What do you mainly eat for carbs?

[Jean-Claude]

Hey guys! Well the title says it all, I'm trying to bulk right now but remain as lean as possible.. I mainly use oats in the morning and brown rice throughout the day but I was wondering if whole grain bread and pasta were ok for carbs? I'm a bit sick of rice!

 

[Leo888]

any carbs is fine, just hit your macros for the day. of course try get most of your food from nutrient dense foods.

 

[Jean-Claude]

Really, cause I know a couple guys into bodybuilding and they seem to stay away from bread and pasta and I've always wondered why?! Anyone can answer this?

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

Because they believe in the "clean eating" old school stuff that has been conclusively proven to be bullshit by science

Your caloric intake & macros are the big picture, carb choices are insignificant for body composition - this is a proven fact that you'll see if you do some research.
Choose carb sources that you enjoy & can stick with long term, not sources that may be healthy but deep down you know you dont want to be eating them.

 

[JimiThing]

Because they believe in the "clean eating" old school stuff that has been conclusively proven to be bullshit by science

Your caloric intake & macros are the big picture, carb choices are insignificant for body composition - this is a proven fact that you'll see if you do some research.
Choose carb sources that you enjoy & can stick with long term, not sources that may be healthy but deep down you know you dont want to be eating them.

I think their needs to be a healthy balance. What is that? A predominantly clean diet with a small % of choices maybe not being the most nutritionally prudent but allow you to not feel cheated or robbed and to enjoy food.
The thing is this. This lifestyle is very unhealthy, some of those health risks and concerns can be offset by a good clean diet (ie: cholesterol & heart disease) This should not be minimized as old school - it is a fact. Balance is the key. Im not saying pack your food for Thanksgiving dinner for goodness sake - thats not for me man. I do, however, try to eat good and clean for about 85% of my intake. The other 15 % allows me to eats foods I may enjoy more but quite simply are not the most healthy choices.
Its isnt , nor should it ever be, just about body composition.

 

[3J]

if you are tying to bulk you can use white rice white pasta and white bread..

just stay away from the junk and processed foods..

i personally like to use complex carbs as much as i can to bulk then transition to simpler carbs when i see im stalling a bit..

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

I think their needs to be a healthy balance. What is that? A predominantly clean diet with a small % of choices maybe not being the most nutritionally prudent but allow you to not feel cheated or robbed and to enjoy food.
The thing is this. This lifestyle is very unhealthy, some of those health risks and concerns can be offset by a good clean diet (ie: cholesterol & heart disease) This should not be minimized as old school - it is a fact. Balance is the key. Im not saying pack your food for Thanksgiving dinner for goodness sake - thats not for me man. I do, however, try to eat good and clean for about 85% of my intake. The other 15 % allows me to eats foods I may enjoy more but quite simply are not healthy choices.
Its isnt , nor should it eve be, just about body composition.

Jim, I actually follow a similar protocol to you (eating healthy 70-75% of the time with a few favourites).

My issue is with the broscience philosophy that eating clean will help you with body composition - it wont.
It annoys me when new guys are constantly told to keep a clean diet to lose fat when it has JACKSHIT to do with clean choices.
Altering your carb sources, provided the macros stay the same, is NOT going to provide any recomposition benefits - I've proven this with my clients time after time after time after time.

Of course healthy choices are better, but forcing someone to eat lean chicken/rice/broccoli everyday will lead to failure in the long term.
The old school philosphy also promotes ideas that the OP refers to - avoiding pasta, bread, etc when in reality there is NOTHING that should be avoided with balance being the key.

A final point:
The idea that you can be in a caloric deficit but be healthy is ridiculous on so many levels it astounds me that people dont get it.
Your DIETING, what part of temporarily starving yourself to do you expect your body to be healthy & happy with? Of course healthy good choices will sort that out though right? Complete nonsense.

Sory for the rant jim, but I've seen this "carb sources matter" stuff around this board a few too many times & had to get some stuff out of my head

 

[JimiThing]

^^^we essentially agree. Im just careful not to go too far the other way like eat whatever you want as long as you hit your macros. Healthy balance man.

 

[3J]

this is where rip and i disagree on the matter..

but ill say it again.. there are many forms of dieting.. find the one thats right for you.

i follow the "clean eating approach" with all my clients.. and it works out wonderfully..

is there much of a difference between brown rice and white rice?? no.. check the gi vs. gl levels you will see.. but i want to take advantage of everything i possibly can with my clients..

you see.. they are all "systems".. each trainer and nutritionist will have their "system" they like to use.. so long as its microcalibrated to the client it should work out fine... some clients will need to eat the white rice and white bread.. some wont..

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

To answer the OPs original question, as 3J said, bread & pasta are great sources on a bulk since they replenish muscle glycogen very effectively.

Some guys may avoid certain complex carbs because it makes them feel "sleepy", this happens to me with rice & pasta but not bread or potatoes.
This is an individual thing that you will find out once you start experimenting but I suspect insulin & a few digestive enzymes are involved.

Hopefully the OP learns a few things from these discussions

 

[Jean-Claude]

Because they believe in the "clean eating" old school stuff that has been conclusively proven to be bullshit by science

Your caloric intake & macros are the big picture, carb choices are insignificant for body composition - this is a proven fact that you'll see if you do some research.
Choose carb sources that you enjoy & can stick with long term, not sources that may be healthy but deep down you know you dont want to be eating them.

So basically you're saying I could get all my carbs from maple syrup and that woud be fine?

 

[3J]

It almost sounds like that doesn't it? Lol but no I believe rip would disagree

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

So basically you're saying I could get all my carbs from maple syrup and that woud be fine?

So you decided to take what I said and go to the extreme with it? Ok I'll play along

If your in a caloric deficit and decide to get your carbs only from syrup you will STILL lose fat - I really dont understand why people don't get this.
You will probably feel like shit doing it, you might even develop some micronutrient deficiencies along the way, but you will still lose fat.

There is NO SUCH THING as a guy who was in a caloric deficit but didnt lose fat because of poor carb choices - this is a stone cold fact & if you don't believe it then please keep living in a dream world.

My point was to be FLEXIBLE with your diet, to maintain a BALANCE.
Sure you can add maple syrup to some things provided you've given it room in your macros - stop misinterpreting my posts.
Why would you want to stop having the dinner your wife cooked you because of your strict diet?
Why would you stop socializing with your friends because of your strict diet?

I could create a write up with alot of data supporting me, along with tons of real life examples through pictures of my clients (who maintain 10-12%bf year round btw).
But then I'll probably get people saying I "read too much" or my clients are "different" so please - if you enjoy your chicken/broccoli/rice everyday then stick to it.

 

[3J]

You see rip, this is my issue with iifym... Its not the actual philosophy.. Its the way it's interpreted.... If you're going to explain it you have to explain it in detail.. Some dumb 18 year old kid reads your post and decides to do exactly what was mentioned.. Lmao..

So you decided to take what I said and go to the extreme with it? Ok I'll play along

If your in a caloric deficit and decide to get your carbs only from syrup you will STILL lose fat - I really dont understand why people don't get this.
You will probably feel like shit doing it, you might even develop some micronutrient deficiencies along the way, but you will still lose fat.

There is NO SUCH THING as a guy who was in a caloric deficit but didnt lose fat because of poor carb choices - this is a stone cold fact & if you don't believe it then please keep living in a dream world.

My point was to be FLEXIBLE with your diet, to maintain a BALANCE.
Sure you can add maple syrup to some things provided you've given it room in your macros - stop misinterpreting my posts.
Why would you want to stop having the dinner your wife cooked you because of your strict diet?
Why would you stop socializing with your friends because of your strict diet?

I could create a write up with alot of data supporting me, along with tons of real life examples through pictures of my clients (who maintain 10-12%bf year round btw).
But then I'll probably get people saying I "read too much" or my clients are "different" so please - if you enjoy your chicken/broccoli/rice everyday then stick to it.

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

You see rip, this is my issue with iifym... Its not the actual philosophy.. Its the way it's interpreted.... If you're going to explain it you have to explain it in detail.. Some dumb 18 year old kid reads your post and decides to do exactly what was mentioned.. Lmao..

LOL but that's not an issue with iifym man...
Its an issue with stupidity - something we all have

 

[3J]

LOL but that's not an issue with iifym man...
Its an issue with stupidity - something we all have

yea i agree.. but iifym is more susceptible to stupidity than for example my philosophy of dieting.. because the term "if it fits your macros" exists.. people take it as an excuse to be a slob

it should be more like if it fits your macros after you have fit a balanced macro rate, which includes a balanced intake of macro/micro nutrients and for the most part lacks processed foods...

 

[juced_porkchop]

any carbs is fine, just hit your macros for the day. of course try get most of your food from nutrient dense foods.

I would avoid simple sugar like pop and/or juice etc.
I mostly eat potatos, pasta and general veggies for mine

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

yea i agree.. but iifym is more susceptible to stupidity than for example my philosophy of dieting.. because the term "if it fits your macros" exists.. people take it as an excuse to be a slob

it should be more like if it fits your macros after you have fit a balanced macro rate, which includes a balanced intake of macro/micro nutrients and for the most part lacks processed foods...

I agree its susceptible to stupidity (luckily for me I reject potential clients if I sense the stupidity is too strong with them) but if the macros are set properly then most of the issues you described are avoided anyway.

If you've set yourself a hypothetical macros of 200g protein/60g fat/165g carbs for 2,000 calories on a cut - there really is little room for junk, etc.
For example a typical mcdonalds burger/fries style meal is 1,000 calories with 30g fat/90g carbs (rough numbers) leaving you with hardly any room for another 4 meals or so.
Once people realise the macros of junk food - they realise that its almost impossible to eat crap all day and fit the macros unless they only want to have 2 meals per day (hardly ideal).

 

[3J]

I agree its susceptible to stupidity (luckily for me I reject potential clients if I sense the stupidity is too strong with them) but if the macros are set properly then most of the issues you described are avoided anyway.

If you've set yourself a hypothetical macros of 200g protein/60g fat/165g carbs for 2,000 calories on a cut - there really is little room for junk, etc.
For example a typical mcdonalds burger/fries style meal is 1,000 calories with 30g fat/90g carbs (rough numbers) leaving you with hardly any room for another 4 meals or so.
Once people realise the macros of junk food - they realise that its almost impossible to eat crap all day and fit the macros unless they only want to have 2 meals per day (hardly ideal).

they only realize this with the help of someone who knows already.... thats why its important for people to reach out and ask instead of making uneducated guesses on the matter..

 

[MidwestBeast]

I'm all about tortilla shells

Various flavored wraps with chicken and different cheeses or sauces. LOVE IT.