Diet Advice, Gaining Size

Hey guys,

I’d appreciate any feedback/advice in relation to my current diet.

I’m 5’11, 175lbs. The goal is to add smthng like 10 lbs (quality) over the next 6 months.

This is what a typical day would look like.

I tend to switch veggies with rice for 2-3 days a week.

#1 5:45 5 whole eggs
1 rice cake
1 tbsp peanut butter
30g whey
5g bcaa

#2 9:30 1 fruit yoghurt (from skimmed milk)
2 slices wholewheat bread
30g whey
5g bcaa

#3 11:45 chicken breast - grilled (200 g raw)
mixed veggies (carrots and peas) - 1 1/2 cup
2 slices wholewheat bread

#4 13:45 30g whey
5g bcaa

#5 15:45 chicken breast - grilled (200 g raw)
mixed veggies (carrots and peas) - 1 1/2 cup
2 slices wholewheat bread

#6 17:45 Pre-workout
15 g whey
5g creatine
5g bcaa
5g citruline malate
2g aakg
2g beta alanine

#7 Intra-workout (in 1.5L of water)
15g whey
50g maltodextrin
5g citruline malate
10g bcaa

#8 Post-workout
30g whey
25g maltodextrin
5g bcaa

#9 before bed 1 rice cake
1 tbsp peanut butter

[quote]iconi wrote:
I’m 5’11, 175lbs. The goal is to add smthng like 10 lbs (quality) over the next 6 months.[/quote]
About how fat are you right now?

I only saw vegetables in two meals, so then, 2-3 days a week, those two meals are higher carb? Did I follow that right? What’s the reason, some kind of carb cycling?

Overall, you’re going through 6 slices of bread a day, that’s gotta be like one or two loaves a week. Potatoes, or probably even rice, would be much cheaper.

And I didn’t see much fat throughout the day. You have the eggs, a little bit in the chicken breast, the peanut butter, and that’s it. Nuts (real, whole nuts) or more eggs would be a simple way to bump up the fat content and daily calories (if you find you’re not gaining weight each week).

It also looks like you’re getting half or more of your daily protein from shakes, so you’re probably burning through your whey protein pretty fast. I’d rather focus on plugging in more calorie-dense animal proteins. More eggs, if you can swing them. A dozen a day would be great. Or chicken thighs (which are usually cheaper than breasts). I’m just not sure what you have access to.

As far as supplements, like I said in the other thread, you’re using a bunch of stuff that you don’t need. If you’re taking whey, you don’t also need to take BCAAs at the same time, so drop the BCAAs. I’d also drop the AAKG because arginine is pretty much nonsense.

And drop either the citrulline, the beta alanine, or both. Those are good and useful supplements, but if we’re sticking to a budget and struggling to find food money, they can go and you’ll get by fine with protein, carbs, and creatine for peri-workout nutrition.

Also, consider dropping the post-workout shake. If you’re pre- and peri-workout shakes are in place, post workout is kinda gravy. Maybe add it in on the heaviest/biggest/hardest training days of the week.

[quote]#9 before bed 1 rice cake
1 tbsp peanut butter[/quote]
Add some kind of protein to this snack. I’d also really try to have an actual meal somewhere between training and bedtime. You have the workout nutrition, then a snack, but if you’re trying to gain size, right after a workout is a perfect time to crush a big dinner that has protein, healthy fats, and carbs.

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:

[quote]iconi wrote:
I’m 5’11, 175lbs. The goal is to add smthng like 10 lbs (quality) over the next 6 months.[/quote]
About how fat are you right now?[/quote]

I’d say about 13-14%.

I only saw vegetables in two meals, so then, 2-3 days a week, those two meals are higher carb? Did I follow that right? What’s the reason, some kind of carb cycling?[/quote]

yeah, u understood right. Some attempt of carb cycling, just to see if I’ll respond to it.

I started this bread thing last week, I usually go through one pack a week( http://multimedia.pol.dk/archive/00729/loltoast_rivercote__729049a.jpg ).

Yeah, basically, it’s only 2-3 tbsp’s of PJ. Would it be a good idea to add another 5 eggs between after training and bedtime?

What would you recommend? In addition to 400g raw chicken breats, should I get more chicken or maybe beef? As for eggs, I could manage to get 10 a day probably.

Thank for the advice! I only bought AAKG once, but since the doses are fairly small (2-3g) i have some left, so I thought what the hell.

And drop either the citrulline, the beta alanine, or both. Those are good and useful supplements, but if we’re sticking to a budget and struggling to find food money, they can go and you’ll get by fine with protein, carbs, and creatine for peri-workout nutrition.

[quote]Also, consider dropping the post-workout shake. If you’re pre- and peri-workout shakes are in place, post workout is kinda gravy. Maybe add it in on the heaviest/biggest/hardest training days of the week.
Post-Workout Nutrition is Dead [/quote]

Would you recommend adding the post workout protein serving to the intraworkout shake? Making a total of 35g of whey for the intra workout and leave maltodextrin at 50g intra?

I’m good with supplements for at least 3 months, so will be able to spend more on food :slight_smile:

[quote][quote]#9 before bed 1 rice cake
1 tbsp peanut butter[/quote]
Add some kind of protein to this snack. I’d also really try to have an actual meal somewhere between training and bedtime. You have the workout nutrition, then a snack, but if you’re trying to gain size, right after a workout is a perfect time to crush a big dinner that has protein, healthy fats, and carbs.[/quote][/quote]

Will try. The trouble is that the workout usually ends around 20:30 (if no overtime at work), so I get home, cook the food for the next day and straight to bed. Barely getting 7hrs of sleep as it is.

Thank you very much for the elaborate response. Much appreciated.

Probably messed up quoting, sry about that!

I.

One scoop of Plazma would replace your pre-intra-post concoctions. Heck, cost wise, two would be about %1000 better (give or take a few percents).

And, as Chris mentioned, get some real food in there.

Example: Breakfast: 5 eggs, veggies (make an omelette if you want with peppers)

#2 Handfull of nuts, greek yogurt.

#3 3 chicken thighs, veggies, rice or potatoe

Pre and intra : 2 scoop of plazma

Post (about an hour after): Mag10 or a good meal

Before bed: Half a tub of cottage cheese with tablespoon of peanut butter.

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:

As far as supplements, like I said in the other thread, you’re using a bunch of stuff that you don’t need. If you’re taking whey, you don’t also need to take BCAAs at the same time, so drop the BCAAs. I’d also drop the AAKG because arginine is pretty much nonsense.

/quote]

I was flipping through the glossy pages of a muscle mag recently (can’t recall which one) and Tim Ziegenfuss was waxing lyrical about adding 10g or so of BCAA to the whey shake.

[quote]JFG wrote:
One scoop of Plazma would replace your pre-intra-post concoctions. Heck, cost wise, two would be about %1000 better (give or take a few percents).[/quote]
I would totally agree with this, but the OP said in a different thread that he’s in Bulgaria and the shipping prices him out of it. Still though, I agree that homemade kitchen sink “replicated” formulas generally don’t end up being as cost-effective as most guys hope.

[quote]JamesBrawn007 wrote:
I was flipping through the glossy pages of a muscle mag recently (can’t recall which one) and Tim Ziegenfuss was waxing lyrical about adding 10g or so of BCAA to the whey shake.[/quote]
Not sure which magazine or article, but I’d guess it was most likely for the added leucine from the BCAAs.

Adding leucine to whey can certainly be worthwhile and I’ve done it in the past to reinforce whey protein, but in the context of the OP (here and in another thread discussing food/supp expenses) “just” whey would be fine for now.

[quote]iconi wrote:

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:
About how fat are you right now?[/quote]
I’d say about 13-14%.[/quote]
Okay, just checking. So you’re not super lean and not super fat, should be a good place to grow from. And the carb cycling should help to work as some kind of damage control to fend off too much fat gain, depending on your training.

Gotcha. Just remember that unless you adjust the other nutrients to compensate, you’re also calorie cycling, which means you’ll have a calorie difference for those days too. And try to coordinate your training with the higher carb day, having them when you’re doing the hardest training sessions.

Sounds good.

Get whatever you can get. You were talking about the jacked up cost of stuff in the other thread, so just go for what you can handle. Canned tuna, eggs, whatever.

That should be fine, yep.

Can you spend an hour or so doing a big batch of cooking once per weekend? That’s what a lot of guys find easiest. Like, take an hour on a Saturday or Sunday, cook a bunch of meat, boil some eggs, bake some potatoes, cook some rice, and toss it in the fridge for the week.

Thanks Chris!

In relation to preparing food for the entire week, do you deep freeze the cooked food or just store it in the fridge? Won’t the meat and other stuff (rice,veggies,eggs) go bad during the week regardless of being refridgerated?

I added an extra meal after training (chicken,mrice and veggies) and flax seed oil for extra fat, depending on the carbs for the day, so I’ll see how this will work.

[quote]JFG wrote:
One scoop of Plazma would replace your pre-intra-post concoctions. Heck, cost wise, two would be about %1000 better (give or take a few percents).

And, as Chris mentioned, get some real food in there.

Example: Breakfast: 5 eggs, veggies (make an omelette if you want with peppers)

#2 Handfull of nuts, greek yogurt.

#3 3 chicken thighs, veggies, rice or potatoe

Pre and intra : 2 scoop of plazma

Post (about an hour after): Mag10 or a good meal

Before bed: Half a tub of cottage cheese with tablespoon of peanut butter.

[/quote]

It’s funny how I see fancy diets on all the other forums being praised when it’s really that simple. I’ve had the best non-noob gains in a summer following pretty much the exact same template (remove a bit of fat and add fruits and boom)

For someone in Europe though, sadly Biotest isn’t an option. There is ONE company I used when I was there, that produces awesome products that would rival anyone’s peri workout for a great price. And I’m obviously allergic to the saying “take each ingredient separately it’s cheaper” so on top of that it’s simple to prepare. I can only mix two powders together at most. More than that and it feels like a big bundle of “I think I know what I’m doing cuz I read science online” crap.

And you can keep meals in your fridge for 2-3 days and be fine.

Rice can be kept forever. I never get get bored of basmati/Thai/perfumed wild rice. Makes weight gain so easy with bunches of veggies and spices to flavor it even more

[quote]tontongg wrote:

For someone in Europe though, sadly Biotest isn’t an option. There is ONE company I used when I was there, that produces awesome products that would rival anyone’s peri workout for a great price. And I’m obviously allergic to the saying “take each ingredient separately it’s cheaper” so on top of that it’s simple to prepare. I can only mix two powders together at most. More than that and it feels like a big bundle of “I think I know what I’m doing cuz I read science online” crap.

Hear what you are saying about Biotest. The stuff is very expensive in the UK. If I ever travel to the US I am only bringing one pair of pants and a toothbrush in my jumbo suitcase, so I can stock up for the return journey!

I’m guessing you may be referring to a certain UK company which, thankfully, ensures you can get quality produce at really competitive prices? Otherwise it would be more than the weather depressing us here!

Yeah

I’d just mix bcaa (or better, peptides) and then the creatine+carb mix they got. I think I spent around 50â?¬ for that mix which was good for a pre and infra workout solution. Here you’d spend $65 for Plazma and get something even better. Both last 4 weeks roughly but I don’t even care about other powders (whey, oats etc) so I basically cut my supplement budget going that simple. Just eat more rice animals and veggies with the amount saved