Thread: How much is too much?

Should I up my carbs to 55-60% and decrease my protein to 20-25%?

Originally Posted by ddawg

I am currently bulking and I am 170 pounds. I went 2 weeks at about 2900 calories and I pretty much stayed right at 170 give or take .3 pounds up and down. As a result, I am going to be upping my calories to 3200 a week and just like previous I plan on doing a split of 50% carbs/30protein/20fat. The problem is though when spreading out the calories through 6 meals a day, it seems like at the end of the day, in order to eat 3200 calories I have to eat tons and tons of protein and carbs. I mean, is it ok to be consuming 390+ carbs and 280+ grams of protein a day at my weight?

I'm almost afraid to ask how many grams of fat.. But I'll ask. How many ?

Originally Posted by ddawg

Should I up my carbs to 55-60% and decrease my protein to 20-25%?

Are you jucin ? Up the carbs, to more then 390 grams a day ? WOW

You must have a super fast metabolism.

Originally Posted by ddawg

I am currently bulking and I am 170 pounds. I went 2 weeks at about 2900 calories and I pretty much stayed right at 170 give or take .3 pounds up and down. As a result, I am going to be upping my calories to 3200 a week and just like previous I plan on doing a split of 50% carbs/30protein/20fat. The problem is though when spreading out the calories through 6 meals a day, it seems like at the end of the day, in order to eat 3200 calories I have to eat tons and tons of protein and carbs. I mean, is it ok to be consuming 390+ carbs and 280+ grams of protein a day at my weight?

@ 170 lbs you definetly don't need 280 grams of protein to grow but you have to get cals from somewhere, an excess of carbs and fats will just lead to more fat gains if they are not utilized. you could try something like a 30/40/30 - p/c/f. IMO 20% fats is on the low side

carbs 390gms = 1560 cals

protein 280gms = 1120 cals

fat 25gms = 225 cals

... Total 2905 cals.... You need to up the fats

Lower the carbs and protein and up the fat.

Originally Posted by ddawg

I am currently bulking and I am 170 pounds. I went 2 weeks at about 2900 calories and I pretty much stayed right at 170 give or take .3 pounds up and down. As a result, I am going to be upping my calories to 3200 a week and just like previous I plan on doing a split of 50% carbs/30protein/20fat. The problem is though when spreading out the calories through 6 meals a day, it seems like at the end of the day, in order to eat 3200 calories I have to eat tons and tons of protein and carbs. I mean, is it ok to be consuming 390+ carbs and 280+ grams of protein a day at my weight?

What is your BF%? Knowing your lean mass will give you an indication of what your protein levels should be.

Basically - Don't rely on ratio's to calculate anything. They give you no indication of what you require.

Calculate out from your lean mass:
Protein
~1.5 x lean mass = protein content that is adequate
So, say you were 170 and 10% - you have ~155 pounds lean mass.
~ You want ~230g protein.

If you want you can increase it to 1.5 x DESIRED lean mass (as long as your goals are sensible). So say you are trying to add about 10 pounds lean mass, then you could aim for 165 pounds or 250g protein. But in reality, this is mucho overkill - 1.5g is PLENTY for someone your size (you could actually get away with much less than this - but many people like higher protein levels).

So, say you aimed for 230g (920 cals)


Fat
MINIMUM fat levels should be 0.3g/pound lean mass - but that is generally recommended for extreme cutting (I usually prefer closer to 0.4g). As you are bulking and you are a hard gainer you might find that you need more. I would aim for:
0.5g x pound lean mass = 155 x 0.5 = 77g
You could do up to 0.6 x if you wanted = 93g

So say, aim for ~85g (765 cals)


Carbs
So if you go for 230g protein (920 cals) and 85g fat (765 cals) that leaves you:
3200 - 1685 = 1515 cals from carbs
Which is 380g

Alternatively, you could do slightly higher carbs (400g) and slightly lower fats (75g) and that would be:
~ 2.5 x lean mass carbs
~ 1.5 x lean mass protein
~ 0.5 x lean mass fats

Which is pretty good in terms of requirements.