Food to bulk up

Try to eat 6 meals a day spaced out so you can fit in your calories, lift heavy weights low reps, do compound excersies like deadlift, bench press, squats, etc and you'll put on muscle but half of it will probably be fat. Be consistent and patient cuz gaining weight should be a slow process if wanting to put on as little body fat possible.. hope that helps!

Calories are king for bulking. And theres nothing wrong with carbs

jasonbruce888 wrote: »

cool, so basically I need to hit the right balance of those 3

1g/lbm for protein, if you don't know your lean mass (lbm), then about 0.8g/lb of bodyweight.
fats about 0.3/lb of bodyweight
fill the rest with carbs.

so for me, thats about 115g protein, 50g fat, and the rest of my cals are carbs.
on a percent scale, since that's how MFP is set up, 25% protein, 30% fat (which is more than 50g), and 45% carbs. But I treat my protein & fat values as minimums. If I noticed an energy issues during my training, I might lower fat a little bit and intake more carbs but I think I'll be ok.

jasonbruce888 wrote: »

Nice one that makes sense. What do you eat whist you are at work etc to keep u going? I suppose a lot of it is all about planning to make sure I have enough food with me at work

This is today:


Because I'm lazy and didn't feel like cooking veggies last night.
I'm hitting my fat macro with my dinner tonight (steak, baked potato with butter)

I do half of a protein shake and add some of it to my coffee in the morning (3 cups) and I don't eat til noon.
The chicken I'm having today with the veggies, is pretty filling so that's why my PM snack is just cantaloupe (387g of it lol).
But I'll do leftovers for lunch - yesterday was homemade pizza, had toast with smashed avocado & turkey eartlier this week.
typically my PM snack is some fruit with cottage cheese or greek yogurt to help with the fat/protein macros. plus it keeps me satisfied til I eat dinner at 730-8pm (I eat at 12p, 3p, 730-8p. I try to eat my snack no later than 330pm on days I have to run after work so I don't feel gross during the run. I personally find this successful for keeping my binges lower and within my calorie goal. I primarily work out in the morning, fasted, except 2 PM group runs a week. Eating schedule is a personal preference) I'll also eat something sweet daily, sometimes just after lunch or sometimes after dinner. I find it necessary for my mental health

Other food I've brought to work:

(20% plain greek yogurt with cocoa powder & strawbberies)


pizza from earlier this week


cottage cheese with thin mints and strawberries

ETA: the first picture isn't working for some reason... It's 2 7oz boxes of frozen veggies, a garlic Parmesan chicken breast (was about 240g raw - so good size), a container of cantaloupe, and my protein shake

jasonbruce888 wrote: »

This is really helping thanks, so I don't need to stick to a dull salad every day and avoid the things I love

*gags* salad...
I kid, kind of. I ate so many flipping salads when I started MFP 3 years ago that I rarely eat them now. And if I do, I typically order them when I'm out since I live alone so I'd have to eat salads for days if I made them lol

ETA: fyi, I'm cutting weight to be a faster runner. but I hang out in the gaining weight forum a lot. ndj, mrM, jo, and a bunch of the guys in here have actual experience with bulking. I just like listening to them bicker and I've learned a bunch from them since a lot of it can still be applied to those cutting weight, it's just a smaller portion size

jasonbruce888 wrote: »

This is really helping thanks, so I don't need to stick to a dull salad every day and avoid the things I love

Why would you even consider this if you're trying to gain? Unless you're talking about those 1000+ calorie salads they serve at chain restaurants.

Um, no. If you're trying to gain, you need fat and carbs along with your protein. Plus, you know that almost everything in a salad is a carbohydrate, right? Vegetables get almost all of their calories from carbs.

jasonbruce888 wrote: »

This is really helping thanks, so I don't need to stick to a dull salad every day and avoid the things I love

Dodge the salads mate if your bulking. Also google/read up on the difference between a clean bulk and a dirty bulk. I have been doing a clean bulk (about 200 cals per day over maintenance for just over a year. I have put on about 25lbs and my body fat has stayed roughly the same (15%). Good luck mate. You seem determined so I'm sure you will have success.

Brah, you seriously think it's possible to put on 14 pounds of muscle mass in time for summer?


eta: unless you're on tren or dan I think you're in for heartbreak.

rainbowbow wrote: »

Brah, you seriously think it's possible to put on 14 pounds of muscle mass in time for summer?


eta: unless you're on tren or dan I think you're in for heartbreak.

Word. Idk why people are even bothering giving him advice. His expectations are way out in left field already.

OP, You would be lucky to put on 5 lbs of muscle by June, if you did everything right (assuming you are a newbie and could attain newbie gains). You can't build muscle that quickly. Just doesn't happen. If you wanted to put on 14 lbs of muscle, you should have started lifting last August.

jasonbruce888 wrote: »

rainbowbow wrote: »

Brah, you seriously think it's possible to put on 14 pounds of muscle mass in time for summer?


eta: unless you're on tren or dan I think you're in for heartbreak.

Celebrities do it.

Im not going to be devastated if I don't make it. As long as I am seen progress I will be happy

Definitely keep that positive attitude mate. But, I think you would be surprised to know what celebrities might actually cycle for a few moths whilst preparing for a role. I'm not saying Mark Whalberg or Stallone etc do not work hard, but I think they can afford to safely pay for whatever it takes to get ready in a certain time period whilst being monitored by doctors.

if you are trying to bulk up, but don't know what macros are, and that vegetables are mostly carbs, you need to do more research

I'm currently on 2800cals a day with over 300 carbs included. You can pretty much include ice cream, bagels, etc and don't be afraid of carbs. Carbs will help massively with strength gains and ultimately muscle mass although I agree that your goal is a bit too high lol Send FR and check out my diary for some ideas on food choices. Good luck!!!!