Adding Calories: Low Carb Diet

Diet and Nutrition
1

I’m currently trying to bulk once again after what I would say have been a couple of failed attempts to bulk correctly. In the past I have tried to bulk mainly with high carb/protein diets but didn’t really seem to work for me. I did put on weight considerably fast but on top of gaining, I think, more fat than muscle, high carbs made me tired and bloated plus shit all day.

At 210 and with a considerable belly I decided to cut down for spring break using a budget version of the velocity diet (college student with limited budget) which seem to work pretty well. I dropped down to 188 without losing much strength and being as lean as I’ve ever been.

However, being below 10% fat (id like to think so) it’s time to bulk once again. What I’m currently doing is very similar to the Anabolic Diet: low carb, high fat/ protein diet, with a carb load on the weekends. The two modifications I’ve made are to use carbs peri workout and only have a single carb load meal during the weekend instead of two whole days. Despise the cravings I get for carb foods sometimes I do think they are not too beneficial for me.

Well its been about 2 and half weeks on this diet and my body weight hasn’t changed too much. I’ve gone from about 188 to 189, although I do look considerably leaner in front of the mirror (I do use sneakers as a measure).

I used nutritriondata to get a rough estimate of what my diet breaks down to be:
4250 calories
2% carbs
45% fats
53%

Protein: about 3 pounds of mainly chicken breast plus leans meats throughout the day plus 5 whole omega 3 eggs at breakfast. 8oz cottage cheese 30 minutes before bed

Fat: Fish oil, coconut oil, olive oil. (taking several teaspoons of the last two throughout the day)

Carbs: about 90g peri workout

My question is (sorry about the long post), how should I go about adding calories?

According to nutritiondata Im already getting well above 2g protein /pound of weight.

Should I just increase fat intake?

Thank you for reading :slight_smile:

2

Sounds like you are on the right track. I suggest adding 300-500 calories/day. Attempt to get your protein/fat ratio to about 50/50. Give it 2 weeks and if your not adding size/weight then add more calories.

3

If you truely have gone from 188-189 (not just water fluctuation or something) in two weeks, thats not bad. As you know, putting on muscle is a slow process. My last bulk was about 1 lb per week, and I think that I was gaining a little too much fat, but that is from my experience.

Go with what ACTrain said, thats a good way to go about it, and dont be in any hurry.

4

Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll try adding 300 extra calories of fat and wait to see what effect that has.

5

I would say drop the chicken and replace it with beef.

6

More oil, more protein as whole eggs instead of lean “XXX” (that will give you fat and cals), nuts, animal fats (if your eating pattern allows them)

7

Added about 400 calories to my daily intake mainly from almonds (a pound for 6 dollars seemed like a reasonable price), and some extra oil. I’ll give it 10 days before I decide to increase again.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

8

freshlifter, thanks for posing this question. i am in a very similar situation.

were results anymore favorable since the addition of fats on this bulk?

9

Truthfully, I’d say your current approach is pretty well spot-on, just as ACTrain mentioned. You’ve managed to keep the sources of all your macros very clean. I’m a bit confused - are you currently consuming carbs peri-workout? If so, that would shift your macros a more well-rounded, perhaps even favorable, ratio. Any updates?