Thread: How do you know how much to eat on cycle.

No one?

I'm seeing numbers like 5k cal a day, should be interesting to find those other 2k somewhere...

General consensus is to eat 500 cals in excess of your maintenance rate which you should use a few metabolic calculators to nail down. 2600-3000 seems pretty low for a bulk but we need your basic stats like height, weight, target weight, age to know for sure.

Hire a nutritionist and you're good to go. If not add 500 extra cals a day and watch the scale, you should be climbing a lb a week with that.

O yah, lift weights too, it helps.

This is not my area of expertise. Also you dont say hiw much you weigh now or what you want to weigh post cycle. There are ways to calculate from your maintenance calories but this is what I would do

Take your desired LBM post cycle Double it. That is the number of protein grams you should eat. Multiply that by 4calories per gram that is your protein calories. So if you have 170lbs of LBM double that for 340 multiply NY 4calories you will eat 1360 cals of protein ED (340grams)

There or different ideas on macros but for bulk higher carb and fat than for cut. I like equal which is 33/33/33 basically lol. Some people like 40/40/20

If you do equal for the 170lbs LBM example that is 1360 carb calories. Carbs are also 4 calories per gram so that is 340grams of carbs. Fat is 9 calories per gram so that is 150 grams of fat.

4000 calories per day.

Sorry, I should've thought of that, some days I play an idiot on tv too, not just the interwebs.

Currently 175#, 5'11, 13-14% bf, was going to push it lower, but since I was going to bulk I decided to start it a little early, to, theoretically, decrease the fat gain you can get at a lower bf. Macros are generally 45/35/20. Protein's high, I know, going to have to start putting down more brown rice.

I lift 6 days a week generally, chest/bis, back/tris, legs, shoulders, other 2 days are lighter days in between the splits, over the course of those 2 days I hit everything but with a lower intensity. Cardio is 3x per week, fairly high intensity.

Thanks for that breakdown AY!

Oh, and here's a typical food day for me...

Foods	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Cholest	Sodium	Sugars	Fiber
Breakfast
Prior - Kokt Egg, 1 egg	70	0g	6g	7g	185mg	70mg	0g	0g
Boca Sausage Links - Sausage Links, 2 Links	80	5g	4g	8g	0mg	370mg	2g	2g
Kraft Fat Free Sharp Cheddar Cheese - Shredded - Cheese, 28 g	45	2g	0g	9g	4mg	280mg	0g	0g
Meijer - Great Eggspectations 100% Liquid Egg Whites, 9 Tbsp (46g)	75	3g	0g	15g	0mg	225mg	0g	0g
La Tortilla Smart and Delicious Soft Wrap - Multigrain, With Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1 tortilla	100	18g	4g	9g	0mg	290mg	1g	12g
Lunch
New Star - Spinich, 1 1/2 cups	20	3g	0g	2g	0mg	65mg	0g	2g
Safeway Farms - *Steam In Bag* Broccoli Florets, 1.5 cup (85g)	38	6g	0g	5g	0mg	38mg	3g	5g
Boathouse Farms - Caesar Parmigiano Yogurt Dressing, 2 Tbsp 30g	45	0g	3g	2g	10mg	170mg	2g	0g
President - Fat Free Feta Cheese Crumbled, 1 oz = 2tbsp	35	1g	0g	7g	5mg	260mg	0g	0g
Valley Fresh Organic Canned Chicken Breast In Water - Canned Chicken With Rib Meat, 10 oz	225	0g	5g	45g	150mg	1,300mg	0g	0g
Yoplait : - Greek 100 Calorie Yogurt Key Lime, 1 container	100	10g	0g	13g	4mg	55mg	7g	0g
Dinner
chicken breast - chicken breast, 5 oz	175	0g	3g	29g	81mg	225mg	0g	0g
Meijer Organics - Rotini Whole Wheat Pasta, 1 cup	210	44g	2g	7g	0mg	0mg	2g	5g
Prego - Light Smart- Traditional Tomato Sauce, 1/2 cup (120mL)	45	11g	0g	1g	0mg	410mg	7g	3g
Kraft - Mozzarella Cheese - Fat Free Shredded , 28 g (0.25 cup=28g)	45	2g	0g	9g	5mg	280mg	0g	0g
Cheese - Parmesan, shredded, 1 tbsp	21	0g	1g	2g	4mg	85mg	0g	0g
chicken breast - chicken breast, 11 oz	385	0g	7g	63g	179mg	495mg	0g	0g
Meijer - Instant Brown Rice, 1/2 cup (1 cup cooked)	150	33g	1g	4g	0mg	0mg	0g	2g
Sharwood's - Makhani Butter Chicken Cooking Sauce, 1/2 cup	140	15g	9g	2g	14mg	750mg	6g	2g
Snacks
Pure Protein - Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar, 50 g (1 bar)	200	16g	6g	20g	10mg	200mg	2g	1g
Pure Protein - Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar, 50 g (1 bar)	200	16g	6g	20g	10mg	200mg	2g	1g
Body Fortress? Super Advanced Whey Protein Chocolate - Chocolate Whey Protein Shake Mix, 2.5 scoop	350	10g	5g	65g	113mg	175mg	3g	3g
Now Foods - Carbo Gain 100% Complex, 1/8 cup (50g)	48	12g	0g	0g	0mg	0mg	1g	0g
TOTAL: And I also had a casein shake before bed which brought the net cals to about 3100.	2,802	207g	62g	344g	774mg	5,943mg	38g	38g

The dinner is actually 2 separate meals. The protein bars are snacks in between meals, usually I only have 1, but I was busy and didn't have time for anything else. The 2.5 protein shakes are pre and post workout, the carbo-gain is post workout because it was a cardio day (it's just maltodextrin). The sodium is stupid high, I love my Na, on that day I was closer to a 50/30/20 which happens fairly often. I could probably cut the carbs down and get some healthy fats or stop using so many low/no fat foods (natty peanut butter, flax seed oil) or cut the fat down and get some more carbs...

I'm coming from the perspective of former fat kid, so trying to gain weight is somewhat counter-intuitive for me.