Calorie surplus tips anyone?

LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo

OK so I know this one may be off-topic & kinda weird for the majority here but right now I'm in the muscle building stage & they say that you need to have 200-300 calorie surplus to be stronger & build muscles. I'm having really difficult time having that amount of surplus & not even meeting my daily calorie goal so most of the time I still ended up with a deficit.

For those of you who are successful or aiming to build muscle/gain muscle weight, how do you manage to come up with a surplus? I don't get hungry easily especially after my weight lifting session & many times I just forced myself to eat lunch or dinner. Also I'm afraid that through this it leads to fat gain instead of muscle.

Crystal_Pistol

I'm not eating a surplus, but I saw your post in another thread and will answer based on what I've learned from my bulking friends:

avocado
olive oils
protein powder and protein powder recipes (proatmeal, shakes- I actually make one with milk, 2 scoops of chocolate whey, frozen banana slices, and 2TBS of almond butter that is HEAVENLY)
nuts and nut butters

Hit your macros and then do what you have to to get to your goals. Happy bulking!

crux

I make a big sack of trail mix, assorted nuts, seeds and dried fruits. 100gm's = 450+ calories. Put a hand full on your Greek yoghurt or just munch through the day.

Then cook with oil, put olive oil on you salads etc... Fat is your friend in this situation.

I find it hard too, but that's because I've had two yeas of eating lower calorie foods, and my taste, food choices have been reset over that time away from calorie dense to nutrient dense foods, you just have to re-adjust a little.

gymrocker

Hey - I had a similar problem to this a few years back. No matter how much I ate I didn't building up a calorie surplus and thus didn't see any results from my work in the gym. Much trial and error ensued and I learned how to "tweak" and super-charge my diet so that I was boosting the fat (good fats of course) and protein in my diet. After a while i took the plunge and bought Dave Ruels Anabolic Cookbook - he's some canadian bodybuilder/chef you basically lays out your meal plans for you and gives you 200 super chaged recipes.

I found it hard to eat enough but once I got on top of it and "super-chaged" my meals the gains just started flowing in. And no, i didn't turn into a blimp either Lol My bodyfat actually dropped as I gained weight because I was eating the correct nutrients at the correct times of the day - This was CRUCIAL to my progress.

You'll find some free muscle building recipes here ( http://www.bodybuilding-fitness-nutrition.com/muscle-building-nutrition-free-recipes/) and once you get a handle on your diet you will be amazed at your progress.

It really is the case that if one part of the equation is missing you seem to forfeit all your gains no matter how hard you work in the gym. So good luck, and get on and nail you Nutrition and watch the results!!

Sidesteal

OK so I know this one may be off-topic & kinda weird for the majority here but right now I'm in the muscle building stage & they say that you need to have 200-300 calorie surplus to be stronger & build muscles. I'm having really difficult time having that amount of surplus & not even meeting my daily calorie goal so most of the time I still ended up with a deficit.

First, I would set your intake goal to 10-20% above your TDEE and not arbitrarily set it at 200-300. Now, if 200-300 happens to peg you in the 10-20% surplus range then you're fine, but percent increases will be a better method.

This thread should help quite a bit in this regard:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703981

As far as food choices to hit your totals, select foods with a higher calorie density. Full fat dairy, whole eggs, nuts, nut butters, red meat, etc.

Rae6503

The problem I see a lot of women make is they keep eating "diet food". Now, I haven't checked your diary but stay away from things like egg whites, fat free yogurt, low fat cheese, etc. Eat whole eggs, red meat, 2% or whole milk (I don't like them though but if you do...), 2% yogurt, full fat salad dressing, dark meat AND skin on a chicken. I'm eating 2800 calories a day and it's really not hard for me.