How many macros!?!?!

[broseph]

For those that track consistently, how many Calories/day do you eat when in gainz mode?

Previously, I never tracked and just went full retard- gain an inch of gut for 5lbs of squat increase, and lose all strength when trying to trim out. This summer I tracked hard core and lost ~2lb/week @2800 Cal/day with fairly minimal strength loss. I've been titrating up for gainz now, and seem to maintain bodyweight on a huge spectrum of calories, with last week's averages: P 225, C 400, F 122 =3600 Cal. I'm a late intermediate 5'11" 212#. Also, I'm barely active outside of lifting.

Just wondering how much you folks eat for reasonable weight/strength increase.

[Murelli]

For those that track consistently, how many Calories/day do you eat when in gainz mode?

Previously, I never tracked and just went full retard- gain an inch of gut for 5lbs of squat increase, and lose all strength when trying to trim out. This summer I tracked hard core and lost ~2lb/week @2800 Cal/day with fairly minimal strength loss. I've been titrating up for gainz now, and seem to maintain bodyweight on a huge spectrum of calories, with last week's averages: P 225, C 400, F 122 =3600 Cal. I'm a late intermediate 5'11" 212#. Also, I'm barely active outside of lifting.

Just wondering how much you folks eat for reasonable weight/strength increase.

Here's a nice method: http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/how-to ... erlifting/

[BenM]

Last year when bulking I was on about 2800 calories a day. Gained at about the righ rate but mostly fat.

Since then I’ve reverse dieted up to about 3400 but at that I was gaining too fast (about a pound a week). I have a few kilos more muscle mass now, I’m guessing maybe 3000 would be a good place to be for a slow bulk. I’m only light though (just under 73kg earlier this week).

[broseph]

Here's a nice method: http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/how-to ... erlifting/

Yeah, I'm familiar with the general process. Just wondering how much people are actually eating (for those that track).

Last year when bulking I was on about 2800 calories a day. Gained at about the righ rate but mostly fat.

Since then I’ve reverse dieted up to about 3400 but at that I was gaining too fast (about a pound a week). I have a few kilos more muscle mass now, I’m guessing maybe 3000 would be a good place to be for a slow bulk. I’m only light though (just under 73kg earlier this week).

Like this.

[KoolaidMannn]

Currently I am eating ~4000 calories 5 days a week via 220/510/105 and the other two days are ~4600 via 220/675/122. Finally starting to gain a bit of weight, has been stagnant since I cut and calories were at 2900. Bodyweight is at 232

[BenM]

I have exact macros in my log. Most recent ones Avatar set were

Protein: 180g
Fat:86g
Carbs: 401g

Stats at last weigh in:

Weight: 72.5 kg
Body Fat: 15.0%
Lean Body Mass: 61.63 kg

This is on the maintenance setting; trying to keep weight within a certain range for a while to settle after the reverse. That said, I’m on vacation mode right now.

[broseph]

Currently I am eating ~4000 calories 5 days a week via 220/510/105 and the other two days are ~4600 via 220/675/122. Finally starting to gain a bit of weight, has been stagnant since I cut and calories were at 2900. Bodyweight is at 232

What is the purpose of the 2 high calorie days? Is the weekend just convenient for you eat more to hit a weekly goal, or are these heavy training days?

[KoolaidMannn]

Currently I am eating ~4000 calories 5 days a week via 220/510/105 and the other two days are ~4600 via 220/675/122. Finally starting to gain a bit of weight, has been stagnant since I cut and calories were at 2900. Bodyweight is at 232

What is the purpose of the 2 high calorie days? Is the weekend just convenient for you eat more to hit a weekly goal, or are these heavy training days?

So I have it set up where it's the first day I train and the last day I train of each week, not sure if that helps or not. But the main reason is it just makes it easier for me in the sense that I don't have to eat as much on the other 5 days, it's kinda like a job at this point

[KoolaidMannn]

Currently I am eating ~4000 calories 5 days a week via 220/510/105 and the other two days are ~4600 via 220/675/122. Finally starting to gain a bit of weight, has been stagnant since I cut and calories were at 2900. Bodyweight is at 232

What is the purpose of the 2 high calorie days? Is the weekend just convenient for you eat more to hit a weekly goal, or are these heavy training days?

So I have it set up where it's the first day I train and the last day I train of each week, not sure if that helps or not. But the main reason is it just makes it easier for me in the sense that I don't have to eat as much on the other 5 days, it's kinda like a job at this point

[Les]

This is more for maintenance/recomp, but this is what I try to do most days (I do cheat on my diet every once and while):
Protein: 1g per pound of LBM
Fat: .35g per pound of LBM
Carbs: the rest to hit maintenance

So for me that ends of being 242p, 85f, and about 750g carbs. I am usually a little higher on protein too (around 250). So that brings me to about 4,733 cals to maintain BW at 345#. If I did bulk, I would try not to gain more than 1-2# per week. So I would add between 500-1000 calories to hit that marker.

[broseph]

This is more for maintenance/recomp, but this is what I try to do most days (I do cheat on my diet every once and while):
Protein: 1g per pound of LBM
Fat: .35g per pound of LBM
Carbs: the rest to hit maintenance

So for me that ends of being 242p, 85f, and about 750g carbs. I am usually a little higher on protein too (around 250). So that brings me to about 4,733 cals to maintain BW at 345#. If I did bulk, I would try not to gain more than 1-2# per week. So I would add between 500-1000 calories to hit that marker.

Such a low fat intake with that much protein/carbs... impressive. Though a big portion of my daily fat is incidental from eating animals and their products.

[Les]

This is more for maintenance/recomp, but this is what I try to do most days (I do cheat on my diet every once and while):
Protein: 1g per pound of LBM
Fat: .35g per pound of LBM
Carbs: the rest to hit maintenance

So for me that ends of being 242p, 85f, and about 750g carbs. I am usually a little higher on protein too (around 250). So that brings me to about 4,733 cals to maintain BW at 345#. If I did bulk, I would try not to gain more than 1-2# per week. So I would add between 500-1000 calories to hit that marker.

Such a low fat intake with that much protein/carbs... impressive. Though a big portion of my daily fat is incidental from eating animals and their products.

Yeah, animal products will make it trickier. When I was dieting and eating meat/drinking dairy, I did keep it down by using 93/7 lean ground turkey, boneless/skinless chicken breasts and skim milk or no fat yogurt. So I think you could still do it, but it gets really tricky with fatty red meats, etc.

[broseph]

This is more for maintenance/recomp, but this is what I try to do most days (I do cheat on my diet every once and while):
Protein: 1g per pound of LBM
Fat: .35g per pound of LBM
Carbs: the rest to hit maintenance

So for me that ends of being 242p, 85f, and about 750g carbs. I am usually a little higher on protein too (around 250). So that brings me to about 4,733 cals to maintain BW at 345#. If I did bulk, I would try not to gain more than 1-2# per week. So I would add between 500-1000 calories to hit that marker.

Such a low fat intake with that much protein/carbs... impressive. Though a big portion of my daily fat is incidental from eating animals and their products.

Yeah, animal products will make it trickier. When I was dieting and eating meat/drinking dairy, I did keep it down by using 93/7 lean ground turkey, boneless/skinless chicken breasts and skim milk or no fat yogurt. So I think you could still do it, but it gets really tricky with fatty red meats, etc.

Do you keep fat levels that low for health or performance/body comp?

[Les]

This is more for maintenance/recomp, but this is what I try to do most days (I do cheat on my diet every once and while):
Protein: 1g per pound of LBM
Fat: .35g per pound of LBM
Carbs: the rest to hit maintenance

So for me that ends of being 242p, 85f, and about 750g carbs. I am usually a little higher on protein too (around 250). So that brings me to about 4,733 cals to maintain BW at 345#. If I did bulk, I would try not to gain more than 1-2# per week. So I would add between 500-1000 calories to hit that marker.

Such a low fat intake with that much protein/carbs... impressive. Though a big portion of my daily fat is incidental from eating animals and their products.

Yeah, animal products will make it trickier. When I was dieting and eating meat/drinking dairy, I did keep it down by using 93/7 lean ground turkey, boneless/skinless chicken breasts and skim milk or no fat yogurt. So I think you could still do it, but it gets really tricky with fatty red meats, etc.

Do you keep fat levels that low for health or performance/body comp?

It was mainly for health reasons. I went from a 280 cholesterol to 114 on the vegan diet. But I've noticed I am leaning out a little while maintaining weight. My strength is moving up now too.

[broseph]

It was mainly for health reasons. I went from a 280 cholesterol to 114 on the vegan diet. But I've noticed I am leaning out a little while maintaining weight. My strength is moving up now too.

That's an impressive cholesterol drop. I had to get mine down from 252, but I only managed to hit 184. And that's with a very low HDL. I've been making incremental diet changes every 6-12 months with good results, but it seems lifestyle changes can swing LDL pretty dramatically, and HDL is a bit more stubborn.

[Les]

It was mainly for health reasons. I went from a 280 cholesterol to 114 on the vegan diet. But I've noticed I am leaning out a little while maintaining weight. My strength is moving up now too.

That's an impressive cholesterol drop. I had to get mine down from 252, but I only managed to hit 184. And that's with a very low HDL. I've been making incremental diet changes every 6-12 months with good results, but it seems lifestyle changes can swing LDL pretty dramatically, and HDL is a bit more stubborn.

Thanks. My triglycerides and LDL changed drastically too and are now in the good zone as well. HDL was the slowest moving for me too, but it went up 12 points from 24 to 36. 38 is normal, so that one is pretty close. And that was after only being on the diet a short period of time. I hope it continues to trend in the right direction.

[tdood]

It took some dialing in, but my current maintenance is 4100 cals. 225p/475c/160f. Bw is 259.

Having dieted and bulked several times over the years I've come to recognize a few trends. Since I only train 2 days a week, and it would not be considered high volume by any stretch, and I'm not particularly gifted at building muscle or maintaining a physique, everything needs to be done slowly. If I lose weight too fast I will lost muscle mass, if I gain too fast I will get fat. If I wanted to bulk right now I would probably only add about 100 cals to my daily intake, and make it a point to do some BB accessory work to help make the gains muscle. Pretty much the same if I wanted to lose, except I'd drop the calories a little bit more aggressively and be careful not to push the intensity in training. I take weekly bf measurements and weigh myself daily. I use avatar nutrition, but occasionally make modifications to their suggestions.