How on earth do you guys do the food aspect of bulking? Cause omfg ... Im so sick of being "full."
Im trying to eat around 3000 calories on gym days and around 2700 on non-gym days. Macros are 190g of protein, 360g of carbs, 80g of fat (based on 3000).
But for the life of me, no matter what I do, no matter how hard I work out, christ .. hitting 3000 calories is hard. Im constantly feeling full.
What doesnt help is that I cant eat breakfast right when I get up. I need at least a couple of hours. Up at 6 and have a glass of milk. 730 I have a protein shake (milk, protein, banana, egg whites, frozen fruit). Around 10, I'll have a sammich on multigrain. Its either tuna or turkey breast or whatnot. After that ... blargh. Im done until dinner. Im just .. full. MAYBE I'll snack on some nuts or greek yogurt.
Dinner is at 530 and its fairly normal, basic meat / potatoes / veggie.
Gym is at 7.
Post-gym, I have another protein smoothie. Before bed, I FORCE down some cottage cheese because again, Im so fn full.
I dont get it. How do you guys do it?
Super frustrating.
Been there before. I was a classic scrawny dude with aspirations of being huge. It took everything I had for years on end to get UP to and beyond the 180lb. plateau if that gives you any idea of what I had to go through.
I've LONG been out of having to worry about any of that, or the feelings and thoughts that went with it, but here are a couple things I can offer:
1) If you want to be a big boy, you've got to eat like a big boy. You aren't going to accidentally make it happen, so straight up your options are "suck it up and make it happen" or "adjust your goals".
2) MRPs and homemade shakes are a lifesaver for easy calories. I've put up a recipe around these boards for a killer calorie-dense and cheaply-made shake which was my go-to back in those days. I'd have 2 of these every day without fail, which accounted for nearly 1500 calories alone (or more if I added in a bonus banana). Right there is half your day! For me, ~4000 was the magic number. I knew similarly-sized guys doing 5000
3) Feeling stuffed and about to pop is part of it, like overloading a barbell at the gym. You will adjust over time if you keep at it.
4) You don't want to waste all your gym efforts, do you? If not, do what you need to in the kitchen! Its importance can NOT be overstated.
5) Don't make the mistake of trying to add too much too fast. Not sure of your experience, but trying for too much too quickly is troublesome for anyone. Gain too much fat, feel out of shape, lose motivation or flip to cutting and then sacrifice the other way. Slow and steady wins the race.
6) Give carb cycling a try. If you can forego the all-out bulking mentality, carb cycling can be a nice, slow, change for you. There are intricacies to it, but the general idea is to mix low/mid/high or low/high carb days based on your gym efforts. It always worked well for me though I haven't done it in years.
7) Going back to the lunch thing - I used to split my 8-10oz. of meats between 2 sandwiches. Two extra slices of bread was an easy extra 100+ calories. Or eat more nuts, nicely calorie-dense as well. Again, I'm long out of being So specific with my eating, but a favorite nighttime snack for me is a big cup of mixed nuts, cranberries, sunflower seeds, and a glass of milk to go along with it. Usually after yogurt or cottage cheese, which is often mixed with an oat/protein powder/honey mix my wife makes. Granola is an easy alternative there as well, as is sliced fruit. Anyway, those nuts & milk give some great fats and protein, and the carbs from the fruit are negligible.
8) If you can add more calories to your morning smoothie, that'll be the easiest way to get them in without changing much in your current routine. Replace fruit w/oats and you can add a lot right there. Flaxseed or fish oil will add more, or have an extra scoop of casein protein at night mixed w/some oils. I used to do that on top of cottage cheese for pre-bed as well. Seemed to work well.
Lastly, as you continue "training yourself" to eat big, your body will come to need it. Just make sure you're giving it a reason to in the gym and it will come with time. How long has it been giving you a tough time?
Macros seem fine, FWIW