Nutritionaly Confused

[Subby]

I have seen many of you talk about complex carbs before and after workouts. What foods contain these carbs? What i have been doing is having some pasta before i work out, a protein shake when i immediatly get home and then some vegetables and steak. I thought this was a great idea, can anyone speculate and/or advise? I have also been eating peanut butter (not natural as i have no money of my own atm) on crackers before bed, and sometimes i will put a scoop in my mouth and wash it down with milk (YUCK!). I also hear that cottage cheese is good before bed too.

I am going to prepare salads for my days at college instead of going to the canteen and buying garbage. Ill also pack it full of beans and take some peanuts for my protein intake. I havnt got a definitave plan yet, as i am 16 and had to quit work because of college, so im basically scalping off my parents or making do with what we have in the fridge. I have started to drink alot of cold water (i hear its good for abs) and milk sometimes (for the proteins, is this a good idea?). Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated

[andreseis]

well...

split peas, whole grain oats, 100% whole grain bread, veggies and fruit are great for post workout carbs. i think that you've come to a place where most people believe in a PWO (post workout shake) consisting of .8g carbs per .4g of protein diluted in about 1 liter of water. you can get the carbs from powdered gatorade (look at the ingredients and avoid fructose) or maltodextrin or just plain dextrose from your health food store. i sip mine throughout my workout and drink 3/4 of it immediately after my workout. this seems to be working for me quite well, but i've also done a shake of 12oz water and 20g carbs/5 g protein during my workout and then my PWO after the workout. about an hour after your workout you should get a whole food meal consisting of tons of carbs but enough protein. i usually eat around 80-100 good, complex carbs after my workout, accompanied by about 50-70g of protein (this is obviously the most calories i take in at a certain point in the day), as well as some EFA's from fish oil or flax seeds, and plenty of fiber. you must remember that this meal will be highly responsible for how well your muscles are repaired and are made able to grow.

my PWO meal might consist of:
1 cup oatmeal
1.5 scoops vanilla whey
150g blueberries
1 apple
1/2 cup cottage cheese

kcal 736
fat 9.6
carb 109
pro 54
fiber 16.5

or something like johnka suggests on his site, like a chicken breast and natural, complex carbs which can come from split peas.

basically, try to eat most of your carbs in this post workout window as your body is best able to respond to (and needs) an insulin spike, so we can take advantage of what john berardi calls "the anabolic power of insulin."

i would suggest checking out his site www.johnberardi.com.

i am also in college and have been doing this clean eating-nutrient timing-massive eating thing for about a year. while it's much more challenging to do it here in a semi-dorm room, it can be done. check out what's in berardi's fridge and make an effort to start getting those foods.

also, nuts are a source of fats in the diet, and i would never rely on them for protein. and milk is also not a good source of protein (has way more carbs than protein). to get sufficient protein in my diet i will eat:

chicken breasts
salmon steaks and filets
canned salmon
canned tuna
93% lean ground beef
99% lean ground turkey
egg whites
omega-3 organic eggs
fat free cottage cheese
whey protein powder (get some of this NOW).

before bed (my cutoff time is usually around 9-10PM if i am cutting) i will eat a whole cup of cottage cheese mixed with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and 1/2 scoop whey, and 3 fish oil caps. this comes out to about 440 calories, 20g fat, 17.5 carbs, 45g protein, 2g fiber. a good thing to remember when trying to lose fat is that you shouldn't eat much carbs at night. 17.5 grams might be pushing it for some people, but it is working just fine for me. you will find that the slow digesting proteins in this snack will keep you satisfied and keep you in an anabolic (muscle-producing) state all night long.

i hope all this helps. i gotta go work out.

-andrew

[Subby]

Wow, that was a very informative post, yet alot of information for me to digest. I have some questions.

I will endevour to research more and actually get my diet down to a fine refined system. My major question is, i am quite thin (not thin enough to see my abs, however). Carbs do not worry me too much, i have a high motabilsm and eat all the junk i want and not gain a pound, this is both a blessing and a curse. I have a conflict of intrest, this is a bit off topic but maybe you could advise. Im not sure which way to go, to be really built (i.e. putting on more weight) or to be lean and strong (i.e. staying the same, loosing some body fat and have big pecs and abs showing).

Anyway back on topic, thanks for the reply, i will try and get my diet to a definitive stage, and hopefully know what im talking about

[andreseis]

id suggest eating ALOT. but make sure you're eating a lot of clean foods when you do. try eating 6-8 meals a day (i spread mine from 5:30AM to 9PM on a workout day) and workout all you can. read around in the training forum, those guys know their stuff and have some great routines. read john berardi's massive eating articles and do his massive eating calculator to see how much you need to get big. and stick to it. it works!

-andrew

[Subby]

See thats the problem, i just cant eat that much. I have been looking into some MRP but just dont have the money at the moment. Why would i eat much as i can? Would this be the bulking phase? What kind of foods would be inclusive, ones that are high in carbs and protien but not fat?

Also, before i went to bed last night i had a peice of lebanese bread with peanutut butter all over it, rolled it up and ate it [img]smile.gif[/img] It had approx. 32g protein and about 80g carbs, <1 fat. Is this a good idea? Too many carbs??

[Chris Correia]

Originally posted by Subby:
See thats the problem, i just cant eat that much. I have been looking into some MRP but just dont have the money at the moment. Why would i eat much as i can? Would this be the bulking phase? What kind of foods would be inclusive, ones that are high in carbs and protien but not fat?

Also, before i went to bed last night i had a peice of lebanese bread with peanutut butter all over it, rolled it up and ate it [img]smile.gif[/img] It had approx. 32g protein and about 80g carbs, <1 fat. Is this a good idea? Too many carbs??

That peanut butter must have had more fat than that. But that's OK.

I think lots of people who can't gain muscle think they are eating enough or say they cannot eat more. You CAN eat more; just work into it. Shoot for 6 meals a day or eating every three hours. Try to have a balance of protein, fat and carbs at each meal/snack. However, it is possibly better to focus more on carbs (and less fats)during the first half of the day and focus more on fats (and less on carbs) later in the day. Have good protein all day, at each meal. Make sure fats include lots of good fats: olives & olive oil; nuts; salmon/mackerel. As noted earlier, carbs in the 2-4 hours after working out are important too, regardless of when you work out.

You can't go terribly wrong if you have about a gram of protein per pound of bodyweight and split the rest of your calories between fat and carbs, but maybe a bit heavier on carbs. I think you surely want 20% fat, and even 30%. Your breakdown might look something like 1/3 of each -- protein, carbs, fat.

In addition to John Berardi's stuff, I'd suggest reading the Testerone Advantage Plan.

http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/index.htm

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...898072-1586468