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2006/05/06, 11:54 AM
I've been weight training on and off for 4 years, but I never dieted correctly. I'm fairly tone, but I'm not very strong and underweight. I'm now putting in a lot more effort and just want to know if I'm doing everything right this time.
I'm 6'3 and 146 pounds. I want to be around 180 lbs, and my weight training goals are mostly cosmetic.
I've read it's not healthy to gain more than 1-2 pounds a week, so that's what I've been aiming at. I'm currently at 2901 calories a day, and I plan on increasing it by 250 calories every week I don't gain. I'm trying to keep my diet within 10% of 1 gram of protein per pound, 25% of my calorie intake being fats, and the rest carbs.
My workout is the one freetrainers provides for 5 days a week advanced gain muscle mass training.
1) Should I be doing advanced or something less? I started out with basic, and have just incremented them with each completed routine. (I've done about 5, 8 week programs)
2) Why does freetrainers have me doing 15-20 reps of some exercises? (Clean&Press, standing lat raises, abs) I thought reps should be 8-12 to gain muscle mass and 15-20 is for toning?
3) Does anyone have a link explaining why high sugar foods are bad, or could they explain it? (I cut yogurt from my diet. =/)
4) How much variation is needed in a weight routine?
I read somewhere on here people switch every 3-4 weeks, but what constitutes a switch? Like can I use two workouts and just switch back and forth every 3-4 weeks? (It's just easier for me to keep track of my progress, if it doesn't vary that much.)
5) How much saturated fat do I want in my diet?
It's currently at 68% of my daily value on a 2000 calorie diet, but my caloric intake is 2900. Do I want more, or is it a "as low as it'll go" type thing?
6) Does anyone have a link explaining how much cholesterol I should be eating?
Apparently, there's good and bad cholesterol, and stuff like almonds/garlic raise good cholesterol and lower bad, but how do I know what type of cholesterol I'm eating in the first place?
7) How much variation in a diet is necessary?
I don't know how to cook, and I'm really eating like I always have just in different proportions. That means that I rarely change it (I think I ate peanut butter and honey sandwiches just about every day last year).
This is what I'm currently eating.
American Beauty Trio Italiano pasta
4 x 56 grams
California grown shelled almonds
2 x 30 grams
egg white
2 x 33 grams
fifty fifty peanut butter
1 x 35 grams
frosted mini spooners
3 x 55 grams
hard boiled egg w/ yolk
1 x 50 grams
multivitamin
1 x 1 grams
prego traditional
1.5 x 120 grams
sara lee heart healthy plus 100% whote wheat bread
2 x 32 grams
scifit caramel apple whey protein drink
2 x 28 grams
Silk Plain soy milk
2 x 240 grams
Smuckers red raspberry jam
1 x 20 grams
It comes down to:
2901 calories, 735 calories from fat
80g fat 123%
14g sat fat 68%
0g trans fat
322 mg cholesterol 107%
1707 mg sodium 71%
415 g carbs 138%
50 g fiber 202%
68 g sugar
144g protein
151% vitamin A
106% vitamin C
107% calcium
352% iron
180% vitamin D
153% vitamin e
317% thiamin
474% riboflavin
255% niacin
189% vitamin b6
535% folate
308% vitamin b12
131% pantothenic acid
3% vitamin k
102% magnesium
104% phosphorus
58% potassium
62% zinc
71% copper
90% manganese
200% selenium
(data provided by inputing everything into www.nutritiondata.com)
I adjust it on days I want pizza or when I want to take my girlfriend out to dinner, but most of the time, it doesn't stray far from that. I have no problems with the lack of variation provided it's not unhealthy in some manner unknown to me.
8) Overall, am I on the right track, or am I completely missing something?
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2006/05/07, 10:38 AM
3) "When you eat a diet high in simple carbohydrates such as sugar, white flour, white rice, and alcohol, your body absorbs these very quickly. This causes your blood sugar to rise rapidly which, in turn, causes your body to produce
insulin to bring down your blood sugar. In addition to lowering your blood sugar, however, insulin accelerates the conversion of calories to triglycerides, which is how your body stores fat. As a result, you gain weight and your triglyceride levels may increase."
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=266510
As far as I can tell, it's only good to spike your insulin after a workout, but I'm not sure why that is.
I could still use help with the others.
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2006/05/07, 11:48 AM
A "spike" in that sense is good, when you have a workout that requires/supports it. (such as a depletion or semi depletion).
While your google answer is technically correct, it is also not applicable if you are eating a solid bodybuilding diet. You have to remember that insulin is not the be all end all of dieting. When you eat a "mixed" meal, this greatly lowers any "spike" in insulin. This is precisely why the glycemic index basically gets thrown out the window.
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Strength and Honor!
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2006/05/07, 05:58 PM
Now that's a neat bug.
I claim those posts in the name of stupidity.
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2006/05/07, 06:07 PM
2) I found this:
"Everyone says that. The first two sets are basically warm ups that are to be done with moderate weight. As you work your way through the sets you're supposed to add weight so that your doing real close to max weight on the last set. Make sense?"
here:
http://www.freetrainers.com/FT/jsp/Message.jsp?f_ix=1&t_ix=386
It should really say that, especially if it's a common question.
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2006/05/07, 06:34 PM
I say all those "letters" behind her name mean zilch, throw that book in the trash!
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Strength and Honor!
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2006/05/07, 09:42 PM
bb1fit: Yeah, I think you're right. It recomended pasta as a good source of carbs, and most pastas have a large glycemic load. (so I'll probably be trading pasta out for oatmeal or something) (and that blows, since I love pasta.)
According to this study: http://www.health-report.co.uk/saturated_fats_health_benefits.htm
"The cause of heart disease is not animal fats and cholesterol but rather a number of factors inherent in modern diets, including excess consumption of vegetables oils and hydrogenated fats; excess consumption of refined carbohydrates in the form of sugar and white flour; mineral deficiencies, particularly low levels of protective magnesium and iodine; deficiencies of vitamins, particularly of vitamin C, needed for the integrity of the blood vessel walls, and of antioxidants like selenium and vitamin E, which protect us from free radicals; and, finally, the disappearance of antimicrobial fats from the food supply, namely, animal fats and tropical oils."
What do you guys think of that? Sat fat + cholesterol = good for you. It's sugar and refined flour that causes heart disease.
And did I post this in the wrong forum or something? I'm not getting many replies. =/
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2006/05/07, 10:47 PM
Well, saturated fat has gotten a bad rap. It is needed, but it is a bit dangerous to go too far the other way. We are a people of extremes I believe, find one thing and blame all peoples fat woes on it. It is a combination of foods, refined, overeating on a continuous basis that causes fat. It is actually pretty well documented that a diet higher in protein and fats and lower carbs result in the same weight loss as a med carb diet low fat diet, but the high fat/high protein diet retained more lean tissue than any other diet.
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Strength and Honor!
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2006/05/08, 02:10 AM
toxicity for Vitamin C is higher than 250mg....I take 2000mg daily for months with no adverse side effects...some days even more...
ZInc toxicity at 20mg? I regularly take 50mg tablets...
Pasta is a fairly poor choice for a carb choice....fine if u are trying to gain a lot of weight but not very good otherwise as a consistant food staple...
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2006/05/09, 01:40 AM
lmfao. 250 mg for toxicity for vit c. Then why would it be sold in such large (1 gram) capsules. Why haven't I died yet, as while wrestling I would occasionally take as much as 4-5 grams? Thats 20 times over what she is reporting.
Besides that, anyone that is to lazy to research what they are saying hold little water in my book. I second that vote to throw out the book.
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Iron and chalk.
Pain is only temporary, it is in your mind. If you can still walk, then you can still run.
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2006/05/09, 04:00 AM
indeed....funny how some people with PhDs can say the dumbest stuff and be taken at their word by much of the population...
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2006/05/09, 09:28 AM
I'm going to trash the book, but it's human nature to trust authority figures, when in unfamiliar territory. Most people (including me) don't know jack about nutrition.
And I probably misquoted most of those.
For Vitamin C it says:
"The body adapts to high dosages. Dosages higher than 250 mg daily may harm immunity. Dosages between 5,000 mg and 15,000 mg may cause burning urination or diarrhea."
and Zinc says:
"Doses higher than 20 mg a day may interfere with copper absorption, reduce HDL cholesterol, and impair the immune system."
That's not most people's definition of toxicity, but that's what she calls it.
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