Diet Vs. social life

[igunick]

okay, my situation is like this: On workout days I can easily stick to my diet, but as soon as the weekend starts my diet gets neglected.
I just don't have the will power to eat that much when I don't 'need' to. Also, in the weekend I spend a lot of time with my friends so don't have much access to non-junk food.
So after the weekend I usually weigh as much as in the beginning of the previous week. And that pretty much sucks when you're trying to bulk

So, can anyone help me out here?

[igunick]

btw, how does it affect your muscles when you don't get enough calories to gain weight but still get a lot of protein (let's say 200gr)??

[CAchief]

it's not just protein you need. Im pretty sure you just need to excess cals to gain muscle, cals from carbs, protein, fat all of that. I was in your same situation and sitll kind of am. Who says you dont have much access to non junk food? I mean you can always pack healthy snacks. Sometimes before I take off w/ my buddies I will just down a protein shake before a take off and that will help you out for a few hours. Just think of all the hard work you do throughout the week and how much you need good nutrition. One bad meal won't hurt, but try to make a habbit. Hope this helps.

[Rangrs2000]

First things first...if you don't eat enough, you won't gain weight. Use the Harris Benedict formula to estimate your daily calorie needs. Then add 250 to 500 calories to that number. THen be sure to eat that many carlories, being sure to eat the right things.

As for your weekend quandry, you need to make a choice. Do you want to gain lean muscle? OR do you want to get fat? Now you can use John Berardi's 90% rule (search for the article detailing this at t-nation.com). That frees up 1 meal for a weekend "Cheat." Other than that, it is up to you to make the appropriate eating choices. Everyone around here will support you in your efforts, but only you can choose what to eat and what to avoid.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

[Jake]

There's no way you should compromise your social life and time with your friends in the name of "bulking up"--that would require some pretty mixed up life priorities! If I were you, I would eat more on the weekdays, and never eat unhealthy food unless you "have to" (ie you're out with your friends). On weekends, try to eat as much healthy food as possible, but don't stress about it. -Jake

[Ogedei]

ok, so I can understand the importance of having a good time with your friends and spending quality time with them and your family.

However, I also don't think eating according to a nutrition plan to bulk or cut is going to compromise this quality time.

In short it might take a little more work, but whatever if you want to achiveve your goals, no one ever said it would be easy [img]smile.gif[/img]

I make the choice to eat unhealthy foods. I make the choice to drink. I never have to do either, but sometimes I do. Saying we have to because your out with friends or have peer pressure or whatever is a cop out.

Og.

[emartin10]

Try to do make about 2 or 3 lbs. of chicken breasts and grilled veggies on Friday (or Thursday night at dinner). Stick them in a tupperware, and right before you go out w/ your friends, take 10 minutes and mow down on a few chicken breasts and some veggies. Doesn't take that much effort, and you don't have to worry about eating clean or even at all right away with your friends. It works.

[eastcoastsurfer]

Basically you need to plan ahead either by preparing food and taking it with you or by bringing along some protein bars and the like.

I'm a little confused by how you only have access to junk food when you are with your friends. Are you just sitting at someones house all day hanging out? If that's the case it's easy to bring your own stuff to eat. If you're going to restaurants you can always find something that is relatively healthier than everything else on the menu. Fast food is a tough one, but you can always steer them to a subway type place.

[Faraz421]

I know your situation. Social events always draw us out to local diners, applebees, ice cream parlors....thing is to think about what your doing, and the effect it is. Dont comprimise, I Did, and it screwed me over. Eat healthy, go ahead and order some thing healthy, or avoid things that are blatently bad for you. Once your friends realize your commitment, itll get better. Even if they arent really supportive, you'll develop a reputation for being a healthy eater, or as far as a fitness/nutrition obsessed freak , either way, that allows you to just run with it and eat healthy, because thatll be expected of you. And then that day you do try to order some pizza and icecream, your buddies will bust your A** for "getting off your 'diet' " That youll just stay away from it too!

Hope that works!

[igunick]

yeah it's more a problem of not having enough cals. I'm an ectomorph and not a big eater so it's not easy to get to the 4000 cals.
also, i'm only a teenager and I don't really have the money to buy protein powder
I guess I have to try to convince my mother to buy some for me...

[Adam H.]

igunick-

When I am trying to gain weight and hanging around with friends on the weekend I always encourage the consumption of MORE FOOD. If you eat clean most of the time you should be able to handle a few unclean, high calorie meals per week without it having much of an effect on body composition. Since you are an ectomorph, just chow and deal with the excess body fat when it becomes unbearable... it should melt right off. Another thing that helped me pack on pounds was a milkshake about two hours after a heavy workout .

Adam