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Help on getting more cals


coroho
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Hi all, I've been lifting for about a couple months now, following the Stronglifts program, but I haven't seen much gain at all as far as putting on weight goes. I started tracking my food intake on Fitday a couple weeks ago and I'm thinking maybe I need to be getting more calories. I was getting around 2500 when I started tracking and since I've been aiming higher I can't seem to get past 3250 on any one day. I'm quite skinny, ectomorph build (24yo / 135lbs / 5'10" ). Here's what I'll eat on an average day:

 

Meal 1: Oatmeal, peanut butter, toast, banana, orange juice

Meal 2: Smoothie (couple frozen fruits, soy milk, spinach)

Meal 3: Salad w/ veggies, beans, seeds, avocado, olive oil

Meal 4: A few fruits and some nuts

Meal 5: Stirfry vegetables with tofu over brown rice

 

Then I usually run out of steam save for maybe some more fruit and nuts when I've already had 2 similar meals. This breaks down to about 64% carbs / 23% fat / 13% protein. I also can't find any numbers to aim for really, so I don't know if protein is too low and carbs are too high or what, but that's already at like 2:1 g:kg ratio for protein. Internet researching hasn't turned me up any solid advice, so I thought I'd check in with you folks directly to see if you had any suggestions for me (short of drinking a gallon of milk a day, ie stronglifts ). Thanks a lot and nice forum here (:

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Your protein percentage seems extremely low to me. I eat around 4000 calories a day 50 - 60% Carbs, 20 - 25% Protein, 20% Fat roughly.

 

You should do somewhere around 1 to 1.5g or Protein per pound of bodyweight. And around 2 - 3g of carbs per pound.

 

Between what meals do you workout? You should eat a good amount of your carbs before and after your workouts. Your only eating 5 meals a day as well might want to increase that to 6 or 7. Add in some oats into your smoothies or protein shakes (which i don't see you doing any of). I find that making a quick shake of Soymilk/Almond milk, some protein, oats and banana is a great way to knockout about 400 calories.

 

Hope that helps

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Your protein percentage seems extremely low to me. I eat around 4000 calories a day 50 - 60% Carbs, 20 - 25% Protein, 20% Fat roughly.

 

You should do somewhere around 1 to 1.5g or Protein per pound of bodyweight. And around 2 - 3g of carbs per pound.

 

Between what meals do you workout? You should eat a good amount of your carbs before and after your workouts. Your only eating 5 meals a day as well might want to increase that to 6 or 7. Add in some oats into your smoothies or protein shakes (which i don't see you doing any of). I find that making a quick shake of Soymilk/Almond milk, some protein, oats and banana is a great way to knockout about 400 calories.

 

Hope that helps

Thanks Pegasus. I guess this is where I get confused, since if I'm aiming for 4k calories myself then if I kept those %s I'd end up eating way more than 1.5 g/kg protein. Is this just how it goes when you're bulking? I feel like I'm a hard gainer so thats why I'm aiming higher for so high calories.

 

On workout days I'll generally have a smoothie beforehand, some soymilk and a banana right when I get home, and then some black bean burgers and a sweet potato shortly after. I do have some protein powder but I cut it out as I was getting plenty of protein without it I thought. I like the oats idea, btw, I'll start doing that.

 

So I guess basically my question is, should I aim for similar percentages as yourself whether I'm maintaining or bulking, and if it's when I'm bulking then should I not worry about taking in more than recommended carbs/fats/proteins?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yes your protein seems way too low. Calories are obviously an important number to start with. But if you're serious about bulking up you need to have your macros (pro/carb/fat) in order.

 

For a guy with your stats, 3250 calories should be enough to gain weight... but again your macros will dictate what kind of weight that is. How long have you been eating 3250 cals? Have you gained ANY weight???

 

You definitely need to know your TDEE. See the links here:

 

Go here to figure out your BMR

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

 

Then with your BMR go here to figure out your TDEE

http://www.bestdallaspersonaltrainer.com/energy-expenditure-calculator.html

 

Then start a diet at 400-500 calories above your TDEE and monitor progress for 4 weeks. Protein 1.5g per lb of bodyweight and the rest carbs/fats. You may have to play around with carb/fat ratio to see what works for you. Try 100g fat and the rest of your daily calories from carbs.

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