Menus for calorie surplus

Kemik · 13 Sep 2020 at 11:22

Hey,

Does anyone have any recommendations for menu cards for a week with the aim of gaining weight instead of shedding it? I do a lot of Touch Rugby and have started back at the gym for weight training which means I am burning a lot of calories. If I want to build muscle I know I need to create a surplus rather than the (probably) deficit I am experiencing while working from home.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner is relatively okay (e.g. 250g of beef mince in my chilli instead of my usual portion of 167g, and repeat the same meal for lunch the next day) but I'm struggling to think of snacks between meals which aren't simply protein bars or protein shakes. Ideally looking for examples of menus with variety for a week. There seem to be loads for loosing weight.

The only nutritional content I'm trying to minimise is sugar. Nuts also seem to disagree with me.

Thanks

mrthingyx · 13 Sep 2020 at 16:13

Eggs, milkshakes, peanut butter (assuming it is just juts rather than the butter form)...

Whilst it isn't a menu per se, if you're looking to make gains, the easiest way is just to eat. A lot. Of pretty much everything.

Muscle growth doesn't JUST require protein, but needs fat and carbs...

glenimp617 · 13 Sep 2020 at 16:57

When I was bulking it was pretty boring, but it did the trick. Think my diet went something like:

Oats/Milk/Protein powder
Eggs
Pasta/Chicken/Couscous/Veg
Eggs
Protein shake
Pasta/Chicken/Couscous/Veg
quark
almond nuts

3,300 calories

Gained a lot of muscle, with only a little extra fat

Obviously you switch the chicken for fish one day, or something else. I made a a spreadsheet with it all on.

tom_nieto · 7 Oct 2020 at 14:17

Nuts are an amazing calorie dense snack.

ic1male · 7 Oct 2020 at 22:41

Can I ask a question? Why do people building muscle have protein powders like whey instead of eating more chicken/beef/pork? Is it just simply a cheaper way to increase protein intake?

mrthingyx · 7 Oct 2020 at 22:46

ic1male said:
Can I ask a question? Why do people building muscle have protein powders like whey instead of eating more chicken/beef/pork? Is it just simply a cheaper way to increase protein intake?

Yup.

glenimp617 · 8 Oct 2020 at 14:23

ic1male said:
Can I ask a question? Why do people building muscle have protein powders like whey instead of eating more chicken/beef/pork? Is it just simply a cheaper way to increase protein intake?

Not many people like eating 4 chicken breasts a day

DanTheMan · 8 Oct 2020 at 21:18

Nut butter and oily fish for me. Eggs are also good; not hugely calorific but if you eat 8 a day it quickly adds up.

Somnambulist · 8 Oct 2020 at 21:37

You only need a slight surplus since the rate at which you can grow new tissue is fixed, so bigger surplus does not equal lean gains (just extra fat gains). Depending on how advanced you are in terms of muscle-mass already look for something like 1-2% bw gain p/month (if beginner), 0.5-1% p/month if more intermediate.

I'd say liquid calories IF you're fed up of eating food, but if you just want more snacks stuff... if you're getting plenty of nutrients from your main meals and it's whole/minimally processed stuff, it will make zero difference to your health eating calorie-dense processed stuff (excluding stuff made with trans fats, avoid that) in order to boost calories. You'd be amazed what the diets of some elite athletes are, but when you actively have to avoid losing weight because you train daily and for long periods, there's only so much 'healthy' food one can eat.