I am currently trying to gain as much weight as possible, I have plateued around 165, and so am eating as much as possible (living at home for the summer facilitates this!). My question is, can I start drinking regular soda as a way to get ‘easy’ calories. 170 vs. 0 if I drink water or diet soda. Is clean eating as much a concern when bulking?
My former strength coach in college told me that I shouldnt worry about waht I am eating b/c my main goal was to gain weight, so he said a coke or snickers isn’t to be avoided since I was skinny (155 then at 5’ 8" and about 7% bf) and just needed the calories.
Sorry to make this a long post, but I also was hoping to get some opinions on supplementation. I am currently taking PM Protein (GNC) before bed, and Whey protein before and after workouts. Any advice is appreciated.
Post your diet up and let us have a look at it. I find it hard to believe that you are eating as much as you possibly can and not gaining weight at 165 pounds.
As far as the soda goes, it probable isnt going to kill you to have it, but why not make a smoothie which packs 500 calories in it?
[EDIT] : Forget to mention to just chug milk(lots of milk if you are having trouble gaining weight) instead of soda. That would be infinitely better in my opinion.
That will probably result in just fat gains. A better way to get an extra 200 cals would be to have 2 little tablespoons of peanut butter. Gives you some healthy fats your body can actually use rather then just crap sugar.
[quote]DMyer82 wrote:
I am currently trying to gain as much weight as possible, I have plateued around 165, and so am eating as much as possible (living at home for the summer facilitates this!). My question is, can I start drinking regular soda as a way to get ‘easy’ calories. 170 vs. 0 if I drink water or diet soda. Is clean eating as much a concern when bulking?
[/quote]
No, clean eating isn’t really a huge issue when trying to bulk big.
In fact, simple carbs are needed big time, and in fact, are a great way to pack pounds on.
I don’t see why a couple cans of pop a day would hurt, in fact, it would probably help get in calories.
I guess I don’t see the point. You’ll put on weight, but it’ll likely just be fat. Why bother with extra fat gains that you’ll just have to cut later? why not build correctly from the beginning?
There are lots of ways to get an extra couple hundred calories. Bananas, Peanut Butter, Milk, most fruits actually, adding a couple extra slices of turkey to your turkey sandwiches…etc.
If you have no inclination to bulk with lean muscle mass and you solely want to get big. Then by all means, go for it, if you keep training aggressively, it shouldn’t be a huge deal. It’s certainly not my bag.
Breakfast: 2 packets oat meal, 1 banana, 1 hard boiled egg, 1 cup no fat yogurt. 12 oz. OJ
Preworkout: Whey protein shake (40g)
Postworkout: mt. dew, protein snack (7g) followed (within 20 min) by
Lunch: Turkey and Cheese Sandwhich, Wheatable crackers, 12 oz. Milk, 1 cup strawberries, 1 cup blueberries and honeydew, 2 cups/servings brocolli and cauliflower.
snack1/2: 20 oz protein smoothie from smoothie king; 1 chik fil a grilled club chicken sandwhich
dinner: salmon, wild rice, mixed veggies, garden salad, diet soda. Small soft serve desert
Post Dinner: 1 weizen beer, 2 small pieces of pizza
Before Bed: 1 large bowl of Cereal, PM Protein shake in milk
Usually my diet is pretty consistent in terms of breakfast and lunch being fruit, lean meat sandwhiches etc. I try to eat PB and J often as a snakc or before I go to bed.
Just thought I would post todays diet for any of those that responded. I will probably just continue to try to eat like hell and avoid fatty foods (like pizza) and stick to good ol’ fashioned chow.
[quote]Malevolence wrote:
I guess I don’t see the point. You’ll put on weight, but it’ll likely just be fat. Why bother with extra fat gains that you’ll just have to cut later? why not build correctly from the beginning?
[/quote]
Things aren’t quite that simple. How would you know how much fat someone would gain simply because they drank a soda? There are people who are extremely lean who eat pure crap all day. Metabolism, intensity in training, the total amount of daily calories, genetics, energy output and even age are all factors in how someone responds as far as gaining body weight. While there are negatives to sodas, especially in terms of total sugar intake and oral hygeine, some of you seem to take things to an extreme.
When you’ll just have to cut later? What bodybuilders in any contest aside from freaks like Kevin Levrone don’t have to “cut”? How many people are gaining several pounds of muscle past beginner gains with absolutely no gains in body fat?
Well sure, I’m not saying “avoid soda and you won’t get fat from bulking”, it just seems counter-productive is all.
Of course there are those guys that eat boxes of oreos and don’t put on a pound, but I think their freaky metabolisms is only genetic to a degree and if they actually hunkered down with a more balanced approached to eating and took control of what they are consuming, their metabolisms would stop being so haywire.
I don’t really know of course, but that was the case with me.
For the longest time I was one of those types. I literally would eat a box of oreos and down it with soda, but I never got ‘fat’. However, ever since I adopted a more complete diet, with smaller frequent meals throughout the day, I have noticed that my body’s ability to handle that stuff has drastically diminished. Not only does my weight actively fluctuate more than ever, but I can almost immediately feel the effects of eating a bunch of junk on my system, and truly I’ve only been eating right for about 6 or 7 months, so I don’t think it’s an age thing either.
But you’re definitely right, it is not always ‘that simple’, I personally think that removing soda from my diet was one of the best things I ever did for my health.
I totally agree with the fact that I was also once able to eat pure junk, pretty much up until i was 21 or 22 when I completely changed my diet. I would eat pizza hut, mt. dew, mcdonalds like it was my job and I would not budge over 140. However, since I have given up or restricted consuming junk foods and have a diet more focused on lots of fruits, vegetables, lean meats and water, I do often feel like I couldn’t go back to how i was eating before without negative problems.
If you have seen the movie "supersize me’ you’ll notice that while initially his system was in shock, by the 4th week his liver enzymes had started to normalize…indicating taht indeed our bodies are adaptive machines and we will adjust to what we feed it, though there may be a period of transition. Perhaps a good example I just thoght of, althought it has been discussed on T-Nation to a large extent, is the case of prison bodybuilders.
Regardless, an interesting thread. I will not be drinking regular soda, instead I am opting for lots of milk and chocolate milk.
Dude I know girls who weigh 120 lbs and eat like you.
1 Hard BOILED EGG! ONE!!! What the fuck?
A 7 gram protein snack???!! Did you happen to clean the crumbs outta my bed sheets?
Look up massive eating. Soda is for children and fat idiots. Drink milk and if you’re going to have a soda make sure it’s in a mixed drink. Buy large bags of walnuts, keep up with the oatmeal. Get your eggs in bulk and if you are very concerned about your cholesterol/have a reason to be buy 100% egg whites in bulk.