The Eating Plan: Phase One—Bulk Up

For many skinny guys this is the most difficult part both physically and mentally. You are going to have to eat a lot more than you are used to eating. It may be uncomfortable to do this at first. You will have to eat a meal every 2 to 4 hours in order to consume 5 to 6 sizeable meals per day. Keep in mind that to create change there is always some level of discomfort. To be comfortable is to stay the same.

The mental discomfort comes from the fact that you will need to gain some extra fat during this phase. It is not only likely, it is actually necessary. You see, your body can use both muscle and fat for energy when no food is readily available to burn as fuel. Fat is your long term fuel storage and muscle is used for more short term storage. Your body will resist storing muscle if there is not an adequate supply of fat on the body.

Often a skinny guy will begin a weight gain program, find that he is developing a little bit of a gut and revert back to the “better skinny than fat” mentality and quit his program or at least cut back so much on food that no gains are made. Don’t let this happen to you. Be prepared for this and determine to keep moving forward. This extra fat will be easy to remove once you have built up enough muscle. Bodybuilders do this all the time, they are not “competition ready” all year long. Buy some baggy shirts and realize that it will all be worth it in the end.

Use the following food lists as a guide to planning your meals. Each meal will consist of protein and a carbohydrate. You should plan on having two servings of either flax seed oil, olive oil or nuts (watch the serving size) per day. The oils may be used in your salad or the olive oil in preparing your food if desired, but everything should be broiled, grilled, baked or boiled to minimize the fat content. Be sure to include at least 3 serving of vegetables per day as well.The serving size will depend on your specific calorie needs, but a basic guideline is given.

Proteins
Chicken breast 3 to 6 ounces
Turkey breast 3 to 6 ounces
Lean ground turkey 3 to 6 ounces
Turkey bacon or Sausage
Lean ground beef 3 to 6 ounces
Lean sirloin or NY Strip 3 to 6 ounces (one steak can be spread over two meals)
Salmon 3 to 6 ounces (although this has more fat, it is good fat and should be eaten a couple of times per week)
Canned tuna 12 ounces (2 cans)
Egg whites 1 dozen
Fat-free cottage cheese 1 to 1 ½ cups
Lean white fish 6 to 12 ounces
Whey Protein Powder 1 or 2 scoops depending on brand

Carbohydrates
Pasta 2 to 4 cups cooked (one of your best sources, great for energy and weight gain)
Brown Rice 1 cup
White Rice 1 cup
Whole Grain Bread 2 – 4 slices (depends on the type of bread and your calorie needs)
Bagel 1 whole
English Muffins 1 or 2 depending on size and calorie requirements
Potato (baked, boiled or mashed with skim milk)
Sweet Potato 1 whole
Squash 2 cups
Fruit—any type (bananas and oranges are particularly good for weight gain) one or two pieces
Oatmeal (always a staple in any bodybuilder’s diet) ¾ to 1 cup (uncooked measurement)
Air-popped popcorn 3 – 6 cups can use butter flavored cooking spray sparingly
Legumes 1cup
Corn 2 cups
Cornmeal 1/3 cup
Grits or Hominy 2 cups
Any whole grains including spelt, barley, buckwheat, rye, etc.
Honey (an excellent choice for sweetening and adding extra calories—opt for raw if available) 1 to 2 tbsp.

Remember that your calorie intake depends on your weight, but most hardgainers need to take in between 2500 and 3500 calories per day which means 400 to 700 calories per meal. Let’s go with the average skinny guy as an example. If he weighs 165 pounds he would go with the 2500 calories a day.

Let’s say he decides that 5 meals a day is best for his lifestyle. He would then be eating 5 meals of 500 calories each day so with a 40/50/10 ratio he would want each meal to have 50 grams of protein, about 63 grams of carbohydrate and just less than 6 grams of fat.
The sample one week menu in the following posts would meet these requirements, but feel free to use whatever you have on hand, as long as you have the appropriate amounts of protein, carbs, fat and calories with each meal.