New to this, can you guys sanity check my plan??

[hiboost]

Hello all! This may be a bit long but I'm just excited to have found this forum so I have a lot of questions

I'm 36 and have been vegan for the past year. I have weighed 180lbs +/- 5lbs since I was 18. Doesn't matter if I eat crap fast food or totally healthy, high fat, low fat, omnivore, vegetarian, I pretty much stay the same. Back on Sept 1 I started a round of P90X. I started at 179lbs and after the first week I was at 174 (and I had clearly lost the tiny bit of fat that I had on my stomach, i.e. wasn't entirely water weight). After finishing P90X at the end of on November I was 185lbs and just as lean. I've now done about 5 weeks of weight training (pretty closely following the Starting Strength regimen). I'm really having a hard time gaining any additional weight. The most I've gotten up to was 189 but then the next day I'll be at 186 or something so it doesn't seem like a real gain. I'm 6' 4" so at this height and this weight I think it's safe to say I am an ectomorphic body type. I have limited my workouts to 3 days a week, 1 hour per workout (and cut out all cardio). I am eating as much as I can and taking in between 150-200g of protein a day (I use pea/rice protein powder plus I of course get soy protein in almost every other food I'm consuming). I would really like to be around 205 - 210 lbs. I think, anyway. Never being anywhere near that weight I don't know what it will look like on me.

These pictures are throughout the 90 day P90X program (all taken on non-workout days with no "pump" to try to make them a fair comparison). As you can see, I didn't get any leaner, but I did add a little mass (nothing dramatic, but comparing the first to the last I think you can see it)

PIC
PIC

I'd like to keep that same progression going but times 2 or 3...

I tried posting on bodybuilding.com a while back asking about supplements and got some negative responses. Like " 6'4" and 180lbs, that sounds like vegan bodybuilding LOL! " ... so I am VERY determined to prove the BS stereotypes wrong. Obviously, with my metabolism and my diet it will be challenging, but like anything, there's no point in doing it if it is easy.

So any advice on eating, lifting, anything would be greatly appreciated!

[baldy]

Hey, firstly its possible loads of people on here have bulked up, myself included. Check out the bulkers thread. viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4518

I would not worry about body types and all that nonsense. Protein is also important but not the most important thing. What exactly do you eat everyday?

This is what I need to eat everyday to put on 1kg a week.
8:00: smoothie with 100ml oats + banana + 30g protein
9:30: 100ml oats cooked
11:00 bagel with a soya latte
13:00 left overs for lunch
15:00 30g protein + 30g carbs in shake
18:00 4 slices of bread half can baked beans
21:00 post training 30g protein + 30g carbs in shake
21:30 dinner (often put 30ml of olive oil over my dinner for extra calories.)

Starting strength is a good program so you are on the right track. Best advice would be to start a training log here and log everything you eat and all your training.

[hiboost]

I don't have my diet down to an exact formula, but a typical day would be something like this:

8:30 - kashi cereal w/raisins and a whole banana plus soy milk
10:30 - 50g pea/rice (70/30 ratio) protein, orange juice and 1 tbsp flaxseed oil
12:30 - vegan burger (boca or similar) w/humus on bagel
15:30 - 50g pea/rice protein, frozen strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, orange juice and 1 tbsp flaxseed oil
18:30 - chipotle burrito (again, not every night, just an example) - rice, black beans, guac, salsa, lettuce, grilled veggies
22:30 - 50g pea/rice protein, orange juice and 1 tbsp flaxseed oil
23:00 - 1 - 2 pints of pale ale or stout

To me that feels like a lot of eating, but I know it still isn't _that_ much in terms of calories. I've read stuff that says my weight and body type should be getting at least 4500 cals a day to be gaining, but I know I'm under that. The thing that seems crazy to me is before I started working out I would maybe eat 1500 - 1800 calories a day and I was fine. Didn't feel hungry or anything. So now you'd think that if I have more or less doubled that I'd be gaining like a maniac, but it doesn't seem to be the case. Beyond that, when I was doing P90X I had a lot of cardio, so I figured if I cut that out and kept eating the same (actually a bit more) that I'd gain even faster. But if anything I seem to be slowing down now. Does that imply more of a training issue than a food issue? How many days a week and for how long do you work out?

[baldy]

To me that feels like a lot of eating, but I know it still isn't _that_ much in terms of calories.

You know what to do I would say just add more carbs and have 2 burgers for lunch with some chips.

It all comes down to what your goals are, for me my training is the priority so I need to make sure that my diet is good enough to support it. No point training hard and not giving your body enough fuel to get stronger. Your goals might be different though.

I train 5-6 days a week if I can, because I enjoy it. 3-4 days weight training, 1 martial arts session and maybe some yoga if I am lucky.

Have a look at some peoples training logs, really good inspiration.

[Lordmuppet]

[quote="hiboost"] The most I've gotten up to was 189 but then the next day I'll be at 186 or something so it doesn't seem like a real gain.

I'd suggest against weighing every day. Try weighing once a week instead and at the same time on the same day (so say 7am on Mondays). There will still be some fluctuations due to the amount of water you are holding and such but this minimizes it.

[thestoatyone]

All looks solid. I'd say drop one of the protein smoothies for something with less protein and more calories, and find some junk to snack on during the day (cheep ass cookies, nachos, etc. My fave bulking tool was a 400g bag of bombay mix. A day.)

Other than that; as long as your lifts are going up, you're onto a winner I'd say!