Eating clean V.S. eating for calories to bulk?

[Toothlessjoe]

Wasn't sure where else to post this.

Recently I've been involved in a discussion where a lot of people think that eating clean just isn't needed if you're bulking and that you just need calories and you don't have to avoid excess amounts of fat, carbs etc. While there's some truth to that I was trying to extol the values of having a healthy diet to which they then said isn't needed either if you're bulking and performing that amount of exercise and such.

I was wondering if you guys had any experience or useful articles that I could share with these people/clear this debate up for me because I'm starting to doubt my own knowledge on this subject.

I was always under the impression that Burger King alone will not be a good approach if you wanted to bulk.

 

[spiderguardman]

it depends how much effort youre willing to put into it,

if you have the economi to eat good grade beef in huge amounts then go for it.

but it

 

[Urban]

I've been bulking and in the beginning I ate pretty clean. The trick was quantity and carbs. Eveyr day I ate:

2 lbs of meat (beef, chicken, lamb, duck, fish, whatver. eat 2 lbs of animal)
1lb of cruciferous veggies
1/4 lb mixed berries
1/4lb mixed fruit
1/2 lb frozen spinach/hearty greens
32+ oz milk

and I didn't find I was gaining like I should have been. the key for me was oats. Adding a cup and a half of oats into my diet really seemed to get the ball rolling. Now, I just sort of eat whatever's in front of me (hell if my relief comes in late enough I stop and pick up a pair of mcgriddles), but when I was stricter and doing things properly (and it was working) that's what my diet looked like.

When you're bulking though, I don't think you can be too picky.

edit: I forgot what may be the most important part: about 1000 calories in mixed nuts.

 

[Toothlessjoe]

Thanks Urban. I didn't really mean totally clean, just a decent diet. I noted down eating things like: chicken, beef, fish, wholegrains, veggies, fruits, nuts, milk,wholewheat pasta as the things to eat and to avoid things like: salty cold cuts, ready meals, fatty sauces and such.

I was then told that that was total crap and it basically doesn't matter what you eat so long as you maintain caloric excess, it won't harm you. I've heard that a lot and it makes me wonder the benefits of eating cleanly if you're putting out such hugh performance and effort in the gym.

 

[Monger]

Once you cover your nutritional bases, where you get the rest of your energy from isn't going to matter that much for bulking. A lot depends on how large you are and how active you are. If your caloric requirements are extremely high, it gets tough trying to eat that many "clean" foods because what's considered clean by most also tends to be high volume/low calorie foods. That makes it tough sometimes to eat enough.

There's also the misconception that people can just eat like complete shit when bulking and the more food the better. That's also untrue. Although, I suppose if you eat enough shit you'll cover most nutritional bases by default, the calories that come along with that will usually make some one fat as hell.

Just be smart about it. Make sure you meet your protein requirements. Eat lots of fruits and veggies to cover fiber, micronutrients, and phytonutrients. Get your EFA's. After that, you

 

[Gary Peters]

I'm "bulking" at the moment and the key for me is whole milk. I eat alot of raw veggies, fruits, yams and meat without sugary sauces and stuff.

Just by adding 2 cups of milk to a meal is another 300 calories. I've been consuming about 900-1200 calories in milk per day. Some people go beyond that even.

 

[JohnnyBuddha]

Damn, this place is great sometimes. Thanks for the discussion so far. I'm trying to bulk a bit too and can use all the help I can get. It seems I'm still not eating enough though.

 

[oyaji poi]

Ya, Honra beat me to it. When I want to gain weight without measuring out calories and everything I found the simplest solution is to drink 500ml of milk each day, whole milk that is. If I notice excess fat gain that I don't like I switch the milk out for more water. The easiest time is with a protein shake. It works out to a few hundred calories plus or minus that can easily be added or subtracted whenever without having to make any changes to the rest of the clean profile.

It's cheap too, compared to buying chips and shit.

 

[ElDestructo]

I've also been bulking for the past 5 weeks and I feel that i'm doing pretty well with it...i've consistently gained about 1-1.5lbs a week. I try to eat clean, making sure that I eat a lot of chicken, fish, beef, etc. I also drink a lot of milk.
However, one thing i've found is that i'm getting a little bit of a gut. Is this due to not eating clean enough? Or am I just eating too many calories in general?

 

[IDRISCKY]

We can't know if you aren't eating clean if you don't post your actual diet. I'd assume you are eating too much though.

 

[Brampton_Boy]

I have been involved in many debates over this subject.

I am tempted to say a "Calorie is just a Calorie" and as long as you hit your macros, your good to go. However, anecdotally speaking, my body composition is directly affected by the types of foods that I eat.

I find this to be the case with carbs in particular.

But man oh man, life would be easier if I could eat junk food to satisfy my calorie requirements when bulking.

 

[Gold182]

Ive been bulking and ive found that whole milk was also the key. I kept my diet pretty clean, alot fruit/veg/meat. They key ive found though is to only be around 500 calories a day above maintanence to minimise the fat gain.

 

[Rowan11088]

One more big reason no one's mentioned to eat clean is to start forming the habit. Eventually you're gonna get "hyooge" and stop bulking, and it'll be hard as hell to transition if you're used to eating crap all day.

 

[Urban]

Damn, this place is great sometimes. Thanks for the discussion so far. I'm trying to bulk a bit too and can use all the help I can get. It seems I'm still not eating enough though.

try my diet.

 

[Rowan11088]

I thought this might be relevant:

People Like Food | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

 

[romistrub]

Basically, my game plan is to have a "base" of around 1500-2000 very clean, high quality calories every day (I'm losing weight). On top of that sits my variable-dependent intakes. I have peri-workout food of about 300 cals, and pre-bed protein that varies from 0 to 360 cals depending on my recovery needs. I haven't been doing it long enough (only a couple days) to give you any information on results, but the principals are sound.

I would suggest you do something similar (1500-2000 "clean calorie" base) and add stuff as necessary. Like cheeseburgers. And cheeseburger pizzas. And deepfried cheeseburger pizza milkshakes.

G'luck!

 

[Urban]

I've never had success counting calories, or eating x many meals a day. The only thing that has worked for me is pre-cooking my food for the week/semi-week, portioning it out for the day and knowing "I have to eat THIS much food today. whether I do it all at once, as I come across it, or leave it until before bed, I'm eating this food." That has worked for me.

 

[Stormbringer]

I've never 'bulked' in my life, and have been almost 100% nutritionally ignorant until around a year or so ago when I started reading this forum. I'm still not a bulk n' cut kind of person though, and am a 'maintain and slowly gain' person. However, I've been around people throughout my time in high school and college and their 'bulking' was basically just eating everything in sight all the time.

I don't know the specifics, but I can tell you that it was wwaaayyyy more than 500 calories over maintenance though. Is that really all you 'need' when bulking? And if so....that's really not hard at all to get with 'clean' food. Hell, that's just a whey shake and some chicken breast.