clean bulk

[Jordan]

i think im hoping for the impossible with this question but ill ask it anyways. after nearly 3 years of body building, im finally commiting to a true bulking plan. ive always been hesitant to do so, simply because i hate fat. i cant wear fat like some people can and im always worried that i wont be able to loose it when im done bulking. however, i recently returned from 3 months of treeplanting for $$$ and ive lost nearly 20 pounds and am desperate to gain it back quickly. so anyways this is my question... how can i assure that i wont put on any more fat than is necessary to have maximum muscle growth? if im serious about bulking quickly, is it crucial to eat processed carbs such as whole wheat bread, pasta etc? also, i dont want to loose muscle afterwards, when i cut up again. i know that you need to raise your carb intake in order to maintain added muscle, so what is a good way to find a happy medium where you can loose fat and maintain muscle ? thanks alot in advance, and any other advice you can offer on maximizing muscle growth while bulking is also appreciated. i definately know a fair bit about diets and eating plans etc, but bulking is fairly new to me.
j

[decadecadeca]

Quote:

"...desperate to gain it back quickly...if im serious about bulking quickly..."


Quickly will get ya in trouble. Go slow and up your maintenance by no more than 500 to start. Eat the same clean foods you do now, just more of them.

[cockdiesel]

I think bulking is very confusing to alot of folks. See when people go on a strict diet for contest it takes a lot of discipline. To me that kind of discpline should not be used yr round. I think its to stressful for the mind and body.

Heres my take on bulking:

1. Don't worry about what you eat but try and meet your protein requirements.

2. Eat whole eggs, whole chickens (meaning you'll save money buying the whole chicken and cutting it up yourself), fish, cheese, any cut of red meat, milk, but carb coutdown, I like it because you dont get those sugars. But go with any variety of fat you chose with the carb countdowns.

3. Its always best to monitor. If you think your gettting to fat than adjust something. Usually its something simple. Could be your eating something your body has a hard time dealing with. Me, pasta makes me fat quick, not rice or bread or potatoes. So becareful of that.

4. Dont worry about whole wheat bread and brown rice. If you eat that crap yr round you'll go insane. Nothing wrong with throwing in white bread or white rice in the mix.

5. Simply eat things in between meals. Don't eat somethin at 9 a.m. and then if you get hungry at 10:30 a.m. say to yourself, oh i can't eat this. That is not what bulking is. Eat when your hungry. Just be sure to make it small in between meals.

I don't have any idea what your metabolism or body type is like, much less what your goals are. I wish you would have posted stats. I'll post a "sample" diet for you that I would like to see almost any bodybuilder doing in the offseason, or course things will need to be adjusted according to your weight. So this would be for a 200lber semi lean (12-15%bodyfat) wanting to get bigger.

Meal 1:
5 eggs
3 packets of grits
2 slices of fat free cheese

cook eggs, cook grits in microwave. when done mix eggs in with the grits. Throw cheese on top. The heat will melt it. Add pepper or hot sauce if you want.

Meal 2:
Triple cheeseburger from Wendy's, no mayo
baked potato with broccoli

Meal 3:
Chicken (a roasted breast w/skin on, 1 dozen chicken wings, 2 thighs, simply your choice) Just grill, bake, broil, or roast, no frying
Uncle bens chicken flavored microwave rice (90secs and its done) eat the whole bag or half, whatever hunger permits
salad w/ lite dressing (if you went to wendys that day, order their caesar salad and use 1/2 the dressing and throw away the bacon bits and croutons.

Meal 4:
Grilled Chicken breast or fish (either grilled or a pouch of tuna)
Baked Ora Ida steak fryes (lowest fat fry they make)
ketchup
green beans with onion flakes and hot sauce

Meal 5:

Peanut butter, banana, honey sandwich (3 tbsp of natural pb, banana sliced up, few squirts of honey, 2 slices of whole wheat bread)
2 cups of carb countdown milk

Meal 6:
Ny strip
Boiled red potatoes
Green beans

Meal 7:
Protein shake or Carb countdown
w/ natty pb

Try to eat every 2-3 hours. Eat when your hungry. Drink at least 16oz of water after every meal. If you hungry in between meals dont be afraid to eat junk. Just a little though. If you see your fat going up then adjust something (for instance remove the wendys dressing and replace it with a fat free dressing). Give the diet time. This is offseason you have all the time in the world. Also make small changes. Never nothing dramatic. And trust me if you eat everything I laid out for you there you would not get fat after 1 week from this diet alone. you might get bloated at times. But not fat. Now if nothing changes except fat accumulation after 3 weeks then change something, but something small. Its about learning your body and finding out what does and doesn't work for you.

Dont worry about calories. Just meet your protein requirements which should be 30-50grams per meal. Eat for hunger not numbers. Trust me this thing is simple.

Example: Ronnie Coleman Offseason

Meal 1: 9:30 a.m. 2 cups of eggology egg whites
3 packets of grits
slice of cheese

Meal 2: 2:00-2:30 P.M.

Blackeyed Pea (restaraunt)
chicken breast
rice and red beans
corn
cornbread

Meal 3: 5:00-5:30

Same

Meal 4: 10-10:30

Longhorns

Filet mignon
baked potato w/ ketchup
french fries fried in oil

He neither I, or Chad Nicholls, or Dexter Jackson, Or any pro I can name for that matter believes in that stupid post workout drink. It is so much better to eat a whole food's meal after training.

So there you have it. Eat and enjoy.l

[Jordan]

thanks alot for all the info. basically i want to get insulin levels higher than id normally have them. im going on creatine which contians quite a lot of sugar so that will keep them up for at least a period of time after my workout. i was thinking i might have to consume more sugary and starchy foods in order to keep insulin up but it sounds like your saying i can do this through increased fat consumption. would something like sweet potato be a good bulking food or are processed grains important? i only ask because normally i dont eat any processed grains at all.

[cockdiesel]

ok why are you worried about insulin levels? Insulin makes you fat. Sweet potatoes are an good carb, but I mainly use them for precontest.

Why are you so concerned with insulin? I dont understand.

The only time I usually recommend using insulin is when your taking growth hormone because it suppress's it. But I think with the proper diet and use of anabolics (which obviously you are considering because you are asking about insulin) then you can get to where you want to be.

[Jordan]

the reason i want to raise insulin levels is because insulin itself is actually an anabolic hormone which builds muscle and stores protein. in fact, insulin is the first hormone any organism developes, meaning all hormones are adaptations of insulin, so in other words, insulin controls growth hormone. that is why many bodybuilders inject insulin. yes, insulin does also store fat, which is what this thread is about.

[cockdiesel]

Don't overanalyze things. It sounds to me like your trying to overanalyze. I wouldn't even worry about insulin that much. Just focus on eating the foods listed above and train. Usually when you worry about one thing to much you forget about the small things that matter the most. Just relax and train. If any anything remember that your test levels develop on cholesterol intake. So what does that tell you. You know actually alot of natural bodybuilders come in to a show with shrunken nuts? Its because they have dieted down on such low fat foods that its made their test level drop.

Before I worried about insulin I would keep in mind my natural test levels and add some good fats to my diet to keep my cholesterol levels up, which I think is more important to gaining muscle thatn insulin. Now if your using thats a different story. But your the only guy I have seen on a message board so concerened with insulin. I just dont want you getting to confused. I am only here to help

[Jordan]

k- thanks again, ill think about that