Protein - I'm so confused....

[cursor]

Originally Posted by maxgain

Fats are an easy way to get cals in 35g a day is quite low aim for abouy 100-150 and bulk the rest with carbs.

A successful bulking phase (in which the target of your effort is to gain LBM, not fat) is going to require more than simply some large number of calories. From my experience and studies, eating 100-150 grams (900-1350 calories worth) of fat a day will simply make you fat. Unless, of course, you are one humongous beast (in which case, bulking probably isn't a real goal).

[sicklyscot]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

I have been toying with Fitday a bit and have added in all my normal foods etc. I am not trying to bulk up meaning get big and heavy, just put on muscle mass. I have been eating about 1700-1800 calories for the past couple days and have been getting in about 40% protein, 35% carbs and 25% fat. I am going for the 40-40-20 which seemed to be recommended.

As far as protein at night, well that might be a problem. I usually lift at night, school and work don't allow me to hit the gym during the day. So when I come home from the gym, i try and eat about 20 grams of protein. Is this a bad thing?

[cursor]

Workout Timing and Diet Tactics

[sicklyscot]

Thanks again cursor! Is there anything you don't know?

I'm going to try and move my lifitng to earlier in the day, maybe lunch hour, but no promises. Being a measely intern doesn't provide much flexibility.

[Maxgain]

Originally Posted by cursor

A successful bulking phase (in which the target of your effort is to gain LBM, not fat) is going to require more than simply some large number of calories. From my experience and studies, eating 100-150 grams (900-1350 calories worth) of fat a day will simply make you fat. Unless, of course, you are one humongous beast (in which case, bulking probably isn't a real goal).

100 -150g of fat aday about 1200 calories in my opinion ideal for about 25-30% of a bulking diet. Why do you thinkthat would make you fat.

[Maxgain]

Originally Posted by sicklyscot

Thanks for all the replies guys.

I have been toying with Fitday a bit and have added in all my normal foods etc. I am not trying to bulk up meaning get big and heavy, just put on muscle mass. I have been eating about 1700-1800 calories for the past couple days and have been getting in about 40% protein, 35% carbs and 25% fat. I am going for the 40-40-20 which seemed to be recommended.

As far as protein at night, well that might be a problem. I usually lift at night, school and work don't allow me to hit the gym during the day. So when I come home from the gym, i try and eat about 20 grams of protein. Is this a bad thing?

Firstly you wont put on appreciable muscle mass without bulking (while not impossible you are making life very hard for yourself without some great genetics) and if that is what you decide you want you most likely wont do it on 1800 cals a day. If you do decide to up the cals noticably then calculate your protein by need not % as 40% would be way too much.

[Maxgain]

Originally Posted by pmcgough

100-150g of fat?

heres your diet needs
55g fat
300g carbs
200g protein(not hard at all)

split your food up into 6 meals a day, spread out to every 2 1/2 to 3 hours

take on protein after lifting along with creatine mix, such as cell tech, vitargo, the gnc brand, anything with lots of dextrose basically

.How can you possibly make a statement like that when he hadnt even cleared up his calorie needs or bulking goals.If i followed that 2500 cals a day i would lose 2 pounds aweek not ideal for building muscle. Why only 55g of fat?

[sicklyscot]

I've pretty much set my goals already. I'm planning on hitting 1800 calories a day with 40% being protein, 40 carbs and 20 fat, although it seems these days i seem to be sacrificing a little protein for fat instead. Overall, I'm hitting about 50g of fat, 140g of protein and over 200g of carbs.

I'm going to try this out for a while and see how it works. I think if I ate any more clean calories a day, I might explode! (read as I'm not used to eating this much so its a little difficult to shove that last meal down my throat)

[Lift2Live]

That's a very good start Scot. Just make sure to watch your energy levels. If you are wearing out and getting tired easily, you need to add some calories to that. 1800 for me would be starvation. I know you aren't trying to get huge but if you want to put on some muscle, you may need to add at least 500 cals to that.

[Cort]

Wasn't his goal to lose like 40 lbs?

Anyway, 1800 should be a decent place to start for cutting.

Bulking really depends on the person, not everyone has a resting metabolic rate of 3000 calories a day, and bulking in excess of 1000 is really just asking to put on a lot of fat.

[abarlament]

Don't be too concerned with ratios of calories. Get adequate protein/fiber/EFAs, and make up the rest with carbs and fat. If that works out to 40/40/20, great, if not, it doesn't matter.

[sicklyscot]

If I lost 40 lbs. I'd be a twig...hehe.

I'm not as interested in cutting as I am in getting rid of those damn love handles. I know I can't bulk and cut at the same time, so i'll be jsut satisfied with cutting for now. :

[Cort]

Originally Posted by sicklyscot

If I lost 40 lbs. I'd be a twig...hehe.

I'm not as interested in cutting as I am in getting rid of those damn love handles. I know I can't bulk and cut at the same time, so i'll be jsut satisfied with cutting for now. :

Sorry, I misread something. You said you were at 185 lbs and were aiming for 140-145, and I assumed you meant lbs on the latter when you actually meant grams of protein.

[sicklyscot]

All good. I still appreciate your comments though :

thanks everyone