Newbie Advice

JD77

I need some advice....I am looking to put on some lean muscle over the next few months, I find it hard to eat enough whole foods so I have decided to make a purchase from bulkpowders.co.uk I am going to start on protein shakes and get much more serious about the weights.
I have read all the stickies and I have worked out my basal metabolic rate and I have my diet pretty clean but i am still finding it hard to consume enough foods so I am looking for advice on how to do that.
I am 185 cm and 176lbs

I am eating 6 meals a day and in my ignorance thought i was consuming a lot of calories and blamed my cardio for my weight going down but looking at the my BMR I see that I am just not consuming enough calories. I really enjoy cardio but I am willing to cut back big time to reach my goals
The advice part.... sorry for the long lead in am I right in thinking that I should take a whey shake in the morning another one pre work out another one post work out with some glucose and one before bed as well as the 6 meals.

Also how much glucose should I be adding to the post workout shake?

Any other tips greatly appreciated.......i have been reading this site for a few weeks and the info is top class I did some searches but didnt find the exact answers I was looking for

Cheers,

JD

Colm_OReilly

What is your current diet? What is your current regime?

JD77

This is an average days diet, the programme I downloaded as the gym where I go didnt give me much help to be honest they seemed to be very cardio focussed not what i needed

Breakfast Porridge
Mid Morning banana
Lunch 2 X Sandwiches (not a great option I know but very little
facilities where i work)
Mid Afternoon Almonds
Dinner Chicken/Turkey/Beef + Veg or Salad
Evening Kiwi Fruit

3 day routine

1/ Squats or Leg press
2/ Leg Extensions
3/ Leg Curls
4/ Standing Calf Raise
5/ Ab Leg Raises

1/ Incline Bench Press
2/ Close Grip Bench Press
3/ Behind Neck Shoulder
Press
4/ Side Lateral Raises
5/ Dumbbell Biceps Curl

1/ Shoulder Width Lat
Pulldown
2/ Close Grip Seated Pulley
Row
3/ Triceps Push Down
4/ Crunches
5/ Hyper Extensions
6/ Shrugs

EileenG

Your routine looks pretty good, but I'd like to see some deadlifts and stiffleg deadlifts n there, maybe some pull-ups, dips and barbell rows as well.

Could I suggest eating eggs for breakfast instead of porridge? It is even quicker to cook, and lets you get in some quality protein and cals. If you are trying to increase calories, then something like cottage cheese instead of the fruit could help.

Definitely go for a shake after your workout. You don't need a huge amount of glucose, 15-30g is probably enough. You can add whey to things like porridge to increase the protein. Looks like your lunch is the best opportunity to increase quality calories. Do you have other options besides the sandwich?

JD77

Thanks for the reply Eileen I could accomodate the eggs alright for protein....porridge is only a new thing that i added recently....i used to eat cereal and toast so i figured that porridge would be better.

The sandwich front is basically i get about 15 mins to grab a quick lunch and its the most convenient....i suppose i could just have a salad.....the sandwiches are 4 slices of wholegrain brown bread and meat and salad.....so i could just have it without the bread....i dont have any microwave etc so a hot lunch is not an option

I will add those to the routine as well thanks

Also on the shake front is 4 when training and 3 when not overkill or is it about right?

would a shake with my breakfast or add whey to the porridge be an option and would i do that after cooking?

how close to working out do i have the shake and would casein be better at bed time than whey due to the slow absorption?

Thanks for the help....and apologies for any questions that seem obvious i have read a lot of posts and still had questions

davyjose

Why lose the porridge? You want to add cals, so why take such a quality food out of your diet. Why not have the eggs and the porridge. Then you won't need to use so many protein shakes. Throw in a couple of glasses of milk a day and you'll start to notice differences. Eggs, Porridge, Milk - it doesn't get any better.

EileenG

Casein is good at bedtime. Whey is great after working out, as it digests quickly.

Personally, I wouldn't eat or drink anything within an hour of a planned workout, or you may find it coming back up again when you are doing heavy squats or benches. Gyms really hate it when you puke on their floors.

Have you any idea how many extra calories you need to add to your diet? In my experience, most people over-estimate the amount of calories they really need to support their lifestyle and workouts.

JD77

I will add the eggs to my breakfast and porridge
mid morning banana
Lunch meat and salad
Afternoon Almonds and Whey shake
Workout
Post Workout Whey with glucose
Dinner: Meat and veg or salad
Night: Fruit and casein shake

I will cut out the post workout shake on my non training days

For extra snacks and with my salads I have started having ryvita with cottage cheese also (max 3 a day) is this okay….is there anything else you would advise…..I will start drinking milk with meals also I usually only have it with tea and drink water at meal times but I will add it in.

I worked out my BMR to be 2889 but when I added up the calories in my diet I was lucky to hit 1500 seeing as I cut out a lot of high calorie junk

Anything else I should be doing?

celestial

JD77 wrote: »

I will add the eggs to my breakfast and porridge
mid morning banana
Lunch meat and salad
Afternoon Almonds and Whey shake
Workout
Post Workout Whey with glucose
Dinner: Meat and veg or salad
Night: Fruit and casein shake

I will cut out the post workout shake on my non training days

For extra snacks and with my salads I have started having ryvita with cottage cheese also (max 3 a day) is this okay….is there anything else you would advise…..I will start drinking milk with meals also I usually only have it with tea and drink water at meal times but I will add it in.

I worked out my BMR to be 2889 but when I added up the calories in my diet I was lucky to hit 1500 seeing as I cut out a lot of high calorie junk

Anything else I should be doing?

Do you mean that your new diet listed above is just 1500 calories?

timetogetfit

not enough protein in your diet , you need protein in every meal

celestial

timetogetfit wrote: »

not enough protein in your diet , you need protein in every meal

How do you figure that then? And why exactly does he need protein at EVERY meal?

Eggs for breakfast, meat for lunch, almonds for a snack, more meat in the evening and THREE protein shakes every day!!

g'em

celestial wrote: »

How do you figure that then? And why exactly does he need protein at EVERY meal?

It's a JB-ism, but it's still good advice. Protein is a great blood-sugar regulator, it's thermogenic and it helps maintain a positive nitrogen balance thereby promoting prolonged anabolism. It keeps you full longer than carbs and it's a great appetite regulator.

But in the case of the meal plan outlined there seems to be plenty of protein there

celestial

g'em wrote: »

It's a JB-ism, but it's still good advice. Protein is a great blood-sugar regulator, it's thermogenic and it helps maintain a positive nitrogen balance thereby promoting prolonged anabolism. It keeps you full longer than carbs and it's a great appetite regulator.

But in the case of the meal plan outlined there seems to be plenty of protein there

Yup, it does all of the above alright, but always like to challenge blanket statements like that;)

JD77

celestial wrote: »

Do you mean that your new diet listed above is just 1500 calories?

No not this plan my original diet was 3 meals a day standard type stuff and was usually low in calories......probably down to ignorant eating in the sense that eating salads will make you healty.....reading this forum and the nutrition forum has provided me with a wealth of information which led me to the conclusion that i wasnt taking in enough calories and especially not enough protein or good fats and over doing the carbs......i never thought of eating almonds before but now i love them.......portions of 10 i bring with me to work so i dont over do them

thanks to all for the help it is much appreciated