In this post, I will try to answer several questions at once: How many calories do you need to lean bulk, and how much do you need to eat at all? What should the balance of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates look like? How to lean bulk high-quality mass, without fat?
Although I have separate articles in which I give examples of the caloric content of the diet, I have never counted calories. And in general, I consider counting calories for lean bulk (and drying) an occupation that takes time and energy. There are so many things in life that need to be controlled. And in most cases, you don’t need to count anything with a calculator at all. There are calculations, but they are more intuitive and do not look like an equation.
The basic diet for lean bulk is based on a simple principle:
- We take three main meals and create a “balance” in them.
Each of the main meals should contain proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Plus, fiber. Example:
- breakfast: porridge (oatmeal/buckwheat) + protein (eggs/cottage cheese) + fats (butter/egg yolks)
- lunch: porridge (rice/buckwheat) + protein (fish/eggs/meat/seafood) + salad of fresh vegetables
- dinner: about the same as for lunch.
We estimate our portions approximately. As a rule, every person eats approximately the same portions every day. And the first thing we think of is protein. We consider protein from eggs, fish, meat, and all other “protein” in our diet. Porridge, butter, and egg yolks (fats and carbohydrates) are not considered yet.
Protein should be obtained approximately 1.5-2 g per 1 kg of weight. If you weigh 80 kg., you should eat about 150 g of protein. I emphasize that APPROXIMATELY. No need to walk around with a calculator. Suppose you have 80 g of pure protein from 3 receptions. That’s it. We fix this figure.
And now you realize that with your standard breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you eat about 80 g of pure protein. If one day it turned out 70, and the other 85 – it’s okay. It doesn’t matter. And if, say, you have run out of eggs for breakfast, you have to understand that it is desirable to compensate for them during the day. But even if you skip eggs for breakfast for one day, IT’s OKAY. The body is full of protein structures from which it will be able to compensate for protein in the short term. And believe me, he won’t take it from your muscles. But this is already the topic of a separate article, and we will not dwell on this in detail.
We add the protein that you lack.
That’s partly why there are snacks. The more evenly you distribute the food throughout the day, the better the absorption will be. If you lack 70 g of protein, then you can get it in snacks from:
- any protein products (one of the most common is cottage cheese).
- Sports supplements (protein concentrates).
And between breakfast and lunch and lunch and dinner, we can insert some protein products. Cottage cheese or protein can also be consumed at night.
And so, everything seems to be clear from the protein. As for fats, 2-4 egg yolks + a piece of butter are usually enough for normal testosterone production and energy. These are saturated fats. Plus, we need unsaturated ones. You can consume, for example, a tablespoon of linseed oil or eat different types of nuts. One handful is usually enough. Fish oil will not be superfluous.
We estimate carbohydrates.
Just like with protein, we do it with carbohydrates. Every day you eat about the same portions of porridge. We fix this volume. Plus what you eat between meals. Fruits, bakery products, all products containing sugar. Ideally, it is generally better to replace all foods containing sugar with complex carbohydrates. But not in a situation if you are a skinny guy who has much hard work.
And then, look. At the same time, we try to keep approximately the same diet every day. It will be our starting point. We train, eat, watch. And there are three possible scenarios:
Option one. Your mass is gradually increasing. Your strength indicators are increasing. Excess fat does not appear or appear, but it is insignificant. At least, incomparably less than the growth of muscles and strength indicators.
It’s all right. We leave such a diet and continue to eat in the same way.
Option two. The mass does not grow. The power does not increase.
At the same time, it is important to understand that if your weight does not grow but power increases – this is normal. You have to wait. In general, strength indicators in working approaches are one of the main factors of muscle growth.
If nothing grows at all, then we increase calories to lean bulk. We add mainly carbohydrates. The best option is either to increase the side dishes (porridges) in each meal or add, say, bananas or a gainer to snacks. Thus, we increase the caloric content due to carbohydrates. You can also add fats in parallel. Will increase egg yolks, for example. The main thing is gradual. And at the same time, we do not raise protein above 2 g per 1 kg of weight. It just doesn’t make sense.
We increased the caloric content of the diet a little – we looked at it for a week or two. If the weight has moved, then it’s fine. We leave it. If not, add more. Sooner or later, you will find the diet that will allow you to grow. At the same time, it is not necessary to count something on the calculator. We try it on intuitively and by eye.
Option three. Fat grows. Either much fat with a set of muscle mass, or just fat (this is also possible). In this case, we reduce portions of side dishes and remove all high-glycemic foods containing sugar from the diet. And we remove it until the situation begins to level out.
As for the consistency of caloric content, there are many questions.
Firstly, metabolism is a fickle thing. Today it may be faster, and tomorrow it may be slower. And each person has too many individual characteristics. Therefore, as for the diet, it is challenging to calculate it on a calculator. It’s a constant game. Added- removed- looked. Everyone has their energy exchange. Just try, practice, and soon it will seem familiar and easy for you.
Training programs are easier in this regard. If there is a working scheme, then it works. And all adjustments inside this program are easier. And the diet for weight loss is also, in my opinion, simpler. There are more specific and clear schemes. But everywhere, as you understand, experience is needed. And experience comes with practice, even if you have the best teachers.
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