work out your required caloric intake using the link provided above (your TDEE + 500), divide your calories over more frequent (6-8) meals and do a bit of cardio to increase insulin sensitivity (just make sure you are eating enough to cover the KCals burned). Avoid sugar and refined carbs except for post-workout, take your EFAs, avoid saturated and trans-fats, keep your protein intake moderate-high, etc, etc.

Genetics would also obviously play a part in the amount of fat gained on a caloric excess but there is nothing you can do about that; so just concern yourself with training, diet and of course, sleep, which is often overlooked by most people I know who are trying to gain mass.

 

[jstrick2]

You do this all natty?

 

[|D_J^B_J|]

Yep, I wouldn't know the first thing about drugs.

The only supps I use are protein powders and a multivitamin. I tried using creatine for a few weeks but didn't notice any difference.

 

[pintoca]

BTW, just in case somebody is wondering, that is 28.6 lbs gained in 7 months

 

[|D_J^B_J|]

Yeah, thanks pintoca. I forgot that the majority of posters here are yanks who follow the imperial system.

 

[Mammoth2500]

It's not rocket science. Simply eat relatively clean food most of the time without being too restrictive, aiming at 500KCal a day above your today daily energy expenditure (TDEE) and you will gain weight. If your training program is decent and you are getting enough sleep (I'm talking 8 - 9 hours a night depending on the individual), the majority of your gains will be muscle and fat gain will be kept to a minimum. Also, try divide your daily caloric intake into more frequent, smaller meals, do cardio several times a week to increase insulin sensitivity.

Click here to see my training journal, since I believe that training is most important if you are trying to gain/preserve muscle.

Click here to calculate your BMR based on the Harris Benedict Equation, then multiply by your activity level to calculate your TDEE (i.e. I multiply by 1.55 since I am training 5 x week).

If your to lazy to caclulate your TDEE heres a handy site that does it for ya.

http://www.newwavefitness.com/new/fitness_resources/tdee_calculator.php

I would say keep up the good work |D_J^B_J|] but i think your not gonna have any problem doing that so good work

 

[sublime35]

Yeah, thanks pintoca. I forgot that the majority of posters here are yanks who follow the imperial system.

i can't help that my country likes to be difficult.