Question About Calorie Intake and Evil Food Friends

CaptainPancake
CaptainPancake Posts: 4
edited November 10 in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I've recently started undergoing the Stronglifts 5x5 program. I've been told I have to eat a calorie surplus to see some results but I'm unsure how big that surplus should be.

Stats, for more info:
Age:18
Height: 175cm (5'9")
Weight: 70kg (154lbs)

Also, any foods that you could recommend for such a program? I've been told foods I've exiled from my life since losing weight are now friends, but I'm still a little hesitant.

Thanks for the help!

Replies

  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    There are no good or bad foods. Start thinking in terms of your overall diet. You want to be getting enough protein and carbs to build muscle and enough calorie surplus over TDEE that you are gaining.

    So don't think "is this cinnamon roll bad"? Think "how does this cinnamon roll fit into my overall macronutrient needs"?
  • demuz
    demuz Posts: 4 Member
    For a general estimate on bulking calories, check on http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/ you should be gaining about 0.5kg a week and then adjust your calories according. Since your bulking, you don't technically need to be watching the foods you're eating too closely, just try to hit your daily calories. Hope this helps
  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
    The surplus depends on your bulking target and how clean you want your bulk to be. .5lbs per week or 250 cals per day is pretty standard but due to my age and lifting experience I chose to go with 125 cals per day.

    The higher the surplus the more you will gain but the higher the percentage of fat you'll gain. For most people who are young and not too advanced in lifting .5 lbs per week should be roughly 1:1 fat to muscle.

    As for food the advice above is correct: eat pretty much anything to meet your calories plus carb and protein targets as long as you meet your micro requirements there are no bad foods.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    jimmmer wrote: »
    There are no good or bad foods. Start thinking in terms of your overall diet. You want to be getting enough protein and carbs to build muscle and enough calorie surplus over TDEE that you are gaining.

    So don't think "is this cinnamon roll bad"? Think "how does this cinnamon roll fit into my overall macronutrient needs"?

    this…

    you probably should star off with .5 pound per week gain and see how it goes..

    ice cream, bagels, cookies, pizza, steak, chicken, rice, pasta, bread are your friends…

    also you are going to want to ramp up your carb intake to AT LEASt 35% of your intake...
  • CaptainPancake
    CaptainPancake Posts: 4
    jimmmer wrote: »
    So don't think "is this cinnamon roll bad"? Think "how does this cinnamon roll fit into my overall macronutrient needs"?

    Wow, I never thought of it that way, thanks man!

    demuz wrote: »
    For a general estimate on bulking calories, check on http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/ you should be gaining about 0.5kg a week and then adjust your calories according. Since your bulking, you don't technically need to be watching the foods you're eating too closely, just try to hit your daily calories. Hope this helps

    Thanks for the website! It helped a lot!


    Wheelhouse15 wrote: »
    The surplus depends on your bulking target and how clean you want your bulk to be. .5lbs per week or 250 cals per day is pretty standard but due to my age and lifting experience I chose to go with 125 cals per day.

    The higher the surplus the more you will gain but the higher the percentage of fat you'll gain. For most people who are young and not too advanced in lifting .5 lbs per week should be roughly 1:1 fat to muscle.

    As for food the advice above is correct: eat pretty much anything to meet your calories plus carb and protein targets as long as you meet your micro requirements there are no bad foods.

    Aah, I see. Thanks for the info!


    ndj1979 wrote: »
    jimmmer wrote: »
    There are no good or bad foods. Start thinking in terms of your overall diet. You want to be getting enough protein and carbs to build muscle and enough calorie surplus over TDEE that you are gaining.

    So don't think "is this cinnamon roll bad"? Think "how does this cinnamon roll fit into my overall macronutrient needs"?

    this…

    you probably should star off with .5 pound per week gain and see how it goes..

    ice cream, bagels, cookies, pizza, steak, chicken, rice, pasta, bread are your friends…

    also you are going to want to ramp up your carb intake to AT LEASt 35% of your intake...

    You don't know how reassuring those last two sentences were!


    Thanks for the info everyone, this was really helpful!
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  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
    Since getting into a surplus is the most important thing when you're gaining, whatever food gets you to that surplus is the best food choice. Obviously, make sure you get your nutrition in. After that, though, if it's a choice between eating a pound of broccoli or a cinnamon roll, eat the cinnamon roll. You're not going to be able to finish the pound of broccoli, so when you give up and stop eating, you've abandoned your surplus. At that point, nothing else matters.
  • dunlol
    dunlol Posts: 57 Member
    Eat a lot of carbs and get in good fats. Make sure to eat some eggs (yolk is nutrient dense), vegetables, and get enough fiber. Other than that, eat whatever the hell you want. Don't worry about tracking that much at 18, but just be aware of the approximate calories you are getting per day. ~ 2700-3200 should be more than enough to see strength gains.
  • CaptainPancake
    CaptainPancake Posts: 4
    edited January 2015
    AliceDark wrote: »
    Since getting into a surplus is the most important thing when you're gaining, whatever food gets you to that surplus is the best food choice. Obviously, make sure you get your nutrition in. After that, though, if it's a choice between eating a pound of broccoli or a cinnamon roll, eat the cinnamon roll. You're not going to be able to finish the pound of broccoli, so when you give up and stop eating, you've abandoned your surplus. At that point, nothing else matters.

    That really puts things into perspective! Thanks Alice. I have so much cookie envy when my siblings get to eat them but I am a changed man because now I get to eat the cookies. Thank you. Really.


    dunlol wrote: »
    Eat a lot of carbs and get in good fats. Make sure to eat some eggs (yolk is nutrient dense), vegetables, and get enough fiber. Other than that, eat whatever the hell you want. Don't worry about tracking that much at 18, but just be aware of the approximate calories you are getting per day. ~ 2700-3200 should be more than enough to see strength gains.

    Thanks! I definitely need more carbs once I think about it!


  • crapple
    crapple Posts: 1
    Don't forget that some foods can lead to clogged arteries even if you look like an Olympian. Cinnamon buns are not just filled with carbs they are filled with fat too. I urge you to learn internal health not just the external fitness of your body. If your not a reader get on Netflix and watch forks over knives, fat sick and nearly dead. I'm not saying they are perfect in there analysis but they are near.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    crapple wrote: »
    Don't forget that some foods can lead to clogged arteries even if you look like an Olympian. Cinnamon buns are not just filled with carbs they are filled with fat too. I urge you to learn internal health not just the external fitness of your body. If your not a reader get on Netflix and watch forks over knives, fat sick and nearly dead. I'm not saying they are perfect in there analysis but they are near.

    Wrong!! Food is food.
  • beastcompany
    beastcompany Posts: 230 Member
    crapple wrote: »
    Don't forget that some foods can lead to clogged arteries even if you look like an Olympian. Cinnamon buns are not just filled with carbs they are filled with fat too. I urge you to learn internal health not just the external fitness of your body. If your not a reader get on Netflix and watch forks over knives, fat sick and nearly dead. I'm not saying they are perfect in there analysis but they are near.
    I urge you to stop posting nutritional information based on things you've red in 'Woman's Health'.

    Your irrational fear of foods is not healthy and you should not advise others to be afraid of them either.

    There is more to overall health than simply individual food selection.
    "Junk food" is perfectly fine to be consumed daily, when partnered with a well balanced diet that is rich in OVERALL nutrient content.

    Please do not preach about "internal health", when it's highly unlikely you haven't recieved a routine physical or blood panel anytime in recent history and have no actual idea how "healthy" you are.


    By the way, simply saying, "I eat a healthy diet, so I'm healthy." doesn't count. You still have no idea how "healthy" you really are.
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  • ForecasterJason
    ForecasterJason Posts: 2,577 Member
    crapple wrote: »
    Don't forget that some foods can lead to clogged arteries even if you look like an Olympian. Cinnamon buns are not just filled with carbs they are filled with fat too. I urge you to learn internal health not just the external fitness of your body.
    Good advice. However, like beastcompany said the key is that these foods are fine in moderation "when partnered with a well balanced diet that is rich in OVERALL nutrient content". So yes, if one neglects to properly take care of the rest of their diet these foods can be damaging.

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  • ForecasterJason
    ForecasterJason Posts: 2,577 Member
    MrM27 wrote: »
    ForecasterJason wrote: »
    crapple wrote: »
    Don't forget that some foods can lead to clogged arteries even if you look like an Olympian. Cinnamon buns are not just filled with carbs they are filled with fat too. I urge you to learn internal health not just the external fitness of your body.
    Good advice. However, like beastcompany said the key is that these foods are fine in moderation "when partnered with a well balanced diet that is rich in OVERALL nutrient content". So yes, if one neglects to properly take care of the rest of their diet these foods can be damaging.

    Do you think we don't believe in internal health?
    I would think most of you do, considering it's been mentioned by you and others in other threads that doctor checkups have confirmed good results.

  • jmule24
    jmule24 Posts: 1,382 Member
    edited January 2015
    Lyle McDonald, Alan Aragon, and Layne Norton are all great people to read their work. They use science and facts!

    Feel free to look at my food diary for suggestions on getting high calorie foods into your diet.

    Also.... MrM27 , NDJ1978, and JoRocka all give GREAT advice/suggestions when it comes to bulking and lifting.
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  • butterbear1980
    butterbear1980 Posts: 234 Member
    crapple wrote: »
    Don't forget that some foods can lead to clogged arteries even if you look like an Olympian. Cinnamon buns are not just filled with carbs they are filled with fat too. I urge you to learn internal health not just the external fitness of your body. If your not a reader get on Netflix and watch forks over knives, fat sick and nearly dead. I'm not saying they are perfect in there analysis but they are near.

    ...is it just me or does there seem to be more and more of this stuff in the gaining forums.....sad :(

    Forks over knives....seriously....
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    mspunkyone wrote: »
    crapple wrote: »
    Don't forget that some foods can lead to clogged arteries even if you look like an Olympian. Cinnamon buns are not just filled with carbs they are filled with fat too. I urge you to learn internal health not just the external fitness of your body. If your not a reader get on Netflix and watch forks over knives, fat sick and nearly dead. I'm not saying they are perfect in there analysis but they are near.

    ...is it just me or does there seem to be more and more of this stuff in the gaining forums.....sad :(

    Forks over knives....seriously....

    Agreed.

    This sub-forum is one of the few I can stand to read nowadays. Here's hoping it doesn't go the way of the other subs on here...
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    jimmmer wrote: »
    mspunkyone wrote: »
    crapple wrote: »
    Don't forget that some foods can lead to clogged arteries even if you look like an Olympian. Cinnamon buns are not just filled with carbs they are filled with fat too. I urge you to learn internal health not just the external fitness of your body. If your not a reader get on Netflix and watch forks over knives, fat sick and nearly dead. I'm not saying they are perfect in there analysis but they are near.

    ...is it just me or does there seem to be more and more of this stuff in the gaining forums.....sad :(

    Forks over knives....seriously....

    Agreed.

    This sub-forum is one of the few I can stand to read nowadays. Here's hoping it doesn't go the way of the other subs on here...

    agreed times a thousand…

    keep that pseudo crap in the main forums..
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
    As far as balancing health and joy of eating, re fat I find I'm more concerned with getting enough Omega 3 as opposed to eating too much saturated fat.

    It's really difficult to eat too much sugar and fat if you're trying to fulfil macro and micro minimums. But if there are any calories left over or wiggle room I'm going to eat and drink my favourite things whether that is an avocado with mayo, a chocolate bar or a mojito! Damn it!
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