Am i eating the correct food to tone or bulk ?
Hi, During the week i work permanent night shifts. When i wake up in the afternoon i have a bowl of bran flakes ,then i eat the evening meal with the family around 6pm, usually chicken or red meat with plenty of vegetables. I then cycle 4 miles to work at a fast pace, 30 Min’s after i have a tin of tuna. Around midnight i have a jacket potato with beans.Around 3am i have a tub of cottage cheese and then 30 Min’s before i cycle home i have an orange and a banana. Before i go to sleep i have a boiled egg (without the yolk).
3 times a week i lift weights and my work is pretty strenuous, but i don’t seem to be toning or bulking, just staying the same.
Am i eating the wrong foods or the wrong foods at certain times etc.
Thanks in advance…
I don’t know how your metabolism works but you could build more muscle by..
Incorporating more protein. Kick that tub of cottage cheese and replace it with a lean source of meat, like chicken breast (boneless, skinless). 4oz can have 23g of protein. Depending on your body weight, you should have 1g of protein per pound of lean mass. For example, I’m 130lbs with 20% body fat, which means I’m 104 pounds of lean mass. I should have 104g of protein a day.
Idk how many calories you’re getting a day but in order to gain muscle, you need to eat ABOVE your maintenence calories. So if you eat 2000 a day and you neither gain or loose weight, try increasing the number (with lean protein sources and veggies, of course!) and see if you get any results. Slowly increase the calorie amount, tho. If you know you already have a fast metabolism, add 500 calories to your diet and see if you gain 1lb a week of LEAN MASS.
It’s hard to build big muscles eating in a deficit.
There’s a ton of lean protein shakes you can get. Try not to get the ones that are carb loaded. Instead, aim for the ones that are 100-150 cals per serving and provide 20~40g of protein.
It also depends on your lifting.
Are you lifting low reps with heavy weights? Low reps is 6-8. If you’re lifting heavy enough, after you do your 6-8 reps you should be able to do one more rep but thats all. You don’t want to lift until total exhaustion.
It also depends if you’re lifting with free weights or machines. Free weights is generally better than machines unless you want to be a body builder (ew). Things like the manual shoulder press or squat do a lot more for your body than a leg press machine or an overhead press machine. They force you to work in 2d space and therefore use less muscles than a free weight.
February 25th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
if u do this every day then these are really healthy foods. and give it time. ull get jacked if u continue with this schedule. work out five times a week and it will happen way quicker. 3 is just not ennough for fast results
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February 25th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
You should eat fruits before you cycle (just like you’re doing now), but for dinner try eating less of red meats. They are higher in cholesterol and fat compared to the white meats like pork and chicken.
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February 25th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
well u could always try lifting different whiets and mix it up a little and u could always try doing a little extra whieght lifting sometimes or maybe even doing push up and sit up ext idk if that helps =)
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February 25th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
Well do you want to tone or bulk because those are two very different things.
If you want to bulk up and get lots of mass, you need to eat foods HIGH in protein and you need to lift lots of weights. Eating bananas, fish, chicken, and eggs will all help you gain mass. But you need to lift heavy weights and then give your muscles a day or two to rest before you work them again. During your rest days, do a little cardio and work out different muscles.
If you want to tone, you need to eat protein along with a good balance of carbs and vegetables. You have to do either 20 min of INTENSE cardio or 60-90 minutes of medium level jogging. 4 miles on a bike is ok, but its not that great. And then you need to do strength training. Strength training plus Cardio will burn the most amount of fat and will help you tone the fastest
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February 25th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Sounds with the amount of activities you are doing you are toning with your diet. People who seriously work out & try to bulk up will eat about 6 small meals a day.
You might see not as much progress if you work out your entire body every session. It is important to focus on a specific set of muscles on each day you work out. Speaking with a personal trainer can help you out with this.
References :
February 25th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
I don’t know how your metabolism works but you could build more muscle by..
Incorporating more protein. Kick that tub of cottage cheese and replace it with a lean source of meat, like chicken breast (boneless, skinless). 4oz can have 23g of protein. Depending on your body weight, you should have 1g of protein per pound of lean mass. For example, I’m 130lbs with 20% body fat, which means I’m 104 pounds of lean mass. I should have 104g of protein a day.
Idk how many calories you’re getting a day but in order to gain muscle, you need to eat ABOVE your maintenence calories. So if you eat 2000 a day and you neither gain or loose weight, try increasing the number (with lean protein sources and veggies, of course!) and see if you get any results. Slowly increase the calorie amount, tho. If you know you already have a fast metabolism, add 500 calories to your diet and see if you gain 1lb a week of LEAN MASS.
It’s hard to build big muscles eating in a deficit.
There’s a ton of lean protein shakes you can get. Try not to get the ones that are carb loaded. Instead, aim for the ones that are 100-150 cals per serving and provide 20~40g of protein.
It also depends on your lifting.
Are you lifting low reps with heavy weights? Low reps is 6-8. If you’re lifting heavy enough, after you do your 6-8 reps you should be able to do one more rep but thats all. You don’t want to lift until total exhaustion.
It also depends if you’re lifting with free weights or machines. Free weights is generally better than machines unless you want to be a body builder (ew). Things like the manual shoulder press or squat do a lot more for your body than a leg press machine or an overhead press machine. They force you to work in 2d space and therefore use less muscles than a free weight.
References :
Years of reading up on diet and nutrition
February 25th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Hi,
I think you need to eat more and eat more carbs if you want to bulk up. You have a lot of protein in your meals, which is good, but that alone will only keep you in shape. Add some pasta/rice/beans to your meals and keep on working out, you should see results soon. You’ll probably have to experiment on the portions you need.
Good luck!!!
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