To those bulking, but avoiding wheat and sugar....

What the hell do you eat to reach your carb goals on workout days?! It seems like nearly everything out there has wheat or sugar in it.
I follow IF and basically work during all of my eating window, so can someone give me ideas for portable, whole food carb sources? I know of oats and sweet potatoes (which, really, have too much sugar for my liking anyway).

Thanks!
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Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    what are you carb macro goals? why are you trying to avoid wheat and sugar? honestly it's going to be difficult to have any kind of substantial carb intake without wheat or sugar considering your basic carb options are wheat, starches (break down quickly to sugar), and sugar.
  • nellyett
    nellyett Posts: 436 Member
    there's a Paleo/Primal board that may be able to help.....a bit of white rice (which has less 'anti-nutrients' than brown surprisingly), white potatoes, quinoa, beans, corn.....unless you're off all grains and not just wheat.
  • widmer3
    widmer3 Posts: 94 Member
    I've done the low-/no-carb thing before and I find I gain muscle more easily when I have carbs. I follow Leangains, so my carb goals I essentially 200+ g on WO days.
    I eat other grains, I guess. I'm mainly trying to stay away from sugar, wheat specifically and corn, as I've done a LOT of research, both academically and experimentally/personally, and found I just don't want them in my diet. I guess I'll try to add more beans in and maybe check with the paleo people.

    Thanks!
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
    there are carbs in a whole lot more things than wheat and sugar. bananas are loaded, fruits and veggies have carbs. i eat a tiny bit whole grain bread, oatmeal, brown rice each day and get the rest of my carbs from fruits and veggies.
  • wilmnoca
    wilmnoca Posts: 416 Member
    I have become obsessed with lentils! They are high carb, sugar free, and a great protein source. I have these on my heavy leg/glute training days. Just cooked lentils and hotsauce! Yum!
  • ktsimons
    ktsimons Posts: 294 Member
    lentils are awesome! Quinoa, lots of FRUIT...LaraBars
  • widmer3
    widmer3 Posts: 94 Member
    Ah, I had forgotten about lentils!! Hm, I guess I'll be making some soup tonight!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Rice!
  • dockholiday8234
    dockholiday8234 Posts: 43 Member
    Cous cous. Rice. Potatoes. Sweet potatoes. Banana's. Beans. Heinz baked beans is delicious.

    You're right. Carbs have a huge anabolic effect which you have experienced first hand. You cannot grow muscle without lots of carbs. Unfortunately people who do not lift weights associate carbs to being fat. Thats because carb's being anabolic creates both fat and muscle. Lifting heavy and often will make sure your body partions the growth to the right places. ie muscle.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    What the hell do you eat to reach your carb goals on workout days?! It seems like nearly everything out there has wheat or sugar in it.
    I follow IF and basically work during all of my eating window, so can someone give me ideas for portable, whole food carb sources? I know of oats and sweet potatoes (which, really, have too much sugar for my liking anyway).

    Thanks!

    Hmmmm, well if you're going that route i'd just eat whatever you did when dieting, just more
  • NRBreit
    NRBreit Posts: 319 Member
    I tried that on my last bulk and for me it was very tough to consume enough oats, brown rice, and sweet potatoes to hit the carb macro. I increased my fruits (including dried fruits) and that helped quite a bit. This year, I'm following IIFYM and I'm eating a lot more simple sugars and grains. It's WAY easier to bulk this way. If you can't eat what you want on a bulk, then when can you?
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
    tumblr_m7ur9q6vWM1ql4jvzo1_250.gif
  • Amadbro
    Amadbro Posts: 750 Member
    take a look at my journal for a few examples...my strength days are mon/weds/fri so you may have to flip back to weds..stays pretty consistent throughout the week minus the 45g dextrose and a few extra supplements I have pwo on those days
  • dockholiday8234
    dockholiday8234 Posts: 43 Member
    I tried that on my last bulk and for me it was very tough to consume enough oats, brown rice, and sweet potatoes to hit the carb macro. I increased my fruits (including dried fruits) and that helped quite a bit. This year, I'm following IIFYM and I'm eating a lot more simple sugars and grains. It's WAY easier to bulk this way. If you can't eat what you want on a bulk, then when can you?

    From your experience do you notice any different in your body composition or performance from eating "cleaner" carbs and foods compared to only caring about if it fits your macro's and not caring if your carbs come from simple sugars?
  • TigerBite
    TigerBite Posts: 611 Member
    Dried dates ... LOVE THEM!
  • NRBreit
    NRBreit Posts: 319 Member
    I tried that on my last bulk and for me it was very tough to consume enough oats, brown rice, and sweet potatoes to hit the carb macro. I increased my fruits (including dried fruits) and that helped quite a bit. This year, I'm following IIFYM and I'm eating a lot more simple sugars and grains. It's WAY easier to bulk this way. If you can't eat what you want on a bulk, then when can you?

    From your experience do you notice any different in your body composition or performance from eating "cleaner" carbs and foods compared to only caring about if it fits your macro's and not caring if your carbs come from simple sugars?

    It's a bit soon to tell as I am only about 6 weeks into the bulk and 6 or 7 pounds up in weight, however, my strength has gone up on the big lifts and I feel really really good in the gym on this bulk using IIFYM. I also feel a tad bit sloppier in the stomach, but the tape measure says the same as last year at my current weight (probably just mind games). I will check body fat % in the next couple of weeks and compare. The main thing I found trying to eat all 'clean' carbs was how much work it was to eat - I really had to force it to get 300-350g carbs.
  • NRBreit
    NRBreit Posts: 319 Member
    Dried dates ... LOVE THEM!

    I put them on my greek yogurt for an extra couple hundred cals.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    there are carbs in a whole lot more things than wheat and sugar. bananas are loaded, fruits and veggies have carbs. i eat a tiny bit whole grain bread, oatmeal, brown rice each day and get the rest of my carbs from fruits and veggies.

    I assume she doesn't care where sugar comes from...she's just not wanting sugar in her diet...so fruit would be pretty much out wouldn't it? I don't know, I get confused with people's sugar phobias.
  • metaphoria
    metaphoria Posts: 1,432 Member
    tumblr_m7ur9q6vWM1ql4jvzo1_250.gif

    Quoting cuz minions.
    Bee doo bee doo bee doo
  • My brother does IF and does not eat wheat or refined sugars and he has been bulking like crazy! When he started doing the IF he had one week he put on 8 lbs of muscle. I'd have to connect you to him if you wanted details but he eats like a beast calorie wise. He eats a lot of healthy fats instead of carbs I know a lot of the time. Big into coconut oil. Lots of yogurt, whey protien, peanut butter, nuts, hemp hearts, fresh veggies. He does supplement from a site called bio-life. He was about 175 lbs at the end of summer and this last week he said he was like 195 lbs now. He's 6' tall. Was leg pressing 1,085 lbs 10X a few weeks ago. Said that's been going up like 50lbs a week lately. Does over 60 pull ups. Sorry if I'm rambling. I like to brag about the kid. :)
  • Could also look up the SCD diet, Special Carb Diet. The website www.pecanbread.com is set up for parents of autistic children because that is one thing the diet helps with but it's also easy to navigate to learn about what it can all help with. Could give you some insight for carbs to look to on your carb days.
  • widmer3
    widmer3 Posts: 94 Member
    Ooh dried fruit. I think I'll stock up on that, too!
    It's just hard to get used to, eating so much! I don't know how men do it, honestly. I can barely reach 1900 cals on workout days, and some men eat, what, 4000 calories a day?! I can't imagine.
    Thanks for all the suggestions!
  • Ooh dried fruit. I think I'll stock up on that, too!
    It's just hard to get used to, eating so much! I don't know how men do it, honestly. I can barely reach 1900 cals on workout days, and some men eat, what, 4000 calories a day?! I can't imagine.
    Thanks for all the suggestions!

    You eat it spread out throughout the day (eat 5-6 times a day, 3 meals, 3 snacks). It gets easier the more you do it. I found that when I started my bulk, I worked my way up to 3500 + cals a day. Start by aiming to get 2500, then slowly increase your cal intake over the next couple weeks so that you won't feel as bloated.

    I also found that getting to 3000 cals from solid food sources was more manageable, and I topped up the last little bit from liquids (shakes, milk, etc).
  • Yeah, you are right Jennifer Lawrence achieved a nice figure after avoiding wheat and sugar http://www.celebsfact.com/jennifer-lawrence-weight-height-bra-size-figure-size-body-measurements/
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    he had one week he put on 8 lbs of muscle

    No
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    why?

    thats all I got..

    sugar and carbs are not evil...
  • ljw5021
    ljw5021 Posts: 48 Member
    Give yourself some experiments to see what works. Ideas for paleo carbs typically involve sweet potatoes, which you have already ruled out. White rice works, as it's lacking most of the anti-nutrients that its cousins have.

    How much volume/weight are you doing? How many carbs are you getting from vegetables?

    EDIT: As far as actually getting calories in, a friend of mine basically lives by "never be hungry". He'll still eat breads and stuff, though not often. He'll have 6 eggs in the morning, a footlong sub mid morning, a bunch of chicken with greek yogurt and nuts at lunch, munch on things throughout the afternoon, bunch of meat and veggies for dinner, more snacks before bed. He also works out about 10 times per week, though.
  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
    I've had two beers, 3 candy bars, a hamburger with the bun, 5 eggs, half a pound of pork, 6 pierogies, and a bowl of ice cream so far today. Does that count?
  • Docmahi
    Docmahi Posts: 1,603 Member
    scooby did a video the other day of bulking bars he uses - basically 1 part each of dry milk, cocoa, oats, honey and natural peanut butter - looked pretty good, imagine they pack the cals in too - forget what the listed macros were
  • MrGonzo05
    MrGonzo05 Posts: 1,120 Member
    Ice cream mostly. But that's on your list of evil foods.