It’s like building a house on sandy ground. No proper diet = no proper bulk gain. I have spent a year and the gym, and despite being much, much fitter I am not much, much bigger. This is a great shame and it appears that the problem is down to simple maths.
Calories In Minus Calories Out
If you are a fat bastard, everyone knows that you just eat less food. Getting bigger doesnt seem to work like this. I eat more, and I get more belly fat and no more me. So clearly this is a case of too much of the wrong food, but keeping track of everything looks a bloody nightmare. I am also pretty sick of eating hemp, and need to think about ways of getting in more protein and less fat. Things high in protein and taste also come high in fat. So what is the balance?
Looking around the web and normal diet things, a person of my size and build should be eating 2100 calories made up of 20% protein, 50% carbs and 30% fat. But the view to bulk found on other sites including this one are hinting at 30% protein, 50% carb and 20% fat. But there are two problems – getting the protein cheaply and not getting the fat.
High Protein, Low Fat Food Must Taste Like Shit
A bit of reasearch has sugested the follwing tasty morsels for protein supplies:
1) Fish. All fish is good. Cheap good fish is tuna (tin) or pollock (fresh). One tin of tuna chunks in water is 140 calories, 32g protein, nil carbs and 1g fat. The same weight of steamed pollock gives 115 calores, 24g protein, nil carbs and 1g fat.
2) Tofu. Saying nothing more.
3) Cottage cheese. 140g of standard cottage cheese gives you 128 calories 19g protein, 5g carbs and 2g fat.
4) Now the mecca of protein and fat. Nuts and seeds. Plain pistachio kernels 140g will give you a massive 850 calories, 25g protein, 11g carbs and 77g of fat. Now that is not a healthy thing. Infact, scoffing a pack of pistachios will stuff you up. The incredibly tasty Morissons seed mix 140g gives you 836 calories, 37g protein, 71g of fat. So thats also not great. But there is a promised land. Morisons spicy broad beans! 140g will give you 513 calories, 31g protein, 47g of carbs and a mere 18g of fat.
The Golden Ratio In A Bag
Thats the Mecca. A 30:50:20 ratio. A double bonus – you can buy dried and split broad beans grown here in the Uk. Here is the link to where you can buy these in small bags or in bulk. And two recipies here and here for cooking them so you dont have to spend 70p for 40g. Having looked before I believe you can do similar with dried peas. In any case, I dont think you can get cheaper protein:
£19.50 (delivered) gets you 12.5kg of beans. You would be going some to eat more than 125g in a serving which means the bag would last you 100 days. So 20p a day You could go mental and have a kilo of beans a day cooked in a variety of ways for £2 and get your daily calories at an Atkins-respectable 40% protein, 50% carbs, 10% fat. For £2!!!
But The Counting Is Too Tricky
My wife uses a website to count it all. I disdained it as it was not keen to let you “gain” weight using it as the calculators get cross with you. But I reckon it can be done. £6.95 for a month. I am going to try it and see. At the very least it will tell me if I am eating too much cake or not.
More Gym
I asked the man in the gym how to get more bulk. He said work harder and work more than one mucsle at once. And do less cardio and more weights. So I am. This is the new “program” I am following. It is fun. I like lifting weight.
Anyway, the gym is now busy with the new “intake” from new year. Hopefully quieter in a months time. In the meantime, I will shake my head and wonder why they dont give five minutes in the induction to mention to women to wear appropriate underwear under appropriate leggings. Big lacy jobs under your normal tights is not a great look.after half an hour of sweating.
gotbulk 
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