Lean-Gainer Meal Plan for those looking to gain weight!
A buddy of mine (who's a competition bodybuilder) sent me this Lean Gainer Meal Plan. It was created for those who want to gain muscle mass without getting fat
muscletrainee, this was what I was talking about in my Dymatize thread. Take a look and adjust/comment on anything you see here.
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Meal 1
-5 whole eggs OR 12 egg whites (cooked!) (you can buy eggwhites in milk cartons)
-2 bowls Oatmeal (more if you’re hungry) (I buy plain oatmeal so I usually add Honey)
Meal 2
-250g beef (ground beef, steak..)
-1 1/2 cups Rice (brown would be best)
Meal 3
-200g chicken breast
-300g Potato
-1 cup veggies (dark green is best)
Meal 4
-1 can Tuna OR 200g fish (cod, sole, halibut, orange roughy...)
-1 1/2 cups Rice (brown would be best)
Meal 5
-200g chicken breast OR 12 egg whites (cooked)
-70g pasta (dry weight)
Meal 6
-2 Scoops protein in Milk
-1 cup veggies (dark green is best)
This is a good and traditional bodybuilder's diet. I'll offer a few items to polish it up a bit and align it with current thought:
1. The quality, quantity, and variety of the protein is very good, so no suggestions.
2. There is no mention of healthy fats. Healthy fats are an essential component of all successful diets, whether it be for cutting, maintenance, or bulking. Depending upon the goal of the athlete, his metabolism, his bodytype, and his stats, I would add anywhere from 3 to 9 tablespoons total of extra virgin olive oil or macadamia nut oil across the diet per day. The oil may be spooned over the carbs, or blended into a shake.
3. Given that this is the time of year when guys want to go around shirtless, it is essential that the carbs in this diet get the closest look. Remember, it's the carbs that trigger bodyfat accumulation via insulin spikes. Eating the right kind of carbs will minimize insulin spikes and thus mimimize bodyfat accumulation.
So, no white rice; brown rice only, as suggested by the diet plan. No white potato. Please substitute sweet potato or yams for the white potato. And, no white pasta; whole wheat pasta, only.
At this time of year, if the athlete is carb sensitive(tends to put on bodyfat easily), then I would recommend the addition of the OTC supplement r-ALA, 10 minutes prior to eating carbs. Dosage recommendation for r-ALA would be 100 mg r-ALA for each 30 mg of carbs in the meal. r-ALA is a glucose disposal agent, which acts to lower insulin resistance and shuttle blood glucose into the muscles, rather than triggering insulin spikes.
Again, these are a part of an overall strategy to keep insulin spikes to the minimum and reduce bodyfat accumulation. What could be worse than building muscle while getting fat!
Next up, some food prep suggestions:
1. Buy your packaged eggwhites in bulk cartons. My favorite supplier is Eggology. Extremely fresh, high quality, pasteurized, and Salmonella tested: http://www.eggology.com/
2. For healthiest ground beef prep, buy your ground beef in bulk, then brown it all in a large skillet. Place a colander(strainer) in the kitchen sink, then dump the browned ground beef in. Allow the fat to run out, then turn on the cold water tap and run the cold water right into the browned beef in the colander. Get your hands right into there, and turn over the browned beef over and over beneath the running water. This will effectively rinse out nearly all the beef fat from the meat, and you will end up with pure meat. This way, you have total control over your dietary fat content, and the very unhealthy beef fat will be removed. After draining, you can portion out the ground beef into airtight containers and place them in the freezer until needed.
3. Buy chicken breasts in bulk, then marinate them all at once overnight in a pyrex dish in your refridgerator with your favorite marinade. Next day, grill them all at once in a George Foreman-type grill, so that the fat is run off away from the cooked breasts. Portion them out into containers and freeze until needed.
I hope my suggestions are of help to you, and I wish you success!
....where can I get OTC supplement r-ALA? Any nutrition store? How much does it rougly cost and what forum is it in (liquid, capsule, tablet)?
As for eggwhites... I've been buying the carton shit and honestly it takes like ass. I've hold my breath everytime i eat it....
There are two forms of ALA(alpha-lipoic acid) available, standard ALA and r-ALA. Standard ALA is only 50 percent effective, since only 50 percent of it actually does anything useful. So, you are buying essentially 50 percent dead weight and, consequently, you have to take double the dosage to get the same useful effect as r-ALA. A waste of money and needless stress for your body to process the supplement.
r-ALA is the 100 percent active useful form of the supplement. It has been available for some time now, from a variety of supplement makers. The purity and price varies widely. Prolly your best bet for straight r-ALA is from www.1fast400.com.
But there is one other aspect which is seldom mentioned. If you use r-ALA consistantly, it will deplete your natural store of biotin, which is one of the B-series vitamins. Consequently, you would also need to supplement your Biotin intake in concert with your r-ALA intake. The ideal solution is the r-ALA product which I have, myself, been using for years. It's called "Glucorell R" and it's a combination of r-ALA and biotin blended in the proper ratio so that no biotin depletion occurs. Each cap is 100 mg of r-ALA, so you would take 1 or 2 caps before a meal, depending upon the carb content of the meal. Glucorell R is sold by the Anabolic Fitness board store. BTW, I am not, in any way, connected with AF. With the AF discount, a 240 cap bottle costs $39, before shipping.
Now, about the egg whites. If you have been using packaged whites from a supermarket, then you are eating eggwhites that have been frozen and thawed at least twice, and have been in storage for 3 or more months. Under those conditions, it's no wonder they taste like ass!
What I suggest is that you do a trial small order from Eggology. This way, you won't have laid out a lot of money, in case you don't like it. Their product is as fresh as can be, and NOT frozen. I've tried about a half dozen different brands of whites, and I think that Eggology whites tastes the best. I totally promise you that, if you have been using the whites from the store, you really don't know what whites taste like. Some people get totally grossed out at the idea of drinking whites, but, the Eggology whites are totally fresh, pasteurized, and lab tested for safety. I like 'em!
BTW, if you drink your whites raw, as I do, please be sure you thoroughly shake or blend them, so the protein will break down properly in your gut.
If you give the Eggology a try, please let me know what you think, coz I always appreciate feedback(good and bad) about the stuff I recommend!
I don't think Eggology ships to Canada.. I've looked into getting egg whites online, and none of the major distributors ship to Canada. It may have changed now, I don't know. This was about a year ago.
When I did buy egg whites from the grocery store, I'd just add them to my scrambled eggs in the morning, so it tasted great.
while we're on the topic of eggs.. how many eggs/day is too much? I usually eat 4 whole eggs (yolk+whites) every day.. 3 in the morning and then 1 later on. Is that too much?
Good question. In the past i've heard you're not supposed to consume more then a dozen eggs or something like that in a week.... I eat more then a dozen eggs in 2-3 days... so i dunno
With the AF discount, a 240 cap bottle costs $39, before shipping.
