Need opinions on my bulking diet (clean bulk)

[hmart]

Greetings to all!

I need a few opinions about my bulking diet, I've been trying to gain weight for the past 4 months. I have done 2 HST cycles. My first cycle went very well, I gained 8-10 pounds but lost like 5 pounds during the next few weeks due to hormonal issues. Second cycle I have only gained 1-2 pounds, such a shame since I feel I wasted 8 weeks of good training.

Background:
Weight: 162, 16-17% BF
Height: 5'7.5"
Been training consecutive for 3 years, 4 months with HST (2 cycles).
Sendentary lifestyle (office job), train 3 times a week for 1 to 1.5 hours.

Proposed bulking diet:
Calories: 2,431
Protein: 187 gr
Fats: 75 gr
Carbs: 252 gr

Breakdown:

Meal 1:

3 whole eggs,

3 egg whites

4 oz sweet potato

Meal 2:

4 oz Chicken breast or 1 can of tuna

4 oz sweet potato

1/2 oz Nuts

Meal 3:

Mixed Salad

1 tsp Olive Oil

5 oz chicken breast o lean pork

4 oz plantain o 6 oz white rice

Meal 4: (pre-workout)

1 scoop of whey

2 bananas

Meal 5: (post-workout)

1 scoop whey+casein

20 gr dextrose

Meal 6:

7 oz cooked beef or 7 oz of beef liver

6 oz plantains

Mixed Veggies

On OFF days calories go down a bit (150 less) and fat goes up and carbs go down a bit.

Let me know what you think about this diet, thanks!

BTW I LOVE HST

 

[Totentanz]

Is there a reason you are eating such boring foods? I would kill myself if I had to bulk on something like that. Stop trying to eat so clean and you'll find bulking to be a lot easier. Your macros are decent, you've got enough fat in there. I'd prefer a little more protein though. I would prefer 240 grams of protein a day on the day. I think you'd be better off taking the dextrose in your preworkout shake, it will give you more energy during the workout. I also recommend mixing gatorade or something similar to drink during the workout instead of water, keeps strength up intraworkout. Why only one scoop of whey and casein after the workout? Up that crap. Throw like four scoops in there. My postworkout shakes back when I weighed 150 were 6 scoops of whey minimum, and that was mixed in milk, none of this mixing it in water BS.

On off days you need to eat more. Off days are when you grow. Protein synthesis occurs after the workout and spikes 24 hours after the workout, then drops off back to normal after 36 hours. So if you are dropping calories on off days, you are dropping calories during the time when you are growing the most, which means you are compromising gains.

2400 calories is not enough. You are eating enough for a sedentary person to maintain weight. Up that to 2900 minimum. If you must do the calorie cycling, then do 2700 calories the 24 hours prior to training and 3100 calories the 24 hours after training. Yes, this means you will have to split calorie counts between days. If you want to cycle protein as well (some people have a hard time eating 1.5 times bodyweight in protein) then do 240 grams the 24 hours after training and 180 grams the 24 hours prior to training.

 

[hmart]

Thanks for your reply, it is very helpfull, I will reorganize the diet and bump up calories and protein consumption.

I choose to eat this clean because I'm gluten intolerant and lactose intolerant. I only make exception for whey and casein proteins.

It makes sense what you say that during off days one should eat the same or more compared to a training day. People I know usually do it the other way.