how do you guys count your calories and macros? OFF SEASON

[mchief101]

i mean.....i use myfitnesspal and i have to measure out every single thing and it gets tiring and i just keep in my mind...ok i wanna compete on stage one day so i gotta do it but its just im not making the gains i should be in off season mode.
i am a low fat type of guy that can tolerate lots of carbs and medium-high protein......and i generally eat 3500-4000 calories at 200 lbs 5'8.
whats you guys opinion? should i just eat eat eat lots of carbs and protein low fat or just keep counting? how would you approach this in the off season?

ps: i know pre contest u have to measure everything and thats not a prob

 

[Ironman2010]

Can you post up an example of your diet??

 

[718si]

I too use MyFitnessPal...

Biggest hurdle is the 1st week of use, as it has very little info on how you eat already.

Now, most meals (90-95%) I've eaten at least once, so it's quick and easy to duplicate foods/meals.

What makes it easier for me is to spend a few hours on Sunday making a large batch of food and divide it equally into 15-20 tupperwares. Once that meals ingredients are put in, you just copy the meal a few times each day.

This way I have one or two times a day max where I need to spend more than a minute in the app.

 

[mchief101]

thx for the info. prob is , i dont live in my own house, so it would definately be easier if i cook the same foods each day. but i have to eat in the cafeteria + i cook 2-3 meals of my own food which usually consists of 2 cups rice + chicken. my foods vary day by day and thats why its hard for me to measure out everything....especially when the food is not cooked by myself

 

[red5150]

@ your size you should just go on a seafood diet. go for 40-50 grams protein 6 meals a day and eat as much as you see. throw in some good fats, olive oil, natural peanut butter, avocado,almonds, walnuts, pecans brazil nuts, whole eggs, though out the day, and just eat your ass off. dont be afriad to eat some shit, just dont make it the base of your diet. evaluate every 3-6 months to make sure your not getting to much sloppy fat on.

but dont do a permabulker ad nausea um

 

[tman88]

Based on your post I'm betting you're a freshman/sophomore in college. Also, I think I remember you posted pics and you're more or less just starting out, could be someone else. I strongly recommend not taking this too seriously and letting it run your life in college. In my junior and most of my senior year I really let diet and stuff takeover and it is one of my bigger regrets. There is plenty of time to get strict, but college is not the time.

Eat well, enjoy college, workout hard, juice a little. Unless you are dieting there is no reason to get anal about this stuff (even then unless you are competing you can pretty much wing it)...and as you said, you are off-season. Side note: If you are 5-8 200 getting under 10% bf will be great come summer by the way...that would be my priority.

 

[Flex2019]

Do not be afraid of fats in your diet. They are important. Nuts, red meat, olive oil, peanut butter, whole eggs are all a huge part of my diet.

 

[mchief101]

lol like jason huh. says "bro i dont countcals, i just eat a ton a clean food and train hard! " aahaha. jason huh is one of my fav bodybuilders...


i guess u guys r right....it's off season, i should just eat and not focus too much on counting etc

 

[FutureFreak]

MY macros are never quite the same and neither is my appetite. I just simply make sure to EAT every 3 hours....large meal or small meal I wont stress because eating is my main concern.

I'd rather eat a small meal, then to stress my body out and force feed a huge meal that my body will reject --- then all other meals get screwed.

Eat often and eat alot, but also listen to your body.

-FF

 

[Gunsmith]

personally if I were just getting started I'd hire a coach , and learn from them

I have a set macro I know works for me and I eat that meal when I get hungry , if I'm working in the heat alot where my appetite is reduced I'll eat my protein first and save the rest , next meal if I can eat my macros I do if not get the protein again

 

[vitaminboys]

are you fuckin serious who the fuck writes down every little thing they eat You cant live like that brother your gonna drive your self nuts and your never going to grow as big as you can doing that .. off season eat a shitload of clean foods if you are getting a little fat cut back a little .....pre contest is the only time anyone should consider writing down every little detail ...Being a bodybuilder should be enjoyable Your gonna burnout if you keep this up ....

 

[Ironman2010]

are you fuckin serious who the fuck writes down every little thing they eat You cant live like that brother your gonna drive your self nuts and your never going to grow as big as you can doing that .. off season eat a shitload of clean foods if you are getting a little fat cut back a little .....pre contest is the only time anyone should consider writing down every little detail ...Being a bodybuilder should be enjoyable Your gonna burnout if you keep this up ....

Are you serious? Why do guys work with coaches in the off-season. Not just for gear protocols but for diet protocols as well.

Yes indeed, have a life as well as bodybuild, and yes dont spend your time writing every little detail down....but have a base plan to follow....and adjust on how you feel. If you feel you cant get down meal 5 of chicken and rice. Then dont eat it, have a small portion. Heck have a protein shake

But just saying eat a tonne of clean food and cut back a little if you get fat is Bullshit in my opinion. Failing to plan, is planning to fail.

 

[richiec]

are you fuckin serious who the fuck writes down every little thing they eat You cant live like that brother your gonna drive your self nuts and your never going to grow as big as you can doing that .. off season eat a shitload of clean foods if you are getting a little fat cut back a little .....pre contest is the only time anyone should consider writing down every little detail ...Being a bodybuilder should be enjoyable Your gonna burnout if you keep this up ....

Can you show us what this approach has gotten you?

 

[vitaminboys]

Are you serious? Why do guys work with coaches in the off-season. Not just for gear protocols but for diet protocols as well.

Yes indeed, have a life as well as bodybuild, and yes dont spend your time writing every little detail down....but have a base plan to follow....and adjust on how you feel. If you feel you cant get down meal 5 of chicken and rice. Then dont eat it, have a small portion. Heck have a protein shake

But just saying eat a tonne of clean food and cut back a little if you get fat is Bullshit in my opinion. Failing to plan, is planning to fail.

I agree with having a base plan to follow ofcourse not just eat blindly ..I just reread what i wrote and i sounded like a dick sorry pal didnt sleep last night ...
But i do not think anyone should be writing down every little detail of what they eat thats ridiculous NO ONE DOES THAT UNLESS ITS PRECONTEST ...
I see some guys in the gym who look like they have never even trained a day in there life let alone do juice writing down weights/reps/sets .. Holy shit i just think its insane ..

and to the guy that asked me to post pics no thanks i like to stay anonymous i have way too many tattoos that i would have to edit out i would be one big black square LOL

 

[Iron Worker]

I just count chicken breasts.Lol

 

[TNH]

I use fitday to keep track of what I eat for the week. My diet doesn't change all that much, so after I get a rough idea of what my intake is, I stop keeping track of it.
If I start adding new foods or change my diet around, I start logging it again for a few days.
I do think it is very overkill to log absolutely everything you eat, all of the time
(Unless your diet is changing frequently, but I doubt many people get that much variety).

 

[mchief101]

i eat different things everyday. thats why i track everything.....if i dont i feel like im losing out. although i do have 2 cups of rice + chicken everyday and shakes which i know its intake

 

[bieberhole69]

I just write out a general "clean" bulk meal plan. How can you possibly figure out why you're stalled in growth and how much to increase the cals if you don't even know where you're at to begin with? The difference on offseason and when I cut is that I allow myself to cheat two or three times on the weekend and just gorge (only because I wake up late usually and have to cram the cals in a shorter amount of time). Seems to work great, and I didn't gain a lot of fat at all this past offseason!

 

[itrain]

But i do not think anyone should be writing down every little detail of what they eat thats ridiculous NO ONE DOES THAT UNLESS ITS PRECONTEST

M chief do not take that advice,,, you will never be where you want to be strength , physique wise

How can you possibly figure out why you're stalled in growth and how much to increase the cals if you don't even know where you're at to begin with?

I was thinking the same thing brotha thats the whole point of knowing what you are eating ,, its a guide to assess your progress okay didnt gain any weight this week ,, add 1 once protein to every meal,,, 3 weeks later okay didnt gain any weight this week add 1 ounce carbs to every meal,, or you can split up 3 meals 1 ounce carbs, 3 meals 1 ounce protein to keep the same macros..

There are many variations ,, the purpose of having a diet to me is a guideline and like bieber said have a cheat meal once a week where you maybe eat a different macro set up then you usually have or something you would not normally eat even if its not necessarily a cheat,,,

Vitamin boy Im sorry brotha if your the type that can get away with eating mcydees 5 times a day and staying 6-8% bf you should not even be in this thread because your .05% of the population and do not know anything about diet ,, if you not one of those extreme cases then you should really get a few nutrition books and learn basic principles

 

[tr]

off-season i just make sure:

1 - eat 40-50g protein 6-7 times a day
Souces: red meat, chicken, fish, whey, casein)

2 - have complex carbs:

(a) in the morning (50-100g)​

(b) preworkout (50-75g)​

(c) post workout shake (50-100g) (if taking slin, if not skip this)​

(d) post workout meal (50-100g)​

Other meals i just go by feel if I'm feeling flat add carbs (50-75g) or some carbs (25-50g) and some fats (7-14g) with protein if my muscles feels full have just protein or protein with fats (14-22g).
Sources: brown rice, white rice, white potato, dextrose. Also have 1-2 pieces of fruit a day (usually apples).

3 - add at least 1 tbsp olive oil, 1tbsp nut oil, 1/2-1 avocado, 3-5 fish oil caps a day for healthy fats. Also have 1-2 red meat meals a day and all you can eat suhi once a week, but don't eat eggs (my bad) and peanut butter (allergic to it)

Also have 1-2 cheat meals a week where I eat untill I'm sick of food and this past offseason - cereal or cookies with whey or yogurt during the night 3-4 times a week. This helped me a lot in adding new muscle mass and surprisinlgy staying as lean as I was, but I'm total ectomorph, have very very fast metaboslim and train very high volume so if you're lucky one that adds muscle very easy - skip this because you'll add some fat by doing this.