Building muscle and gaining weight

rumple2014

Hi there! Names Chris.

I am 5ft 11 and weigh about 64 kg!

I am doing 3 x weekly weight training regimes that focus on compound movements such a squats and deadlifts and bench press to name a few!

I've been a bad eater for 10 years ! But now I'm eating healthily and trying to add mass!

I've been told to eat an estimate of 2300-2500 a day as my tdee is about 1600 to maintain!

It's hard to maintain the eating around socialising and work! Trying my best to snack healthily on foods like almonds!

I eat about 140 g of protein a day and have 2 shakes a day to top that number up!

I don't have a gym buddy so it's hard to know if I'm doing it right tho I am focusing on my form before adding tiny amounts of weight.

Anyway not sure what response I'm looking for! Also trying to be a tight with the costs as possible. Check my diet diary to see if I'm doing right ! Anyway chow . Thanks for reading
Chris

JoRocka

I've been told to eat an estimate of 2300-2500 a day as my tdee is about 1600 to maintain

this is seems really low- I mean you are small build wise- but still seems low.

MY maintenance is 1900 and I'm shorter and I"m a woman (meaning unfortunately and unfairly I have to eat less).

I suspect it's probably closer to 2200/2500 min for mainteance and 3000 plus for bulking.

How long have you been on a surplus? and how long have you been lifting?

Really at this point- with your size (and presumably your age- you look fairly young) I would be seriously lifting and eating ALL the things.

You are at a prime place to pack on muscle and get all the gainz.

Throw some oreo's into your shakes and have at it.

I also wouldn't worry so much about "healthy snacks" if you are having a hard time eating all your calories- go to ice cream- milk- smoothies- shakes cookies- whatever. Bulking its nice to get ball park macro's but really you have to get into a surplus- if you get your macros on point- but don't get a surplus it means nothing.

So make sure you are eating all the things.

parkscs

You want to figure out your TDEE accurately and then eat a reasonable surplus on top of that number. 2500 net calories a day sounds about right but play with some TDEE calculators and monitor your own progress to be sure.

Be consistent with your diet, get ample protein and stick with the program you're following, and you'll start to see some gains before long. Most structured programs will start you off with lighter weight and have a steady progression that will ramp up to more difficult weights before long. Just stick with it and don't rush into loading up too much weight too soon. Learn the proper form, let your body adjust to the movements and give the program time to work.

jwdieter

Diary is closed, but what Jo said. At 5'11 and lifting, starting at 145, there should be a lot of frame to fill out. Get the food in and the muscles should come quick.

trojan_bb

I started exactly where you are now. Just POUND the food for 6 months. Dont overthink, just eat a ton. Some days 2500, other days 4000. Just eat what you can without making yourself overly sick. The lifting and increased eating will change your hormones and appetite. You probably will not gain appreciable fat for quite a while if you just eat as much as you can.

Your TDEE, metabolism, and appetite is going to change dramatically. You can re-evaluate and make things more scientific once you've put on 10-15 KG.

rumple2014

Omg! 3000 calories! The problem with me was for 10 years I was afraid of putting on weight due to being large in my teens so I have a very low calorie intake for a decade of my life! Eating 2500 sometimes seems too much! I need to get my head around eating so much .

I don't wanna eat too much and just get fat as my workout are roughly just the 5x5 workout 3 times a week! Rotating workout A and workout B!

I guess I could eat more crap but in the back of my head I don't wanna just get fat . Slow and steady wins he race! But in the back of my head it keeps telling me ur doing something wrong and will just get fat lol!

I am so neurotic !

Just made diary open
Chris

trojan_bb

You're not going to get fat for a while. At your weight and lifting history, you can make rapid muscle and lean mass gains and keep fat gain minimal even at huge calorie surpluses. Say you gain 10 kg, how much could possibly be fat? 2 or 3 kg max maybe? Not a big deal. Your body fat will pretty much be the same as it is now given your new higher weight.

This assumes you are lifting intensely and making rapid strength gains.

jwdieter

One of the first posts on the Weight Gain forum was this one:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1069962-the-former-fat-boy-girl-syndrome

It's worth checking out.

lrmall01

I don't have a gym buddy so it's hard to know if I'm doing it right tho I am focusing on my form before adding tiny amounts of weight.

I think the group "Eat, Train, Progress" will critique your form via a video if you can record yourself and upload it.

Regarding food on a budget, I personally like this write up: http://homemadestrength.blogspot.com/2012/03/foods-to-eat-to-build-muscle-on-budget.html

As a final note, you have to keep eating until you gain weight weekly. Calculators are great to give you a starting point but if you aren't gaining weight pretty consistently, eat more. I know you are afraid you'll balloon up, but if you will find that it is slow going if you are working hard with a 5x5 type of program.

Good luck!

rumple2014

Well I guess I just have to eat more! After looking at my diary if u can be bothered is there anything else I could eat that's easy and beneficial ?

I mean usually like now I'm making sweet potato with tuna sweet corn mayo but also throwing in a southern fried chicken breast ?

I think I overthink sometimes!

As for my training! It's not overly heavy ATM as I spent the first few sessions on my form and was told to add weight each time but not too much! So it's prob not as intense as it could be but I wanted to make sure I didn't give myself an injury '

JoRocka

skip the skim milk if you can- 2% or whole is going to get you a lot more bang for your buck.

add in your favorite ice cream - I perfer ice cream + oreos

Last night (as my final food fare-thee-well) I ate 975 calories of ice cream and oreos-
3 servings of Edy's Slow Churn Mint Chocolate chip (so 3 medium scoops with a standard ice cream scooper- I actually measured it out- but 1 serving is quiet small- so 3 looks like a regular bowl of ice cream LOL)
6 oreos
16 oz of 2% milk

deliciousness.

lrmall01

I may have missed it in your diary, but peanut butter is a very common source of cheap, easy calories.

Edited to add in butter, olive, and coconut oils are other easy calories. Just take whatever veg you are currently eating and add butter to it.

rumple2014

So I shouldn't worry about all the bad fats then in things like ice cream! Saturated and all that! I am to hung up about only putting in good stuff my body needs and not the bad stuff! Ice cream sound ideal to eat loads of lol!

And yes I have crunchy peanut butter from sunpat but again never know how much is too much lol!

If I had a routine and I had to eat the same thing everyday I wouldn't mind that at all! I like routine with my food! Coz then I have a plan! I mean my workout are usually between 6-7 am in the morning! 100g of oats as well! And a shake post workout! Some almonds pre workout !

I would love to have a food plan and be told eat this then or eat this much lol!

JoRocka

There comes a point where you simply CANNOT eat one more bite of "healthy- filling great for you foods- like grilled chicken and brocolli" AND meet the calorie goal- and if they can- more power to them.

There is a point where meeting the calorie goal trumps the minutia- you can clean eat all you want- and hit your macros pretty well but if you still don't hit your minimum surplus- you aren't going to get where you need to go.

Sometimes you straight up need calorie dense (often labelled junk food) that doesn't leave you feeling full.

Also drinking your calories will get you the numbers and not leave you as full- one of the guys on my other sites- said he has been blending slices of cheesecake into his protein shakes just to try to get his numbers up.

lrmall01

I would love to have a food plan and be told eat this then or eat this much lol!

Here you go!

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/meal-plan-for-every-guy.html

MagnumBurrito

Grow Big Plan:

Consume:

at least a pound of meat / day
4 -12 eggs / day
all the veggies / dark leafy greens you can eat
1-2 servings of fruit
1-2 of nuts
Get at least 200 grams of protein / day. (Keep drinking protein shakes until you get gasie. That's your body's daily limit.)

Lift heavy 3 times a week.
Do body weight / assistance exercises the other 4 days.

Cheat meal once a week if you need it.

rumple2014

Ty for all ur replies! It's interesting to see what people think is the best way to progress ! 12 eggs a day lol! Jesus! Hear was me thinking an egg plus what I have been eating is ok haha! Definetly need to re think . I got a 5kg bag of impact whey protein from my protein for 50 quid! Is that good! I was having 2 shakes a day but I guess more is better. Depends how much is utilised over just excreted !

Ty for he link I will look into it ! For some reason it doesn't click of my phone so have to wait till I'm on my pc!

Yeah clean eating was what I wanted to do! But it's a pain and as u said prob not as essential as I think it is!

It's the been fat don't wanna go back syndrome from when I was younger lol.

JoRocka

It's the been fat don't wanna go back syndrome from when I was younger lol.

lift all the things- as long as your numbers are going up- you're on the right track.

Seriously- this is prime time to SMASH it.

lrmall01

Removed: my link had already been linked above so post was redundant.

rumple2014

Does it matter what type of foods i eat at certain times! I have a shake 30 mins before and post workout but what about daily eating? Right before bed or 30 mins before I have another shake but should I not eat bread or stuff later

lrmall01

Since you are having a hard time eating enough food to put weight on, I say eat early and eat often and don't worry about it. Get the basics down before bothering with meal timing.

5MITHY_2006

Food sources are better than shakes but they are an easy source of protein dense calories..
I'm pretty much in the same situation as you, shooting for 3000 cals on training days and 2700ish on my low carb non training days.. Making slow steady results.. Maybe the high / low carb thing is something for you to look into if you're scared of putting on too much fat?

Dan

rumple2014

You maybe right dan!

But I thought 2500 a day was a lot so lot to get my head around! Coz it feels I'm eating a lot already and bloated lol!

I do eat lots of foods like hard boiled eggs, almonds, tuna , porridge oats, scrambled eggs , sweet potatoes and stuff! Just I like a routine of foods and when I got back to work next week I will have to shove calories down my throat in my breaks and I hate feeling bloated at work haha

Chris

geebusuk

If you eat foods that are typically labelled as 'healthy' you'll generally get ones good for LOSING weight.

I'd look to icecream and other nutrient dense food. Tasty and excellent for 'bulking'.

Keep an eye on your weight - I like app 'libra' - and add more calories every week until your weight is going up by the desired amount.

rumple2014

To be fair I don't even know what my ideal weight is? I just want to look more healthy! Have a nice shape and not be so lacking in confidence! I don't take my top off even with my partner . Ridiculous I know! Just I'm selfconcious as still have a bit of excess skin when I was bigger ! But weights will help I hope . So no idea what my target is other than looking better! Fuller in the face so people don't think I'm anorexic and with some mass to feel confident

Blacklance36

You could put an extra 30 lbs. of muscle on and you would look great. You need to eat to put muscle on, you cant do that from a calorie deficit.

geebusuk

I've got a little loose skin, however it's less than the last time I fitted in these trousers (last year ended up going a bit wrong and went back up 50lb or so) - I'm also heavier by at least 10lb fitting in the same trousers, so reckon the muscle has helped some.

csman49

I'm your height, maybe a little older. Started march at 73kg and ended march at 76kg. Granted my scales are ****, but it's going the right way. I'm targeting to hit 80-82kgs. Feel free to friend request me.

Every night Before bed,get a jug blender and put in it:
500ml whole milk
25g protein powder any flavour ya like
100g porridge oats
1 banana
Tsp olive oil or udos oil or tbsp flax seed
Scoop of ice cream.

Blend that up and neck it.

See where you are in 2 weeks time

rumple2014

Well I had a bad session so it makes me not want to eat as much but I'm forcing myself to. Had 3 protein shakes yesterday and 3 vanilla milkshake on too of my food intake! I must have got 3000 lol! But what about days I'm resting on and I don't plan on doing anything but playing my pc or watching tv? Should I lower my intake?

Chris

Ps

Can anyone check my diary as well to see if I'm eating the right stuff?

geebusuk

You calculate your calories based on a weekly intake for a specific rate of weight gain, so in most cases you eat the same every day. I work it slightly differently, but I expect to be eating 2750 on off days and 3750 on workout days for a SLOW bulk.
Muscle is built while resting; workout is damaging it if anything, which causes the body to repair.

If you are eating food, your protein target is met and you're getting the appropriate amount of calories, you're eating the right stuff.

TavistockToad

Well I had a bad session so it makes me not want to eat as much but I'm forcing myself to. Had 3 protein shakes yesterday and 3 vanilla milkshake on too of my food intake! I must have got 3000 lol! But what about days I'm resting on and I don't plan on doing anything but playing my pc or watching tv? Should I lower my intake?

Chris

Ps

Can anyone check my diary as well to see if I'm eating the right stuff?

to be honest, you're probably still not eating as much as you think... just looking at yesterday -

what about a couple of slices of thick toast with peanut butter on for breakfast with your protein shake?

don't use 'generic' or 'homemade' entrys from the database, unless they are your home made stuff of course, they are probably way out. a couple of chicken breasts and a jar of sauce isnt hard to make yourself!

the jacket potato, you need to weigh it! why have it plain? why not top with cheese and beans for more cals and some nutrients

you take a milti vitamin, but i didnt see much in the way of fruit and veg - i know its very low cal, but you need your vitamins and nutrients as well.

nuts and seeds are good snacks, high cal low volume.