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

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  • xmichaelyx
    xmichaelyx Posts: 883 Member
    When people say clean bulk they usually don't mean clean foods. They mean a very low caloric surplus, thus allowing the majority of the surplus to go into muscle.

    This. "Clean" in this sense is the amount of food, not the type of food.
    That being said, aim for a 200-400 calorie surplus per day only. You should be gaining less than a pound per week on a "clean" bulk. If you're having trouble with eating 200-400 calorie a day surplus, then yes, eating things like avocados, cheese, full fat yogurt, peanut butter etc will help you get there.

    I'll add: A protein shake with a banana and peanut butter blended in is delicious, has good macros (if you use good protein - I use Optimal Nutrition because it's low-carb and cheap), and can be anywhere from 300 to 1000 calories, depending on the amount of peanut butter and milk used.

    Also, I'm a 6' 180lb. guy, and I clean bulk at around 2600. Granted, I'm over 40. But I don't think you need that many calories to bulk.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    When people say clean bulk they usually don't mean clean foods. They mean a very low caloric surplus, thus allowing the majority of the surplus to go into muscle. When you're in a surplus, your body has 2 choices to do with the extra calories, turn it into fat or turn it into muscle (basically). Your body can only make so much muscle effectively. This is opposed to a dirty bulk, in which you stuff yourself with as many calories as you can fill yourself with in hopes of putting on as much muscle and fat as possible. If you're in a 1000 calorie surplus, it doesn't matter if the foods you eat are "clean" or not, you'll be gaining quite a bit of fat along with your muscle.

    That being said, aim for a 200-400 calorie surplus per day only. You should be gaining less than a pound per week on a "clean" bulk. If you're having trouble with eating 200-400 calorie a day surplus, then yes, eating things like avocados, cheese, full fat yogurt, peanut butter etc will help you get there.

    What he said ^

    ^^yep
  • mangogirl272727
    mangogirl272727 Posts: 95 Member
    I only read this because I'm jealous of your problem :(
    I'm pretty sure I could put down about 2,000 calories in one trip to Chipotle.

    I know lol! I could easily put down 1000 in one trip to Starbucks (aka a snack not even a meal). I don't understand why people struggle with this at all. Consider a day like this:

    breakfast: One full bowl (which is usually three servings) of my favorite cluster and flake granola cereal (whole grain, fairly low sugar) covered in whole milk

    snack: sip a muscle milk or Ensure shake throughout the morning

    lunch: heavily peanut buttered PB and banana sandwich on dense wheat bread with a tall glass of ff chocolate milk on the side

    snack: a few handfuls of dark chocolate covered nuts

    dinner: a cup of buttered brown rice, teryaki salmon filet, salad with croutons, cherry tomatoes, feta, and olive oil caesar dressing

    That's not a terribly large amount of food and it amounts to FOUR THOUSAND calories right there with NONE of it being junk. If you were to add dessert (ben and jerry's, cookies) or indulgent snacks (jamba juice peanut butter moo'd smoothie/ Pumpkin spice latte) you could hit 5,000 EASY.
  • mereditheve
    mereditheve Posts: 142 Member
    As previous posters said, "clean" bulking is not having a high calorie surplus so you don't gain as much fat in the process.

    Will add that this hits on a pet peeve of mine... maybe I'll post more on this later... that there are so many myths about "bulking." The biggest myth is that you have to eat a lot of food. Some people seem to use this as an excuse to eat a lot of food. And guess what - they gain lots of fat and very little muscle and then wonder what went wrong, or think it's normal to have to drop a huge amount of weight in the cutting process. But in reality, it is not necessary. Your body can only build so much muscle at a time, and you can only make so many micro-tears in your muscle for your body to rebuild before you tire yourself too much.

    Point 2 - You can gain significant muscle mass without "bulking" per se. I keep my body fat percentage relatively constant (or even dropping) as I gain muscle.

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