In my opinion, 2100 calories is going to be barely enough to cover what you're going to be using my becoming more active. If you were completely sedentary, i.e never moved during the day at all, you'd burn closer to 1650 calories a day. Add onto that the extra activity from lifting and the thermic effect from the increased protein and 2100 probably won't be enough to add more than a pound a month, especially if you are only eating that on workout days.
Bryan wrote a pretty good article on eating for size. If you use the formulas he gives, you get a few different results, all way more than your projected intake of 2100 calories:
http://www.hypertrophy-specific.info/HSreport/iss04/index.html#art_1
Formula 1: 2400 calories
Formula 2: 2463 calories if we use the lower numbers for exercising only 3 days a week with a desk job and adding only 500 on top for weight gain.
If you really want to cycle calories, which I don't think you should, I would prefer to see you taking in closer to 2500 - 2600 the 24 hours after a workout and the 24 hours prior, take in 2300-2400. The reason I think calorie cycling like this is pointless is because your measurements of food are not going to be precise, so in reality, it is all just a estimation. A fairly accurate estimation, but still an estimation. So at the end of the day, your counts could easily be off by a couple hundred calories plus or minus. So you'd be better off just shooting for around 2400 a day, and if you end up one or two hundred north or south of that, it won't be the end of the world.
* Get quick-digesting protein and carbs as soon as you wake up and then a regular breakfast shortly after that.
Doesn't matter. Just eat regular breakfast when you get up. If you are going to take in protein before breakfast, only do this the
day after your workout, since protein synthesis spikes 24 hours after the workout. If you lift at 9 am, it will peak at 9 am the next day. But it won't matter, if your breakfast includes plenty of protein then you will be fine. The carbs upon waking are entirely unnecessary. I know the theory is that your stomach is empty, but if you really think about it, your stomach is not empty upon waking. As long as your breakfast isn't just Lucky Charms and is actually something with substance, there is no reason to take in fast protein and carbs upon waking.
* Eat high-glycemic carbs immediately before and after workouts. Low-glycemic carbs the rest of the time.
Unless you are "carb sensitive" or diabetic or something, this won't matter. You're not going to give yourself type 2 diabetes by eating high-glycemic carbs, and if you had the sort of lifestyle where type 2 diabetes was a concern (i.e. you were alcoholic or morbidly obese) then the type of carbs you were eating wouldn't matter since the diabeetus would happen regardless due to your poor lifestyle choices.
Some simple carbs prior to the workout can enhance your workout but you will see a more profound effect on the workout from what you ate the night before. This is why the old school wisdom came about of eating a big pasta dinner the night before the big game. It is very important to get
protein prior to a workout though. You can add some simple carbs (i.e. sugar) to that preworkout protein shake, but you don't need to, especially if you got some good complex carbs around dinner time the previous night.
* Spread the protein/carbs evenly throughout the day for best results.
Doesn't actually matter. Eat them whenever is convenient for you. Obviously trying to concentrate them within the window of increased protein synthesis in the 36 hours following the workout is better than binging some hours prior to the workout.
There is no magic to diets. The biggest factor is always going to be how many calories you are taking in compared to how many calories you are burning. Calories in vs calories out. Adequate protein intake is important, but you won't gain weight from just adding in more protein if calories are inadequate.
You also cannot bulk up and gain muscle without gaining at least some fat. You're going to have to learn to deal with that if you truly want to make a significant change to your body. Fat isn't some evil thing to be feared, you can always cut the fat away later. For someone like you, cutting fat should be easy when the time comes.
Just in case this matters, I'm 6'1 and about eight years ago, I only weighed 140 lbs. Just fyi. Using the information above, I've gained 100 lbs since then, and I'm not fat right now either. So yes, this information is stuff that I've actually used to produce a radical change to my body. You can do the same thing. Notice that it did take about eight years to get to where I'm at, but I'm assuming you have the patience to do it. And if you don't want to be that big, just a slim, toned 200 lbs, well then you can get there even faster. Just remember that there aren't all these convoluted rules about diet. It's simple. Get enough protein. After that, it's calories in vs calories out. If you aren't gaining an average of 1-2 lbs a week, you aren't getting enough calories in to cover the calories out.
