How to get more carbs in my diet?

[bignateyk]

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/bignateyk/diet.jpg

That is pretty much my daily routine diet-wise. Dinner will vary from time to time (sometimes it will be pork and rice or something like that instead of chicken and pasta, but nutrients are fairly close)

From the numbers I gathered, I came up with a few observations:

1) I am getting a bit too much fiber. I can tweak my shakes a little to get that down to 40g/day.

2) I am not getting enough carbs. I would like to effectively double my carb intake to 600-700g / day. Any healthy suggestions on doing so?

3) My protein intake is about what it should be, maybe just slightly too high. I weigh 170lbs (with very low body fat).

4) I would like to increase my calorie intake by about a thousand (adding more carbs should take care of this)


Any suggestions on getting more (unrefined) carbs? I just can't think of any snack-type food that would get me a few hundred more grams/day.

 

[crt1530]

According to your spreadsheet, you are getting 39.5% of your calories from carbohydrates? Why are you wanting to double your carbohydrate intake? Are you looking to acquire diabetes?

Also, unrefined carbohydrates have higher levels of fiber than refined carbs (by definition). I think you should do some more reading/research.

If you're looking to bulk up, a tried and true method is to stick to your normal diet and drink lots of whole milk. Half a gallon of whole milk per day would be 1,192 additional calories.

 

[bignateyk]

Originally posted by: crt1530
According to your spreadsheet, you are getting 39.5% of your calories from carbohydrates? Why are you wanting to double your carbohydrate intake? Are you looking to acquire diabetes?

Also, unrefined carbohydrates have higher levels of fiber than refined carbs (by definition). I think you should do some more reading/research.

If you're looking to bulk up, a tried and true method is to stick to your normal diet and drink lots of whole milk. Half a gallon of whole milk per day would be 1,192 additional calories.

Alot of research has been done that shows a huge increase in performance in high carb,low fat diets (60-70% of daily calories) vs. high fat, low carb diets or "normal" diets. Diabetes really only comes into play if you consume alot of refined carbs.

I'd like to avoid drinking alot of milk if possible (makes my acne worse)

 

[jiggahertz]

sweet potatoes or eat more oats

 

[TecHNooB]

Originally posted by: crt1530
According to your spreadsheet, you are getting 39.5% of your calories from carbohydrates? Why are you wanting to double your carbohydrate intake? Are you looking to acquire diabetes?

Also, unrefined carbohydrates have higher levels of fiber than refined carbs (by definition). I think you should do some more reading/research.

If you're looking to bulk up, a tried and true method is to stick to your normal diet and drink lots of whole milk. Half a gallon of whole milk per day would be 1,192 additional calories.

Whoa, that's news to me.

Anyways, getting extra carbs is easy but why do you want so much carbs? 200 grams should be enough. You're aiming 600-700? Anyone else think this is overkill?

 

[jiggahertz]

Originally posted by: TecHNooB

Originally posted by: crt1530
According to your spreadsheet, you are getting 39.5% of your calories from carbohydrates? Why are you wanting to double your carbohydrate intake? Are you looking to acquire diabetes?

Also, unrefined carbohydrates have higher levels of fiber than refined carbs (by definition). I think you should do some more reading/research.

If you're looking to bulk up, a tried and true method is to stick to your normal diet and drink lots of whole milk. Half a gallon of whole milk per day would be 1,192 additional calories.

Whoa, that's news to me.

Anyways, getting extra carbs is easy but why do you want so much carbs? 200 grams should be enough. You're aiming 600-700? Anyone else think this is overkill?

I wouldn't recommend increasing your caloric intake by 1000 cals overnight. If the OP is bulking and seeing zero weight gain, I would bump up the calories by 500 for a couple weeks until he is gaining at 1-2lbs/wk.

 

[bignateyk]

Originally posted by: jiggahertz

Originally posted by: TecHNooB

Originally posted by: crt1530
According to your spreadsheet, you are getting 39.5% of your calories from carbohydrates? Why are you wanting to double your carbohydrate intake? Are you looking to acquire diabetes?

Also, unrefined carbohydrates have higher levels of fiber than refined carbs (by definition). I think you should do some more reading/research.

If you're looking to bulk up, a tried and true method is to stick to your normal diet and drink lots of whole milk. Half a gallon of whole milk per day would be 1,192 additional calories.

Whoa, that's news to me.

Anyways, getting extra carbs is easy but why do you want so much carbs? 200 grams should be enough. You're aiming 600-700? Anyone else think this is overkill?

I wouldn't recommend increasing your caloric intake by 1000 cals overnight. If the OP is bulking and seeing zero weight gain, I would bump up the calories by 500 for a couple weeks until he is gaining at 1-2lbs/wk.

Yeah I dont plan on doing it overnight. I'm just looking for things I can start throwing in between meals as snacks that are high in carbs. Like a glass of OJ for example would give me around 25-30g (mostly sugar)

 

[TecHNooB]

You should bump snack and dinner back an hour. Add a chicken breast to your snack and 2 chicken breast for lunch and decrease your dinner a bit. Before bed, have an extra protein shake. That should get your total calories to 3500-3600 and bump your protein up to 300, which is what you really need. Ideally, I set up my meals to taper (aka, highest calorie meal earlier in the day, lower calorie meals later in the day). More fat and carbs in the morning than in the evening. Protein throughout the day all day.

 

[bignateyk]

Originally posted by: TecHNooB
You should bump snack and dinner back an hour. Add a chicken breast to your snack and 2 chicken breast for lunch and decrease your dinner a bit. Before bed, have an extra protein shake. That should get your total calories to 3500-3600 and bump your protein up to 300, which is what you really need. Ideally, I set up my meals to taper (aka, highest calorie meal earlier in the day, lower calorie meals later in the day). More fat and carbs in the morning than in the evening. Protein throughout the day all day.

It's tough for me to arrange my meals any differently since I work 8-4:30ish every day. Then I still have to throw in an hour at the gym after that (while trying not to have a full stomach when I get there).

Ideally what i'd like to do is move the "snack" into my work hours, and bump my lunch up an hour, but finding time to eat/prep a second meal at work is a bit of a hassle.

 

[TecHNooB]

Originally posted by: bignateyk

Originally posted by: TecHNooB
You should bump snack and dinner back an hour. Add a chicken breast to your snack and 2 chicken breast for lunch and decrease your dinner a bit. Before bed, have an extra protein shake. That should get your total calories to 3500-3600 and bump your protein up to 300, which is what you really need. Ideally, I set up my meals to taper (aka, highest calorie meal earlier in the day, lower calorie meals later in the day). More fat and carbs in the morning than in the evening. Protein throughout the day all day.

It's tough for me to arrange my meals any differently since I work 8-4:30ish every day. Then I still have to throw in an hour at the gym after that (while trying not to have a full stomach when I get there).

Ideally what i'd like to do is move the "snack" into my work hours, and bump my lunch up an hour, but finding time to eat/prep a second meal at work is a bit of a hassle.

I get what you mean about havin to fit meals in between here. Here are the changes I think you should make. Add more protein to your lunch somehow. Move back dinner from 9pm to 8pm. Have a shake at 10. That outta do it.

 

[TallBill]

I like making a Cyto Max sports drink when I go to the gym. About 200 calories and 40g of carbs right there.

 

[Kniteman77]

Personally, this is just at a glance. But you should have something between your 8am Breakfast and 11:30 Lunch. Add some carbs there. Maybe taking a full meal of carbs and that 4:00 PM protein shake and split each in half. Put one an hour and a half before lunch, one an hour and a half after.

Also, turn that 6:00 PM snack into a full blown meal, maybe by bumping it and the 4:00 PM shake back a little earlier. Probably an hour or so each. As for what specifically to eat, I'm not sure, but to me it looks like the interval is messed up. Or at least it would mess me up.

Of course it all depends on your schedule. That's just what I would do. The gaps between breakfast and lunch and lunch and snack seem too big to me though.

 

[spamsk8r]

Unless you're doing extreme endurance workouts, you don't need any more carbs than that. Seriously. 40% calories from carbs is the perfect spot. If you don't believe me, check out some of the elite CrossFit athletes, all of whom subscribe to the Zone diet ratios (40% carbs, 30% fat, 30% protein). They all maintain incredible performance without consuming a huge majority of carbs. Besides, there's no way to get much more carbs into your diet without using either sugar or processed carbs. Fibrous veggies and fruit don't have enough calories to even make a large dent, and you can only eat so much brown rice and sweet potatoes, IMO.

 

[irishScott]

Originally posted by: bignateyk

Originally posted by: TecHNooB
You should bump snack and dinner back an hour. Add a chicken breast to your snack and 2 chicken breast for lunch and decrease your dinner a bit. Before bed, have an extra protein shake. That should get your total calories to 3500-3600 and bump your protein up to 300, which is what you really need. Ideally, I set up my meals to taper (aka, highest calorie meal earlier in the day, lower calorie meals later in the day). More fat and carbs in the morning than in the evening. Protein throughout the day all day.

It's tough for me to arrange my meals any differently since I work 8-4:30ish every day. Then I still have to throw in an hour at the gym after that (while trying not to have a full stomach when I get there).

Ideally what i'd like to do is move the "snack" into my work hours, and bump my lunch up an hour, but finding time to eat/prep a second meal at work is a bit of a hassle.

If your work has a microwave, go buy the largest potatoes you can find, and bring a metal fork (along with salt and pepper) to poke holes. Baked potato in 10-15 minutes (depending on the microwave's power) ftw! Best thing is, you can set the microwave and come back later, so you don't lose much time.

Its got a good amount of carbs in it too.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: bignateyk

Originally posted by: crt1530
According to your spreadsheet, you are getting 39.5% of your calories from carbohydrates? Why are you wanting to double your carbohydrate intake? Are you looking to acquire diabetes?

Also, unrefined carbohydrates have higher levels of fiber than refined carbs (by definition). I think you should do some more reading/research.

If you're looking to bulk up, a tried and true method is to stick to your normal diet and drink lots of whole milk. Half a gallon of whole milk per day would be 1,192 additional calories.

Alot of research has been done that shows a huge increase in performance in high carb,low fat diets (60-70% of daily calories) vs. high fat, low carb diets or "normal" diets. Diabetes really only comes into play if you consume alot of refined carbs.

I'd like to avoid drinking alot of milk if possible (makes my acne worse)

I'm sorry? Can you please cite a couple of sources for me? I'd love to see that. The only athletes I know that benefit from carbs exclusively are endurance runners. And what kind of increase are you talking about? Can you give me an operational definition? Speed? Agility? Energy?

 

[wildwolf]

I've always enjoyed Krispy Kremes...seriously! They are great...and I'm sure HIGH in calories/carbs.

Although, I confess, they are likely the "bad" ones.

 

[TheNinja]

When I need to bump up carbs I use 2 things:
Oats & Sweet Potatoes

When I want to icrease calories from fat I use:
extra virgin olive oil (1 tablespoon is 120 calories). Toss in 3 tablespoons a day and your up at least 350 calories

 

[bignateyk]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: bignateyk

Originally posted by: crt1530
According to your spreadsheet, you are getting 39.5% of your calories from carbohydrates? Why are you wanting to double your carbohydrate intake? Are you looking to acquire diabetes?

Also, unrefined carbohydrates have higher levels of fiber than refined carbs (by definition). I think you should do some more reading/research.

If you're looking to bulk up, a tried and true method is to stick to your normal diet and drink lots of whole milk. Half a gallon of whole milk per day would be 1,192 additional calories.

Alot of research has been done that shows a huge increase in performance in high carb,low fat diets (60-70% of daily calories) vs. high fat, low carb diets or "normal" diets. Diabetes really only comes into play if you consume alot of refined carbs.

I'd like to avoid drinking alot of milk if possible (makes my acne worse)

I'm sorry? Can you please cite a couple of sources for me? I'd love to see that. The only athletes I know that benefit from carbs exclusively are endurance runners. And what kind of increase are you talking about? Can you give me an operational definition? Speed? Agility? Energy?

Just to cite one: http://www.ais.org.au/nutrition/documents/FactCHO.pdf

I also have two exercise physiology textbooks that echo the same sentiment. Likewise, there has been virtually no proof that high protein (>2x RDA) diets benefit body builders. Consuming more than 2x the RDA will likely provide no benefit, and would be detrimental to the liver and kidneys. As long as an adequate amount of protein is present in the body, carbs are far more important during exercise.

From a recent exercise physiology text:

"Despite the beliefs of many coaches, trainers, and athletes, little benefit accrues from consuming excessive protein. Muscle mass does not increase simply by eating high-protein foods. ... If Lean tissue synthesis resulted from all the extra protein consumed by the typical athlete, then muscle mass would increase tremendously. For example, consuming and extra 100g of protein (400 kCal) daily would translate to 500-g (1.1lb) increase in muscle mass. This obviously does not happen. Excessive dietary protein is catabolized directly for energy following deanimation ... Excessive dietary protein intake above the RDA can trigger harmful side effects, particularly strained liver and kidney function from elimination of urea and other compounds"

 

[skace]

Fruit smoothies are very quick and easy to make and depending on what you throw in them, you can control a lot of elements, how much protein, how many carbs, what the total calorie count is going to be, etc.

 

[skace]

Following a 60% carb guideline does not make your diet "high carb low fat". It makes it standard. I would assume a high carb low fat diet would replace fat intake with carb intake. At which point, it would be stupid (like all high carb, low fat diets). Carbs are not necessarily bad, especially if you aren't looking to lose weight and have high energy requirements.

Excessive protein is not necessarily harmful unless kidney disease exists already. Unused Protein will be converted to sugar and stored the same way a carb would (as glycogen for your muscles or as fat).

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: bignateyk

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: bignateyk

Originally posted by: crt1530
According to your spreadsheet, you are getting 39.5% of your calories from carbohydrates? Why are you wanting to double your carbohydrate intake? Are you looking to acquire diabetes?

Also, unrefined carbohydrates have higher levels of fiber than refined carbs (by definition). I think you should do some more reading/research.

If you're looking to bulk up, a tried and true method is to stick to your normal diet and drink lots of whole milk. Half a gallon of whole milk per day would be 1,192 additional calories.

Alot of research has been done that shows a huge increase in performance in high carb,low fat diets (60-70% of daily calories) vs. high fat, low carb diets or "normal" diets. Diabetes really only comes into play if you consume alot of refined carbs.

I'd like to avoid drinking alot of milk if possible (makes my acne worse)

I'm sorry? Can you please cite a couple of sources for me? I'd love to see that. The only athletes I know that benefit from carbs exclusively are endurance runners. And what kind of increase are you talking about? Can you give me an operational definition? Speed? Agility? Energy?

Just to cite one: http://www.ais.org.au/nutrition/documents/FactCHO.pdf

I also have two exercise physiology textbooks that echo the same sentiment. Likewise, there has been virtually no proof that high protein (>2x RDA) diets benefit body builders. Consuming more than 2x the RDA will likely provide no benefit, and would be detrimental to the liver and kidneys. As long as an adequate amount of protein is present in the body, carbs are far more important during exercise.

From a recent exercise physiology text:

"Despite the beliefs of many coaches, trainers, and athletes, little benefit accrues from consuming excessive protein. Muscle mass does not increase simply by eating high-protein foods. ... If Lean tissue synthesis resulted from all the extra protein consumed by the typical athlete, then muscle mass would increase tremendously. For example, consuming and extra 100g of protein (400 kCal) daily would translate to 500-g (1.1lb) increase in muscle mass. This obviously does not happen. Excessive dietary protein is catabolized directly for energy following deanimation ... Excessive dietary protein intake above the RDA can trigger harmful side effects, particularly strained liver and kidney function from elimination of urea and other compounds"

Ok, so let me ask you: which subset in that PDF are you in? Are you the 60-90 min workout guy? The marathoner? Which? I don't quite like the fact that that article is exactly that. An article. It isn't research stating how each section in Table 1 is effected by the increase in carbohydrates. I don't know if I quite trust that source, to be honest. It doesn't even say how the increased carb intake helps the non-distance running athlete.

Also, that doesn't quite surprise me about the protein, but that still doesn't address the question of carbs. It addresses the question of protein. And it has been proven that protein, if one takes in enough water and doesn't have preexisting kidney or liver conditions, is just like any other source of energy, except that it repairs your muscles.

 

[bignateyk]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: bignateyk

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: bignateyk

Originally posted by: crt1530
According to your spreadsheet, you are getting 39.5% of your calories from carbohydrates? Why are you wanting to double your carbohydrate intake? Are you looking to acquire diabetes?

Also, unrefined carbohydrates have higher levels of fiber than refined carbs (by definition). I think you should do some more reading/research.

If you're looking to bulk up, a tried and true method is to stick to your normal diet and drink lots of whole milk. Half a gallon of whole milk per day would be 1,192 additional calories.

Alot of research has been done that shows a huge increase in performance in high carb,low fat diets (60-70% of daily calories) vs. high fat, low carb diets or "normal" diets. Diabetes really only comes into play if you consume alot of refined carbs.

I'd like to avoid drinking alot of milk if possible (makes my acne worse)

I'm sorry? Can you please cite a couple of sources for me? I'd love to see that. The only athletes I know that benefit from carbs exclusively are endurance runners. And what kind of increase are you talking about? Can you give me an operational definition? Speed? Agility? Energy?

Just to cite one: http://www.ais.org.au/nutrition/documents/FactCHO.pdf

I also have two exercise physiology textbooks that echo the same sentiment. Likewise, there has been virtually no proof that high protein (>2x RDA) diets benefit body builders. Consuming more than 2x the RDA will likely provide no benefit, and would be detrimental to the liver and kidneys. As long as an adequate amount of protein is present in the body, carbs are far more important during exercise.

From a recent exercise physiology text:

"Despite the beliefs of many coaches, trainers, and athletes, little benefit accrues from consuming excessive protein. Muscle mass does not increase simply by eating high-protein foods. ... If Lean tissue synthesis resulted from all the extra protein consumed by the typical athlete, then muscle mass would increase tremendously. For example, consuming and extra 100g of protein (400 kCal) daily would translate to 500-g (1.1lb) increase in muscle mass. This obviously does not happen. Excessive dietary protein is catabolized directly for energy following deanimation ... Excessive dietary protein intake above the RDA can trigger harmful side effects, particularly strained liver and kidney function from elimination of urea and other compounds"

Ok, so let me ask you: which subset in that PDF are you in? Are you the 60-90 min workout guy? The marathoner? Which? I don't quite like the fact that that article is exactly that. An article. It isn't research stating how each section in Table 1 is effected by the increase in carbohydrates. I don't know if I quite trust that source, to be honest. It doesn't even say how the increased carb intake helps the non-distance running athlete.

Also, that doesn't quite surprise me about the protein, but that still doesn't address the question of carbs. It addresses the question of protein. And it has been proven that protein, if one takes in enough water and doesn't have preexisting kidney or liver conditions, is just like any other source of energy, except that it repairs your muscles.

I'd say I average about 2 hours of exercise a day between lifting, boxing, yoga, biking, and running. The article I cited was the first thing I found on google. Like I said though, every exercise physiology text I have read echoes the same sentiment. Just a few pieces of info from one of them:

"Adequate carbohydrate intake helps to preserve tissue protein. Normally, protein serves a vital role in the tissue maintenance, repair, and growth and to a considerably lesser degree as a nutrient energy source. Depletion of glycogen reserves -- readily occurring with starvation, reduced energy or carbohydrate intake, and strenuous exercise -- dramatically affects the metabolic mixture for energy. ... Because muscle glycogen provides energy without oxygen, it contributes the most energy ... During intense aerobic exercise, the advantage of a selective dependence on carbohydrate metabolism lies in its rate of energy transfer, which is twice that of fat and protein. ...

Diet composition profoundly affects glycogen reserves. Individuals who train intensely should consume between 60 and 70% of daily calories as carbohydrates, predominantly in unrefined, complex form ... "

I could go on and type the results of experiments on high carb - (relatively) low fat diets vs normal diets vs. high fat low carb diets, etc..., but I think you get the jist.

 

[scootermaster]

Am I the only one who's noticed the 130+ grams of fat? I feel bad when I eat half that. And I'm 6'4", 210.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: scootermaster
Am I the only one who's noticed the 130+ grams of fat? I feel bad when I eat half that. And I'm 6'4", 210.

I usually take in about 100g of fat while taking in 3000 calories. Fat isn't necessarily a bad thing, as long as you keep it ~30% of your caloric intake, and as long as you're taking in good fats.

Thanks for the citations, bignateyk, I was just wondering HOW the carbs exactly helped. You're a busy person and I can see why those carbs would help you keep your energy level up. Just be careful if you ever start to slow down You don't want those carbs to make you a fatty. GL.

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: bignateyk
"Adequate carbohydrate intake helps to preserve tissue protein. Normally, protein serves a vital role in the tissue maintenance, repair, and growth and to a considerably lesser degree as a nutrient energy source. Depletion of glycogen reserves -- readily occurring with starvation, reduced energy or carbohydrate intake, and strenuous exercise -- dramatically affects the metabolic mixture for energy. ... Because muscle glycogen provides energy without oxygen, it contributes the most energy ... During intense aerobic exercise, the advantage of a selective dependence on carbohydrate metabolism lies in its rate of energy transfer, which is twice that of fat and protein. ...

It should be noted that, for people trying to lose weight, this is exactly what they want to happen. In fact people who do 45 minutes of cardio in an attempt to lose weight are basically trying to exhaust their glycogen reserves and force their body to burn directly from fat stores. Just thought I'd mention, for people reading, since your concern does not seem to be weightloss.

Also, notice the article talks about glycogen. Protein can become glycogen. 2 requirements have to be met: the protein has to remain unused and the body has to have depleted glycogen stores. And yes, carbs are the more efficient source, but their only benefit is as energy, unlike protein and fat. As long as you are getting enough of each, that really does not matter though.