Trying to do a "clean" bulk... so much food.... help!

sijomial

Drink whole milk. GO MAD (gallon of milk a day) if you feel like it.

Oh lord I hate milk, this sounds awful hahaha. But thank you for your post, it was very helpful!!

If you hate milk then I've one thing to say to you - cheese! :happy:

Martucha123

I would check your progress for a few weeks to determine maintenance and aim for about 2lbs per month weight gain max. If it's more than that then cut the cals a bit.

BTW it is best to get the majority of extra cals from carbs. Good for energy! A surplus from fat is more likely to be stored in fat cells. That's nitpicking though

This^^^^

I would not just start eating a boat load of fats just because they are "good fats". Remember, you are going to be in a surplus so macros do matter. I would definitely hit fat minimums. If being constantly full is what you are finding hard right now you can add in some things that may not give you that feeling. Cereal, rice, bagels. Your surplus should really be coming from carbs.

How long were you in a deficit?
Did you reverse diet?

what they said

when you are dieting you can eat as much fat as you want, anyway it will not be stored in the long time, but when you bulking, limit your calories from fats (Lyle Macdonald recomends to go for 25% of calories).
so basically set up your protein as minimum, fat somwhere between minimum of 0.35g/lbs of body weight, and 25% and the rest fill with carbs. Carbs will give you energy to fuel your workouts and are less likely to be stored as fat then fat itself.

rjmudlax13

Double post...wtf MFP!?

rjmudlax13

Let me introduce you to 7 friends of mine:

Ben & Jerry, and Five Guys

SGSmallman

I'm on 2700 as a cut and when i moved to this number i found greek yogurt and almonds a big help also dark chocolate.

darrensurrey

I feel your pain (mainly in the tummy area :laugh: ).

I'm easily hitting my protein targets (minimum 140g) and the calories will be about 1500. So I end up spooning PB into my mouth to hit the calorie target. Also, I end up eating a bit more carbs. It depends on what you mean by clean, I guess. I do use cereal bars as they can contain 150kcals -250kcals and are fairly healthy (compared to a Mars bar!) but even then they have chemicals and sugar.

If you can eat 4-5 meals a day, that will help. Snack in between on nuts, too.

bcattoes

It seems the difference in the foods you eat out and the foods you eat at home is fat. Fat = lots of calories. Why not just add more heatlhy fats to your meals at home?

LaurenAOK

I would check your progress for a few weeks to determine maintenance and aim for about 2lbs per month weight gain max. If it's more than that then cut the cals a bit.

BTW it is best to get the majority of extra cals from carbs. Good for energy! A surplus from fat is more likely to be stored in fat cells. That's nitpicking though

This^^^^

I would not just start eating a boat load of fats just because they are "good fats". Remember, you are going to be in a surplus so macros do matter. I would definitely hit fat minimums. If being constantly full is what you are finding hard right now you can add in some things that may not give you that feeling. Cereal, rice, bagels. Your surplus should really be coming from carbs.

How long were you in a deficit?
Did you reverse diet?

I really think I've been eating plenty of fats - like around 100g a day and I only weigh 130-140 so that's well over .5g per lb of bodyweight. Feel free to look at my diary. I will actually try to add in some more empty carbs, I'm having cereal this morning so maybe that will help. Interesting to hear that my surplus should come from carbs, I've never heard that before. It makes sense though - I guess I really don't need to get any more protein and fats than I'm already getting, so the thing I should increase is carbs. The problem is feeling full all the time but maybe I should switch from brown rice to white and stuff so I don't get full as easily?

I was in a deficit for probably no more than 6 months total (I lost some weight initially, stopped using MFP, then decided to lose a little more weight and started up again). I was never in a severe deficit either - I usually netted around 1400-1500 a day, so I was eating like 1700-1900 and losing .5-1lb a week. I haven't been "dieting" in a while, I've basically just been maintaining without counting calories.

had a very quick look in your diary and theres some things you could change so you're getting more calories for the same amount of food -
ditch the fage 0% yoghurt in favour of full fat stuff,
add peanut butter,
swap almond milk for full fat stuff
swap chicken for beef or pork
salmon or tuna are higher calorie fish (if you eat fish)

Thank you for the suggestions! Yeah I'm definitely going to get full-fat greek yogurt, I just still have the 0% stuff around from before I started my bulk. I hate pretty much every milk besides almond milk, and I'm super picky about meat and mostly only eat chicken or very lean beef (can't stand fish). But again, more peanut butter is always a great idea - I loooooove PB

I think I see the issue, I think the OP has made the false mental connection of "low calorie" equals "healthy." Eating whole nutrient sense foods is a wonderful thing, just try to avoid the lower calorie options when bulking. Also, lots of carbs. More carbs means more glycogen, more glycogen means better lifts, better lifts mean more muscle. Now's the time to gorge on white bread and potatoes! (Kidding, sort of.)

Haha, thanks! I looooove bread and potatoes I've just gotten used to not eating as much of that stuff. Never fear, I definitely don't associate "low calorie" with "healthy." Like I said, I get over 100g of fat a day. I don't mind fatty or high-calorie foods one bit. The problem is that most of the "healthy" foods I really enjoy (chicken, vegetables, greek yogurt, etc.) tend to be naturally lower in calories. I will up the carbs though!!

Drink whole milk. GO MAD (gallon of milk a day) if you feel like it.

Oh lord I hate milk, this sounds awful hahaha. But thank you for your post, it was very helpful!!

If you hate milk then I've one thing to say to you - cheese! :happy:

Yessss I love cheese I will have to add more of that into my diet as well.

Also, to all of you who have suggested dark chocolate: thank you. I totally forgot that is a thing and I will be picking some up today.

Thank you all for the great suggestions, I'm going to keep working at it!

MagicalLeopleurodon

I eat 90% clean, which gives me the allowance to eat something junky a few times a week to jack my calories up. My biggest aid is protein shakes. I just cant act lije a competitive eater every single day-i have cardiac problems that make it hard to eat at all certain days. I make a shake with several scoops of protein (mass gainer, whey, blended- whatever sounds good) and make about 3 glasses of it with one of my recipes (pumpkin spice, butterfinger, white chocolate mint, black forest, etc). The recipes are to die for and usually about 650-750 calories per bottle, some more and some less.

It isnt ideal to get calories exclusively like that (but with a medical condition, something is better than nothing for me). If you eat all day and still cant hit it, add protein to coffee in the morning (if no coffee-vanilla protein/green tea/cinnamon/ginger/allspice BAM CHhai tea) or replace a beverage with one (isopure is lpwrr calories BUT way bettrr than a milkshake in my texas heat.

Add things like flax/chia/wheat germ/sesame seeds to stuff. A few small spoonfulls adds up throughout the day.

When you make things like spagetti-use larger noodles and double the portion (whole wheat, homemade, ehatever!)

My favorite bulk meal is simple and pretty high cal.
Hobo dinner:
Round steak or ground chuck in a patty. Salt, pepper, garlic. Place on a sheet of aluminum foil.
1-2 potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/2-3/4"-on top of the patty.
3-6 carrots sliced same as potatoes-goes on top.
1-2 onions, see above.
Salt and pepper the whole thing, add a good heap of butter and wrap like a gift in the foil. Put on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.

eta: i eat about 2800-3000 calories a day

sagefitnessfanatic

I'm also doing a bulk. My goal is to eat as clean as possible, no dirty bulk LOL I usually eat around 2000 cals and upped them to 2300. My macros are 30p/40c/30f so I eat a lot of yams to hit my 200+ carbs daily! 8 oz of yams - 200 cals. My other carbs - outside of fruit and veggies - are cinnamon raisin ezekiel bread, and gluten free oats. Also, some other people mentioned nut butter. Nut butter and nuts are high cal. 1/4 C nuts - 200 cals. Also, olive oil - 1 TBSP 120 cals.

Happy bulking! (I am loving it - carbs, carbs, more carbs #gimmieallthecarbs LOL)

waldo56

Clean bulking =/= "clean" foods.

It means you have a small calorie surplus (dirty bulking = big surplus). The food you eat (assuming enough protein and not a ridiculous skew to fat or carbs) will have virtually no influence on the ratio of muscle gain to fat gain.

samammay

I think this is one of those things that will get easier as you get used to it too. I remember when first starting a deficit, I had all sorts of cravings and issues trying to get down to my daily intake. Now, a month into it, I have to add stuff to dinner just to make it to my 1000 cal deficit and im not ever hungry.

You'll get there.

Feed_the_Bears

Phew I hear you. I'm doing a reset/bulk eating TDEE 3000 cal on a workout day! At first it was nuts and my tummy hurt but after a week I can cram it in there just fine, it's day 10 at TDEE. I found that making sure I ate a huge breakfast when I had the appetite was key to hitting high cals. Clearly you need to get your protein up high in every meal, but adding your healthy fats is key for fat burn and to get those cals up as well (but not tooo much fat, like a previous post said). You may find there's less room for veggies so go for fruit for your produce to up cals, and don't forget your whole grains. I'm just wondering how long I should keep this up. I haven't fully fed by body TDEE in 15 years and I think it's shy to trust me again. Perhaps a bulk is what I need. Even if I feel like a cow.

Chug chug protein shakes. With that much protein try throwing in some non-animal sources as well, just for health. I love eating animals, but there are some unhealthy things about them, so try to balance with some plant protein.

Are you part of EM2WL?

tjthegreatone

Wish I had your spare calories :sad:
I'm female too, 5'9 and 155 and a recent convert to the lifting world. Sadly no bulking for me as I am permanently in a caloric surplus anyway, too much of a foodie.
I don't do 'clean' eating but many of the things I eat are deemed 'clean' so my diary is open if it offers anything of interest. I hit 2500++ and 130-140g protein easily daily with large amounts of peanut butter, cereal and for extra protein - roast chicken/fish/chilli-type dishes. Nothing destroys the deficit like nuts and nut butters.
I think perhaps you have been eating at a low caloric level for quite a while and your stomach just needs some time to adjust to the higher caloric intake. it should get easier. In the meantime perhaps instead of forcing yourself to eat and feeling sick (food should be enjoyable!) maybe accept that some days you won't reach your goal and on others you may be more ravenous and able to put more away. It should all balance out.

Snow3y

You could try consuming the foods you need to fit the micro nutrients you need, and allowing for 10-20% of your calorie intake to be 'junk' .... It's what I have done since February and have only gained around 2-4% bf (guessing but I know it's not more, maybe less)

You just need to make 100% sure you are accurate with your macro needs and intake, so that you aren't over or under eating.. By this I mean only consuming around 300 calories over your maintenance level.

So for example, when bulking, I can consume some instant noodles just to help out 'fill' the macro needs.. Or a glass of chocolate milk yummy.. So far, so good. Can't complain about this flexible eating style to be honest.

millaxoxo

It's actually pretty easy to increase calories! Full fat stuff, nuts, protein shakes you can make them so caloric. Use whole milk, 2-3 scoops of protein powder, add flax seeds, banana, fruit, peanut butter an you can make that around 500-550 calories just by adding more things to it. Fattier meats have more calories as well. Egg yolks, butter, melt some cheese on your rice or meat , sauces high in calories , have fun with it :P

mjudd1990

I'm bulking right now and taking in 4000-4500 calories a day and I'm trying to do it as clean as possible. As you might assume, it gets hard to shovel down food every 2 hours especially when you get bloated and feel disgusting. One thing that seems to really help me with this is taking an enzyme complex with every meal. They contains lots of proteolytic enzymes like papain and pepsin as well as lipase, amylase, etc. Cellulase is in most too which will really help to cut down on bloating due to fruits and veggies and your body doesn't make this enzyme. Your stomach and pancreas make the vast majority of the enzymes in enzyme complexes but I feel like eating that often can put a burden on your endogenous enzyme production so supplementing can help things along.

chrisdavey

re your last post OP: I'd switch from brown to white rice for the sole reason that brown rice tastes like *kitten*!

If you are on 2700 cals. I'd eat about 2000 or so from your typical micronutrient dense foods and then eat whatever you want that fits macros and isn't as filling. Ice cream and peanut butter would be my choice