Rate My Diet Please! (I'm New)

[spatter13]

Greetings, all. Just joined the forums. I'll keep this as brief as I can, as I'm sure you guys have better things to do with your time than read about what I eat

First off - I'm a 25 year old male. 5'11, 162 pounds. In January, 2010 I weighed 140 pounds, and got sick of it, so I hit the gym and changed my diet. I gained a lot of weight pretty quick (in about 4 months time), and managed to keep a lot of it. Most I've weighed at once was 168.

I maintain a pretty solid workout regime, normally going 5 days a week. Low rep/High weight and I split my workouts. I can post what my workout looks like if you guys want, but this is a diet thread, so I'll respect those rules.

Anyways, I think I've hit a plateau. Genetically I'm a hardgainer, and come from a family of skinny people, so I've got that huge wall to climb to get to my goal - which is between 180 and 190 pounds.

Here's my diet:

Morning - 6 eggs, turkey sausage and applesauce

Mid-Morning - Greek yogurt, weight gainer shake (Russian Bear 5,000 - 1 scoop)

Lunch - Turkey sandwich with cheese on a multi-grain sandwich flat, another applesauce

Mid-Afternoon/Post-Workout (I workout in the middle of the day between work and class) - Protein shake mixed with 2% milk

Evening snack (during class) - Clif's Protein Bar

Dinner - Pasta, grilled chicken with spinach (or some other form of pasta)

Dinner 2 - Protein shake (same as post-workout shake)

For all curious, that totals to about 3100 calories, 78g of fat, 265g of protein and 280g of carbs each day.

So how does this diet look? Like I've said, I haven't gained anything in the past 6 weeks or so. I think I'm getting more muscle definition, but I don't seem to be adding any. I also don't do any cardio when I workout, except for a short 5 minute warm up just to get the blood flowing. I've read conflicting opinions from people who say some cardio is good for weight gain, but the vast majority seem to say avoid it. Besides, I sweat plenty when I workout.

I've also had a couple friends suggest juicing it up, but with my weight/height, I'm really apprehensive to that idea. Yes, I have been going with a similar diet/workout regime for over a year, and I have gained a lot in that timespan, so my body isn't new to changing, but I am still leery to the idea of anything anabolic at my weight. I am by no means a professional in this regard though, so I will leave it to you professionals to recommend what's best.

Go easy on me, since it's my first post And thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[Folkmetalhead]

Diet is fine by my standards, but i would add something like cottage cheese before bed with EVOO and reduce amount of liquid food in your diet.

Also you should watch quality of your gains (Muscle/Fat ratio), i personally gain pretty easily both even when i go over 3000kcals/day with 40/40/20 macros, but we are all different. Anyways i personally hate cutting so imo little slower muscle gain with lot less fat is always better than little greater muscle gains with greater amounts of fat.. Still if you haven't gained anything in 6 weeks that should not be problem yet.. :wow:

And depending on your strength level i would switch to higher rep regiment, atleast in my limited experience i have made better gains around 8-12 reps with most exercises, thou' i still squat, deadlift and bench around 4-6 reps.

Btw, add atleast 3x 30min brisk walks in your schelude, little conditioning that doesn't affect your CNS never hurts, but can be quite the opposite in long run.. :yup:

Just opinion of another newbie.

 

[maddog28]

honestly if your trying to strictly gain mass nd weghit nd not to worried about a few pounds of fat u might want to consider upping ur carbs to about 400 a day and about 250g of protien

 

[DHumphreys]

If your not gaining, your obviously not eating enough... Its all about being in calorie surplus!!
Slowly introduce more carbs week by week untill you start to grow. Too much too soon you'll risk some fat gains, but as above, if your not worried about slight fat gains, I'd just increase your carbs and fats (Low GI carb sources, and 'Healthy' fat sources).

 

[EasyEJL]

Diet is fine by my standards, but i would add something like cottage cheese before bed with EVOO and reduce amount of liquid food in your diet.

I'd mostly agree to this, although your fats are a bit low, and not really optimal fats. I'd add some peanut butter to one of the shakes, and use almonds or walnuts as a snack or part of a couple of the meals.

 

[rynie27]

I keep dried fruit and almonds with me for a quick snack. Just up your calories by a couple hundred ever 2 weeks or so until you start to see some changes. Carbs look a little low to me...