Lean bulk.. yeah, here's the secret to that. Stay 500 calories above TDEE. As you reach a plateau in growth, you will have a new TDEE, go 500 calories above that. Rinse, repeat.
In terms of strategy.. carb cycling is hard to beat in how lean and waterless it keeps you 95% of the time. It keeps your satiety high.. different macros every day, means different meals, means bulking longer without wanting to kill yourself at 7000cals, plus all the things I mentioned in my previous post regarding carb cycling to you.
I would start copy/pasting important things in Word or something. So you can go back to them.. and apply them little by little.
Lean bulking is just slow consistent gaining.. nothing crazy. Drugs help of course.. we all know that, and surely make lean bulking easier or cutting with minimal muscle loss easier. But regardless of drugs, 1lb up or down a week should be what you strive for. 1.5-+ is acceptable sometimes, 2-+ per week is bad.
The easiest way for me to determine my diet is to first find what won't change. Determine BMR, TDEE, and set a goal. Then dial in macros. If carb cycling dial in 3-4 different days macros accordingly.
BMR - 3500
TDEE - 6000
Bulk - 6500
Cut - 5500
I'll take bulk for this example. 6500 calories / per day. Average.
Protein for me is always 350-400 overall. 1600 calories ( This goes up with other foods like PB, even extra carbs will bring in more protein which is why it's so high.. ) 24% calories as protein.
Carbs without cycling we'll call it a consistent 40% calories - 2600 calories / 4 = 650g
Fats = 36% of total calories = 2,340 / 9 = 260g
So, 400g protein, 650g carbs, 260g fats. Is the distribution perfect, no.. and it'd be different cause I wouldn't start bulking at this.. my TDEE is likely much lower right now, and would gradually increase to freaky proportions of foods!
Figure out how many meals you eat per day, divide your macros in grams by meals per day. 600g carbs / 6 meals = 100g per meal. As an example.
From this point you would pick whole versions of foods that are primarily made up of one macronutrient. Choosing these foods are the healthiest and easiest way to formulate a plan.. just keeps it simpler. Adding a ton of nuts for example is good, and will be good as additions later but having a base diet or core diet that is leaned out to these primary macro foods is better to build on.
6 oz cooked chicken breast is primarily all protein, so that would be used for grams toward protein for your base. Other lean meats, tuna, salmon, strip steak, ultra lean ground beef, egg whites, whey isolate. More not listed. Do your research.
Carbs - brown rice, 100% whole wheat anything, sweet potatoes, red potatoes, oats, others. Whole, Carb dominant foods.
Fats - coconut oil, olive oil, avocado, etc. Whole, Fat dominant foods.
As you progress in a bulk you would make additions to your base plan.. if you're starting much lower than the example, most add more good carbs first, then as you get to higher loads of carbs, you'll start adding fats instead. At the above examples level, fat would be the additions.
Additions can be Frankenstein foods. Whole foods that don't necessarily have one primary macronutrient, leaning more toward the carb or fat variety but not 100%.
Planning meals is the final step. I don't necessarily think you're there yet man. You need to go back and redistribute macronutrients, learn what foods will be good for a base plan for you, build meals, make additions as necessary.
