This fact has really been hitting me hard lately. I would like to thank my girlfriend for telling me all the time, and especially last night, that I just need to eat more. That I shouldn’t worry about getting fat. Just eat and grow.

I knew she was right. Of course she was. That’s the advice out there EVERYWHERE. If you want to get big and strong, eat a lot. Well how much is a lot? Because for awhile now, I thought I was eating a lot. I mean I’ve been eating more than I can remember eating usually. Well, it turns out I’m only eating the very top fringes of the barrel of food I should be consuming every day. I started digging through the forums and articles of internets past, searching for interviews or articles by the pros. There’s no better source for achieving a goal you want to achieve than those who have done it before you. Here’s what I found:

This is Travis Ortmayer trying to “eat a little cleaner”:

“Right now I am trying to eat a little cleaner so I eat a lot of chicken and wild rice together in a bowl. I’ll have about 2 breasts and 3/4 cup (dry) rice along with a liter of whole milk. I have a Labrada whole food shake with 3 eggs mixed in it in the morning then I eat about 6-8 eggs with toast and milk 2 hours later. I’ll either have a pizza or whatever leftovers are in the fridge for lunch. I have a weight gainer shake after my workout and then I eat a big ass dinner (see above). I’d like to get in another meal during the day but I’m not sure how… Sometimes I have a shake if I wake up in the middle of the night too.” http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=113190661&page=4

This is from an interview with Marshall White in 2006, when he was just 23yrs old:

“Yeah I am really pleased with my overall performance/appearance lately. Being the “fat kid” growing up I didn’t believe it was possible to be lean and strong at the same time until I moved up to Washington and saw everyone I was training with doing it. Now my goal is to get leaner in order to improve my athletic performance. My diet consists of massive amounts of grassland beef with some chicken thrown in every now and then lots and lots and lots of fruits and vegetables. I like to eat natural foods so I buy organic or grow veggies myself (or should I say my wife grows them). Lately I haven’t been eating sugar except for what is in milk. I eat 6-8 times a day, as far as supplements go I stick with Met-Rx protein and meal replacements and a multivitamin, and vitamin e (gotta keep those stretch marks down). I believe there is no substitute for massive amounts of whole, naturals foods so I try to stick with that as much as possible.” http://marunde-muscle.com/marshallinterview.html

This is Derek Poundstone’s response in a 2010 interview when asked how many calories he eats per day:

“I would say 8,000. I’m trying to gain weight. My base diet is pretty clean—higher proteins—and I don’t eat much sugar or processed food. I’ll eat starchy carbs when I’m trying to put on some weight.” http://www.columbusmag.com/section-coverstory-article.php?id=1103

Benedikt Magnusson and his wife developed an entire cook book of strength sport-specific meals for accomplishing this lofty goal. A preview of the hilarity and epicness can be seen here:

http://www.lulu.com/shop/gemma-magnusson/benedikt-magnussons-big-strong-beautiful-cookbook/paperback/product-20023896.html]

My favorite quote from the introduction is this:

“You may notice throughout this book that there are a lack of vegetables–or as Benedikt refers to them–‘Grass!’ Benedikt does not eat ‘grass’ when he is gaining weight. He jokes, ‘Cows eat grass, I eat cow!”

From Stefan Solvi Petursson’s website:

“Nutrition is important for success. I eat about 6-8 times per day and consume about 7-10.000 calories. My diet staples include: eggs, beef, lamb, chicken, fish, oatmeal, rice, potatoes, vegetables, fruits and supplements.”

http://www.stefansolvi.net/en/sidur/training

Here’s what Mike Jenkins had to say on the subject:

“I eat as clean as possible. Having a fiancée who competes in NPC Bikini shows makes it easy to keep the bad stuff out of the house. I try to eat for what I am going to do, not what I did. I follow a modified Paleo diet. It’s very low carb for someone who weighs almost 400 pounds and is very active, but it works for me.”

Then there’s a big list of a typical eating day for him and it includes:

-10 eggs

-36oz of “lean meat”

-3 protein shakes

-2 cups of rice

-a ton of veggies

-nuts, cottage cheese, regular cheese, and various other things…basically a crap ton of food!

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/only-the-strongest-mike-jenkins-workout.html

So that pretty much seals the deal there. I think people, including myself, get too caught up in the minute details of training, and often overlook the MASSIVE importance of diet. It’s time to chow down. Stay full my friends!