levista

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Ok, my eating habits are basically really hurting my weight training gains at this point and i need to get an eating programme.

I'm not after losing weight specifically, I know packing on some muscle mass and slowly lowering calorie intake over time to an appropriate level will do that.

Where I am getting messed up is just getting an eating routine that is simple and uses easily available food. I dont want meal replacements, i dont want protein bars etc etc etc etc. I want to eat food that is easily available in high street food stores (i am in the UK), things like porridge, corn flakes, fruit and veg. I cannot cook for shit, so dinner is always a problem for me.

I dont care if the plan is boring or repetitve. I do not care, i just want to start getting regular meals down my bloody throat. I think it would change my body in no time to get regular meals instead of 2 or 3 badly thought out meals a day of whatever is at hand (jaffa cakes couldnt promote muscle growth!)

Any suggestions/links/guides/books anyone can point me towards?

If i can just nail this eating routine, i know i can build on it and over time move to a more hardcore eating routine for real results using protein powders etc.
 
Bah. Screw the protein powders. They're processed junk, every one of them. Let me tell you about this program I'm on. I mentioned it in MaidenFanatic's body fat loss thread, but it didn't get a whole lot of attention. The beauty of this diet is that you can easily adapt it to fit your style of training, and what you're trying to accomplish at the moment.

The basic principle behind the whole thing is that you eat foods that your body is naturally designed to eat. This way it processes the food much easier and can put the nutrents to work more quickly and effectively. Our digestive systems are almost IDENTICAL to the digestive systems of apes, especially chimps and orangutans. Their natural diet consists of at least 50% fruit, up to 90% at times, and the rest is raw meat and leaves.

No, the diet isn't all fruit, raw meat and leaves. But you do eat a lot of fruit, meat, and leafy vegetables. The idea is to STAY AWAY from processed foods completely, or at least as much as possible. The guy that wrote the book goes so far as to even not drink pasteurized milk. He drinks raw goats milk, because he can't get raw cow milk. I don't think you can really get raw milk of any kind in the states unless you're friends with a farmer.

Anyway, here's what my diet generally consists of.

Breakfast is fruit and fruit juices. Nothing else. Fruit passes from your stomach to your small intestine very quickly, and so provides you with plenty of energy fast. It's a great boost in the morning. Plus, if you eat other stuff with the fruit it can take a long time to go through your stomach, and the fruit can rot, giving you gas and digestion problems and all that fun stuff. Eat it by itself and you should have no trouble at all.

Most days I'll get hungry before lunch, so I have some more fruit, or a protein shake. Not your whey protein powder shakes, but milk, eggs, and honey (for taste) in a blender. Its delicious! I put two eggs, but if you need more that's perfectly ok, of course. You can also add in bananas or whatever.

Lunch is usually either meat (chicken, fatty fish like salmon, or steak, etc) and leafy veggies (to help digest the meat much easier) or another protein shake. Usually if I plan on having a shake for lunch I eat fruit for my midmorning snack. If I plan on having meat, I will do either fruit or a shake for the snack depending on how hungry I am and how long it is before lunch.

Some days I'll have a snack before dinner, similar to the first snack.

Dinner is always chicken, pork chops, steak, fish, or some other meat. Also some more rabbit food. Haha. Some days I'll have some wholegrain organic bread (I like Ezekiel bread).

Many nights I'm up late for rehearsals or gigs (I'm a musician...we're night owls), so I'll have some more fruit.

Any time where I said eat fruit, I'll frequently make a fruit smoothie instead of eating pieces of fruit. Yum! Some days I'll have veggie juice at some point, but I really don't like the taste.

So of course you can add in more protein if you're trying to bulk up or whatever, or you can cut out some protein and eat more fruits and veggies if you're trying to lose fat. I do some sort of workout 6 days a week. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I'll do dips, pull-ups, hindu squats, ab stuff, etc. Eventually I'll be adding extra weight instead of just my body weight. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays I run.

I just started this diet about a week ago and I'm getting some really amazing results. I was eating pretty healthily before (especially for a college fresHydromaxan!) and I was working out with bodyweight exercises but I was always tired and had this little bit of extra fat that I had gained last semester and just couldn't get rid of. It's almost gone now. I haven't weighed myself yet, but I would guess I've lost 2-3 lbs of bodyfat in this past week. And the tiredness is completely gone. The book said I'd need less sleep and feel more refreshed once I started eating a majority fruit diet, and it's true. I wake up feeling great and ready to do my exercise (always first thing in the morning if possible for me) after only 6 hours of sleep. Also my endurance while running has gone way up. Tuesday I ran 20 minutes (I know...pathetic, eh?) and was exhausted at the end. Thursday wasn't quite so bad, but still only 20 minutes. Didn't want to push myself to far and get hurt. Today after 20 minutes I felt great, so I kept going. I ended up running nearly an hour without getting exhausted like I had the previous two times. I don't think I've ever gone for an hour run before, even while I was a competitive gymnast. When I got back I felt great!

Of course, bodybuilders don't need all that much stamina, so like I said earlier they can eat less fruit and more protein. But the important thing there is that you get high quality, ANIMAL SOURCE protein. That is the key. Eggs are great for this. They are very easily digested, so they go to work quickly. And don't be afraid of the cholesterol content of eggs. Its good cholesterol. And also don't be afraid of quality fats! Fats to be afraid of are stuff like vegetable oil, hydrogenated/partially hydrogenated fats, trans fats, fast food, stuff like that. Many people lack a lot of fat-soluble vitamins that they need because they are simply too afraid of eating fat. Your body needs enough fat! Just make sure it isn't junky fat.

Once again, if you want the name of the program, send me a PM and I'll tell you. I don't want to be labeled a spammer. I'm in no way trying to sell a product. I've already given you a lot of the basic nuts and bolts of the program, but if you want to learn more you're going to have to buy it yourself. It has lots of info about diet, fitness and exercise, and other stuff in it. It was well worth the money I paid for it, and more.
 
This was pretty much my diet when i was trying to put on more muscle. I tried to focus on protein sources through out the day.

Breakfast: 6 eggs w/yolk, 5-6 bacon slices, a slice of toast, glass of milk, and a multi-vitamin.

Snack: 2 cups of cottage cheese w/ crushed unsweetened pinapple, 2 hardboiled eggs, 16oz of water

Lunch: Hamburger (double patties), steamed veggies, large glass of milk

Snack: 8oz canned tuna, 2-3 hardboiled eggs, 16oz of water

Dinner: Meat (steak, two 1/4lb hamburger patties, etc.), steamed veggies, large glass of milk

Snack: Yogurt, 2-4 hardboiled eggs, 16oz of water

I also tried to drink at least 16oz of water between meals. If i wanted to bulk up, i would replace the milk and water in each meal with a protein shake (~100gr of protein) with each meal.

Protein shake consisted of:
75gr of protein
16oz whole milk
table spoon of flax seed
table spoon of peanutbutter
table spoon of olive oil
 
It is true that you should eat foods that are less processed. The less processed they are, the more your body has to work (burn calories) to process the food itself. And, the less wierd things it has in it that will be bad for you. I do not think that protein powder is bad for you though, and some are more organic than others. The things your first mentioned are all good for you, so go ahead and eat them. Do you own a grill or any kind? A Foreman Grill or, even a skillet? :) If so, you can make chicken breast very easily, just don't over or undercook it, and its a good source of protein for you. I would recommend that you combine whatever breakfast foods you are having with some protein and/or fiber. Both will slow down the absorbtion of the sugars in things like fruits, making you feel full longer, and stopping you from getting a negative quick release of insulin followed by a low. Its like when you would suck down a Coke or some Mountain Dew, or eat a candy bar as a kid. You would get energy quick, but then be tired afterwards, and not at all satisfied anymore.
 
Well...I disagree with you on some of that. Protein powder may not necessarily be "bad" for you, but it's definitely not good for you, and quality animal-source protein is much better. And your body has to work harder to digest processed foods than it does to digest natural foods. That's the whole basis of this diet. You make your body use less energy for digestion so you have more available for running/working out or whatever.

And it's no good to eat something that's going to slow down the digestion of fruit. That's the whole point of eating fruit by itself. It digests quickly so you have energy ready much more quickly. Plus, if the fruit sits in your stomach too long it will rot, which is why so many people have gas and indigestion after they eat fruit with other stuff. I don't mind getting hungry again after eating a fruit breakfast, because I just eat more fruit. And I haven't felt tired once since I started this diet, even getting only 5 hours of sleep a lot of nights. So I don't think the insulin thing holds up if I'm keeping a constant flow of fruit into my stomach until lunch.
 
You're right its fine if you use all of that "energy". Fruit is very low in calories so its tough to overeat it, and in that way you're also right, its fine to eat a lot more. But, if you're hungry, you're going to eat more, and the sugars in most fruit will release insulin. Thats basically what carbohydrates end up doing. I want my body to have to work a little harder to digest natural food, so I go for things like complex carbs before simple ones found in "most" fruits. Thats why when I have simple carbs, I combine it with something else. I personally don't get gas or indigestion the way that I eat, but maybe its just me. I've had nothing but fruit for breakfast, and I'm usually hungry again within an hour. My job doesn't permit me to eat every hour, so its not really an option for me.

And a slower insulin release is a bit better for you, as I said if you don't use all that energy, your body will store it as fat. So thats fine for someone with an active job, but if you're sitting at a desk all day, you might want something that will release energy slower for longer periods of time. My protein powder has only 3 ingredients, so I don't think its all that bad. But, the diet you suggested is great for someone looking for something healthy. The only things I really change are, the combination of foods, and I add protein powder. Other than that I agree. And, food never stays in me long enough to rot ;) All the fiber I have makes sure of that. And natural fiber too :)
 
Thanks for all the intellectual intercourse guys =)

I'm currently trying to get a copy of the program cyclops is on so i can study it myself and am getting some ideas of where to begin for this diet shenanigans.

I have to say, as someone who cannot cook to save his skin, lots of fruit sounds good. I do use protein powders as I lift weights, and if i can add yoghurts, cereal and things like chicken sandwiches then I am thinking I am getting there step by step =)

I just want to start simple and fool-proff, see how my body feels and then make small changes to the diet over time depending on this.
 
Sounds like the right thing to do. There is a diet that I currently have my girlfriend doing ;) that starts you off piece by piece. She is a really unhealthy eater. It starts off by having you make sure you eat breakfast in the morning, and the rest of the day you can have whatever you normally have. The next week, you have to eat a healthy breakfast, and a healthy lunch, rest of the day whatever. Third week, breakfast, lunch, and a good mid-afternoon snack. 4th week is all the above plus a good dinner. She's losing some weight on it. So, going little by little will ease you into the diet, and before you know it it'll be easy.
 
sikdogg said:
If i wanted to bulk up, i would replace the milk and water in each meal with a protein shake (~100gr of protein) with each meal.

Protein shake consisted of:
75gr of protein
16oz whole milk
table spoon of flax seed
table spoon of peanutbutter
table spoon of olive oil


Why would you want to pay to flush that much protein down the toilet? There is no way in hell most people could even eatr that much at once let alone with a meal. That shake itself is about 2-3 meals. And there is no way your body could use that much protein at once.
 
What's wrong with that protein drink, why would you be flushing protein down the toliet?
Who says you can't use that much protein at once?
 
The only way your body could use all that protein at once is if you are on roids.
 
Mercury said:
What's wrong with that protein drink, why would you be flushing protein down the toliet?
Who says you can't use that much protein at once?

Because if your body cant use it, it is like flushing $$$ down the toilet. I dont know the factual basis but even most hardcore protein supplement drinks have no more than 40-50gm of protein and apparently its is difficult to use any more than that. Plus you have a lot of fat calories plus carbs from the whole milk. So its not like its just 400 calories of protein (which might not seem like much by itself).
 
hey thanx alot man. ive been gainin a lil weight and it always goes straight to my cheeks(my face cheeks..lol) but thanks alot man...now i know wat i gotta do to lose it.
 
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