Average muscle/fat gain on GOMAD

[lovestolift]

I am just curious if any one that has done GOMAD can tell me how much muscle/fat they gained. My plan is to gain some muscle/ get my lifts up before losing the fat I have, so I don't want to gain much fat, as I'm already around 23% at 5'10", 198lbs. I don't have a problem with the thought of gaining fat, I just want to make sure I'll be gaining more muscle than fat, say at a 2:1 ratio or better? The main thing that interests me is that it is cheap, and I need a cheap way to get my calories. In Canada it will cost about $5 a day to GOMAD, where it costs a lot more to eat clean and get the same amount of calories, not to mention i just have a hard time eating all the food necessary. I'm currently following the Precision Nutrition program, which is high protein/high in good fats except during and after exercise, where it is high protein/ high carb. I like it but it is a bit too expensive on my current college-student-budget. I'd also like to know, do mst people sip the milk during the day (at all times) or do you drink it with each meal? Thanks in advance.

[Jcraig]

Highly individual, no one will be able to give you a definitive answer. Judging by the weight you are lifting, "gaining fat" is the last of your worries. Lift big, eat big and leave the bodybuilding, sculpted body (usually with steroids or years and years of training) goal at the door.

Drink your milk and eat everything you see.

[lovestolift]

I appreciate your input, I just want to make it clear that this wasn't a vain request. My goal right now is more muscle, bigger lifts. If you re-read my post you'll see that I mention the fact that I don't mind putting on fat, I just want to put on a good amount of muscle to balance it out. I was basically asking about the effectiveness, not 'how much will I put on in a week?" or some such trite question. I know from past experience that when I've worked on gaining muscle before I put on 15 lbs of lean mass and about 6-7 lbs of fat. Roughly a 2:1 ratio. This is a positive outcome.

I basically want to drop my actual food intake to around 2000 calories, then GOMAD to bring it up to 4500 (2500 cal in a gallon, right?). Any increase above that will come from whole food. I know that my maintenance level is around 3500, so this would serve two purposes, increasing intake and decreasing cost.

I simply can't buy enough food, it's leaving me with no 'cushion' money. Between my regular bills, my school/books and food, I'm pretty much F'd if something happens, like my car breaking down or what have you. So I guess I need to check the logs of other GOMAD-ers and see if that appeals to me. The only reason I don't want to put on too much fat is so that I don't have to buy new clothes/ new uniform for work. It's an expense I need to avoid. As far as looks go, I could care less right now. People routinely judge my weight to be 20-30 lbs lighter than it is, so I've got a good cushion before I look like Baby Huey.

As to my other question, which is more common, drinking a few glasses with each meal, or filling a bottle and sipping it all day?

[eLvarouza]

You'll gain more muscle than fat, basically. Probably more than a 2:1 ratio. I usually drink a quart after every meal and/or randomly drink a quart throughout the day. I've found an easy way is to just bring a quart or two to your classes and drink it then.

[Jcraig]

Fair enough, the name of the game is caloric excess to build muscle. If you are really broke, peanut butter sandwiches are cheap and effective. I must be really lucky because a gallon of whole milk in CA is like $2.50 US.

Make sure to check your grocery store adds before you hit the store. Usually they will post the adds on their website for you to look at. I regularly find all kinds of meat for $1.99 US a pound and deals on milk/dairy.

[lovestolift]

eLvarouza- Thanks, that is basically what I wanted to know.

Jcraig- I pay about $5 a pound here (extra lean), not to mention that I have to convert kgs to lbs every time I shop (all my recipes are in lbs, so this is very annoying). As for the p.b sandwiches, I don't really eat bread, it doesn't sit well with me.

What do you guys think of the 2000 + 2500 calorie idea? I know I'll be in excess of my maintenance level that way, and it will leave me some room to add on later if the need arises. When I went from 135 (lean mass only) to 152 (again, lean only) I was eating around 3700 calories, so it makes sense to ramp it up a bit now.

[lovestolift]

I had to search a bit, but I found an answer to my question on this thread (regarding the 2000+2500 approach). I thought I'd post it here in case anyone has a similar question. Read the first one, then read Mark Rippetoe's response.

http://www.strengthmill.net/forum/showthread.php?t=816

[bluestreak]

Check out my post and do the math - I've got charts of my weight and BF.

Or lets compare my original stats (89 kg, 11% BF) with today (101 kg, 14.5% BF). Based on those rough calculations and assuming my stats are not perfectly accurate, that 7 kg of muscle and an extra 5 kg of BF. Plus some extra bone density.

I agree with Mark Rippetoe - all the extra muscle and knowledge of your diet will allow you to easily lose that BF when the time comes. I have no problem adjusting - my Xmas belly was gone real quick. I'm GOMADing again purely because I want to get as much calories in as I can once I get back to hitting my PRs.

[eLvarouza]

I agree with Mark Rippetoe - all the extra muscle and knowledge of your diet will allow you to easily lose that BF when the time comes.

Yea that's the thing a lot of people tend to overlook. If someone is dedicated enough to go to the gym 3x/week and add weight to already excruciatingly painful lifts, then that person certainly has the dedication to cut back his diet a bit to lose a couple pounds of bodyfat.

[Jcraig]

eLvarouza- Thanks, that is basically what I wanted to know.

Jcraig- I pay about $5 a pound here (extra lean), not to mention that I have to convert kgs to lbs every time I shop (all my recipes are in lbs, so this is very annoying). As for the p.b sandwiches, I don't really eat bread, it doesn't sit well with me.

What do you guys think of the 2000 + 2500 calorie idea? I know I'll be in excess of my maintenance level that way, and it will leave me some room to add on later if the need arises. When I went from 135 (lean mass only) to 152 (again, lean only) I was eating around 3700 calories, so it makes sense to ramp it up a bit now.

Another thing too bro, is don't be afraid of the cheaper, fattier pieces of meat. They have the extra fat calories which can help you reach your goal. My daily menu is:

1 Gallon Whole Milk
1 Lb. of Meat (Pork, Beef, Fuck Chicken had to much of it.)\
Lots of Frozen Vegetables
Lots of Nuts
Whey Powder after work out.

That's it, nothing more. 4500-5000 calories.

[lovestolift]

Today is the first day that I've tried my new meal plan (2100 whole food calories + 2500 milk calories + additional 400 calorie protein/carb shake on workout days). I've managed to get almost all of it down so far and it is only 7:30pm here (I've got 1 or 2 cups to go). I've got dinner plus a pre-bed snack to eat as well, but I feel good stomach-wise so it's not a problem. I am very sick though with a cold or the flu, not sure which, which was causing some gastro-intestinal distress at work earlier, but that isn't enough to stop me from chugging my way to Strong-ville. I kind of like the freedom that it gives in regards to meal timing. If I am too busy at work to stop and heat up a meal, it's cool, I can drink the milk and eat a little while later. As long as I get all my calories in, spread out evenly, I feel it'll be okay.

Thanks for the advice guys, it's much appreciated.