Ain’t nothing worse than gaining 50 pounds only to find out that it was the wrong kind
And there ain’t no store you can go to return it at either
Even though there are endless places in which you can buy endless calories
And when most food contains disturbing levels of poisons and toxins,
What is one to do when they want to gain a little bit of mass?
Without getting fat or gaining some kind of strange cancer or disorder?
Well, the truth is this game is rigged, but it can be won
The key to bulking without gaining too much fat, however
Is gonna come down to a little bit of discipline
And a little bit of awareness
As to what’s in all this food,
And on what kind of hunger is the right kind of hunger
Signaling
When eating out it’s important to remember that most food is processed in a way to enhance storage and flavor
If this doesn’t result in thousands of extra calories,
it results in at least thousands of extra milligrams of random seasonings
Which will fuck up your hunger signals
Also the most amazing dishes,
combine carbs and fats together to trick you into eating more than you actually need
Therefore,
the first suggestion when bulking and eating out is to eat bigger meals less frequently
And to make sure there are some kind of movement or activity in between meals
that turns on and off of your bodies metabolic engine
By just cutting the shit and eating a lot at once,
You’ll limit the excess from the extra meals
And at least give your body a small bit of time to sort out all the shit you just gave it
Also, because this is the most convenient and financially effective approach
Instead of trying to DoorDash every three hours
Or carrying around all kinds of Tupperware
Sourcing
Now, the other main thing to be aware of is that most restaurants play dirty tricks to save money and to addict their customers to their food
And that is by fucking up the ratios of the actual nutrients
Now let me be clear
that this only applies to the cheaper places that are trying to cut dietary corners
And diet shit is always buyer beware. because you can’t return a stomach ache.
So if you can, it’s almost always best to order as much protein as you can
And if it’s a good restaurant,
then it’s actually a major plus because they’re probably gonna make it better than you could have lol
And it is hard to manipulate a steak too far off of its baseline
The Worst you’re gonna do is add a little sugar and fat while dressing it up
But if you’re eating the chicken Alfredo for its protein content,
then just stop and enjoy the carbs
cause you’re gonna need to order a side chicken breast for that to count
If you know you’re about to lift,
then you can get away with pastas
But pastas are by far the most dangerous
And just about every big guy has a story about how shit got out of hand at Olive Garden
Satiety
The ultimate goal, however, is to be able to eat what you want when you want
And in order to do that, your body needs to understand what’s satiety is
This is when you intuitively know you have satisfied your energy requirements
This is the secret power because you can go anywhere and start eating and know if you’re actually full or not
And not be hijacked by hunger cravings
So you can just simply stop eating
And even the most active people rarely need more than three -1000 cal meals a day
Unless they’re midseason or something
AnyWho
This takes some time for your body to actually understand,
considering how most things that it eats- is lying to it
And once you can listen and trust your hunger,
and you stop force feeding calories based off some flawed math,
you will limit your body fat
So in closing the biggest point to remember is-
Calorie counting will make you crazy, sad, or fat if you’re not careful
lol, sorry
Kidding, not kidding
It’s to be aware of the games restaurants play
And if you’re going out to manage your energy and expectations appropriately
Good read, marginally insightful
Kind of funny, kind of a hot take
LAST EDITED:12-21-25
SAFE BULKING
Food is natural and nutritious
Food will always give you a more truthful satiety signal
Fuel usually digest quickly and results in a surge of energy
Fueling signals are often delayed, which results in over eating
You won’t have to count calories if you just eat natural foods
Don’t be afraid to salt your food as long as it didn’t come out of a box or a bag first
The sodium in processed fuel is different than the salt you add to your food (technically not really, but I think you understand what I mean)
Anything out of a box or a bag has been altered to convince you to eat it
Process carbs usually digest in about an hour
Processed fats usually in about three
Most calories in chocolate come from fat, not sugar
Natural foods are defined by anything that once upon a time grew
Or something that would go bad if you left it out without storing or processing it
Or if something else wouldn’t eat it within 12 hours then you shouldn’t either
Fuel is highly concentrated and palpable
Eating Time and place determines what goes where and who does what
It’s better to view processed carbs as a controlled substance
Too much fuel will mess with your head
You can become adapted to where you can burn high amounts of fuel off quickly before it turns to fat
(hi metabolism)
You will adapt to high amounts of nutritious foods faster than you will do high amounts of calorie dense fuel
Processed fuel will degrade your gut and micro biome
Which will impact all kinds of metabolic functions and emotional signals
Just about everything out of a box or a bag, count as fuel
Processed protein is not the same as animal protein
Plant protein counts as processed protein and is therefore a poor fuel
Almost all process fuel comes from vegetable or fruit source
The mass production of highly processed fuel is one of the biggest threats to our climate
You’ll store less fat in a nutritious calorie surplus than a dirty one
Sustainable agriculture and hunting are the most promising pathways forward
One large animal can feed a family for a long time
Fuel is not bad
Just mostly unnecessary unless you are highly active
The right fuel can pretty much guarantee a personal best if used at the right time in place
The right food can pretty much guarantee optimal health if used consistently
Think 8020 rule
If all of what you eat is coming out of a box
Then change your diet before you start taking any medication’s
Almost all doctors don’t even understand the difference between fuel and food
Just look at hospital food
The idea of a cheat meal is kind of conflicting
It’s really just talking about an inappropriately timed high fuel meal for the purpose of pleasure
But if you’re playing the game right, you should be able to eat high fuel foods, strategically, and get a performance benefit
Eating too much fuel when you’re supposed to be resting will lead to restlessness or high body fat
Restlessness is often disguised as uninformed anxiety
Natural food helps with emotional health by giving your body the nutrients that needs to rebuild and eliminating extra fuel so it doesn’t feel the pressure to burn
It is a myth that healthy food is more expensive than fuel
But you need to consider the opportunity cause of eating nothing but fuel in the long-term and the health bills that will come with that
Everybody everywhere was moving a lot more than we are now on a daily basis so remember that when you think about DNA memory and signaling
Stress is the most important vitamin to growth (in moderation)
Stress is the most dangerous threat to the heart and mind (in excess)
Stress is a imbalance of energy and optimism
Most processed fuel is wasted or overly consumed
Natural foods have a tendency to self regulate
Wild game is better than beef
Beef is better than poultry
Poultry is better than pork
Pork is better than most seafood
(excluding specialty wild sourced)
Almost all Seafood is better than plant protein
I say a lot
If we need vegetables to stay alive, then we would all be dead by now
I have seen too many people on mac & cheese and energy drinks to not believe in miracles
Alcohol is like a double fuel
It gives you physical energy while lifting emotional limitations
It takes at least three days to begin to feel a truthful dietary adjustment
It takes at least three weeks to begin to see an truthful aesthetic change (excluding the use of drugs)
I don’t care what the label says about how it was sourced or prepared
If it requires a label, then it was processed
(Excluding the packaging on raw meats)
We life in an endurance athletes heaven (calorie option wise)
Muscle helps soak up extra fuel (cheat meals)
To be fair, even raw meats are processed to some degree
Just nowhere near as much as fruits and veggies
Your body can much more easily adjust its digestion based needs (on a Whole Foods diet)
It’s difficult to regulate a high fuel diet
Unfortunately, almost all snacks count as fuel
*opens popcorn
The perfect diet is the one that you enjoy eating while you enjoy receiving the benefits
Costco is probably the best place to get fuel
Hunting would be the best place to get food, but that’s not the most reasonable for most people
So if you find a good butcher
Or if nothing else just can find your shopping to the meat department
You’ll be better off
IMPORTANT FOR ANYONE NEW TO FITNESS OR "FUELING"
LAST EDITED:12-21-25
FOOD & FUELING
The truth is most diets fail because the “healthy” food kind of sucks
Especially after a while
But also,
because it can be unrealistic to try to manage a social and work life balance
and cook something edible for a whole host of reasons
So it’s better sometimes to play the game of gainz on life‘s terms
Eating out is going to be much easier for bulking for obvious reasons,
But one can cut while eating out as well
But the sneaky reason why most food is so calorie dance has to do with the oils and ingredients used in it’s preparation
And also the restaurant almost always uses a fattier saltier option due to taste
Which can quickly double calorie counts
So the first real general suggestion,
when eating out is to,
Whatever the calorie count on the menu says,
multiply it by 1.5x
And also be conservative with the protein calc because restaurants love to skimp
The second important point is to realize that the bacteria from the restaurant
and the preparation process is going to impact the entire energy digestion process more than you realize
So prioritizing restaurants based on cleanliness is extremely important
Better to have a clean McDonald’s,
Than a dirty salad bar
And on that note, it is almost always better to eat somewhere in which the food never sits out for longer than 30 minutes
Fast food restaurants are notorious for breaking this rule
But places like chipotle are usually solid options
Especially during peak times when they cycle through their food, fast without it sitting out for long
With those two things in mind,
Then we can split up the different types of food options,
and then you can choose based on your preferences and availability
The second biggest lifestyle factor is always availability
Whether it be work or social life dictating when or where you can eat
For me for many years,
it was unrealistic to expect dinner before 10 PM
Conveniently when everything everywhere is closed
Besides bars…
We’ll get to that
So as options You have -
fast food restaurants
Grocery stores
Small sit downs
Serious sit downs
Bars
Diners
But this can also mean that sometimes you might have to go the snack route
You know like the gas stations and all
Now all in all,
we can probably exclude the serious sit downs
because those are one offs
and relatively easy to plan around
And we’ll focus on the differences between bars, diners, and the often overlooked on the go- grocery store
If you have to eat late at night,
then your best bet is gonna be bar food
or if you’re lucky breakfast food at a good diner
Most bars are always gonna have chicken wings,
and cheeseburgers
And by then themselves are not the worst option from a protein and fat perspective
But get used to eating fried potatoes for carbs
I know that’s not a very threatening threat and it’s pretty easy to do lol
But every dinner that you get from a bar is easily gonna clear 1000 cal of mostly fuel
Although you could probably still get a decent amount of protein in
Diners are gonna have a little bit more variety to choose from
but overall you’re looking around the same kind of option
But you just might have pork chops or grilled chicken or some kind of weird hamburger steak or something
Now moving to small sit downs
these are your normal chain restaurants like a Olive Garden, and a Chili’s
Or the equivalent- nonchains
Actually, if you can avoid a chain at the medium level - that matters a lot
or go to like a small local chain
Like barbecue
These will have what I like to call fake clean options
where the food will seem like it’s clean and healthy but in reality
it ain’t
But it is usually a little better than bar food,
You still need to add on a significant calorie counting curve though
The catch is you’re gonna have to be able to go between normal hours
like for lunch or dinner
Now, moving on to grocery stores
and we’ll go ahead and loop in gas stations-
Cause it’s the same technique
There’s is probably the healthiest option if you can make it during their operational hours-
Which are very reasonable usually until about 11 PM for groceries
and gas stations are 24 / 7
Groceries Almost always gonna be healthier than a bad restaurant
Now, if you can make it during lunch or dinner for their hot bar-
That’s as close to home cooked meals as you can get
And if you need to get a lot of calories
You can get like a rotisserie chicken or something
& worst case scenario,
you always can get some protein bars
Or a shake
So to simplify and summarize
If you’re working late, or you don’t have any option
Usually chicken wings or a burger from the bar will carry you over
To be realistic
Prioritize the preparation of the food over the food itself
And understand that it’s gonna be 80% fuel, most likely
Unless you get lucky somewhere
If you’re going out during normal people hours
Then aim for small sit down non-chain restaurants when possible
Otherwise,
just go for taste and stop pretending that there’s really any healthy options on the menu lol
Just keep calories within a certain curve
Or if you’re very serious about keeping it clean, but you can’t sit down anywhere-
Then try to make it to a grocery store
And the nicer the better
and the more worth it it’ll be
Or in case of an emergency,
you can go to a gas station to get some snack bars and some protein shakes
And a single bag of chips never killed anyone
Clearly
cause everybody’s eating them…
Clear and clean
Insightful and helpful
LAST EDITED:12-21-25
EATING OUT
Steak is usually the best option
Availability is the main limitation however
Don’t be afraid of fatty meat as long as it’s not overly processed
Wild caught salmon or other fish is also top of pyramid (but expensive)
Eggs are the most ethically balanced, Cheapest, and nutritious food available
Not the most desirable tho
Ground beef can carry you thru nearly any of life’s storms haha
Processed snack meats (salami, pepperoni, etc) are calorie hacks
Cheap $ per calorie and decent macros
Cheese is the most hit or miss but almost always worth it
Canned meats are last option but still a good one to have
You’ll feel carbs within 3 hours
You won’t feel fats until atleast 4-6hrs
Jerky is a protein hack if you got the cash
When looking for high protein meals on the go
You’re gonna be stuck with beef jerky or gas station protein shakes
You can do hamburgers or cheeseburgers from fast food and limit the bun
But you run the risk from a food quality perspective as if you go to the bad fast food spot the beef might have been sitting out for a while
Beware of these delivered to your door meal services
Unless it’s coming directly from the farm itself, chances are it’s going to be a little suspicious quality wise
From a pricing perspective, most are best to just go to the grocery store and focus on eating everything that you buy
Buying meat in bulk is about the quality (not the price)
But You can save money by buying meat in bulk
Don’t sleep on eggs
If you can buy the expensive ethically sourced eggs
If you can’t buy the cheap 30 eggs for six bucks from Food Lion
30 eggs will be enough even for the most intense bodybuilder each day and you’re looking at six bucks
The prisoners can extract protein from highly processed fuel, so can you
But not unless you have a shit load of time to waste, figuring it out first
Most people panic when you tell them to eat 1 g of protein per pound of body weight
But you actually get pretty good at it pretty quick if learn how to make a steak
Or just buy an air fryer
On that note, an air fryer is one of the best things you can get if you suck at cooking
For the record, I have cooked some of the greatest steaks of all time on an old George Foreman
Get the cast-iron skillet to cook meat on
Trust me
Making rotisserie chickens yourself is kind of silly
Because on Tuesdays that the teeter them birds are big and cheap
Rotisserie chickens are a protein hack when you consider price and availability
If you keep some plastic forks and plates in your car, then it makes it pretty easy to smash a bird on the go
I don’t know where you’re from but Food Lion has the best rotisserie chickens in North Carolina (believe it or not)
Subs are a high source of protein, but come with a lot of collateral calories 12
Canned seafood is actually probably healthier than the fresh option
(Due to hygiene)
(This is probably the only exception to the processed food rule)
Tuna is one of the cheapest and easily prepared protein sources
It just makes you wanna kill yourself faster than anything else
Sardines, plus crackers, plus hot sauce as a hack
Just beaware the collateral cracker carbs
Don’t even bother buying “food” from the frozen section of the supermarket
You are better than those frozen meals
Seriously, just buy an air fryer and a George Foreman and a cast-iron skillet
That’s most 100 bucks and will ask you a year at least
You’ll burn 3 steaks in the process, but then you’ll have it down for life
Plant protein is responsible for the most atrocious farts of all time
If you could survive public school meals, then you can survive sourcing protein on the go in public *
Protein bars are getting better and better by the week
Which is great to see
You get barely half the protein from nuts as advertised
This is due to bio availability
Don’t buy into the high protein, keto snacks
The ingredients they use to sub out the good carbs are often kind of sketch
Keto snacks are kind of pointless
You should stick to pepperoni and salami or other types of jerky
Instead of fake potato chips
Pizza is a high protein source
Pizza is a high happiness source
Pizza is a high gut inflammation source
Fried chicken has a lot of protein
It just has way more fat and carbs from the breading
When you’re eating out
Whatever the calorie count says
Add 33%
Most low end restaurants will skimp you on protein, so be ready
Asian restaurants are probably the best price per calorie ratio
But the sketchiest from a smooth versus nightmare bathroom ratio
Protein coffee is a trap
Consider that a warning from your lower intestine
Nobody really knows exactly how many grams are in their protein powder and don’t listen to them if they say otherwise
It’s about 30g
Is best to find a brand of protein powder that you can double scoop on 12 ounces of water or less
Just in case you end up in the shit and you gotta get it in
You don’t know pain until you have to eat a pound of plain chicken breast and one sitting just to hit your pathetic macros
On that note Plain chicken breast is beginner level shit
Ground beef is almost always better than chicken breast
Don’t be scared of the fatty ground beef just understand that it’s higher in fat and maybe not as high in protein
If it’s higher and fat, it’s gonna be higher and happiness
(Because of the taste)
Anything that is advertised low in fat is probably high in bullshit
If you eat a pound of steak, you can reliably count that as about 120 g
Natural protein is going to digest much better than processed protein stronger