Is my current meal plan suitable?

[yakuzaboss]

I'm 5'7" and 140lbs. My goal is to gain 20-25lbs of lean muscle mass over the next 12 to 18 months.

My caloric intake for bulking, using the Harris-Benedict formula, is 3765 calories per day. Does this sound right to you guys? Seems a little high to me? Anyways, here's my current meal plan:

Meal 1
- 6 Egg Whites & 2 Whole Eggs
- Oatmeal
- Banana
- Protein Shake

Meal 2
- Fruit
- 2 Slices 100% Whole Wheat Bread w/half Can of Tuna in Water
- Protein Bar and/or Protein Shake

Meal 3
- 6 to 8oz Chicken or Turkey Breast
- 3/4 Cup Rice or Pasta
- 3/4 Cup Steamed Vegetables
- Protein Shake

Meal 4
- 1 Cup Raw Vegetables 1-2 tbsp of light Dressing
- 2 Slices 100% Whole Wheat Bread w/Peanut Butter
- Protein Shake

Meal 5
- 6 to 8oz Chicken or Turkey Breast
- 3/4 Cup Rice or Pasta
- 3/4 Cup Steamed Vegetables
- Protein Shake

Meal 6
- 2 Slices 100% Whole Wheat Bread w/half Can of Tuna in Water
- Protein Bar
- Protein Shake

[Ross86]

You only need one or two protein shakes a day...the rest of the protein should come from whole food. I only do shakes before and/or after workouts. And to rescind my first statement, you don't need any shakes. It's just a nice little extra for PWO.

[hrdgain81]

^^ Personally I dont see a problem with using protien shakes as he is, to simply suppliment the amount of protien per meal. As long as he hits his numbers he should be fine, and when using them like this, your actually mixing whole food and shake, so its not as bad as it would be if he was just taking shakes and that was his whole protien intake.

I agree that limiting them is a good idea, but in this instance I think its fine.

[Ross86]

What do the protein shakes consist of? About 2/3 of his protein will be coming from shakes...that's a lot.

[hrdgain81]

^^ 2/3rds. I dont see how, I mean you could be right, I have no idea how large the shakes are, maybe he could provide us with a macro break down. But it seems like he has a lot of whole food protien, and is just supplimenting with shakes to reach his numbers for each meal.

On a side note, I'd stay away from the protien bars ... I know a few companies have been shown to not meet label claims on those, and they always seem to have a lot of sugar.

[yakuzaboss]

Protein - 400g (56%)
Carbs - 246g (34%)
Fat - 73g (10%)

What I could do is, take out the protein shake from meals 3, 4 and 5. Probably too much protein for my weight, right guys?

[yakuzaboss]

Each shake consists of:

1 scoop 100% whey protein isolate
3/4 cup of water or less
protein - 25g
carbs - 1g
fat - 0g

[ChinPieceDave667]

Originally Posted by yakuzaboss

Protein - 400g (56%)
Carbs - 246g (34%)
Fat - 73g (10%)

What I could do is, take out the protein shake from meals 3, 4 and 5. Probably too much protein for my weight, right guys?

fat is too low and pro. is too high.
BUT
Going back to your first question, I think the cal. intake is way to high to start out with since you are only 140. You said you want to gain lean muscle but if you start right out of the gate with over 3500 cals. you are going to gain loads of fat. I would say start at 2700 cals a day with the break down being:
Protein - (40-45%)~270- 303gm
Carbs - (30-35%)~200-236gm
Fat - (25-30%)~75-90gm

look to gain about 3lbs a month, if you fall under that, up the cals. by 300 or so and repeat.

Also remember not every meal is going to be the same cal/ ratio break down, you don't have the time nor the specific calibrated measuring equipment to do that, so don't kill yourself on the specifics just stay in the range.

now if you don't mind a little more "bulk" than do the increments by 500 cals. and you will get bigger faster but by bigger I do mean more fat.

[hrdgain81]

^^ very good advice right there.

[yakuzaboss]

Originally Posted by ChinPieceDave667

fat is too low and pro. is too high.
BUT
Going back to your first question, I think the cal. intake is way to high to start out with since you are only 140. You said you want to gain lean muscle but if you start right out of the gate with over 3500 cals. you are going to gain loads of fat. I would say start at 2700 cals a day with the break down being:
Protein - (40-45%)~270- 303gm
Carbs - (30-35%)~200-236gm
Fat - (25-30%)~75-90gm

look to gain about 3lbs a month, if you fall under that, up the cals. by 300 or so and repeat.

Also remember not every meal is going to be the same cal/ ratio break down, you don't have the time nor the specific calibrated measuring equipment to do that, so don't kill yourself on the specifics just stay in the range.

now if you don't mind a little more "bulk" than do the increments by 500 cals. and you will get bigger faster but by bigger I do mean more fat.

thanks for the reply. i was actually expecting to gain about 2lbs a month. if that weight gain is consistent, then i could possibly gain 24lbs over the next year. but hey, 3lbs a months sounds great. getting bigger faster is also great but not at the cost of gaining fat.