So bascially i calculated my calories and how much i need to eat which comes to about 2700 bc i am trying to gain weight. I currently sit at 160, trying to get 180. Im skinny fat and after Scotts recent vid i decided to gain the weight instead of loosing it. The only problem is the macros im using myfitness pal to track my goals and it basically says 

protein-134g

carbs-334g

fats-89g

i just think that the carbs are a bit way to high but i wanted to get a second opinion on this. Its basically 20% protien 50% carbs and 30% fat. Again im trying to gain muscle bc im tired of being skinny and having a belly. If you can give me aome feedback i would appreciate it. Thanks guys! 

Some more info if it matters-

23 years old

male

5’10 

skinnyfat, current weight 160. 

21% body fat. 

I use myfitnesspal to track, but don't use it to set macro goals. Use Scott's meal plan calculator instead. How do those calculations for you compare to what myfitnesspal says?

Agreed with Johnny. Use the calculator on the @mealplan page to get an idea of what macros and calories you should use, at least for a starting point. The carbs will probably be high there too, but we can help you adjust that if you post those numbers here.

I agree that the carbs are probably too high, so maybe bring those down to like 250g-300g max and then increase the protein and maybe fat to make up for the lost calories.

So i decided to make it like a 40/40/20 lind of plan. Just to start off see how i look in a week or 2. It says i need

protien-270

carb-270

fat - 60

Still need 2,700 cals.

Now what i am confused about is how much is needed each meal im planning to do 6 meals a day. I made 10 meals today for the week, lunch and dinner.

Up top is my meals. I honestly do not know if it is correct or not.

Help!

OK so I would increase the fat to more like 80g-90g, and that would mean you need to cut out some calories elsewhere. Protein could probably come down a bit, because even if you have 1.5g protein per pound of bodyweight overall, that would be 240g for you. I think carbs can stay the same because we don't want you adding too much more fat with too many carbs. So maybe try these macros...

Protein: 225g (900 Calories)

Carbs: 270g (1080 Calories)

Fat: 80g (720 Calories)

Total Calories = 2700

What do you think of those numbers?

And for your meal planning.. to be honest I wouldn't worry about splitting it up perfectly. As long as you get your total macros and calories in by the end of the day, that's what matters the most. Those meals you have made look like a good mix of carbs and protein though, good job!

Thanks for the fast reply, ill adjust it so i can meet those numbers, thanks so much scott! Just one more thing for each meal 6 meals a day, do each of those have to be like you said 225g protien/270g carb/ 80g fat. This is what confuses me. Thanks again!

That would be your total intake for one day.

I really don't think Scott's giving incorrect information or bro-science in this thread. I also see you disagree with just about everything he has suggested, but don't give your own opinions on what his macros or caloric intake should be. Anyways, I just wanted to address some of your points here, seeing how you're looking forward to it:

1) I can tell you from my own personal experience with being skinny-fat, that a lean bulk is the best (and for me was THE ONLY) way to change. I've tried every type of diet out there, paleo, ketogenic, clean eating, and all sorts of ways to severely restrict caloric intake. All those did was make things worse, as my body did everything to hold onto that last bit of belly fat that I could never get rid of. Even when coupling these diets with weight training and cardio, I didn't see any decent results. It's the lean bulk with weight training, and possibly a bit of cardio, that first speeds the metabolism and gets the body out of the "starvation" mode to get rid of the belly fat. This isn't just "bro-science." If you understand the exact problem of being skinny fat, i.e., having a low body mass index but very little muscle, you see the solution is to put on more muscle. That means you strength train and lean bulk, not cut, which just exacerbates the problem by reducing your caloric intake below your maintenance level. By trying to reduce his belly fat first, he will still end up with a low body mass index, and very little muscle. By lean bulking correctly, the end result is a low body mass index, but now with muscle. Problem solved. From there he can cut or continue to build muscle to get whatever physique he wants.

2) There are plenty of credible sources for you to find the amount of protein one needs. Check out this cool website. But in all seriousness, the amount of protein recommended isn't ONLY for the purposes of getting that much protein. The TDEE, also not just "bro-science", shows depending on his level of activity from the information he's given, his baseline would be anywhere from 1900-3000 calories. A moderate level of activity estimates 2500, while a small surplus to lean bulk additional muscle would reasonably be 2700. I don't see how this is as extremely high as you are warning. Sure, it might end up being too high, but it's based off a reasonable estimate, and can be dropped or raised as needed once he determines how his body is progressing. Back to the level of protein - how much protein would you suggest he get, to still reach this caloric level? Should he just get the bare minimum of protein that you think, and fill all of the rest in with carbs and fats? Sometimes, protein is needed because it's also 4 calories per gram, not just because its part of a minimum needed to build muscle.

3) No one said anything about spot reducing fat, so yeah, if he were to cut now its not like he's targeting only belly fat. He likely does have body fat in other places as well, just not as much. So whether he tries to cut now or later, this point doesn't make a difference.

4) Scott recommended he drop his protein from 270 to 225. If he's only trying to sell protein supplements, why is he recommending a lower amount of protein than the OP suggested? Following your logic, Scott should have confirmed the 270 or told him an even higher number, and then plugged some supplements. He didn't. It's also easy to obtain those macros without supplementation.

5) Yes, by bulking he will gain some fat. But he's going to gain muscle too. If he sticks with a lean bulk, he's going to minimize fat gain, and in the process of putting on additional lean mass his overall body fat percentage will go down. This is the best solution to being skinny fat. And again, I would ask what your recommendations are for his macros since you so vehemently disagree with the advice that has been given here. Further, I'm going to assume that as he is skinny fat, he is in the beginning stages of weight training, and could therefore benefit from body recomposition. By being in a slight surplus, he will ensure adequate nutrition to build muscle, and can also burn fat at the same time while experiencing his "newb gains." There's science to support this, and not just "bro-science".

6) I may have missed it, but where did he say he was trying to put on 20 pounds as quickly as possible? I think you're the only one talking about a dirty bulk, and steroid use here. Sure, if he tries to put on 20 pounds AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, he's going to put on a lot of fat. But if he is eating in a slight surplus, he's not going to put on 20 pounds as quickly as possible.

There is no debate because you have once again failed to either understand what was posted, or didn't bother to read all of it.

Again, you emphasize your criticism of the advice given on his macros, BUT STILL HAVEN'T SAID WHAT YOU THINK THEY SHOULD BE. Now you're making a claim that the recommended macros will damage his liver and kidneys, when the scientific research goes against that.

I cited to Google as a joke, obviously it went over your head. It was my way to point out to you that there are SEVERAL credible RESEARCH STUDIES out there that show what you are saying as no basis, and are very easily found. Perhaps you didn't have the time to get to it before your break ran out, but you should really do your research before trying to say everyone else is wrong, not give anything to back up your conclusions, and declare yourself the interwebs debating god.

I know you haven't researched or talked to any high level athletes if you think 2700 is way too much. I've already shown from the information given how reasonable the numbers are. You have once again given nothing to back your claim that 2700 is way too much for someone to lean bulk, when they are currently 5'10, 160 lbs, 21% BF, male, and 23 years old.

You specifically said "I also have yet to see ONE credible source prove that if you want to gain muscle, do a gram of protein per pound of body weight. Usually when they suggest this, they are trying to SELL you a protein supplement as well...think about it." You did not qualify who "they" was, thus only limiting it to anyone that gives such advice. Above, Scott recommended he drop his protein from 270 grams, to 225, knowing the OP's bodyweight is currently 160 pounds. That is in fact over your threshhold of one USUALLY out to sell supplements. So by your logic, Scott is probably trying to just sell him something right?? Think about it... it's your logic. If you do in fact think Scott's advice is credible, well, you have your one credible source above, disproving yourself. Otherwise, I will again refer to Google if you still are unable to find such credible sources.

Yes, he might gain "some fat". No, his belly fat will not entirely dissapear through a lean bulk alone. But it will improve far greater than someone who is skinny fat trying to cut. Again, you fail to comprehend what it means to be skinny fat, because if you did you would understand the obvious solution. By going on a lean bulk, he is very likely to reduce his overall body fat percentage while gaining lean mass. This alone will improve his physique. Add on top of that body recomposition as a new trainee, he will most likely gain the mass while burning fat. And I CAN assume this because he said he is skinny fat. Again since you don't seem to understand, skinny fat is someone who has a low body mass index, but very little muscle. VERY LITTLE MUSCLE. Someone with very little muscle is in the far spectrum away from their genetic potential. When someone like that does weight training, they experience large improvements in a short amount of time. That's what "newb gains" are. Someone who dicks around in a gym for 3 years but doesn't actually make any improvements in muscle gains doesn't waste away their newb gains. It's about how far someone is from that genetic potential, NOT JUST IN HOW MUCH TIME YOU'VE SPENT IN THE GYM. If you understood that, you would see body recomposition is a good possibility.

Again, I don't know where you are calculating what his caloric intake should be to reach the conclusion that his macros are too high, so maybe share your significantly greater knowledge with us. I guess we need you to school Scott in nutrition, seeing how you said his advice was so obviously wrong.

And I'm missing where the OP said his goal was to put on 20 pounds in one year. Can you please point out where the deadline is coming from? First you took issue with it being "20 pounds as fast as possible" but now you've changed the OPs goal to under one year. Maybe he can set his own goals? Let me use your own logic here again - You're saying he should cut his bodyweight down AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. That would be incredibly unhealthy! Now of course you didn't actually say that, but neither did the OP say, or Scott tell him, to gain 20 pounds as fast as possible, or in his first year. But I'll just use your own logic to make the point, and declare myself the new "winner" of the argument. And 20 pounds of LEAN MASS is definitely attainable for first year lifters, so no, your statement that "[p]utting on 20 pounds even in one year will most likely mean a lot of it came from fat" is misleading, at best.

It looks like all the assumptions have come from you. Rather than ask clarifying questions, you've criticized the advice given by Scott, but failed to provide any valid reason as to why other than you disagree, and again have failed to give your insight as to what his macros should be. Since you disagree, WHAT DO YOU THINK HIS MACROS SHOULD BE? Since you are so well researched to make statements discrediting Scott's advice with "I also have yet to see ONE credible source prove that if you want to gain muscle, do a gram of protein per pound of body weight", when he in this thread gave advice of over that amount, don't forget to cite your sources. Otherwise I would just recommend to the OP that he follow Scott's advice over yours.

@Justin9464 Hey man, I can see what points you are trying to make. At the end of the day, we are all here to help!

You definitely have a valid point about us not asking if @Chrisalta94 was a newbie or not. However, given the fact he is skinny fat, there is no point in him cutting because when he described himself as skinny fat, that indicates he has very little muscle mass. I have made videos about this in the past, in fact I made one two weeks ago talking about the fact that being skinny fat usually indicates that you're not actually feeind your muscles enough nutrients and calories to grow, and therefore it's more inclined to be hanging onto some fat. I'll link to my video at the end of this post.

As for protein intake, there are plenty of studies that show an 'excessive' protein consumption has no ill-effects on the liver or kidneys or anything, UNLESS there is a pre-exisiting condition already there. The reason I suggest people are better off with high protein intakes is because it's much easier to get yourself into a surplus with protein calories, rather than overloading on carbs which tend to lead to gaining fat if you start getting excessive with them. Granted that it's excess calories that make the main difference, but the way carbs and insulin work is what causes a lot of fat gain. And 220g isn't high at all, you can easily get that much protein in for the day with meat, eggs, Greek Yoghurt, tofu, beans, quinoa and other dairy.

I'm not quite sure what makes you think that the macros I suggested are so bad, and to quote "NOT A SLIGHT SURPLUS they are way too high". How exactly do you know they are way too high? I have a calculator on the @mealplan page which Chris used to figure out how many calories he needed, and that's how he got 2700 calories for his daily intake. Now we don't know how often he is training, but assuming the calculator was used properly, then this is a good starting point, and that's all it is - a starting point from which you can move forward after trialling it. I even mentioned that in my very first response post on this @forum thread.

I'd have to agree with Johnny.. if my macro suggestions are bad.. what are your suggestions instead? And saying high level athletes wouldn't consume this much food is just ridiculous to be honest. High level athletes, depending on their sport, will be consuming at least 1.5-2 times this amount of food and calories.

First thing I would like to say is that fitness is a game trial and error, ultimately to find out what works for you and stick to it. After re-visting the sources I was using for my argument, I misread the information and the grams of protein used for a single day were used for someone who was older and didn’t do much all day. So the macro’s are not too high I was just pulling my sources of information based on body types that were not related to the person who posted in the first place. That is my mistake and I will own up to that. When I first saw this post, I could relate to the kid having the issues of wanting to lose stomach fat and do a bulk like he is doing because I am the same age and weight and I have made the mistake of trying to bulk in excess like that as quick as possible with it resulting in me just adding more fat to my mid section and ultimately me being unsatisfied even though the number went up on the scale. Over the years I have learned what works for me and where I like my physique to be at, so for me I focus on being leaner and more toned than bulking up 20 pounds because that is what I found leaves me being the most satisfied. Scott’s 5 day bodybuilding split works perfectly with this and allows me to kill it in the gym and seek the results that I have wanted, ultimately to take my training to the next level and with Scott’s program I found that for sure.

            I came off cocky in my first original post and I am sorry for that. I was wrong for my post and I apologize to Johnny2603 for what I was said because it was out of line. I will post the sources that I was looking at for my argument in the next post just so you guys could see where I was coming from. By looking at this thread I was even able to go back and look at my macro’s and realize that I in fact needed to add more protein to my diet LOL, you learn something new everyday you really do.

            Lastly, thank you Scott for responding to my post with positivity and not roasting me like you easily could have. Like you said we are all here to help and that’s what I was trying to do originally. Wish you guys the best!  

https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/protein

https://blogs.webmd.com/food-and-nutrition/2017/09/how-much-protein-do-you-really-need.html

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/how-much-protein-do-you-need-every-day-201506188096

https://www.webmd.com/men/features/benefits-protein#1

"According to Mark Tarnopolsky, M.D., Ph.D., who studies exercise and nutrition at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, HIGHLY TRAINED ATHLETES thrive on 0.77 gram of daily protein per pound of body weight. That's 139 grams for a 180-pound man." This was where that athlete comment I had came from.

Like I said I already said I was wrong, these are just to show you guys where I was coming from though

Hey no hard feelings. I came off a bit overboard as well, but mostly because Scott has definitely earned my respect as his advice has changed my life for the better. Disagreements are good as long as we stay respectful, if one of us is wrong someone is going to learn something new.

@Justin9464 it's all good man! I'm just glad that you learned something out of it haha 😊 And hey, even you made a good point about the fact that we hadn't asked Chris if he was a newbie or not so it goes both ways really. You live and you learn.

And you're totally right about trial and error, I have told many people that as well because what works for one person, may not work for another. That's why I always give suggestions, rather than say 'you have to do this'.

Awesome that you have found what works for you and that you are doing the 5-day bodbuilding program too!! Make sure you get some pictures up soon so we can keep up to date with your progress! 🏋 

Just want to say thank you guys for your recommendations and advice i will put it all to work i promise. I think were my calories and macros are right now are good im going to see how they workout in about 2 weeks or a month and change them if need be. I am sort of a newb, i used to workout a lot, but never counted my calories or even payed attention to my macros so in that department i am very new, and still learning. Im doing the push/pull 12 week plan along with this new healthy diet. I acutally did my first couple of days of eating and honestly it was a lot of food, but in a good way, bc i never ate this much i usually ate once maybe twice a day, but now im shooting for 6 small meals throughout the day. Ill post some pictures soon of how i am now and my progess throughout this workout. My ultimate goal is to be 180 pounds but im not sure how long that will actually take, so for now im just looking to bulk up a bit and get a more toned, lean body. I mean summer is coming up gotta do something right. Thanks again guys! And i didnt mean to start this whole debate, but im glad everyone is civil here.

Sorry for typos, im using my phone 😭

No problem @Chrisalta94! Nothing wrong with trying the macros you have and seeing how they work. You have some other suggestions there if you do need to change them anyway, so you can have a play around. Once you get into a surplus after being in a deficit it is a bit of a shock for the body, that's why it's a good idea to increase calories slowly until you hit your target number.

Look forward to seeing some progress pics from you though man! Train hard!! 🏋