Gut is wrecked trying to eat big on this blast, how are you actually keeping digestion together?

Few weeks into an off season blast and the food is beating me. I'm trying to push the calories up to actually grow but my gut is a mess, bloated all day, everything just sitting there, and forcing another meal in feels impossible. Bit of a catch 22 because the EQ has me ravenous one minute and then the GH bloat kills any room the next. How are you lot actually keeping digestion together when you're eating big? Is it just down to food choices or are people running something for it? Feels stupid because i can't grow off food i can't even get down.

Good thread. The thing that helps most guys here is adding calories slowly, around 100 at a time, and letting the gut settle at the new baseline before pushing again. Leaning on chicken, white fish and egg whites with easy carbs like jasmine rice and cream of rice digests far easier than a wall of red meat. You cannot grow off food you cannot absorb, so a slightly slower lean gain beats wrecking your stomach.

The food choices are where I got the biggest win. Dropping the fatty red meat and leaning on chicken breast, white fish and egg whites with jasmine and cream of rice digests so much easier than trying to force a wall of steak down. And stop trying to jump the calories all at once, add maybe 100 at a time and let your gut settle at that before pushing again. Digestive enzymes with the big meals help too. If youre properly stuck some guys run a bit of cyproheptadine through the rough patch for the appetite, but honestly a slightly slower lean gain beats wrecking your stomach, you cant grow off food you cant absorb.

Digestive enzymes with every meal made the single biggest difference for me, a basic one with protease, lipase and amylase in it, cheap and actually noticeable within a couple days. I also stopped trying to hit my whole surplus in 3 meals and spread it across 6 smaller ones, way less bloated feeling and I actually finish the plate instead of forcing the last few bites. Ginger tea before the biggest meal of the day helps settle things too if anyone is dealing with the GH gut on top of everything. Agree with dropping red meat when things get bad, chicken thigh and rice sits so much easier than a big steak when your gut is already fighting you.

Good advice in here. Slow and steady with the calories always beats forcing it, learned that the hard way myself over the years.

Digestive enzymes before every big meal made a bigger difference for me than anything else I tried. Sounds basic but a lot of guys skip it and then wonder why 8 meals of chicken and rice is wrecking them. Your gut doesn't naturally produce enough lipase and amylase to handle the volume we're pushing. Add a broad spectrum enzyme and space those meals at least 2.5 to 3 hours apart so the previous one has actually moved on. The guys trying to eat every 90 minutes are part of the problem.

Same situation a couple of years back on a high EQ run. Appetite was insane but gut couldn't keep up with it. Fix for me was stripping out the fatty cuts and red meat entirely and running just chicken breast, white fish and egg whites for protein. Cream of rice three or four times a day instead of potatoes or pasta. Digestion sorted within a week of making those swaps. Digestive enzymes with each meal helped too, nothing groundbreaking but takes enough load off to notice. And slow the calorie build - adding 100 at a time rather than jumping 1000 calories in a week is what actually lets the gut keep up.

Good practical thread. The gut issues on a serious bulk are real and worth talking about. If anyone finds specific products or protocols that help, keep sharing them here.

Metformin helped me more with the high carb phases than anything else. Not just for insulin sensitivity, it actually settled the digestion out a bit, less of that bloated full feeling after forcing 400g carbs into a meal. Run it at 500mg twice a day with food and it takes the edge off.

The other thing that made a real difference was pulling the red meat out completely and switching to chicken and white fish. Sounds basic but my gut was fighting me on 400g of steak a day and once I dropped it the food started moving properly again. Easier to hit the numbers when the meals are actually digesting.

Digestive enzymes with every big meal made a real difference for me. Not sexy but they work. Also spacing meals at 90 mins minimum rather than trying to force another one down every hour. Cramming food in faster than the gut can process it is how it falls apart. Accept a slower calorie build and actually absorb what you eat rather than half of it sitting undigested.