Best diet to gain weight while working out?

The bad thing about bars as opposed to shakes is that almost all are high in saturated fats and partially hydrogenated oils: not heart-healthy.

One book I have found to be really useful is “Supersquats”

http://www.amazon.com/Super-Squats-Pounds-Muscle-Weeks/dp/0926888005

This is kind of thought to be the bible for “hardgainers” (ectomorphs who refuse to not put on mass). It’s been in print since the 80′s, your local library might have it.

Part of the premise is that you kick off every workout with one, 20-rep set of squats, it is a killer, every couple of months I will go through a 4-week phase where I lift according to this program, it is the only one where I have managed to simultaneously put on mass and burn fat.

Anyways, one of the book’s suggestions on nutrition is that you drink as mush milk as you can, like a half gallon to a gallon a day. Obviously will not work if you are lactose intolerant. Whey protein is popular because it is absorbed so quickly, which is ideal for post workout but actually not ideal as an overall nutritional supplement. You may have noticed that “Muscle Milk” that is a caesine-based protein powder has become super-popular over the last few years, this is why. A cup of milk has 14 grams of really high quality protein, so in the dining hall at the school where I work, they have 12oz drink glasses, for a while I tried to have three glasses of skim milk with every meal I ate there: 63 grams of protein a go.

Of course the book was written in the 80′s when milk was cheaper than protein powder, now it’s vice versa, but if you have access to any self-serve milk where you can take advantage of more than your share, it’s worth exploiting.

Other than that, they say that eating plenty of nuts boosts your body’s T levels and it raises your good cholesterol.

Look for frozen turkey breasts to go on sale, I buy two, boil them with some enchilada sauce and make like 40 super protein burritos and put them in the freezer.

Also, omelettes where you use 6 whites plus one whole egg.

Bodybuilding.com has a cool feature where you can search for any type of product (e.g., “whey protein isolate”) and it will give you the price per ounce on every brand and size they sell. If you aren’t rich, brand loyalty or buying the nationally advertised brand is foolish. Look for the same core ingredients (i.e., “Mega Milk” has actually a slightly better nutritional profile than “Muscle Milk” which is much more expensive). Bodybuilding.com and dpsnutrition.net are always MUCH CHEAPER than GNC or Vitamin Cottage, plus you get it delivered right to your house.