My 3500 Calorie Per Day Meal Plan to Bulk Up

[Mentor B]

I just got my gym membership to 24 Hour Fitness.

For a long time, I have been wanting to initiate this quest to build enormous muscle mass, but I never had the time or I had difficulty fitting a membership in my budget.

I compiled a meal plan to stay committed to for at least a couple weeks until I can alter it.

If anybody can offer advice in tweaking it for additional protein or more carbs needed, let me know. Otherwise, I hope it can assist anybody else out there trying to do the same thing.

Breakfast:

2 scrambled eggs
1 cup of oatmeal w/ milk
1/2 cup of blueberries
1 apple (granny smith)
1 glass of milk
1 fish oil pill

Snack:

Activia (blueberry yogurt)
2 granola bars
Whey Protein Shake
1 apple (granny smith)
1 cup red raspberries

Lunch:

Starkist Tuna
2 slices of bread (whole grain)
14 baby carrots
1/2 cup spinach
1/2 banana

Snack:

4oz dried peanuts (no salt)

Dinner:

2 chicken breasts (boneless)
2 slices of bread (whole grain)
1/2 cup of spinach
1/2 cup of brown rice
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1 glass of milk
1 flaxseed oil pill

Snack:

2 cups of Pomegranate Blueberry juice

It's not quite 3500 but close enough

 

[duppy_maka]

if you building muscle, don't forget the protein.
2g of protein for every pound of body weight.

Honestly, I doubt you will be able to follow your meal plan for too long.

Best bet is to supplement your food diet with a weight gain powder and whey protein powder.

1200 calorie weight gain powder in the morning.
eat a regular lunch and dinner

take your protein powder 1 hour before you work out and right after.

light snack before bed.

 

[Liquid2000]

user myfitnesspal.com to keep track of what you eat and how many calories you have left for the day. They have an app for smartphones. You can either type in what you eat or scan it in. And like duppy_maka said get you some protein shakes.

 

[Mo-Better]

If your serious about wanting to build enormous muscle mass, your going to have to do better than this. Not enough proteins and your not mentioning any supplements. You want muscle not fat.

Your going to need much more protein. For starters eggs probably around a dozen a day and not scrambled, just the egg whites so I would recommend boiled. With that many calories you need to keep your protein level high.

So what's your workout regimen like?

 

[4North1Side2]

Im not a muscle head but your diet seems pretty lax with the big protein foods.

 

[Mentor B]

If your serious about wanting to build enormous muscle mass, your going to have to do better than this. Not enough proteins and your not mentioning any supplements. You want muscle not fat.

Your going to need much more protein. For starters eggs probably around a dozen a day and not scrambled, just the egg whites so I would recommend boiled. With that many calories you need to keep your protein level high.

So what's your workout regimen like?

I planned on doing compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, and bench press followed by other free weight workouts for upper and lower body strength. I wanted to execute my workouts on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays through the week.

 

[Helico-pterFunk]

Eat more chicken / fish / protein / real carrots (not the baby ones) / greens / steroids / supplements / deep pussy deluxe / more steroids.

Eat less Granny Smith apples and granola bars.

 

[Mo-Better]

I planned on doing compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, and bench press followed by other free weight workouts for upper and lower body strength. I wanted to execute my workouts on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays through the week.

I think you need to add in some cardio. It takes a balance of diet, cardio and resistance.

 

[TheAlias]

I think you need to add in some cardio. It takes a balance of diet, cardio and resistance.

This. Plus leave the bread and grains alone. Muscle, not fat, my friend.

 

[BigDaddyBuk]

This. Plus leave the bread and grains alone. Muscle, not fat, my friend.

wow...theres a lot of conflicting information here.

if he's NATURAL...

Bulking Up Basic #1: Increase your protein intake to 1.5 grams of protein per pound bodyweight. Therefore, if you weigh 200lbs, you need to eat around 300 grams of protein per day. I have noticed that if I eat more than 40 grams of protein in one sitting I feel lethargic and have issues digesting the food. Therefore, divide 300 by 40 and that will give you the amount of meals that you need to eat per day. In this example, the 200-lb bodybuilder will need to eat, around 7-8 meals per day spaced out with a minimum of 90 minutes in between meal and a maximum of 3 hours. Protein sources should come from lean low fat sources like chicken, turkey, 93% lean red meats, tuna, egg whites, shrimp, tilapia, mackerel, and salmon.

*****

imo, only steroid heads need lots of protein (2 grams per lb of body weight you want to be) but if you're natural you do not need that much. .8 to 1 gram per ideal body weight is enough for me to get too big to fit xl shirts without looking like i stole my son's clothes.

Bulking Up Basic #2: Increase your carbohydrate intake to between 1.5-2 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight. In order to gain muscle, a carbohydrate increase will be required to keep your energy levels high, and thus fuel your workouts, and in order to help shuttle the amino acids from your proteins into the muscle tissue (since carbohydrates increase insulin levels and insulin is necessary for the transport of the aminos into the muscle). The key thing to ensure that muscle mass is maximized as opposed to fat gain when consuming carbohydrates is to ensure that your intake of them is mostly from low glycemic index ones (slow digesting/released carbs) like brown rice, oatmeal, pasta and sweet potatoes. Limit the higher glycemic complex carbs (like cream of rice) and simple carbs (like bananas) for after the workout when the body needs fast released carbs and proteins in order to quick start the recovery and re-building process and also to help refuel the energy stores (glycogen levels in the muscle and liver) that have been drained. Also, ensure that you eat half of your carbohydrates split between the times that the body is most receptive to them, which is the morning time (first meal) and post workout time. So for instance, our hypothetical 200-lb bodybuilder who is starting his bulk up plan at 300 grams of carbs per day (bodyweight x 1.5), will split 150 grams (half of the daily requirement) between the morning meal and the post workout meal (so that comes to 75 grams of carbs). The morning meal carbs will be complex low glycemic carbs while the post workout meal will be half simple and half complex). The remainder 150 grams will be split in the remainder meals. I always advise to refrain from eating complex carbs after 6:30pm (unless your post workout meal comes after that time) as your insulin sensitivity (body's acceptance of the hormone insulin) goes down at night and therefore, one runs a higher risk of storing carbohydrate calories at night unless you train, in which case your insulin sensitivity is optimized.

Finally, make sure that you have around 15-20 grams of fibrous carbohydrates, such as green beans or broccoli, at lunchtime and 15-20 grams more at dinnertime as these will help to keep your digestive tract clean and ready to accept new nutrients, thus maximizing nutrient utilization.

Cardio

During the bulk up stage cardiovascular exercise should be limited to 2-4 sessions per week of 20-45 minutes at the most. For hardgainers, 20 minutes for twice a week is advised.

http://bodybuilding.about.com/od/nutritionbasics/a/bulkingupdiet.htm

 

[phAsE3]

Get a calorie counter and add up everything on that list, then post the macros.

Where's your multi-vitamin?
You need more fish-oil then one pill.
Take out granola, banana(unless it's right after your workout).
Where's your lean meats? Fish, chicken, steak.
More eggs, less yolk.
Where's your fats?
Cut the bread.
No juice(unless right after your workout)
More green vegetables.

 

[mcguyver]

Aint gonna work

 

[Mentor B]

wow...theres a lot of conflicting information here.

if he's NATURAL...

Bulking Up Basic #1: Increase your protein intake to 1.5 grams of protein per pound bodyweight. Therefore, if you weigh 200lbs, you need to eat around 300 grams of protein per day. I have noticed that if I eat more than 40 grams of protein in one sitting I feel lethargic and have issues digesting the food. Therefore, divide 300 by 40 and that will give you the amount of meals that you need to eat per day. In this example, the 200-lb bodybuilder will need to eat, around 7-8 meals per day spaced out with a minimum of 90 minutes in between meal and a maximum of 3 hours. Protein sources should come from lean low fat sources like chicken, turkey, 93% lean red meats, tuna, egg whites, shrimp, tilapia, mackerel, and salmon.

*****

imo, only steroid heads need lots of protein (2 grams per lb of body weight you want to be) but if you're natural you do not need that much. .8 to 1 gram per ideal body weight is enough for me to get too big to fit xl shirts without looking like i stole my son's clothes.

Bulking Up Basic #2: Increase your carbohydrate intake to between 1.5-2 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight. In order to gain muscle, a carbohydrate increase will be required to keep your energy levels high, and thus fuel your workouts, and in order to help shuttle the amino acids from your proteins into the muscle tissue (since carbohydrates increase insulin levels and insulin is necessary for the transport of the aminos into the muscle). The key thing to ensure that muscle mass is maximized as opposed to fat gain when consuming carbohydrates is to ensure that your intake of them is mostly from low glycemic index ones (slow digesting/released carbs) like brown rice, oatmeal, pasta and sweet potatoes. Limit the higher glycemic complex carbs (like cream of rice) and simple carbs (like bananas) for after the workout when the body needs fast released carbs and proteins in order to quick start the recovery and re-building process and also to help refuel the energy stores (glycogen levels in the muscle and liver) that have been drained. Also, ensure that you eat half of your carbohydrates split between the times that the body is most receptive to them, which is the morning time (first meal) and post workout time. So for instance, our hypothetical 200-lb bodybuilder who is starting his bulk up plan at 300 grams of carbs per day (bodyweight x 1.5), will split 150 grams (half of the daily requirement) between the morning meal and the post workout meal (so that comes to 75 grams of carbs). The morning meal carbs will be complex low glycemic carbs while the post workout meal will be half simple and half complex). The remainder 150 grams will be split in the remainder meals. I always advise to refrain from eating complex carbs after 6:30pm (unless your post workout meal comes after that time) as your insulin sensitivity (body's acceptance of the hormone insulin) goes down at night and therefore, one runs a higher risk of storing carbohydrate calories at night unless you train, in which case your insulin sensitivity is optimized.

Finally, make sure that you have around 15-20 grams of fibrous carbohydrates, such as green beans or broccoli, at lunchtime and 15-20 grams more at dinnertime as these will help to keep your digestive tract clean and ready to accept new nutrients, thus maximizing nutrient utilization.

Cardio

During the bulk up stage cardiovascular exercise should be limited to 2-4 sessions per week of 20-45 minutes at the most. For hardgainers, 20 minutes for twice a week is advised.

http://bodybuilding.about.com/od/nutritionbasics/a/bulkingupdiet.htm

Thank you very much for the info!

I found out that my lean body mass is 167 pounds. After research, I discovered I need no less than 208 grams of protein daily for my 6ft stature.

The most difficult part about my bodybuilding program is the consumption of food. I'm just not use to eating this much. I may lower to calorie intake to 3340. Otherwise, I was going to do 2.5 miles for cardio on my off days of strength training.

 

[(0_0)..l.. finger]

Add more protein to your diet...

 

[AOD]

Gotta definitely add more pasta to that diet if you wanna bulk up quickly.

One of my favorite daily bodybuilding dishes...

Tuna (or any lean meat) w/Thin Spaghetti or Penne (season to taste)... lots of fat free protein!!

 

[jivanbrahman]

Add a mens 1 a day multivitamin.Rest. Patience. Gallon of water a day.

 

[doggish_098]

just looking at it at a quick glance it seems you dont have enough protein in your meals...

i personally would replace the activa with a greek yogurt and replace the scrambled eggs with scrambled egg whites.

eating eggs everyday will shoot your cholesterol through the roof.

 

[doggish_098]

Thank you very much for the info!

I found out that my lean body mass is 167 pounds. After research, I discovered I need no less than 208 grams of protein daily for my 6ft stature.

The most difficult part about my bodybuilding program is the consumption of food. I'm just not use to eating this much. I may lower to calorie intake to 3340. Otherwise, I was going to do 2.5 miles for cardio on my off days of strength training.

there is a dude at my gym who is a natural body builder today was the first day that i have ever seen him doing any form or cardio and i am in there 6-7 days a week.

i also get the mens health daily emails and there was one a little while back that said something about reducing your cardio if you want to build more muscle mass.

 

[Flawless]

There is no fucking reason to do cardio while on a bulk. All cardio does is make you lose calories. If you are bulking burn your calories while lifting

 

[Flawless]

Also OP if you are serious get a food scale, that has helped me alot to track my calories

 

[doggish_098]

Also OP if you are serious get a food scale, that has helped me alot to track my calories

very true... also helps to track your nutrients. example 4oz chicken breast contains approx 196 calories 35g of protein and 5 grams of fat.

 

[Mentor B]

user myfitnesspal.com to keep track of what you eat and how many calories you have left for the day. They have an app for smartphones. You can either type in what you eat or scan it in. And like duppy_maka said get you some protein shakes.

Thanks for putting me on to this. Downloaded it on my droid and tracking my calories now. 2,409 remaining before the end of the day.

 

[Mentor B]

just looking at it at a quick glance it seems you dont have enough protein in your meals...

i personally would replace the activa with a greek yogurt and replace the scrambled eggs with scrambled egg whites.

eating eggs everyday will shoot your cholesterol through the roof.

Yeah, you're right about that. Instead, I'll do three egg whites.

I'll consider the greek yogurt, but I like that Activia shit though.

 

[doggish_098]

Yeah, you're right about that. Instead, I'll do three egg whites.

I'll consider the greek yogurt, but I like that Activia shit though.

dont fall for that activia bullshit bro all yogurts have active cultures, if that is what you are liking in it.

 

[AlexanderNevermind]

what your username on myfitnes ap?

 

[big pimp]

Subs

 

[King D]

 

[A$AP SaVaGe]

There is no fucking reason to do cardio while on a bulk. All cardio does is make you lose calories. If you are bulking burn your calories while lifting

I somewhat disagree bro..he can at least do cardio 1-2 times a week..more specifically HIIT..when I was bulking up last year thats what i did and it did not stop me from bulking up..I went from 150 to 175..i have a MUCH more lean body than I had a year before..


also OP please do not use protein powders as a substitute for eating..them shits can fuck up your kidneys if you OD..please look into hemp protein..much more healthier alternative..

 

[Mo-Better]

There is no fucking reason to do cardio while on a bulk. All cardio does is make you lose calories. If you are bulking burn your calories while lifting

Contrary to what you think cardio is necessary. With a 3500 calorie per day intake and with the workout plan the OP has put together he must do cardio.

 

[Mentor B]

I'm already having trouble trying to consume all this damn food.

But I don't want to resort to junk food to make up the difference.

I researched bodybuilding.com and found out how to make up the difference with healthy clean calories. It's done with shakes!


1-3 cups of low fat milk - 300 calories
1-2 cups of mixed berries - 200 calories
40-60 grams of protein powder - 160-240 calories
1-2 tbsp of natural peanut butter - 200 calories

That's about 800 calories. So if I can manage 2600-2700 calories in food. The rest should be a breeze.

 

[BigDaddyBuk]

I'm already having trouble trying to consume all this damn food.

But I don't want to resort to junk food to make up the difference.

I researched bodybuilding.com and found out how to make up the difference with healthy clean calories. It's done with shakes!


1-3 cups of low fat milk - 300 calories
1-2 cups of mixed berries - 200 calories
40-60 grams of protein powder - 160-240 calories
1-2 tbsp of natural peanut butter - 200 calories

That's about 800 calories. So if I can manage 2600-2700 calories in food. The rest should be a breeze.

this is smart and realistic.

the berries will increase the volume of your shakes, so you may get to a point where you leave them out.

you can substitute the peanut butter for nutella if you're into chocolate.

 

[Mr. Met]

http://www.bgol.us/board/showthread.php?p=11632111#post11632111

 

[Mentor B]

http://www.bgol.us/board/showthread.php?p=11632111#post11632111

That thread has a lot of valuable information for people interested in losing weight.

However, it is not applicable to hard gainers like me because I have an extremely fast metabolism, and I am actually trying to gain it (through muscle of course).

 

[Mentor B]

this is smart and realistic.

the berries will increase the volume of your shakes, so you may get to a point where you leave them out.

you can substitute the peanut butter for nutella if you're into chocolate.

Thanks. I actually grew up on that stuff.

 

[doggish_098]

this is smart and realistic.

the berries will increase the volume of your shakes, so you may get to a point where you leave them out.

you can substitute the peanut butter for nutella if you're into chocolate.

leave that nutella shit alone bro... ain't nothing healthy about that shit.

the mens health eat this not that page had a substitute that was a better option than nutella.