Athlete's diet

[G. Thomas]

Hi all.  I am having trouble sifting through the amount of information on the webz concerning making adjustments to my diet.  I'm that tall and lean guy that has a six pack without trying. I'm trying to gain 15-20 pounds. The weight training program I'm using has helped me gain a few pounds and is increasingly providing results.  I also play on a club sports team so I am running a bunch. I have used myfitnesspal in the past to track eating.


I'm starting to understand macros a bit.  1g protein per pound. 50% carbs, 30% fat, 20% protein.  My carbo intake is consistently low based off those numbers.  I'm simply looking for a source for an athlete's diet.  I want to be shown sample meal plans and have the science taken care of.  Thoughts?

[VladTheImpaler]

I stick to a high protein, low carb, low sugar diet and i am able to add lean muscle mass.
I try to buy in bulk:
Peanuts
Almonds
Trail mix with cranberries/blueberries, seeds, nuts
Beans
Eggs (Aldi has super cheap eggs by the dozen)
Chicken
Fish (salmon when on sale)
Some red meat and pork (when on sale)
Milk and water
If I'm trying to gain muscle (6 pack) definition, I cut out milk and dairy.
I don't drink Soda or much juice because of the high sugar
I am lazy so I buy the bagged salads, but should save money if I bought the veggies on sale and made salads myself.

I do love the expensive craft beer....working on that one still

I don't spend on any supplements other than a daily multi-vitamin.

[boarder42]

look into 4 hour body.  Timothy Ferris did alot of self trial and error.  i follow the weight loss diet and can shred a few pounds a week.  but i can only assume as effective as the weight loss is the weight gain diet he advocates works well too. complete with meal plans.

[Lis]

I'm part of the If It Fits Your Macro community. I'm on the other end of scale (I'm trying to lose fat, not build muscle), but I know there are plenty of people looking to bulk up like yourself. It has a separate men's and women's facebook group - I can't speak for the men's group, but the women's group has been really helpful. Getting your macros and tips and advice is free (you will of course be met with "buy our blueprint!" or "buy this thing!").

[waltworks]

I think there is a decent chance you're a constanto-morph like me. I can be in shape to do a 1 arm pullup and boulder V10, run a <5:00 mile, etc, and I look like... a random skinny guy. I can be in the worst shape of my life and feel awful and I look... exactly the same. I used to get really frustrated (especially in high school when I was trying to be a decent swimmer) that I could gain strength but not muscle mass and I never *looked* strong... c'est la vie.

I would concentrate on actual results - do you have specific strength/endurance goals you are aiming for? Shoot for those rather than the relatively arbitrary and useless amount of muscle you can put on (which sounds like it's not a lot). I used to be a personal trainer and I used to give the same advice to folks trying to lose weight - if you make weight the goal, you're bound to be disappointed. If you make *performance* a goal, you'll love the workouts and make steady progress and you'll most likely drop a bunch of weight by the end because you had useful goals in mind instead. Even if you don't, you've gained a ton of fitness/performance and health benefits.

Throw the scale out the window. Track your actual strength and conditioning and make concrete goals in specific tests/events.

-W

[G. Thomas]

Thanks for the advice guys. 

I'm part of the If It Fits Your Macro community.

This is great.  A few sites all show similar findings based on my inputs.  Better yet this is what myfitnesspal tracks so everything aligns.

look into 4 hour body. 

Good call.  I skimmed this book a few months ago.  Time to re-visit it for meal planning

I would concentrate on actual results - do you have specific strength/endurance goals you are aiming for? Shoot for those rather than the relatively arbitrary and useless amount of muscle you can put on (which sounds like it's not a lot). I used to be a personal trainer and I used to give the same advice to folks trying to lose weight - if you make weight the goal, you're bound to be disappointed. If you make *performance* a goal, you'll love the workouts and make steady progress and you'll most likely drop a bunch of weight by the end because you had useful goals in mind instead. Even if you don't, you've gained a ton of fitness/performance and health benefits.

Throw the scale out the window. Track your actual strength and conditioning and make concrete goals in specific tests/events.

Definitely a hard gainer. Goals include a 14.5 on the beep test.  A sub 11 min 2 mile. For strength I don't have concrete numbers.  Since i'll be focusing on only a few compound lifts I will figure out where i am and throw random achievement goals out.

Good news is the macro based food approach is easy-ish to pick up and understand.  I hit my macros today and even had a 300 cal surplus (3,500 total) without any trouble.

[waltworks]

Good on ya. Keep in mind that unless you're feeding yourself absolute garbage, your body is going to decide what to do with what you put into it, and there's no magic food that will make you gain/lose weight or muscle. There are a decent number of people who can be elite athletes and literally eat snickers bars and french fries. There are also people who have metabolisms that just require that they really limit their caloric intake to be athletes. It sounds like you are in the eat-anything camp, basically, so if gaining muscle mass is your goal, you are basically just going to have to consume more calories than you burn, do a lot of low-rep-to-failure type exercise, and make sure you get some halfway decent amount of protein. You may very well not gain any weight/muscle, though, because ultimately your body is going to decide on it's own what to do with those nutrients.

I should also mention that your goals are really not ones that dovetail well with adding muscle mass. Beep (for all practical purposes VO2max) test and 2 mile runs are both events that you'll do worse at with more mass, not better. Probably moreso the 2 mile than the beep test but really if you're looking for endurance, why are you trying to add muscle? If anything you should be going the other way. I can think of some sports (rugby, soccer?) where you need both some size/mass (at least in some cases, Lionel Messi being the huge exception) and some endurance (again, Messi, who runs less than anyone somehow) but in general if you're not a big dude, putting on a bunch of muscle is going to really hinder your ability to do well at the stuff you've mentioned.

-W

[GuitarStv]

I tend to have trouble gaining weight myself.  For me the issue is really just one of quantity.  We tend to eat lots of veggies, a moderate amount of starches, and a small amount of meat.  On this diet I tend to get full easily, so you need to measure everything that you're eating and count calories to ensure that you're eating enough to gain weight.

Following starting strength and eating about 800 calories extra each day let me put on twenty pounds (mostly muscle) in about five or six months.  The change was enough that my thighs stopped fitting in my pants (although my waist was the same size), and all my shirts got tight . . . so maybe budget for new clothes too.

[G. Thomas]

I should also mention that your goals are really not ones that dovetail well with adding muscle mass. Beep (for all practical purposes VO2max) test and 2 mile runs are both events that you'll do worse at with more mass, not better. Probably moreso the 2 mile than the beep test but really if you're looking for endurance, why are you trying to add muscle? If anything you should be going the other way. I can think of some sports (rugby, soccer?) where you need both some size/mass (at least in some cases, Lionel Messi being the huge exception) and some endurance (again, Messi, who runs less than anyone somehow) but in general if you're not a big dude, putting on a bunch of muscle is going to really hinder your ability to do well at the stuff you've mentioned.

Agreed on the poor dovetail.  It is for Aussie Rules Football so more mass but not bulky is a plus. Thanks for the tips

[G. Thomas]

Following starting strength and eating about 800 calories extra each day let me put on twenty pounds (mostly muscle) in about five or six months.  The change was enough that my thighs stopped fitting in my pants (although my waist was the same size), and all my shirts got tight . . . so maybe budget for new clothes too.

Ha, I hadn't thought of the additional clothes cost. Glad to hear of your success with the program. Did you read the book or just follow the program?

[GuitarStv]

Following starting strength and eating about 800 calories extra each day let me put on twenty pounds (mostly muscle) in about five or six months.  The change was enough that my thighs stopped fitting in my pants (although my waist was the same size), and all my shirts got tight . . . so maybe budget for new clothes too.

Ha, I hadn't thought of the additional clothes cost. Glad to hear of your success with the program. Did you read the book or just follow the program?

Both, (after the first couple months I had to reduce the weight increases several times).

[EngineerYogi]

Carbs are your friend! You want starchy carbs for gaining mass so things like potatoes, rice, oats, bananas, etc.

I follow Eat To Perform which is a macro focused planning template. Meal plans are tricky because your calorie goals should be individualized and meal plans are very generic. I would recommend you generate your macros from this calculator and go from there: http://www.eattoperform.com/eat-to-perform-calculator/

You might also check us out in the Strength and Fitness Thread, there a lots of knowledgeable people there and even a 3500 cal/day meal plan posted a week or so ago (though I think his protein intake was insanely high...). http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/strength-fitness-2016/

You can definitely do a mass gaining diet simply, eggs(lots of them) and toast or oats for breakfast, oats and protein shake with peanut butter for a snack, meat with starchy carb and veggies for lunch and dinner and fruit/nuts/yogurt for other snacks.

[G. Thomas]

Just wanted to give you helpful commentators a quick follow up.
I've added 15 pounds, only 7 pounds shy of my goal weight.  I did so by eating closer to the macro diet recommendations.  I counted for a few weeks but it is a pain. I just eat until over full, all the time.
I broke 14 on the beep test last week. Still improving. Haven't timed my 2 mile recently.
Getting stronger. Hitting 4 workouts a week.

No new clothes needed! Lots of running so my waist has stayed the same.

[G. Thomas]

Final follow up from 2016.
Starting weight was 175 in October '16.
Finished weight was 215 in September '17.

Your advice was quite helpful. I ate so much, to the point of near puking every night. Because I was a newer gym athlete almost every session was a PR. My cardio stayed great. I imagine I would have gained more had I not been keeping running a focus as well. Once I got to September I needed a break. The next few years I kept in very good fitness.

[Dreamer40]

One thing my DH just learned about protein: your body can’t get a lot of protein out of a huge portion in one sitting so it’s good to spread it out during the day. After like 3 or 4 ounces of steak in one meal, you may not be getting any protein benefit out of the excess. But you could if you ate the rest of it a few hours later.