Where do I find the time? And the room?

[milefile]

Hi All,

New to the forum and pretty new to fitness and nutrition, too. As I make my way down this road I find that I have questions about practical things and don't really know anyone personally to ask. So here I am.

A little background...

In April of this year I weighed 240 lbs, big ol' gut and just sadly out of shape. I'd been feeling sorry for myself about it for a while and somewhere around the beginning of May I decided to finally stop whining and start working.

I'm 41 years old and in the best shape I've ever been in. I'm proud of the progress I've made and like the way I look, but I'm not the type that can rest on my laurels. I have to be working toward a goal or things start to unravel. So now that I've lost most of the fat and put on some muscle, bought new belts and pants and no longer have to wear baggy shirts, my goals have turned toward building muscle in earnest. I know what I want to look like, and from what I've been able to read online the main thing I need to do differently is my diet.

I've ordered a set of body fat calipers and they should arrive tomorrow. I'll finally be able to get a better handle on my BMR instead of using the guestimate of 2730. I weigh 203 lbs now and am pretty muscular/lean, but I still have fat in some areas and I want to see that go away, at the same time I want to put more muscle mass on in a few areas like my pecs.

So I've ditched the restricted-calorie weight-loss diet and adopted a higher calorie and protein, lower fat one, and focused my workouts more on building muscle.

Here's my problem: I find it difficult to consume 2730 calories in a day. And I sometimes find it tough to eat all throughout the day and not pile it up at meal times, just because of scheduling reasons. It's much easier on the weekend when I'm home and have more control than when I have to bring most of my food to work with me. I'm piling up mostly carbs in the early part of the day, and around midday transitioning to a protein weighted diet. I work out every other day.

I'm wondering if there is some type of supplement or energy bar type thing that could help me pack in a lot of calories in a shorter period of time and not stuff my gut so much? I enjoy eating so much more now that I am being creative and finding healthy choices and trying new things, plus I like to cook. But sometimes it's impractical.

A typical caolrie breakdown for me lately is:

40% carbs (mostly whole grans)
40% protien (white poultry meat, fish, and egg whites)
20% fat (dairy)

Sorry for the longwinded post. Hopefully you made it through and have some suggestions on how best to eat to reduce fat and build muscle.

[AWD_TURBO]

Dont use percentages. Look here http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=121703981

As for finding time to eat and hunger issues, Looking into Intermittent Fasting. www.leangains.com

Basically its eating within an 8 hr window so you dont have to worry about eating every 2 hrs or what not. If your having a hard time eating your daily allotted calories then choose more calorie dense foods. Remember you dont have to stick to "bro" style foods.

Caloric Dense foods:
PB
Cheese
Red Meat
Ice cream
Pasta
etc...

Great job so far man! and welcome to the forums!

[ZMan45]

Calculate your numbers using the stickies. Eat whatever you want as long as it fits your calculated macros. Commit to either fat burning or muscle gain, because both won't happen at the same time very long.

And wtf at egg whites. You're eating fish, but not egg yolks. Mind is full of fuk.

[ko300zx]

So I've ditched the restricted-calorie weight-loss diet and adopted a higher calorie and protein, lower fat one, and focused my workouts more on building muscle.

Fat is a necessary nutrient and you want sufficient amounts of dietary fat daily. Increased fat intake will also help you with your inability to stomach 2700 cals.

And I sometimes find it tough to eat all throughout the day and not pile it up at meal times, just because of scheduling reasons. It's much easier on the weekend when I'm home and have more control than when I have to bring most of my food to work with me. I'm piling up mostly carbs in the early part of the day, and around midday transitioning to a protein weighted diet. I work out every other day.

You should eat only when you want to eat. There's no reason to eat all throughout the day, and you are welcome to pile up the food. With the type of training you are doing and with your goals in mind, meal timing is for the most part irrelevant. Eat when you want and when you feel it will lead to your greatest performance during training.

40% carbs (mostly whole grans)
40% protien (white poultry meat, fish, and egg whites)
20% fat (dairy)

Disregard ratios. Your body requires specific amounts of certain nutrients (fat, protein) and it does not care what the ratio of those nutrients are to one another.

Read the sticky at the top of this section regarding calculating your macros. This will show you the appropriate amount of fat and protein you need to be including in your diet.

[sunngodd]

Hi All,

New to the forum and pretty new to fitness and nutrition, too. As I make my way down this road I find that I have questions about practical things and don't really know anyone personally to ask. So here I am.

A little background...

In April of this year I weighed 240 lbs, big ol' gut and just sadly out of shape. I'd been feeling sorry for myself about it for a while and somewhere around the beginning of May I decided to finally stop whining and start working.

I'm 41 years old and in the best shape I've ever been in. I'm proud of the progress I've made and like the way I look, but I'm not the type that can rest on my laurels. I have to be working toward a goal or things start to unravel. So now that I've lost most of the fat and put on some muscle, bought new belts and pants and no longer have to wear baggy shirts, my goals have turned toward building muscle in earnest. I know what I want to look like, and from what I've been able to read online the main thing I need to do differently is my diet.

I've ordered a set of body fat calipers and they should arrive tomorrow. I'll finally be able to get a better handle on my BMR instead of using the guestimate of 2730. I weigh 203 lbs now and am pretty muscular/lean, but I still have fat in some areas and I want to see that go away, at the same time I want to put more muscle mass on in a few areas like my pecs.

So I've ditched the restricted-calorie weight-loss diet and adopted a higher calorie and protein, lower fat one, and focused my workouts more on building muscle.

Here's my problem: I find it difficult to consume 2730 calories in a day. And I sometimes find it tough to eat all throughout the day and not pile it up at meal times, just because of scheduling reasons. It's much easier on the weekend when I'm home and have more control than when I have to bring most of my food to work with me. I'm piling up mostly carbs in the early part of the day, and around midday transitioning to a protein weighted diet. I work out every other day.

I'm wondering if there is some type of supplement or energy bar type thing that could help me pack in a lot of calories in a shorter period of time and not stuff my gut so much? I enjoy eating so much more now that I am being creative and finding healthy choices and trying new things, plus I like to cook. But sometimes it's impractical.

A typical caolrie breakdown for me lately is:

40% carbs (mostly whole grans)
40% protien (white poultry meat, fish, and egg whites)
20% fat (dairy)

Sorry for the longwinded post. Hopefully you made it through and have some suggestions on how best to eat to reduce fat and build muscle.

Fat is 9 calories per gram, carbs and protein are 4. Thus, it's easier to eat more calories with less volume when your fat intake is higher.

[milefile]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I found that sticky yesterday and it's what drew me to this forum and prompted me to order the calipers My general impression is that I maybe need to slow down and let my body tell me what it needs...? Basically limit myself to the sections above "Macronutrient Needs" first and get a handle on that.

I'm glad to hear from several of you that how often and how much I eat is not as important as some stuff I'd read would have me believe. Liberating.

And @ Zman45... the omlette is two eggs and five egg whites. So seven eggs total but only two yolks. Under the assumption that more protien and less fat is better...

[WonderPug]

Under the assumption that more protien and less fat is better...

Not exactly. Insuring at least physiologically sufficient intake of both protein and fat is ideal.

[milefile]

Not exactly. Insuring at least physiologically sufficient intake of both protein and fat is ideal.

This is something I'm not understanding. If I want to build more muscle, and the body doen't make it's own protien, I need to eat it. So I guess that has to mean that when I read "eat one gram of protein for every pound you weigh," I should disregard. I'll buy that. And I love cheese! But what would a minimum number of grams of protien be, in general for a moderately lean 200 lb guy to build muscle?

[WonderPug]

This is something I'm not understanding. If I want to build more muscle, and the body doen't make it's own protien, I need to eat it. So I guess that has to mean that when I read "eat one gram of protein for every pound you weigh," I should disregard. I'll buy that. And I love cheese! But what would a minimum number of grams of protien be, in general for a moderately lean 200 lb guy to build muscle?

Read the stickies, starting with: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?p=436716771

After reading the stickies, you might be interested in learning that nitrogen balance techniques suggest that the protein requirements to attain zero nitrogen balance in those that engage in resistance training range from 1.2–2.2 grams of protein per kg of bodyweight [1-6]. FYI: 1.2 grams per kg = 0.54 grams per pound and 2.2 grams per kg = 1 gram per pound of bodyweight.

--------------------
1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14971434
2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15798080
3. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1763249
4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11023001
5. http://sportsci.org/jour/9901/rbk.html
6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15212752

[PBateman2]

^^What Pug said right there....

Dont use percentages. Look here http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=121703981

As for finding time to eat and hunger issues, Looking into Intermittent Fasting. www.leangains.com

Basically its eating within an 8 hr window so you dont have to worry about eating every 2 hrs or what not. If your having a hard time eating your daily allotted calories then choose more calorie dense foods. Remember you dont have to stick to "bro" style foods.

Caloric Dense foods:
PB
Cheese
Red Meat
Ice cream
Pasta
etc...

Great job so far man! and welcome to the forums!

..and ^this...calorie dense foods.

[milefile]

I re-read the Macronutrient sticky and have started to re-think the way I approach nutrition. It takes some planning to get to 1 gram of protein per pound. I have this iPhone app where I can put in what I eat and it will sum up the nutrion information for me. Handy. So knowing what I have at home, and what I brought to work today, I was able to plan the day in such a way as to reach 200 grams of protien by tonight. It will involve a snack of yesterday's leftover chicken later tonight.