[ChezzaC]

I have been training for approx 3 years and have been increasing calories gradually to gain muscle. I'm naturally skinny and have high metabolism. I am currently up to 3300 calories and not gaining weight yet. I'm a bit confused at when enough protein is enough. I'm currently having 190g per day 380 carbs and 115 fat. Not sure now what to increase as I feel protein increase is not necessary. Articles are so contradictory and I'm off the scale with any weight gain calculator!

 

[G-man99]

What weight are you?

I'm about 90kg (14st 5lb) and take 250g pro daily. Saying that I never go above or below whether cutting or bulking and them figures are total guesstimates from previous experience.

Add in more carbs if your still not gaining or even something like a bagel with peanut butter on as an easy but fairly high calorie snack

 

[Ultrasonic]

I have been training for approx 3 years and have been increasing calories gradually to gain muscle. I'm naturally skinny and have high metabolism. I am currently up to 3300 calories and not gaining weight yet. I'm a bit confused at when enough protein is enough. I'm currently having 190g per day 380 carbs and 115 fat. Not sure now what to increase as I feel protein increase is not necessary. Articles are so contradictory and I'm off the scale with any weight gain calculator!

1g of protein per lb of body weight is a perfectly decent rule of thumb. This is around the upper limit of what is likely to be functionally useful. A bit more isn't any problem, but loads more so that it restricted carb or fat increas could be.

If you're not (slowly) gaining weight then increase total calories via carbs and fat.

Weight gain calculators are VERY approximate so don't stress about what they say.

Are you currently making progress with your weight training?

 

[Ultrasonic]

I'm about 90kg (14st 5lb) and take 250mg pro daily.

I hope that's actually grams, not milligrams .

 

[G-man99]

I hope that's actually grams, not milligrams .

Yeah it possibly could be

 

[ChezzaC]

1g of protein per lb of body weight is a perfectly decent rule of thumb. This is around the upper limit of what is likely to be functionally useful. A bit more isn't any problem, but loads more so that it restricted carb or fat increas could be.

If you're not (slowly) gaining weight then increase total calories via carbs and fat.

Weight gain calculators are VERY approximate so don't stress about what they say.

Are you currently making progress with your weight training?

Thanks both for reply to posts. Sorry for delay, I am new to site and having content approved before I can reply. I am making slow but sure progress with weights, I am increasing weight slowly too. I started at 8 stone and at 2 years in I was 9 stone 4 but over last 12 months I have gained 3 pounds, despite increasing calories month on month. I am not so concerned about that as I just need to eat more and I will eventually grow but given I now consume shed loads of food (for a 5ft 2inch , 48 year old woman) I was interested in how I can manipulate macros around that. Thanks for answer - which shows I am eating more than enough protein. I do find it hard to eat so much volume and have taken to home made 'super shakes' with very high macros to reach daily counts. Any tips on eating more than you want without resorting to rubbish food?

 

[Ultrasonic]

Don't be afraid to eat some 'rubbish food'. If your base diet is healthy, including plenty of vegetables and fruit, then you reach a point you just need to provide your body with more fuel (calories) and so these may as well come from foods you enjoy. I typically have some form of cake most days for example, and I usually have pizza for dinner on Fridays.

 

[Mingster]

I usually have pizza for dinner on Fridays

I love the precision in this.

 

[swole troll]

After much playing with this over many years of training natural and enhanced and from what I've seen in others and written by coaches

I now aim for 200g of protein per day whilst in a surplus and eat as many carbs as I possibly can as carbs are protein sparing and the body's preferred energy source as we all know

When cutting I go 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight as carbs will be lower and of course I'll be in a deficit

Carbs are the macro for growing

Carbs are the macro you should be using to build your surplus

200g protein and 500g carbs over 350 350 any day

 

[ChezzaC]

After much playing with this over many years of training natural and enhanced and from what I've seen in others and written by coaches

I now aim for 200g of protein per day whilst in a surplus and eat as many carbs as I possibly can as carbs are protein sparing and the body's preferred energy source as we all know

When cutting I go 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight as carbs will be lower and of course I'll be in a deficit

Carbs are the macro for growing

Carbs are the macro you should be using to build your surplus

200g protein and 500g carbs over 350 350 any day

Thank you for that. I will definitely bear that in mind ?

 

[swole troll]

I will definitely bear that in mind ?

Yes

 

[Ultrasonic]

Quick question: are you currently doing much cardio? As you say you're eating a fair amount for your size and gender so just thought I'd check you aren't burning a lot of calories somewhat unecessarily by doing loads of cardio.

 

[ChezzaC]

Quick question: are you currently doing much cardio? As you say you're eating a fair amount for your size and gender so just thought I'd check you aren't burning a lot of calories somewhat unecessarily by doing loads of cardio.

No cardio but I walk to work after training which is just under 2 miles each way, I train 5 or 6 days a week so I guess I will burn energy that way . I keep my training to an hour and lift heavy rather than high reps. Yeah gone up to 3500 this week as haven't gained anything for a few weeks. I'm sure it will edge up eventually. Thanks for thought

 

[Ultrasonic]

No cardio but I walk to work after training which is just under 2 miles each way, I train 5 or 6 days a week so I guess I will burn energy that way . I keep my training to an hour and lift heavy rather than high reps. Yeah gone up to 3500 this week as haven't gained anything for a few weeks. I'm sure it will edge up eventually. Thanks for thought

I typically increase calories in 50 kcal increments which surprisingly can be enough to get weight gain going again. I would therefore reduce your calories to at most 3400 kcal.

This varies between individuals but to some extent the body adapts to higher calories which is partly why they generally have to increase over time. A period of eating lower calories to lose body fat can reset this.