A few members asked to see my 6-7,000 calorie daily diet after my latest pics so I wanted to post this for everyone. We rarely have big guys posting details on their nutrition so I hope this gives some perspective.
TRAINING DAYS:
This is from last Thursday, a typical high calorie training day.
Breakfast:
REST DAYS
For rest days, I cut calories and carbs to help with digestion and minimize fat gain. After 2-3 high calorie days in a row I need to pull back a bit to give the body a break. This was Friday.
Breakfast:
Some random notes on all this:
I've done 4 meals a day for years - my body does better eating a few large meals spaced hours apart than a bunch of smaller meals closer together. Finding the method of eating that works best for you and not blindly following others' plans is key to making big long-term progress.
Whole food is great and when dieting it's the majority of what I eat, but when bulking I do more powders as it's easier to get more calories in. Debate it all you want but this method put 18lbs. on me when dieted down over last year and currently has me up 12lbs. past my peak bulking weight last year.
I get probably 40g of supplemental fiber per day, take probiotics 2-3 times a day, and take a few servings of Lactaid with my big bowl on training days. I also have probiotics and digestive enzymes added to my TN protein mix. I feel this is essential when you're eating this much to keep things moving and keep appetite / digestion good.
If you want to get huge, just like you progress in lifting heavier weights year after year, you have to progress with pushing your calories higher year after year. This means stuffing yourself until you're miserable at points, being physically uncomfortable, having a distended stomach by the end of the day, etc.
I can't emphasize enough the importance of tracking what you eat - not just to know your calories and macros, but to know what foods digest best, what cause issues for you, etc. That's key in building up to consuming this much.
The bigger you get, the more hydration you need for multiple reasons - help with carbs (glycogen's water to carb ratio is 2:1), good pumps, overall health, etc. I usually do 60-80oz. of water just intraworkout and another 20-40oz. through the night when I wake up. Definitely doing over 200oz. of fluids a day.
On weekends, we usually eat brunch at a restaurant one day and have dinner out the next. It's still pretty standard bodybuilder stuff - steak & eggs with potatoes / pancakes, sushi, Asian rice / noodle dishes, etc. I don't care for sloppy stuff like large pizzas, I always focus on getting decently healthy protein and carbs in. I often end up with only 3 meals on weekends due to the higher caloric load of restaurant food.
Finally, eating like this isn't about optimal health, it's about getting big - the purpose of this board. I only have a few more years of pushing hard with this and I'm making the most of them. After that, I'll likely go to a cyclical ketogenic diet for the long-term.
TRAINING DAYS:
This is from last Thursday, a typical high calorie training day.
Breakfast:
- 3.25 scoops True Nutrition custom protein mix
- 8oz. strawberry banana smoothie
- 3tbsp flax / bean / etc. mix
- 6 caps Omegalyze
- TOTALS - 677 (84.5g protein, 44.5g carbs, 15.2g fat)
- Sometimes I do eggs instead of a protein shake here
- 10oz. chicken breast
- 10oz. 98% ground beef
- 5oz. bison top sirloin
- 255g hash browns
- 465g mashed potatoes
- TOTALS - 1,451 (145g protein, 115.5g carbs, 35.6g fat)
- I used to eat this in 2 portions spaced 3 hours apart, but over the last few weeks I've started eating it all in one meal over about an hour
- 10g creatine
- 30g EAAs
- 75g Karbolyn
- TOTALS - 300 (75g carbs)
- 2.5 scoops Rice N Grinds
- 1.5 scoops ON Hydrowhey
- 1.5 scoops TN custom protein mix
- TOTALS - 859 (84g protein, 106.2g carbs, 6.7g fat)
- 4 scoops TN custom protein mix
- 2 scoops Fiberlyze
- 1 Quest bar
- 1 large Dairy Queen blizzard
- 1/2 pint Nick's light ice cream
- 6tbsp sunflower butter
- 1 Lenny & Larry's cookie, home made chocolate chip cookies, whatever we have
- Lion's Pack sugar-free cookie dough
- Wash it down with a glass of almond milk
- TOTALS - ~3,600
- I put all this in a big bowl and mix it up - what goes in changes depending on how I look, appetite, what I trained, etc., so no exact macros - this is another meal that I eat over an hour to an hour and a half
REST DAYS
For rest days, I cut calories and carbs to help with digestion and minimize fat gain. After 2-3 high calorie days in a row I need to pull back a bit to give the body a break. This was Friday.
Breakfast:
- 3.25 scoops True Nutrition custom protein mix
- 8oz. strawberry banana smoothie
- 1.5tbsp flax / bean / etc. mix
- 6 caps Omegalyze
- Sometimes I do eggs instead of a protein shake here
- 5oz. 98% ground beef
- 9oz. chicken breast
- 9oz. skirt steak
- 225g hash browns
- 465g mashed potatoes
- White rice
- Black beans
- Double meat - steak and barbacoa
- Pico
- 3 scoops TN custom protein mix
- 1/2 pint Halo Top keto ice cream
- 3tbsp almond butter
Some random notes on all this:
I've done 4 meals a day for years - my body does better eating a few large meals spaced hours apart than a bunch of smaller meals closer together. Finding the method of eating that works best for you and not blindly following others' plans is key to making big long-term progress.
Whole food is great and when dieting it's the majority of what I eat, but when bulking I do more powders as it's easier to get more calories in. Debate it all you want but this method put 18lbs. on me when dieted down over last year and currently has me up 12lbs. past my peak bulking weight last year.
I get probably 40g of supplemental fiber per day, take probiotics 2-3 times a day, and take a few servings of Lactaid with my big bowl on training days. I also have probiotics and digestive enzymes added to my TN protein mix. I feel this is essential when you're eating this much to keep things moving and keep appetite / digestion good.
If you want to get huge, just like you progress in lifting heavier weights year after year, you have to progress with pushing your calories higher year after year. This means stuffing yourself until you're miserable at points, being physically uncomfortable, having a distended stomach by the end of the day, etc.
I can't emphasize enough the importance of tracking what you eat - not just to know your calories and macros, but to know what foods digest best, what cause issues for you, etc. That's key in building up to consuming this much.
The bigger you get, the more hydration you need for multiple reasons - help with carbs (glycogen's water to carb ratio is 2:1), good pumps, overall health, etc. I usually do 60-80oz. of water just intraworkout and another 20-40oz. through the night when I wake up. Definitely doing over 200oz. of fluids a day.
On weekends, we usually eat brunch at a restaurant one day and have dinner out the next. It's still pretty standard bodybuilder stuff - steak & eggs with potatoes / pancakes, sushi, Asian rice / noodle dishes, etc. I don't care for sloppy stuff like large pizzas, I always focus on getting decently healthy protein and carbs in. I often end up with only 3 meals on weekends due to the higher caloric load of restaurant food.
Finally, eating like this isn't about optimal health, it's about getting big - the purpose of this board. I only have a few more years of pushing hard with this and I'm making the most of them. After that, I'll likely go to a cyclical ketogenic diet for the long-term.