Hey all,

Lately I've been trying to bulk and I'm a bit confused as to my calories. I'm 5'9 and 129 lb. Here is what my diet looked like today. It totals up to about 2750 Calories.

Meal 1: Breakfast

2/3 Cup Oatmeal in 1 cup of skim milk- 390 Calories
Bannana- 121 Calories
Two Slices of Whole Grain Bread- 110 Calories
2 Tbsp Homemade Soy Spread (Made from dry, unsalted and roasted soybeans)- 65 Calories
1 Tbsp Rasins- 30
TOTAL: 716 Calories

Meal 2: Snack

1/8 Cup Sunflower Seeds
1/3 Cup (30g) Shredded Wheat Cereal
1/8 Cup Raisins
TOTAL: 200 Calories

Meal 3: Lunch

Potato- 100 Calories
75 Grams Light Tuna in water- 68 Calories
4 Brussel Sprouts- 32 Calories
Skim Milk- 90 Calories
1/2 Cup Rice- 181 Calories
Banana- 121 Calories
TOTAL: 592 Calories

Meal 4: Snack

1/8 Cup Sunflower Seeds
1/3 Cup (30g) Shredded Wheat Cereal
1/8 Cup Raisins
TOTAL: 200 Calories

Meal 5: Snack

1/2 Bagel- 150 Calories
2 Tbsp Homemade Soy Spread- 65 Calories
TOTAL: 215 Calories

Meal 6: Dinner

Potato- 100 Calories
1/2 Cup Rice- 181 Calories
Carrot- 36 Calories
Skim Milk- 90 Calories
150g Shrimp- 150 Calories
1/2 Red Bell Pepper- 15 Calories
2 TBSP Soy Spread- 65 Calories
TOTAL: 637 Calories

WORKOUT----1 Hour

Meal 7: Snack

Two Rye Crackers- 100 Calories
1/2 Cup Fat Free Yogurt- 60 Calories
TOTAL: 160 Calories


DAY TOTAL: 2750 Calories
37 Grams Fat
469g Carbs
160g Protein

Exercise Routine:
-Lifting 3x per week at the gym
- 4.2 mile run- 30 Minutes three times per week
- Walking too and from school 2-3 times per day. Sometimes totaling to 60 minutes per day.

Well, there you have it. My question was, is this enough calories to gain muscle mass? More importantly, is this the proper nutrient allocation for protein, carbs and fat? I have taken the servings recommended by the Canada Food Guide and multiplied them up to meet my caloric need so I assume it is fairly decent.

I have used the HB Equation to calculate my BMR and chose the "Moderately Active" setting (BMR x 1.55) to gain 1/2 Pound Per Week. Is that okay for the amount of exercise I get?

I desperately need to gain some muscle so any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much,
Safeboy43

Your fat intake looks way too low to me, you need a decent amount of good fats in your diet to stay healthy. Your protein looks on the high side but OK so I think the only thing you need to look at is getting more cals from fat and less from carbs.

2,750 sounds good for bulking IMO. Try it for a few weeks and if you haven't gained weight then up calories.

What does your weight training look like?

There are a couple of ways to ballpark an estimate of calories for bulking IMO. One way is to simply calculate your ' maintenance calories ' and add 20% to that. Or, take your present weight and multiply it by anywhere from 25 - 30 calories per pound of bodyweight. As for your macro-nutrient allocation, there is no hard and fast rule for the " proper nutrient allocation for protein, carbs and fat? ", though some guidelines seem referred to more often than some others. I'd just lock into a given protein and fat guideline of your choice based on however your ' bulk ' maintenance calories are calculated and then simply plug for your suggested carb intake.

With regards to guidelines that seem referred to more often than some others .A rule of thumb intake for protein and mass gain ( for most gym rats ) you see most often is 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight . Recommended fat intake is usually cited as anywhere from 25% - 35% of of your daily maintenance calories. In this context , if it were me, I'd then simply plug for carbs. So, for example, here is one possible approach....

1. Figure out your ' daily maintenance calories to bulk ' using either the Harris formula ( here's an on-line calculator ) plus 20% or 25 - 30 calories per pound of bodyweight, or some other way......

Delaware Consumer Health Information Services


2. Figure out what the calorie equivalent of approx. 1 gram of protein per pound of your bodyweight is ( 1 gram of protein is 4 calories btw ). That is your protein target for the day.


3. Target your fat intake to be 25% for now ( you can bump it higher if you like ) of the ' daily maintenance calories to bulk ' number you get from the Harris or other formula.( 1 gram of fat is 9 calories btw )


4. Subtract the fat and protein calories calculated above in 2) & 3) from your ' daily maintenance calories to bulk ' and you're left with a ballpark estimate of the carb calories you need ( 1 gram of carb is 4 calories btw )

Generally speaking though, when it comes to macro-nutrients, I find a Carbs ( 60% ), Fat ( 25 % ) and Protein ( 15 % ) ratio is a good all-purpose starting point. Beyond that , you usually have to tweak things a bit between protein and carbs to accommodate any specific protein targets you may have set ( i.e 1 gram of protein per pound of your bodyweight ).

Thanks so much for your quick replies! I'll work on reallocating my nutrients properly according to the info you gave me. Does this mean I should cut back on how many grain products I eat and add more meat and higher fat dairy? (Ex. 2% Milk)?

If you have a choice, you should always opt for lower ( saturated ) fat protein sources - i.e skim milk cheese, low fat yogurt, low fat cottage cheese, lower fat milk. Beyond that, simply get your protein from a wide variety of sources like fish, lean meats, eggs, poultry, nuts ( i.e peanut butter ) etc. etc.

On fat, I'd try and get at least 20% of your calories from fat. And, you want to get most of it from polyunsaturated and mono unsaturated fats while keeping saturated fats to a minimum ( i.e under 7% ). Eliminate all trans fats if you can. So, in keeping with that, I try to make sure that ( where I can ) the processed foods that I might buy don't have any more than 3 grams of fat per 100 calories....do that, and it should keep you in the ballpark of an acceptable level of fat intake IMO.