Hello everyone, i recently got myself into fitness again but this time im going more indept with what im doing, before i would just go to the gym, drink a protien shake and just eat whatever i could but now i really want to gain the maximum amount of muscle in just 7 months for my high school prom. I wiegh 144 pounds, im 6" tall, and unfortunatly i am an ectomorph. I did some calculations with the "My fitness pal" app and it tells me that i have to eat 2900 calories a day to meet my goal and gain 5 pounds per week. With those calories in mind i configured my macro nutrients to fit into a 40/40/20 plan. The only problem is that i dont have the meal plan. I have tried making one but no matter what i do, i come short of protien, and go too high on carbs. I do purchase supplements, i have a Beyond Raw Rebuilt Mass Protien shake, some C4, and some other products that i've tested.

My question is what meal plan can i use for a 40/40/20 macro plan? I plan to gain 10-20 pounds within 7 months and not look so skinny anymore.

Please and thank you for your help!

You want to gain 5 pounds a week ? You know that is going to be far from pure muscle right ? Muscle mass takes a LONG time to build depending on your experience level. By gaining 5 pounds a week you will not exactly look great in 7 months... 5 pounds a week times 4. (becacause there is 4 weeks in a month, usually). Then take that number and multiply by 7, because 7 months. 5 times 4 is 20. And 20 times 7 is 140. So you want to weigh 184 pounds ? You are essentially going to hide whatever muscle you have with a big lair of fat. So this is in my personal opinion a TERRIBLE plan...

HOWEVER since you also wrote 10-20 pounds in 7 months I guess that is your goal ? I am not entirely sure because you first wrote 5 punds pr week and then 10-20 in 7 months. But let us say you meant the last one. This MIGHT be ok... I do not know if you have any past fitness experience. Take me for instance. I will not gain more than 10 pounds, maybe less (of muscle) in a year because I have been doing this for a while now.

When it comes to mealplan you have to help yourself. All I can really say is foods like yoghurst and nuts is easy to add up to the desired calorie goal. And btw if you are 10 proteins under your goal it will not matter.

Totally agree with @William_Steinset about trying to gain 5 pounds per week.

Trying to gain 10-20 pounds in 7 months will mean you can really focus on adding some lean muscle mass.

Yeah with your protein if you are only a handful of grams short, don't fret too much. If you can, eat plenty of meats, greek yoghurt, eggs, etc. they will help with hitting your protein goal. If you are DESPERATELY short, maybe just have some more protein powder if that's possible.

I wouldn't really go 40/40/20... Your body doesn't care for the Macronutrients ratio but for it's lean mass so find out what your bodyfat is than deduct that from your current weight, and there you have your fat free mass:

Then use the caluclator in the site and pick whatever your exercise level is.. then you apply a 20% surplus to gain mass.

Protein: 1 - 1.2g for LBW

Fat: 0.45 - 0.5g for LBW

Carbs: Remaining Calories divided by 4.

Good Luck!

Note: You are a beginner I am assuming so you should be aiming for a 1KG increase every month, no more than that to stay as lean as possible ... also monitor your weight every 2 weeks.

Nearly impossible for a natural athlete to gain 5 lbs of lean muscle per week. Only genetic freaks or those using steroids/growth hormone can possibly meet this goal. 5lbs of any type of weight (fat and muscle) is achievable each week if you eat enough but it will be 80-90% fat and 10-20% muscle for the most part = 4 to 4.5Lbs of fat and 1 to .5 Lbs of muscle.

John

My mistake i didnt mean a week, i meant a month, from the application i was using it said that eating 2900 calories consistently would gain me about 5 pounds in a week. Now i dont want to look fat, thats the least I want. Plus it could be impossible to happen cause of my fast mentabolism. I do want to gain the best and maximum amount of muscle i can within a short amount of time. What i planed to do was Drink a protien shake in the morning with a bit of peanut butter, a chicken and rice meal for lunch, and probably 2 tuna sandwitches for dinner, and inbetween my meals a quest bar, and after my workout around 9pm another protien shake and repeat the same for 5 days of the week. Im not sure if this meal plan would bulk me up though. I want to bulk up but stay lean at the same time. I'd rather gain just muscle than fat.

Misael,

Aaaaaahhh That is much different :-) Well, if you are within your first two years of lifting when you will naturally grow the most and the fastest and you eat a nutritious enough diet, this is quite feasible. It really depends on your training, diet, and genetics. A "fast metabolism" just means your body is more efficient at burning and using calories than an average person. This just means you need to eat more to obtain the same level of growth as someone whose metabolism isn't as efficient as yours. That being said, you still need to eat quality, nutritious foods and make sure your protein and fat intake are high enough to support muscle growth (protein) and hormone levels (fats). You will have the added luxury of being able to eat more carbs than the average person. Even so, regardless of your metabolism efficiency if you eat more calories than your body needs to operate and grow you will gain fat.

To do lean gains, you need to be patient and realize you may not gain 5Lbs per month. However, it is better to gain 2 Lbs of lean muscle than 5Lbs of muscle and fat. Follow your meal plan for 2900 calories a day and see how it works out. You will know in 8 weeks if you are gaining quality mass. If so, keep at it. If not, you will need to adjust your meal plan accordingly :-)

John

Ah ok, i get you, well thank you so much for your help!:)