Diet Help, Looking to Put on 15 Lbs

Looking for some feedback on my diet, as I am trying to push from 215-230, here’s my typical diet:

meal 1: 900 cals, ~30g protein from milk and eggs
meal 2: 700 cals, ~16g protein from peanuts
meal 3: 700 cals, ~16g protein from milk
meal 4: 700 cals, ~30g protein from meat
meal 5: 800 cals, ~30g protein from fish
meal 6: 700 cals, ~16g protein from milk
total cals = 4500
total protein = 138g
meal 4 or 5 would be assumed to be post workout here, also meal 6 is consumed 30 mins to 3 hrs before bed depending on how late i stay up

now ive been eating this way for a long time, weight gain has been sporatic, and hasn’t really been a specific goal, but when i do gain weight it’s usualy quite quick, like last xmas i put 10 lbs in a week while keeping the same body composition.

now this summer i am going to compete in some open weight strongman comps and would like to be a bit heavier to help with some of the events so im trying to put on 15 lbs but now that i want to it seems to be hard

this past week i’ve been doing the following and haven’t noticed any weight gain:

meal 1: 900 cals, ~40g protein from shake and milk
meal 2: 700 cals, ~16g protein from eggs
meal 3: 800 cals, ~30g protein from fish
meal 4: 800 cals, ~30g protein from meat
meal 5: 800 cals, ~40g protein from shake and milk, assume post workout meal
meal 6: 700 cals, ~16-30g protein from milk and peanuts
total cals = 4700
total protein = 172-187g

how much should i bump cals up to achive my goal in say a month maybe without putting a bunch of flab on? and is there any rearranging of calorie distribution that i should do? such as load more on post workout?

Move up to at least 5000 and GET MORE PROTEIN. You’re barely getting any. You need at least 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight. You’re getting nowhere near that.

Plus, look at what you’re eating. Two meals are shakes and one meal is a glass of milk with nuts. Hint: if you want to get big, you need to eat big.

[quote]Padilla7921 wrote:
Move up to at least 5000 and GET MORE PROTEIN. You’re barely getting any. You need at least 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight. You’re getting nowhere near that.

Plus, look at what you’re eating. Two meals are shakes and one meal is a glass of milk with nuts. Hint: if you want to get big, you need to eat big.[/quote]

I was just listing protein sources, not my entire meal.

Ditch some of those calories from carbs and/or fat and add some meat. Well, actually add a lot of meat.

Meat is your friend.
Meat will make you grow.

Aim for at least 1.5g per lb of bw protein in my opinion, moderate your carbs and keep heavy on good fats.

[quote]Joe84 wrote:
I was just listing protein sources, not my entire meal.[/quote]

What’s the rest of your diet like then? Three of your meals are mostly liquid (shakes and milk). Add solid food to them. Meat, etc. You’re trying to gain weight. You need protein and solid food. Three liquid meals aren’t going to help you reach that goal.

the rest of my diet is alot of cereal type stuff, juice, canned fruit, bagels, bread, it’s pretty carby, actually my diet is pretty shitty, only thing is i can tolerate carbs fairly well.

i eat like this cuase im lazy at cooking and it’s cheaper to eat like this, even right now i spend ~100/week on food.

[quote]Joe84 wrote:
the rest of my diet is alot of cereal type stuff, juice, canned fruit, bagels, bread, it’s pretty carby, actually my diet is pretty shitty, only thing is i can tolerate carbs fairly well.

i eat like this cuase im lazy at cooking and it’s cheaper to eat like this, even right now i spend ~100/week on food. [/quote]

^^^^ This might be why you’re not growing. Just a thought…

[quote]Joe84 wrote:
i eat like this cuase im lazy at cooking and it’s cheaper to eat like this, even right now i spend ~100/week on food. [/quote]

With an attitude like that you’ll get nowhere. If you put effort into your diet and training, you’ll get results. Rarely, if ever, can you slack on one and progress adequately. And $100 a week is just fine for proper food. You’re buying the wrong things and probably paying dearly for it, both financially and physically.

I can get a week’s worth of chicken for $10-15 (maybe more depending), veggies for two weeks for $15, cereal and oatmeal for two weeks for $10, and everything else (sandwich stuff and etc) for $20-25. So, while it may be cheaper, it’s not much more expensive to eat better, especially if you shop right.

[quote]Joe84 wrote:
the rest of my diet is alot of cereal type stuff, juice, canned fruit, bagels, bread, it’s pretty carby, actually my diet is pretty shitty, only thing is i can tolerate carbs fairly well.

i eat like this cuase im lazy at cooking [/quote]

[southern hick accent]
“Well there’s your problem right there!”
[/southern hick accent]

Get less lazy about your diet and your gains will benefit.

[quote]Padilla7921 wrote:
Joe84 wrote:
i eat like this cuase im lazy at cooking and it’s cheaper to eat like this, even right now i spend ~100/week on food.

With an attitude like that you’ll get nowhere. If you put effort into your diet and training, you’ll get results. Rarely, if ever, can you slack on one and progress adequately. And $100 a week is just fine for proper food. You’re buying the wrong things and probably paying dearly for it, both financially and physically.

I can get a week’s worth of chicken for $10-15 (maybe more depending), veggies for two weeks for $15, cereal and oatmeal for two weeks for $10, and everything else (sandwich stuff and etc) for $20-25. So, while it may be cheaper, it’s not much more expensive to eat better, especially if you shop right.[/quote]

you must not eat much if you can buy a weeks worth of meat for 10 dollars, even lean hamburger is 9/kg around where i live, a small box of cereal is 4.50 unless it’s on sale.

but ya i guess i’ll have to revamp my grocery list and transfer some carb cals to protein cals and start cooking in advance instead of eating bread, milk, and granola bars during the day.

[quote]Joe84 wrote:
you must not eat much if you can buy a weeks worth of meat for 10 dollars, even lean hamburger is 9/kg around where i live, a small box of cereal is 4.50 unless it’s on sale.[/quote]

No, meat costs more than that, but I switch up between meat and chicken weeks. However, where I live, meat doesn’t cost a whole bunch, but obviously more than chicken. Also, sometimes I’ll buy my chicken in multiple-breast packages, so it’s not expensive at all. I can get a box of generic raisin bran for $2.50 (I buy more smaller boxes because it’s more economical to buy it that way), and a cylinder tub of Quaker oatmeal for I think $3, somewhere around there.

Also, what kind of cereal do you get?

Sounds like a good idea. Milk isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it shouldn’t be it’s own MEAL. Bread isn’t bad if eaten in a sandwich or as part of a meal (bagel with cereal, etc), but it shouldn’t be eaten alone as a meal. Carbs aren’t horrible, but don’t eat them late in the day (or close to bedtime) and don’t eat too much.

[quote]Padilla7921 wrote:
Joe84 wrote:
you must not eat much if you can buy a weeks worth of meat for 10 dollars, even lean hamburger is 9/kg around where i live, a small box of cereal is 4.50 unless it’s on sale.

No, meat costs more than that, but I switch up between meat and chicken weeks. However, where I live, meat doesn’t cost a whole bunch, but obviously more than chicken. Also, sometimes I’ll buy my chicken in multiple-breast packages, so it’s not expensive at all. I can get a box of generic raisin bran for $2.50 (I buy more smaller boxes because it’s more economical to buy it that way), and a cylinder tub of Quaker oatmeal for I think $3, somewhere around there.

Also, what kind of cereal do you get?

but ya i guess i’ll have to revamp my grocery list and transfer some carb cals to protein cals and start cooking in advance instead of eating bread, milk, and granola bars during the day.

Sounds like a good idea. Milk isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it shouldn’t be it’s own MEAL. Bread isn’t bad if eaten in a sandwich or as part of a meal (bagel with cereal, etc), but it shouldn’t be eaten alone as a meal. Carbs aren’t horrible, but don’t eat them late in the day (or close to bedtime) and don’t eat too much.[/quote]

I buy whatever is cheapest with most calories, so any cereal with 300-400 cals per cup, post select dates and raisins is one i buy alot.

i wasn’t saying milk was bad, just a typical meal during the day where i drink milk is 2 cups (260 cals) of milk with a bunch of carbs (400-500 cals).

[quote]Joe84 wrote:
I buy whatever is cheapest with most calories, so any cereal with 300-400 cals per cup, post select dates and raisins is one i buy alot.

i wasn’t saying milk was bad, just a typical meal during the day where i drink milk is 2 cups (260 cals) of milk with a bunch of carbs (400-500 cals). [/quote]

Eat more cereal if you have to meat caloric intake totals, Nothing wrong with that: you get more cereal, which is awesome, and more milk, which is even more awesome. BTW, I find that generic brands (like Publix or Wal-Mart’s Great Value or Sam’s Choice) are cheaper and have more calories.

And nah, I wasn’t saying you said milk was bad, I was just saying that it shouldn’t be a meal. 2 cups of milk isn’t a meal. So, continue drinking milk, but you need to add solid food along with it.

okay lets just break down how you will have to do this.

6 meals a day.

The first thing you base each meal around is protein.
40g is your target, no less than 30g.
this only equates to around 180 kcal, we need to be aiming for 500kcal a meal.
So for your lunch and evening meal add veggies - 200g of a good green mix should give you maybe 100kcal pushing it.
Add in some slow release carbs, some good fats and your good.

[quote]Padilla7921 wrote:
Sounds like a good idea. Milk isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it shouldn’t be it’s own MEAL. Bread isn’t bad if eaten in a sandwich or as part of a meal (bagel with cereal, etc), but it shouldn’t be eaten alone as a meal. Carbs aren’t horrible, but don’t eat them late in the day (or close to bedtime) and don’t eat too much.[/quote]

Sorry man, but a “bagel with cereal” is NOT a good meal. And is it wise to recommend mostly junky carbs (from a cereal box) without at least a general idea of the OP’s carb tolerance?

[quote]chillain wrote:
Sorry man, but a “bagel with cereal” is NOT a good meal. And is it wise to recommend mostly junky carbs (from a cereal box) without at least a general idea of the OP’s carb tolerance?[/quote]

Man, I’m getting a lot of heat for my cereal and bagel breakfasts. I agree that they aren’t the greatest source of carbs, but they have their benefits too. I eat only raisin bran and whole wheat bagels, so I get a lot of fiber and a decent amount of protein, considering the source.

At the same time, depending on the rest of the OP’s diet, carbs wouldn’t be so bad. It’s better to have them in the morning than later in the day anyway. Sure, he’d be getting a lot of carbs (maybe more than he’d like or need), but it’s in the morning (doesn’t make it completely acceptable, but doesn’t eliminate the possibility completely).

Like I said in the other thread, it’s a recommendation. It’s what I eat (sometimes without the bagel) for breakfast along with my morning protein shake.