Current diet. Suggestions? Helpful criticism?

[GoldenJ77]

Whatsup guys! Just wanted to share what I was currently doing diet wise and see what everyone had to say about it. I'm a hard gainer, ectomorph body type with good muscle mass currently 5'10" 175 pounds. Training natty still and want to make everything perfect diet and training wise to maximize possible first cycle growth. Anyways here's how it's lookin:

Meal 1: protein shake, 50 g of protein with 1 cup of oats

Meal 2: 10 egg whites (cooked) with 4 pieces of white bread toast with 1 tablespoon of margarine butter.

Meal 3, 4, and 5: all identical at 10 oz boneless skinless chicken breast with 1 cup of white jasmine rice.

Meal 6: protein shake, 50 G protein with a packet of pop tarts.

Alright so that's what I'm doing on a day to day basis. Complete day falls at 3,200 kcals, 339g of protein, 352 g of carbs, 54 g of fat.

I guess I have a few questions to go along. For post workout what's a better option for carbohydrate source? I do the pop tarts out of comvienence and some simple sugars for the insulin spike post workout. Is my protein count a little too high? Should I replace the whey protein shakes with real food or are they ok to bump up my protein count and still make solid gains out of it? Should I bump up my fats at all? If yes how would it really benefit me?

Thanks a lot guys love posting here and hearing any sort of feedback. Anything helps! Feel free to chime in!

 

[RodgerThat]

Protien is way too high for being natty and your stats man, I'd lower it to like 240 tops and up carbs. One protien shake a day is more then enough you should always try to do real food. As for your total calories I don't know your TDEE so if you could give that it help to see if you're eating enough. Are you gaining weight still? What's bf%? What kind of training do you do? More you give the more we can help

 

[GoldenJ77]

Protien is way too high for being natty and your stats man, I'd lower it to like 240 tops and up carbs. One protien shake a day is more then enough you should always try to do real food. As for your total calories I don't know your TDEE so if you could give that it help to see if you're eating enough. Are you gaining weight still? What's bf%? What kind of training do you do? More you give the more we can help

I've been slowly gaining weight. Body fat is sitting right around 10-12% currently. I do a bodybuilding split for my training with rep ranges around the 10-12 mark. I would probably put my TDEE at around 2800 calories. Very fast metabolism making weight gain difficult. Overall goal is lean muscle mass gain with minimal fat. I guess just like everyone else haha. Thanks for the reply man. I was thinking the protein was kind of high. Maybe more carbs will be more beneficial.

 

[Perrin Aybara]

I agree with lowering protein and raising carbs and/or fats. I've done the pop tart thing plenty myself, but fruit or even honey in the shake seems like a healthier approach. I honestly can't tell a difference performance wise in any of those options or even not having a shake after and eating a regular meal an hour later, which I do during the work week all the time.

 

[GoldenJ77]

Yeah I agree with you there. I've been looking to replace the pop tart so fruit and or honey seems a better way to go. I'm probably going to manipulate it a bit then, throw out the protein shakes, then I'll still be at 242g of protein for a day, up the carbs, maybe more rice with each chicken meal, and replace the pop tarts like you said there. Pretty much leaves me with fats. What's an ideal fat number and why? Should I leave it? Or up it just for the sake of more calories?

 

[RodgerThat]

80g of fat would be plenty for a guy your size. You should be gaining about a lb a week if your TDEE is 2800 and your eating 3200cals. 240g protien would be the tops I'd go considering your still natty. Hell even on cycle I only do 240g protien. Carbs are your fuel so more fuel will give you better workouts, 240g protien 80g carbs is your constant for either cutting or bulking the only thing you should manipulate is the carbs, up them to gain more lower then to cut.

As for the BF 10-12% is quite lean as in all abs are visible and such, is that true for you?

I'm a big fan of IIFYM so whether it's pop tarts or fruits I don't really care to much it's just eating for what makes you feel the best. If you feel good eating junk then eat the junk if your keeping the same macros but a lot of the time you'll feel better and sometimes perform better having a cleaner approach to the IIFYM lifestyle and that's why I eat generally clean cause I sleep better and feel better

 

[GoldenJ77]

80g of fat would be plenty for a guy your size. You should be gaining about a lb a week if your TDEE is 2800 and your eating 3200cals. 240g protien would be the tops I'd go considering your still natty. Hell even on cycle I only do 240g protien. Carbs are your fuel so more fuel will give you better workouts, 240g protien 80g carbs is your constant for either cutting or bulking the only thing you should manipulate is the carbs, up them to gain more lower then to cut.

As for the BF 10-12% is quite lean as in all abs are visible and such, is that true for you?

I'm a big fan of IIFYM so whether it's pop tarts or fruits I don't really care to much it's just eating for what makes you feel the best. If you feel good eating junk then eat the junk if your keeping the same macros but a lot of the time you'll feel better and sometimes perform better having a cleaner approach to the IIFYM lifestyle and that's why I eat generally clean cause I sleep better and feel better

Thanks for the quick response! Yes all abs are showing for me at the current body fat. I agree with the healthy eating part, I do IIFYM but with healthy options like you said. Junk really weighs me down and has a negative impact on my energy levels I've found. I see what your saying with the protein and fat, that seems good. Im going to give it a shot and just play with my carbs for bulking/cutting. Then it just comes down to calories. Any opinions on carb cycling? I've read that it can create a high anabolic state for muscle building and for cutting purposes can really aid in achieving low body fat. Opinions on it?

 

[RodgerThat]

Thanks for the quick response! Yes all abs are showing for me at the current body fat. I agree with the healthy eating part, I do IIFYM but with healthy options like you said. Junk really weighs me down and has a negative impact on my energy levels I've found. I see what your saying with the protein and fat, that seems good. Im going to give it a shot and just play with my carbs for bulking/cutting. Then it just comes down to calories. Any opinions on carb cycling? I've read that it can create a high anabolic state for muscle building and for cutting purposes can really aid in achieving low body fat. Opinions on it?

When I cut I do zig zag cutting so one day I'll do 280carbs the next 180 then 280 the following gives me decent results. The leanest I've ever been was on keto diet but at the same time kinda flat because of the lack of carbs. As for it putting you in a high anabolic state that's kind of subjective as most of us here are on gear so the diet doesn't really dictate how anabolic we are just how much oil were pushing.

 

[GoldenJ77]

When I cut I do zig zag cutting so one day I'll do 280carbs the next 180 then 280 the following gives me decent results. The leanest I've ever been was on keto diet but at the same time kinda flat because of the lack of carbs. As for it putting you in a high anabolic state that's kind of subjective as most of us here are on gear so the diet doesn't really dictate how anabolic we are just how much oil were pushing.

Thanks a lot man I really appreciate the responses. I'm gunna take the advice and manipulate some things. I'll let everyone know how things end up goin!