Diet input please

[agpando]

I'm going to be picking up some more tubs of whey protein from Optimum Nutrition and upping my whey inake from 120g to about 240g a day. I plan on getting a few boxes of Meal Replacements from Ast Nytro Pro that have 40gs of protein in each packet. The only problem i'm going to have is that my diet is going to consist mainly of liquids because I will be working a lot. I will get as many solids as I can, most likely my solids will come into play after my workout. I workout around 6:30 5 days a week so from 8 o'clock on I will get solids. Its somewhat of a sketchy diet because I have to revolve my food intake around work whihc sucks because if i wasnt working it'd be a lot easier. I could always wait til I go back to school but then I have school to mess up my scheduel also plus i dont want to lose my focus in clas because of the gear. I have about 3/4th of a container of Twinlab Super Gainers Fuel left but I only take in 2 scoops a day since it only has 10 servings and one serving is 4 scoops. So this what a normal day with just supplements and not regular food can look like:

Morning: 5 scoops of whey and 1 scoop of gainers fuel = 120g of whey protein and 119.5g of carbs

Lunch: 1 meal replacement = 40g of protein and 23g of carbs

Post workout: 5 scoops of whey = 120g of whey proetin

With those 3 "meals" I'll get a total of 280g of proetin and 142.5g of carbs. This is not including my dinner and my solids after my last protein shake after I workout. My weight is 187lbs and I'm 6'1". I couldn't tell you my exact bf% but if i had to gues it would be around 8-10% I figure that taking in 280g of protein is well enough for a decent amount of gains considering I only weigh 187.
My biggest question is that are proteins more important than calroies for putting on more muscle mass and bulk? I'm going to be running a deca/test cyp/dbol cycle and I'm trying to figure out what is the best and most efficient way to put on weight and size. I know taht in my diet I'm not getting that many solid foods but its only beacuse I'm working outside all day and in the heat its hard to consume solids because youi'd rather be drinking. If i could get as much input as possible or any ideas from you guys I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you all in advance.

 

[1badhabit]

Well im far from a pro, but I can shed some insight on whats worked for me, but im not sure if your body will be able to digest 120g of whey in one setting, I know if I took anything over 80g, I was on the stool more.

Nothing is better than protein from real food, taking in 4000 cal a day is tuff, and tryoing to stay on a eating schedule, and remembering to eat is even harder, just comes down to how bad you want it. Protein is the building block for muscle, but if your not taking in enough calories a day, it will be difficult to put on real mass. Maybe one of the pros can shed a little more light on this topic.

Regards

 

[jaydee]

120g of Protein seems like a lot for one sitting. Anyway, you would be far better off figuring out the amount of protein you need for the day and spreading it out evenly. Youve got it half right by covering your breakfast and post workout, but what about night time and especially straight before bed? This is when you will really need it.

I would half the 120g for breakfast and post workout and spread it throughout the day, and have 40g right before bed with some good fats and water.

 

[agpando]

120g of Protein seems like a lot for one sitting. Anyway, you would be far better off figuring out the amount of protein you need for the day and spreading it out evenly. Youve got it half right by covering your breakfast and post workout, but what about night time and especially straight before bed? This is when you will really need it.

I would half the 120g for breakfast and post workout and spread it throughout the day, and have 40g right before bed with some good fats and water.

The only problem that I have heard about with eating or drinking anything before bed is that not only does it make it harder for you to fall asleep because your body is trying to process everything at the same time as its trying to shut itself down, but it doesn't process everything as efficiently as it would if I were to eat or drink a few hour prior to going to sleep.

 

[Hemogoblin]

I agree with everyone else, that is too much protein in one sitting. There really isn't much proof nor evidence to suggest that it will be harder to fall asleep if you eat a lot before bed. But, it is a personal thing; everyone is different. I can eat whatever before bed and fall asleep with no issues, but I hate drinking a protein shake too close to going to bed because I'll have to get up in the middle of the night and take a leak. I HATE getting out of bed, and most times, won't, no matter what.

You'd be better off having that protein spread out throughout the day, as best you can. Even if it means an hour between two big shakes in the morning, it's better than nothing. I haven't found much info on how much protein can be efficiently absorbed in one meal but I suspect it isn't much, and that most of our protein is for not. I am a firm believer in quality of protein, not quantity. Drinking ridiculous amounts of protein is not necessary; think about it this way: before the days of cheap, easy, and available protein drinks, what did the greats of days-past do? They ate what they could, and that was that. Best of luck to you

PS. Just did a quick search and found that as much as 90% of your protein can be absorbed. Most studies have been done though with geriatric or with patients suffering GI issues, so I don't know how accurate they are. I still feel that quality is more important than quantity. Hope that helps

Cheers

 

[agpando]

I agree with everyone else, that is too much protein in one sitting. There really isn't much proof nor evidence to suggest that it will be harder to fall asleep if you eat a lot before bed. But, it is a personal thing; everyone is different. I can eat whatever before bed and fall asleep with no issues, but I hate drinking a protein shake too close to going to bed because I'll have to get up in the middle of the night and take a leak. I HATE getting out of bed, and most times, won't, no matter what.

You'd be better off having that protein spread out throughout the day, as best you can. Even if it means an hour between two big shakes in the morning, it's better than nothing. I haven't found much info on how much protein can be efficiently absorbed in one meal but I suspect it isn't much, and that most of our protein is for not. I am a firm believer in quality of protein, not quantity. Drinking ridiculous amounts of protein is not necessary; think about it this way: before the days of cheap, easy, and available protein drinks, what did the greats of days-past do? They ate what they could, and that was that. Best of luck to you

PS. Just did a quick search and found that as much as 90% of your protein can be absorbed. Most studies have been done though with geriatric or with patients suffering GI issues, so I don't know how accurate they are. I still feel that quality is more important than quantity. Hope that helps

Cheers

Thanks I really appreciate it. I also have the problem of having to wake up in the middle fo the night to go to the athroom, but I ALWAYS get up haha! I'm going to lean towards reconfiguring my diet since I have a bit fo time until I start my cycle, but anymore advice from anybody else would be great. Thanks!

 

[jaydee]

How much liquid are you using to mix your shake with before bed? I had this problem and simply cut down the amount of water (or milk) i mixed my protein with. Even as little as 250ml. You shouldnt wake up in the middle of the night from that. You could try mixing it with a yogurt too. Yogurt is half digested already so far easier to digest during the night.

Ive never had a problem with getting to sleep after a protein shake. If anything for me it has a calming effect for some reason. Probably because the protein is keeping my insulin nice and steady. If your having your protien with milk, try having it with just water and some good fat and see if losing any extra carbs helps you sleep better.

 

[Hemogoblin]

I usually do only mix it with 250 ml of milk. I can't use water for some reason, the taste just kills me. It tastes too artificial and I wouldn't be able to down it. It isn't that just the protein shake makes we wanna go to the bathroom, but the other fluids I consume. I drink a lot of water throughout the day and tend to eat a lot of fruits, mainly in the evening. It isn't a common thing for me to wake up and have to hit the toilet, happens once in a blue moon, I just can't be bothered getting out of bed

Cheers

 

[agpando]

Does anybody mix amino acids into their pretin shakes? I have liquid protein from twinlab and I always mix it into my shakes everytime I take one.

 

[chewiechomp]

I would work on spreading your protein intake out more throughout the day.

"Post workout: 5 scoops of whey" Sorry, but IMO that's 'whey' too much. All you need is 2 scoops here. Keep in mind that your intestinal tract can only efficiently process 50-65 grams of protein in one sitting. The rest will just get passed through and pooped out. (Or perhaps in this case, sprayed out.) Work on splitting it up more evenly.

Also, IMO, there is no need to add amino acids to your protein. If you are using a halfway decent protein supp (which ON definitely is,) you have all the amino's you will need. Your body will break the protein down into amino acids. Read the label on ON's tub. It will show you the amount of amino's per serving (tryptophan, valine, threonine, lysine, arginine, glycine, glutamine, and on and on.) Everything you need is there. Adding more amino acids is just a waste of $$.

Remember - drink enough water. Help your body make use of the additional protein by consuming more water.

(BTW - ON's Bananna Cream isn't half bad.)

 

[agpando]

Ok so Ive put a lot more time into this and I've come up with a better diet program from the things you all have told me. This is how it's looking as of right now:

Morning: 2 scoops of whey and 1 scoop of gainers fuel = 73g of whey protein and 125.5g of carbs and 885 calories

Meal 2: Same as above with about an hour or 2 break in between

Lunch: 1 meal replacement = 40g of protein and 23g of carbs

Post workout: Is the same as morning meal and my second meal

Before bed: Same as all my meals except lunch

Here are my totals- 3540 calories, 292g of protein and 502g of carbs

Heres an issue that I'm having right now. I'm confused on how much of a role calories play on gaining size. What I've always been told is that high carbs and high protein will put good muscle size on a person. I'm not looking to gain fat only, I want to gain mostly bulk muscle weight. If I could get some thoughts and opinions on this that would be great. Remember that this is all without my solid foods since I'll be in class most of the day I might as well drink my proteins and carbs. As always I appreciate any help all of you can give me!

 

[agpando]

Anybody want to help me out please?

 

[chewiechomp]

Agpando -

Sounds to me like your body type is Ectomorphic. This means that you may find it harder to put on lean mass compared to other body types, probably due to your metabolism.

In addition to adequate protein intake, your body type needs enough carbs. The recommendation is a minimum of 1.5 grams of protein per lb. of body weight. Along with that, you should aim for 2-4 grams of carbs per lb. too. The breakdown for your daily intake should be: 35-40% of your calories from protein, 45-50% from carbs, and ~15% from fat.

Here's the breakdown of calories per gram.
Fat: 1 gram = 9 calories
Protein: 1 gram = 4 calories
Carbohydrates: 1 gram = 4 calories

If I plug your numbers into the equation, the results show that you are only consuming 40g of fat. That seems a tad low. Your actual breakdown is: 33% of your daily calories are coming from protein, 57% from carbs, and only 10% from fat. My suggestion would be to try to up the protein slightly and sacrifice some of the carbs. Otherwise, you're definitely headed in the right direction. Looks like a much better plan than your previous post.

Keep in mind that the nutritional equations are done on paper. Real world situations involve variables. (Your activity level, metabolism, etc.) They should only be used as guidelines. I would also add that solid food is typically preferred to powdered liquid meals. Remember that the powders just supps. and should just be used to supplement your regular solid food diet. They shouldn't replace it. But you make do with the best you can sometimes.

Good luck bro and keep us posted.