Eat big, to be big.

[Jr. Yates]

Its a great message but it can be blinding. It makes it really easy to over eat. Through the winter these words killed my bank account, made me make wicked gains fast but I over bulked. Now that i have the size i want eating isn't so much of a chore no more because i've cut everything in half.  Do any of you find yourselves just shoveling food in just to get it down? since i've stopped doing that, my physique has greatly improved.

[250Ben250]

Yes, the biggest and best change I could have made to my physique is to go back to more of an eating-when-I'm-actually-hungry strategy. Imagine that. I don't eat anything near like a "normal" person would, and I still get the protein I need spread out over 4-5 meals, but force feeding 4 solid food meals plus 3 shakes a day did nothing but add 3 inches to my waist it seemed.

Over the past year I've gotten stronger and obviously leaner. Sometimes we get too fixed in the mindset of eating for size, plus I have to remember that as a natural, excess calories, protein, whatever will get turned into fat a lot quicker than other guys.

I pay more attention to nutrient timing, partitioning, glycemic indexes, etc and I only wish I had a working knowledge of such things sooner...

[MCWAY]

Yes, the biggest and best change I could have made to my physique is to go back to more of an eating-when-I'm-actually-hungry strategy. Imagine that. I don't eat anything near like a "normal" person would, and I still get the protein I need spread out over 4-5 meals, but force feeding 4 solid food meals plus 3 shakes a day did nothing but add 3 inches to my waist it seemed.

Over the past year I've gotten stronger and obviously leaner. Sometimes we get too fixed in the mindset of eating for size, plus I have to remember that as a natural, excess calories, protein, whatever will get turned into fat a lot quicker than other guys.

I pay more attention to nutrient timing, partitioning, glycemic indexes, etc and I only wish I had a working knowledge of such things sooner...

That mindset is often necessary, especially for ectomorphs, to make gains. The first time I broke 200 lbs (later 230 and 240), I jacked up the calories to break those marks. In fact, that's often the case with a lot of people. They need lots of calories to reach a certain size. Once they get there, they can maintain (and often lean out) with fewer calories, overall.

Just because I can grow on a somewhat modest amount of calories NOW doesn't mean I could have done so when I was in my early 20s. Your body changes over time. That's why I've virtually eliminated weight-gainers from my diet. I don't need them to get bigger anymore. But, I would have never reached my physique goals earlier in my life without them.

[Lugar]

You still need to eat LARGE as quantities of food if you want to get big.  However, you need to train as hard as you eat......once you hit your goal, Yates, you are right buddy and it makes life that much easier....cutting is a piece of cake for me, bulking?  SUCKS!  All in my head!

[Bluto]

if it takes for example 3500 calories to pack on muscle it makes no sense to eat 5000 calories

[Lugar]

agreed...but you wont gain a lb on 3,499 and even 4k will be a slow process

[Purge_WTF]

  I fell into the all-out eating trend for a while and I'm paying for it now. I've been dieting for a long time and have lost 93 pounds.

[MCWAY]

if it takes for example 3500 calories to pack on muscle it makes no sense to eat 5000 calories

That's true!! But, you keep pushing up that caloric intake, until those gains start coming.

[MCWAY]

  I fell into the all-out eating trend for a while and I'm paying for it now. I've been dieting for a long time and have lost 93 pounds.

Had you taken Hydroxycut, you would have lost that weight about 660% faster.

[Lugar]

That's true!! But, you keep pushing up that caloric intake, until those gains start coming.

Bingo...no need to be overweight by 90+ lbs...that is called self control...shit, I gain over 2% and I'm making some severe changes....don't be ridiculous...you need to eat heavy, rest heavier, and train even heavier....

[Purge_WTF]

Had you taken Hydroxycut, you would have lost that weight about 660% faster.

   

[blondmusclhunk]

You have to  be really in touch with your body to figure how much you should really eat.  For me i get 5 or six meals in a day easily but have very little body fat.  If your fat and trying to pack on muscle with the calories maybe you don't need quite so many calories but always keep protein mg's high. 

[MidniteRambo]

agreed...but you wont gain a lb on 3,499 and even 4k will be a slow process

That hasn't been my experience.  By eating frequent, smart, high protein, balanced but small meals I've been able to add muscle mass on 2200-2500 cals, but I accept that everyone's different.  No matter how hard I trained, I would get fat on 3500+ calorie program.  That's a 38yr old metabolism for ya.

[Lugar]

that is truly amazing...I sit all day, am 30 years old, metob. is declining and I still don't CUT on 2,200...

[MCWAY]

That hasn't been my experience.  By eating frequent, smart, high protein, balanced but small meals I've been able to add muscle mass on 2200-2500 cals, but I accept that everyone's different.  No matter how hard I trained, I would get fat on 3500+ calorie program.  That's a 38yr old metabolism for ya.

What he meant was that no matter how many calories it takes for you to grow, you will not do so, if you stop short of that mark. I recall Greg Zulak, from one of my favorite MuscleMag articles, stating that the difference between growing and not growing can be as little as one potato and one piece of chicken a day.

I'm pretty much where you are now. I can grow on a more moderate calorie intake. That, however, was NOT the case 10 years ago. There's no way I'd gain any size eating 3500 calories a day. Back then, it took 5000 calories or more (up to 6500, at one point) to push my weight up there.

Your body changes over time. If I eat now the way I ate then, I'd resemble some sort of swine. Conversely, if I ate then how I eat now, I'd still be a twig.

[BigIronMike25]

What he meant was that no matter how many calories it takes for you to grow, you will not do so, if you stop short of that mark. I recall Greg Zulak, from one of my favorite MuscleMag articles, stating that the difference between growing and not growing can be as little as one potato and one piece of chicken a day.

I'm pretty much where you are now. I can grow on a more moderate calorie intake. That, however, was NOT the case 10 years ago. There's no way I'd gain any size eating 3500 calories a day. Back then, it took 5000 calories or more (up to 6500, at one point) to push my weight up there.

Your body changes over time. If I eat now the way I ate then, I'd resemble some sort of swine. Conversely, if I ate then how I eat now, I'd still be a twig.

I agree , our metabolisms are constantly changing i think...and you have to adjust your diet accordingly

[New_Trainer]

a good rule of thumb for u :

always keep on exercising(the amount that is ok to u, not too much)

my experience tells me that whenever u get fat, u will always feel tired first

so when the time u feels u r not capable of doing same amount of exercises that u always did
and in case u have not much difference from family, work, etc....anything that will affect your mental health....

u know u r gonna get fat