Diet, Nutrition and SupplementationPost here for supplement reviews or nutritional advice. If you're trying to get "ripped abz" THIS is where you should be.
Am I an idiot or am I making this too difficult? Help, please.
I really need some help with my nutrition. First off, some background on me: I’m 40 years old, 6’1”, weigh 178# w/ 20% body fat according to my scale. I’m currently doing the NROL program and am loving it. I’m lifting 3 days/week and doing HIIT 3 days/week. Like most guys in their 40s, I want to lose some excess bodyfat and build some decent muscle. Call me vain, but I want to look like I work out, I want to have no issues taking off my shirt and going for a run in the summer, I want to not be self conscious about how I look at the pool, etc.
I know what foods I should be eating (chicken breasts, veggies, brown rice, skim milk, oatmeal, etc.) but I’m confused as how to put it all together in a weekly meal plan. Even though chicken is good for me, I can still eat too much. Same with rice, skim milk, etc. I need help figuring out the amounts of food I’m supposed to eat, when to eat them, etc. I’ve read through some good threads and have some ideas, but my main fear (for lack of a better word) is not getting enough nutrients, i.e. protein and carbs, at the right time to support my training goals, therefore making my time in the gym worth something. I have limited time to train, so I bust my butt in the gym. I want to get the most return (muscle gains/fat losses) for my investment (time spent on NROL).
I’ve looked into Fitday and it seems like it will be a great place to start, but how do I know how many calories I should be eating? What ratios of proteins/fats/carbs do I need? For me to lose fat, won’t I have to cut calories so I’m in a caloric deficit? If I’m in a caloric deficit, then I can’t gain muscle can I? Should I not worry about the muscle right now and concentrate on getting the fat % lower?
If you have any suggestions, resources I should look into, books to read, etc. that will help me get a better handle on the proper nutrition needs for my goals, I’d sure appreciate it.
Cheers,
S.
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I recieved PN back at the begining of the summer and I have really enjoyed it. The whole package includes a gourmet cook book and a guidline manual, as well as some other little extras.
The manual talks about different types of dieting/cycling and eating healthy in general. It also goes into nutrient timing, macros, and calorie breakdowns as well. It's very informative on getting the whole picture as far as proper nutrition and changing body composition goes.
I didn't gain a ton from reading it, because I mostly followed JB's guidlines beforehand (but it did fill me in on quite a bit). But for a begginner, I would say it's well worth the $.
How "simple" PN is depends on your situation. While I definitely improved aspects of my physique while using the guidelines, I realize now, looking back, that I was actually spending more time and thought on the P+F, P+C meals, crazy shakes and timing than I needed to. If you have a decent amount of time and patience for it, then no problem.
The separation of carbs and fats doesn't seem to have much scientific backing, and anectodally, the best I've looked, probably in my life, was this past summer, when I ate balanced P+F+C meals every day.
All of that said, it does give you a very specific map on how to eat, plenty of suggestions and recipes, and plenty of people have had success with it.
I guess what I'm saying is that it isn't necessary or maybe even optimal... but it does provide a successful formula.
Eat 5-7 meals per day.
A palm-sized portion of lean protein at each meal.
A fist-sized portion of "real" unprocessed carbs at each meal (un-processed, so starchy veggies, rice, legumes, fruit, etc).
At least 1 cup of fibrous veggies at each meal.
Add a bit of fat at each meal.
Try this for at least 2 weeks, then adjust from there (ie reducing carbs later in the day, etc) depending upon your results.
PN is great info, and usable and all that good stuff. In general I think it is worth the money, but if you haven't paid any attention to your nutrition, just start with the basics. You don't need a complicated plan unless you have specific body comp goals and a limited time-frame, or athletic goals, or have been eating properly for a while with no progress toward your goals.
HTH,
Julie
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Eat 5-7 meals per day.
A palm-sized portion of lean protein at each meal.
A fist-sized portion of "real" unprocessed carbs at each meal (un-processed, so starchy veggies, rice, legumes, fruit, etc).
At least 1 cup of fibrous veggies at each meal.
Add a bit of fat at each meal.
Try this for at least 2 weeks, then adjust from there (ie reducing carbs later in the day, etc) depending upon your results.
PN is great info, and usable and all that good stuff. In general I think it is worth the money, but if you haven't paid any attention to your nutrition, just start with the basics. You don't need a complicated plan unless you have specific body comp goals and a limited time-frame, or athletic goals, or have been eating properly for a while with no progress toward your goals.
HTH,
Julie
bingo.
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Don't know you well enough to answer the first part of the question. For the second part if you want to go something a little less expensive than PN look into Berardi's Metabolism Advantage book. It's been called "PN Lite" in some circles. It takes the basis of his nutrition philosophy but lays it out in a step by step program. There are meals plans in it that give you a list of meals for everyday of the week and the recipes are included.
You can find the book on Amazon or in book stores.
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The thing I like about PN is it has the full range of info from 'Just do this' through to 'heres how you work it out for yourself' and a bunch of other stuff in between. Has the No Nonsense Nutrition DVDs, a bunch of audio CDs and then a whole lot of more advanced stuff. Thats why I said if you got this you wouldnt need anything else. You can use it to be as simplistic or advanced as you'd like.
As MaxAttack says it comes with the Gourmet Nutrition cookbook which is awesome by itself.
Theres definately an argument that you could buy something cheaper and then read around on the internet articles and stuff to fill in the rest yourself. The thing I like about PN is its all in one place, just makes life easy.
I've never read the Metabolism Advantage book, sounds interesting. Probably depends a bit on your budget and how much you're prepared to spend.
I don't have PN 2.0, so I can't comment on the Protein/Fat and Protein/Carb meal focus. There's so little discussion of that concept at the PN forums, nowadays, that I'd be surprised if that's still going on all that much.
I'd try Julie's way, first. But before you go with PN, I'd look at TNT
I think TNT is even easier than PN or Metabolism Advantage. Of course, both diets want you to cut out the starchy carbs (You get to eat the starchy carbs at specific times/days for each, so all is not lost).
Both books come with good workouts (TNT's is also by Cosgrove). Both books have recipes and interesting anecdotes. TNT has a couple of forum members feature as success cases, too.
If you're relatively new to lifting and get a good diet going (like TNT), you might be surprised to drop some fat and add some muscle. Many of the newbies over at the TNT forums are doing just that on TNT.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BjsAust
I've never read the Metabolism Advantage book, sounds interesting. Probably depends a bit on your budget and how much you're prepared to spend.
I have MA. It's basically a book that takes the 10 Habits and expands on them. A lot more detail on what and why you should eat like that. Recipes and workouts, too. Seems to simple, but it a pretty easy read with good info on healthy eating.
As said above, getting your diet right and getting a handle on eating the right proportions is the best start. After that I'd say PN is great a great option and you can individualize and make it as complicated or simple as you want.
as far as the PC or PF meals mentioned earlier, JB refers to mainly PC meals with a little healthy fat around or after a workout, and a mix of PFC meals the rest of the day with carbs coming from veggies and fruit(non-starch). (This approach makes sense to me anyway) Some people do well with more or less carbs all the time, just have to see what works over time.
Am I an idiot or am I making this too difficult? Help, please.
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