The quitter never wins

Bulking

Many people have a bad idea of what bulking is so let me clear a few things up.

Bulking is gaining weight while weight lifting in order to gain muscles. 

Now this being said, to gain weight you need to go over your daily caloric needs. 500-700 calories over your bmr + daily expended calories is perfect.

This does NOT mean start eating high caloric junk food to reach your caloric needs.

It means eat clean, high protein food.
Protein rebuilds muscles when muscles have been used so you need a lot of this.

1 gram protein per pound of your bodyweight (for non- North-Americans that’s 2.2 g’s protein per kg of your body weight) is good, but a little more won’t hurt.

Now that doesn’t mean eat 4 chicken breasts in one sitting to get 200 calories to meet your needs.
You need to split the protein throughout the day for optimal absorption and use. 

This means for every meal you eat, try to eat between 20-40 grams of protein (40-50 post-work out), through different sources (meat, dairy, eggs, nuts, beans, whey protein powder, soy)

This means you should be eating 5-7 meals per day with split calories to meet your 500 surplus needs (unless you want to eat 3 big meals with 3 smaller, high protein meals inbetween)
Junk food is not good for bulking because it is low in protein and high in sugar (which spikes insulin and retains fat), bad oils and heavy carbs.

When bulking, you will probably gain a little fat, but don’t worry, you can lose it in a few months on your cut. Eating clean foods with limited junk food will help in gaining the least fat possible (as long as your doing a good weight lifting routine)
 
Remember  : just because you’re gaining weight, doesn’t mean you should be unhealthy

(Source: liftbigeatbig)

Dieting & Cutting

You should never be very hungry / starving when losing weight or on a cut. Eat 5-7 meals throughout the day in smaller portions than 3 bigger meals to feel fuller more often (and so you don’t have the temptation to snack). Eat high in protein, and moderate amounts of fat. These macro-nutrients keep you feeling fuller longer. Eat plenty of leafy green vegetables as these contain next to no calories and fill some space in your stomach. If you literally starve yourself for days, your body will go into starvation mode and your metabolism will slow down.
Eat often but small and drink a lot of water throughout the day to keep that metabolism up.

Excellent cutting / dieting foods : 

- Any leafy green vegetable
- Skinless chicken breasts
- Many types of fish (tuna in water - NOT oil, salmon for example)
- Extra lean beef (Occasionally)
- Beans (Kidney, lentils, etc.)
- Grapefruit and citrus fruits 
- Whole wheat breads & pasta (Small portions)
- Oats (in the morning, help keep you fuller throughout the day)
- Cottage cheese (high protein, low fat)
- Mushrooms 
- Flaxseed & sesame oil
- Eggs (whites if you prefer a higher protein - fat ratio) 
- Mustard (instead of mayonnaise / margarine on sandwiches) 
- Celery 

AVOID 

- Most red meats (occasional extra lean is not bad)
- Cheeses (other than cottage)
- High fat milk
- High sugar / fat yogurt (2% plain or “greek” is best)
- Avocados and high starch vegetables (potatoes)
- Refined sugars 
- Chips, high carb snacks
- Butter, margarine, mayonnaise (these are calorie dense and DO NOT fill you up)
- Any liquids but water (and occasionally skim milk)
- Heavy fruits (bananas)
- Any high carb - low protein foods
- Dark poultry meat
- Nuts (eat beans instead)

Remember : Being hungry is not the right way to lose weight

(Source: liftbigeatbig)