gerdik's Journal, 16 October 2012

Yes, I think that's a fine line that you don't want to cross into unhealthy eating habits just for the sake of extra calories.. and I didn't really think about the fact that it must be expensive also! Here are some higher calorie healthy foods I think you should look into: peanut butter, dark chocolate, fruit (real or dried or canned), avocados, oatmeal, juices, brown rice.... add some of these things to what you are already eating to try and up your calories.. (I'm sure you have thought of all of that already, but it doesn't hurt to hear it again!) - add nuts/seeds/dried fruit/protein powder/flaxseed whenever possible.. 

Extra calories is really not that hard. A blended shake with peanut butter, some oats, a little yogurt or ice cream, some milk and protein powder can easily top 500 or 600 calories while filling you up less than solid foods with the same calorie count. Olive oil can be added to lots of food for an easy calorie boost. If you want to gain mass, you will have to take in more food energy and/or move less. Eating more would be my choice. Over the last year, putting on about 1.5 to 2 lbs per month required an average of 3200 calories/day. If I tried to do that with high protein/high fiber/whole foods, it would have been almost impossible. Calorie dense foods -in moderation- made it easy, and as long as your training is adequate (weight training with progressive overload, mostly), and the rest of your diet is sufficient in protein and micronutrients, you won't adversely affect your body composition with some dense "treats" in the mix. The research demonstrates that for -most- people, some dietary flexibility (like a modest dessert after dinner) increases dietary adherence, and a strict all-or-nothing approach is counterproductive in the long run. But that's for you to decide; it's not a universal law. Keep in mind too that unless you're on anabolics, it's almost inevitable that you'll add some body fat along with the lean mass - a 50/50 ratio is about as good as you can hope for, unless you're genetically very lucky. Hopefully you won't interpret any body fat gained as a result of eating the "wrong" foods, then cut back on calories again, and just end up spinning your wheels forever. As you're finding out now, once you're active and pay attention to your diet, adding muscle is much harder than losing body fat. Nobody believes it until they try it though :)  

Also, check your private messages for a URL to some articles at bodyrecomposition dot com that might be of help - FatSecret censors them in journal comments.  

@erika2633 - thanks for the list! And yes, you are right I do add those to the arsenal and unfortunately I have not incorporated many of those lately, mainly avocados (those are pricey!). I think they were so deeply embedded into my eating before that I got sick of them. But it always helps to be reminded of them! So thanks! 

@Nimm - what great info, and thank you for the URL. I browsed it at lunch and was in deep concentration. Especially related to lean mass gains and the charts they had. What really got me was as you reach your potential and have had 4+ years of sound weight lifting, your ability to gain lean mass is roughly .5-.8 lbs/month. That is roughly 10 lbs in a year. Which makes more sense for me to stick to this long term rather than short. Also - in regards to the article on mass gain mistakes, I totally fit the bill as the type that complains about eating so much and never gaining, as well as most likely overestimating my caloric intake. Enlightening to say the least...  

You and Nimm should be great friends - he has a wealth of knowledge on this whole bulking/cutting business.. ;) Excited to hear how things go for you! 

Beef, chicken, fatty fish, with nuts and seeds is a good start point. I'm old school when it comes to muscle gain; more protein, heavier weights. Push your muscles hard and the body adapts by becoming stronger. Keep up with the protein to allow the body to build more lean muscle tissue. I prefer fat for energy, but for intense workouts, I'll get my carb load from creatine. In my old picture (the blue one), my food intake was shitty. I had no idea what to eat, but I took creatine as directed and had some pretty good gains. After I hit my goal of 170, I'll be doing a bulk up phase as well.