Re-doing SS with GOMAD -some questions.

[imak179]

Im 21, 5'11 and 160lbs.
In February, I started SS and did it till mid-may. Although my lifts did go up, I ended up stalling pretty early. Squat was at 200lbs with extreme difficulty. I also gained some weight (145lb to 170lbs) but lost some of it due to wisdom teeth extraction and general summer laziness. I read the book for the first time over the summer, and I know what I did wrong. I didn't eat. I was getting 2800-3200 calories daily, which I now realize is nowhere near enough for this program. So I'm redoing it, starting with very low weights, and working my way up again. This time, with a proper diet.
Some questions
1- About how many calories should I be getting? A gallon of milk is about 2500, plus 3-4 meals should put me at around 4000-4500. Obviously I will need to slowly get my stomach used to eating so much, but when should I stop? I've heard someone say the more the better, but I'm sure there's an upper limit after which you're not doing much good.
2- Do I need to worry about being healthy? I'm not talking about eating mcdonalds (i hate that shit), but can I get away with nutella and burritos?
3- Is there anything else I should know concerning nutrition?

[tzanghi]

Im 21, 5'11 and 160lbs.
In February, I started SS and did it till mid-may. Although my lifts did go up, I ended up stalling pretty early. Squat was at 200lbs with extreme difficulty. I also gained some weight (145lb to 170lbs) but lost some of it due to wisdom teeth extraction and general summer laziness. I read the book for the first time over the summer, and I know what I did wrong. I didn't eat. I was getting 2800-3200 calories daily, which I now realize is nowhere near enough for this program. So I'm redoing it, starting with very low weights, and working my way up again. This time, with a proper diet.
Some questions
1- About how many calories should I be getting? A gallon of milk is about 2500, plus 3-4 meals should put me at around 4000-4500. Obviously I will need to slowly get my stomach used to eating so much, but when should I stop? I've heard someone say the more the better, but I'm sure there's an upper limit after which you're not doing much good.
2- Do I need to worry about being healthy? I'm not talking about eating mcdonalds (i hate that shit), but can I get away with nutella and burritos?
3- Is there anything else I should know concerning nutrition?

Nutrition-wise, I would just worry about getting enough protein and calories. You don't need to be very healthy to get strong. I wouldn't suggest eating nutella all the time, as it's not very good for you and can make you gain some fat. Burritos, I don't see a problem with really. Also, you don't need to do GOMAD if you can get your calories and protein from other sources(e.g., bacon).

As far as how many calories you need, I think everyone should experiment on themselves. This means try to eat around 3500 to start and then when you stall, reset a little and up the calories to 4000. Once you stall there, do the same.

I started around the same place as you(22, 6', 160), and I started making my gains by adding an extra meal after my normal meals. If you want to, give this a shot.

[imak179]

Nutrition-wise, I would just worry about getting enough protein and calories. You don't need to be very healthy to get strong. I wouldn't suggest eating nutella all the time, as it's not very good for you and can make you gain some fat. Burritos, I don't see a problem with really. Also, you don't need to do GOMAD if you can get your calories and protein from other sources(e.g., bacon).

As far as how many calories you need, I think everyone should experiment on themselves. This means try to eat around 3500 to start and then when you stall, reset a little and up the calories to 4000. Once you stall there, do the same.

I started around the same place as you(22, 6', 160), and I started making my gains by adding an extra meal after my normal meals. If you want to, give this a shot.

I'm naturally not much of an eater, so getting the calories I need through just food would be tough. What about using a mass gainer instead of milk? Or maybe 50-50? Does it matter where the calories come from or is the number of calories the bottom line?

[MikeC1]

You need enough of the calories from protein. For example. Suppose you decide that you're going to get all of your calories each day by drinking a bottle of olive oil. That will get you roughly your 4000 calories (assuming it is all absorbed, which I'm not sure of), which is wonderful. But that won't help you with your lifting.

[imak179]

You need enough of the calories from protein. For example. Suppose you decide that you're going to get all of your calories each day by drinking a bottle of olive oil. That will get you roughly your 4000 calories (assuming it is all absorbed, which I'm not sure of), which is wonderful. But that won't help you with your lifting.

So lets say about 150-200grams of protein and 3500 to 4000 calories total. Would that suffice?

[tzanghi]

I'm naturally not much of an eater, so getting the calories I need through just food would be tough. What about using a mass gainer instead of milk? Or maybe 50-50? Does it matter where the calories come from or is the number of calories the bottom line?

Mass gainer is such a waste of money. Do the milk before mass gainer. Hell, eat a bunch of cookies before eating mass gainer. I come from a love-all-food background, so help me try to understand. Are there not foods that you really like? Like say bacon? Like I said, I started out adding an extra meal at the end of the night of foods I like w/ protein(e.g., cereal with protein powder, meatballs, pierogies). I think your options in order of best to worst are More Food>Milk>Candy/Nutella>Mass Gainer.

If you need help with ideas of calorie-dense foods, run a search, as there are many topics on this board and others.

So lets say about 150-200grams of protein and 3500 to 4000 calories total. Would that suffice?

I wouldn't go under 190 grams. The last think you want to do when gaining weight is to give your body enough calories to grow, but not enough material to build lean body mass.

[imak179]

Mass gainer is such a waste of money. Do the milk before mass gainer. Hell, eat a bunch of cookies before eating mass gainer. I come from a love-all-food background, so help me try to understand. Are there not foods that you really like? Like say bacon? Like I said, I started out adding an extra meal at the end of the night of foods I like w/ protein(e.g., cereal with protein powder, meatballs, pierogies). I think your options in order of best to worst are More Food>Milk>Candy/Nutella>Mass Gainer.

If you need help with ideas of calorie-dense foods, run a search, as there are many topics on this board and others.




I wouldn't go under 190 grams. The last think you want to do when gaining weight is to give your body enough calories to grow, but not enough material to build lean body mass.

190 grams should be no problem on GOMAD. The gallon has 130ish grams of protein. That added to my daily diet should be more than enough. Worst case scenario I can add some protein powder to one of the glasses of milk.
many
Like I said, I'm not really much of an eater. I love food, and when I'm hungry, I can eat. However, the quantity of food is less than average I would say. I've been like that since I was a kid, and my mom would literally force me to eat so I don't starve. Also, my favorite foods are not dense in calories. At least not as dense as they would need to be if I wanna get 4000 calories in a day. GOMAD would be easier to reach that goal. Or maybe 3/4 of a gallon and an extra burger or something.

I guess my real question is, would I see better results from getting the bulk of my calories from milk rather than real solid food?

[tzanghi]

I guess my real question is, would I see better results from getting the bulk of my calories from milk rather than real solid food?

I don't think so. The difference will be negligible.