Thread: How am I not bulking? Looking for critique

if your weight training five days a week thats too much i made this mistake before, rest is just as important

More fat. Your calories are too low. Butter your bread, toss heavy whipping cream in your shakes, and start getting in a couple tablespoons of olive oil a day. Ditch the eggwhites and switch to whole eggs.

If you're not gaining weight, you're eating at maintenance, simple as that.

Put your current intake into something like FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal and post the total calories, and grams protein, carb and fat.

Agreed with Built. More fat. At a glance, I'd estimate you're a little below 100g. Feel free to go nuts (no pun). When I bulk I've been as high as 200g+ (usually 180). Fat doesn't have to mean "not clean" bulking. In fact, it's quite the opposite. When I have high fats I feel much more in tune with my body; my workouts are better, and my testosterone remains high despite sub-maximal training 3-4 days a week plus high-intensity cardio. Hell, I'm cutting right now and taking in 125g fat a day! Give priority to monounsaturated, but ensure you get poly and saturated, too. I don't like to advise people with ratios, but mine always seems to be about this: (percentage of total calories) sat - 7-10%; poly; 12%; mono: 20%. As you can see, fat tends to make up over 1/3 of my daily calories. In fact, fat usually makes up the largest chunk of my calories. I always consume 260-270g protein, that never changes. Fat on bulk I like to be 150-200g, then carbs fill in the rest. Fat makes the world go round!

Olive oil, for sure.

Avocado also.

At 9 whole eggs I'm fucking impressed. Good on you for eating the whole thing, but there's no reason for whites on a bulk. Plus, they cost more. Ditch the 1 cup whites, and replace with either even more whole eggs or maybe some ground beef, and turn it into an omlette. If so, I suggest adding asparagus (another supposed test booster) and other veges for flavour.

More peanut butter would be good, too.

I did a rough count of your protein and it looks pretty good. Large chunk if not majority seems to be meat and eggs, so that's great. Carbs look decent, though I might drop the juice down to 8 oz (1 cup) and add some more grains. Like whole wheat pasta? When you factor in sauce, maybe meat, and a little bit of cheese on top you have a calorie-dense, very nutritious, and declious meal.

I assume you didn't include veges on purpose, but what are you eating in that department out of curiosity? Greens are crucial.

post your rock solid workout routine in the training room for some feedback

change your macros and increase your cals by 10% each week until weight gain occurs. everyone gains weight with a high enough caloric excess.

Thanks a lot for the responses everyone. I got this diet plan from a trainer of mine BTW.

My actual workout routine is 4 days, I spend the 5th day on just abs alone.

I'll definitely add some more fat into my diet. Should I increase my carbs as well a bit? Meal 1 is my toughest, I can barely walk with the amount of food I eat in that meal and I sometimes feel like throwing up...so I just drink the egg whites out of the carton instead of cooking. I can't really substitute it for food, I wont be able to fit it. I asked my trainer about the veges and advised that I don't really need them...I used to buy those frozen mixed veggies whuich has asparagus, carrots, brocolli, cauliflower and I used to boil and eat it...tasted too with a some salt. Maybe I should start doing that and eating it once a day with my Meal 5 maybe?

Would drinking skim or 1% milk on maybe the last meal help as well?

I basically went from 159-169 in about 3 weeks but for the past month i've been stalled at exactly 169...haven't even gained .1 of a lb and i'm eating the same as I did when I jumped the 10lbs.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions thus far.

I eat raw veggies. As many colors as possible. Aside from the micro's, it will help keep the food moving. They are a must.

Drink whole milk.

Meet or exceed the minimum requirements of protein and fat and feel free to eat as many carbs as you want.

Include cardio. I personally found cardio increased my appetite in addition to helping with recovery. However, if cardio suppresses your appetite use it in moderation.