Honestly i thought eating would be easy, but when i calculated my protein intake vs what I need I was only getting half. The thought of eating more doesn’t sound appealing
I think I paid $70 for a "5lb" bag of Gold Standard at Costco.
My bag weighed almost 6lbs. Weighed it after seeing a bunch of videos of that guy that was weighing stuff at Walmart and Kroger and everything was under weight.
You don't know his weight nor his goals nor his lifestyle. People always be making comments like this when talking about gym/diets when they don't know shit about the why, and even then that's a totally normal amount for bodybuilding purposes
Until just a few months ago, the federal RDA of dietary protein for adults was 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight. For a 150-pound adult, that’s around 55 grams of protein a day, or the equivalent of an 8-ounce steak. The newly revised dietary guidelines instead recommend 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilogram, raising that 150-pound person’s recommendation to 80 to 110 grams a day.
It’s gonna depend on the type of protein and brand.
But I used do take mass gainer back in the day. It was about 1400 calories with 4 scoops and water. I would use whole milk instead, throw in some peanut butter, some banana and some other fruits. Ended up being around 2100 calories and I would drink it right before bed.
Had to take a fiber supplement. I developed an impaction once and that was absolutely brutal dealing with. Imagine trying to shit out brick of poo the size of a softball.
I recently learned maltodextrin has a glycemic index that’s nearly twice that of table sugar. Many processed food manufacturers will sneak it into their sugar-free products, but it’s absolutely terrible for blood sugar. Diabetics beware.
Did you have to force it down and go to bed bloated? My biggest issue is if I want to smash a two scoop shake, I either take 30+ min to finish, or force it down quicker than 30 min and feel bloated as fuck
Eating 2100 calories right before bed? Your digestions slows down during sleep. Wouldn't that cause indigestion, disruption of sleep, heartburn, and cause you to get fat?
I use the Ryse cinnamon toast cereal one. If you use two scoops and three cups of the Fairlife lactose/fat free, it's like, almost 90G of protein and like 650 calories.
My home shake includes two scoops of whey isolate, 4 oz egg whites, and 8 oz fairlife whole milk. It is disgusting, but it packs ~80g of protein and ~400cals
You probably need less protein than you think, and with even lower youre still going to make progress, it just wont be maximal. 0.6-0.8g per lb, and if you're fat (a lot of beginners probably are) its even less. Concistency matters more.
Back in "my day", the golden rule was 1g/kg of bodyweight, so about 0.5g/lbs.
Chicken and eggs are a blank canvas, don't be afraid to use spices and sauces. Same for your carbs. Unless you are prepping for a comp, you are gonna be fiine with those few extra calories,
Eat your veggies too! A lot of people sneer at them, eww empty calories and whatnot, but they taste soo good when prepped properly and can mix things up a lot! Make a meat heavy curry with some chickpea, carrot and roccoli, or a stir fry, or chicken noodle soup with a bunch of chicken. Meatloaf and meatballs are great, you can afford a bit of tomato sauce! Egg salad wraps? amazing!
For the love of all the holy gains, don't have to live on plain chicken and rice!!
To add on the veggies: vitamins are essential for building muscle too (and just… being alive). Don’t get so focused on protein that you forget all the other things that make up nutrition.
You can go lower but 0.7g per lb of bodyweight maxes out your gains. If you are in a caloric deficit or an elite lifter going up to 1g per lb can be worth it.
lol I've been on a ~1400 calorie/day diet for a couple months. Making a push for the next, maybe final, 10 pounds. Finally hit the weight goal(175), but dang I'd love for a couple hundred more calorie wriggle room.
That's a big deficit and not eating enough protein will have probably cost you some muscle mass.
However the general health advantages of getting to a healthy weight far outweigh the disadvantages of losing some muscle imo.
Are you currently doing or planning on doing strength training? In that case I'd suggest you try to get your protein intake up to 0.5-0.7g per lb if you can. Will be a lot easier once you can start eating more ofcourse.
Professional body builders get made fun of for eating seasonless chicken and rice. But they gotta take in so much, they don't want to risk getting sick of some flavor. They just gotta get the chore over with.
When I first started working out in my 20's, I was 6'3" and 145lbs. I ate a lot as it was. I just had a high metabolism and was constantly moving. I had to eat 5-6k calories per day before I saw any meaningful gains and it took a long time to not just feel miserable all the time. I had to force food down my throat every 2 hours and I hated it. It eventually paid off, but good lord.
Egg whites in the morning, protein shake/greek yogurt in the afternoon, chicken breast in the evening. Fuck ton of protein right there. There’s many ways you can hit that goal though. Once you figure out what works for you it becomes a breeze.
It is hard at first but after a while its pretty easy especially when you add protein powder although i wouldnt rely only on protein powder try to eat every meal you eat that has a high protein source like chicken or ground beef/turkey
Protein shakes taste like ass to me. I’ve been upping my protein intake with Pure Protein bars. 20g of protein for around 200 cals. Some of the flavors are a little too sweet but they have a great variety on amazon
I have a hard time eating enough so I tried medical marijuana to boost my appetite. I really enjoy getting high and then going to the gym and then eating a big meal. It’s awesome! This is not advice and won’t be a suitable solution for everyone. :)
How do u know how much protein you need? Ive been gyming for almost a year now and only started protein powder a month ago. I dont do crazy bench or free weights. I just use the machine/non-free weights.
EAT NUTS. Seriously, just carrying a bag of cashews/peanuts with you to work and snacking on them can add so much calories a day. They're relatively healthy and protein rich too.
I wish I could grab little 18 year old me and put this knowledge into his brain. I struggled for like 5 years going to the gym in high school and college to put on decent muscle. I probably weighed 140-150lbs at 6 foot by the time I left college. Since then, I’ve put on like 40 pounds of muscle all because I was finally eating as consistently as I was lifting. I’ll admit my metabolism slowing was also a huge part of that, but just eating a shit ton needed to be front of my mind at that time.
I started working out in college and had access to an all you can eat dining hall for lunch and dinner. So much chicken was consumed. They had some of the most boring and bland chicken breasts available every day in the "burger/grill" line and I would just ask for 3-4 on a plate, and I learned to really love black pepper and mustard.
One of my regrets when I was lifting hardcore (4 days on 1 off, repeat) in my 20’s was not bulking throughout. I got obsessed with looking lean and muscular at the expense of actual mass when I was in my prime lifting years. Was tracking calories to a near deficit and got super shredded but in hindsight I was still “small”.
The eating isn't hard, but what you have to eat is.
Look, I can cook well, probably better than 90% of the people I know. I can come up with sauces and spices and techniques. I'm not just eating plain chicken breast and dry broccoli.
Still, I lose my mind just eating the kinds of foods you have to eat to get gains and stay lean. So I generally compromise by eating slightly worse but limiting meals (I do IF and just eat lunch and dinner).
Yeah, I still lose my mind. I just don't eat for 16 hours, then basically eat what I want. So my muscles aren't huge, but I'm 46 and still wearing the same pant size I was as a teenager. So I'm fine with the compromise.
Don't eat in a large surplus. Frankly, there's some debate over whether you need a surplus at all to grow muscle, assuming adequate exercise and protein intake.
When I was at my strongest I would stop and get 2 of those giant little debris. I'd drink my preworkout then eat them about 30 minutes before my workout
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u/wegnbealrght 12h ago
If u wannna get strong as fuck you gotta EAT!!!!!