*** The 2010 Gym Rats Thread ***

Change supermarket and drop the brand snobbery :D

I tend do get a few things from the value section too, mainly veg etc dont get me wrong! How ever I just dont like the thought of the meats etc and the things that are added.

Cheers benny, come to think of it I do have a butcher nearby, so will check it out, I would say most of the budget is spent on meat so any difference there should be saved overal.
 

To me vegetables are vegetables. Seeing as most of what I eat is purely for nutritional value and benefit it matters little to me what brand potatos, carrot etc might be. If I had the time, money and space I'd love to prepare my own veg. Unfortunatley 3-4 bags of mixed veg has to suffice for the week. Into the pan and boil into oblivion, job done :)

There may well be slightly higher nutritional content from self prepared veg however I'm guessing it's highly debatable as to whether it's a noticeable difference, other than taste.
 
I usually boil them just enough to get them defrosted, but that they remain still crunchy.

and I manage with about £35 per week, but that's by relying on either frozen chicken breasts or pork shoulder steaks? (the 800gr boxes that go 3 for £10) for the source of meat. spending a tenner a kilo for beef ain't fun on a student budget.

and I am an "100kg monster" :D
 
I'm a just under 100kg mild mannered creature, however I find it hard to spend less than £60 per week! I seldom buy frozen foods, and tend to keep away from stuff which has been injected with pork protein etc... I guess I could reduce my bill by buying lots of frozen meats, but I just like good tasting food and have yet to find frozen stuff which fulfils me. I do freeze food, but don't specifically buy frozen.

Steaming veggies is the best way of eating them! Or raw (but not all are good raw!).
 
A few suggestions il have alook at tomorrow, cheers ff.

a lot of the things are on my usual list lol and I know what you mean, appart from the basics unless your getting the proper rank stuff like tesco value, it all adds up far to fast for me!

I lost my job so really need to try and cut down, and its looking like its going to be quite tough! If I can max at about 25 quid a week I reckon i'l be good! :(:mad: Luckily im not a 100kg monster like some on here, then I might have to go on a serious cut! lol

Sorry to hear about the job. It's hard to balance good nutrition, and good quality with low price. It's just the way of the world :( It sucks.

I'm sure you can do it by buying stuff on the "reduction" day i.e. sell by date, days. Then just freeze it?
 
Sorry to hear about the job. It's hard to balance good nutrition, and good quality with low price. It's just the way of the world :( It sucks.

I'm sure you can do it by buying stuff on the "reduction" day i.e. sell by date, days. Then just freeze it?

Will be keeping an eye out for them, but im not so lucky with these things lol.

Posted this in the Milk thread, but will post here as well as its more popular :)

http://www.hookandson.co.uk/index.html

Heres a link for an apprently natural source of milk. They deliver once a week to anywhere in the UK and it hasn't been pasteurised or homogenised!! not cheap but probably worth it.
 
I'm a just under 100kg mild mannered creature, however I find it hard to spend less than £60 per week! I seldom buy frozen foods, and tend to keep away from stuff which has been injected with pork protein etc... I guess I could reduce my bill by buying lots of frozen meats, but I just like good tasting food and have yet to find frozen stuff which fulfils me. I do freeze food, but don't specifically buy frozen.

Steaming veggies is the best way of eating them! Or raw (but not all are good raw!).

You definately have a point, but I'm sure there are far worse things in life that you can do comapred to eating chicken breast fillets with a bit of dextrose added "for extra succulence" as the label says.
and the pork chops are fresh, and not value ones.;) obviously I wouldn't mind swapping the meat sources more often and getting more organic stuff in. I did switch to free range eggs because they taste miles better than the "market value" ones.

but for a price-sensitive student, doing the same thing for meat ain't particulary appealing.
I think I'm far better than the average student that generally has a rather poor diet anyway, and while I try to keep the drinking sessions to a minimum, I do realise that this is the age to be acting stupid and getting drunk from time to time, not gonna do this when I'm 40 lol.
 
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Of course, everyone has a budget and a priority. For me it's good food. When I was a student I didn't really go nuts, as I was spending my money on cars, bikes and skydiving. So I didn't have the money to go out and get drunk (I hate it anyway). However even as a student I'd still eat well. I guess it's the way I was brought up, and the experiences I had as a younger person.

Clearly food is food, but I'm of the firm belief that not all foods are equal. :)
 
I'd definitely start off with the weights first, then move over to cardio after. That way you are using up your energy to perform your lifts where you really need it. This should help you progress with your lifts a lot more. Then you should be starting you cardio with a lot less energy, which would help you to get into a fat burning state quicker.

You don't seem to be doing to much. But it's worth noting that you can burn just as much fat performing a weight program, with the added bonus of increasing muscle mass (additional muscle mass will also mean your body uses more calories in everything you do, therefore it's easier to keep the fat off). Some professional bodybuilder do not even do cardio, many do very little. the muscle mass they carry means it's easier for them to lose body fat. Also there diets are spot on, which is just as important.

If you are a beginner i suppect you're weight program revolves around machines and isolation movements. This is fine to begin with to get your body ready. Next step after this would be to learn compound moves, ie squat, deadlift, bench press, etc.

Barbell complexes are great for burning fat if you are ready for them too, they comprise are several movements put together, so for example you'd do 10 squats, 10 good mornings, 10 overhead presses, 10 bent over rows, 10 hang cleans. That is all done as 1 set with no pauses. very tough when you start upping the weights.

Excellent. Thanks for that.

I will have to learn how to use the weights properly, as other than the machines I have no idea!

Shall give that a whirl today actually :)
 
As part of my Uni's 'Healthy Campus Week', 'Body MOT's' are on offer for free.
This involes a blood pressure, body fat measurement, weight, peak flow and fitness being tested. The only bit I'm after is the bodyfat check. Hopefully it's not with the electronic bodyfat handles and with a proper caliper instead. Can't really go wrong for free!
 
The wonderful lady at LA Fitness showed I was 27% bf and I needed to get on with cardio as that is high.

She wasn't the brightest spark in the book and didn't understand why laughed at that fact finding machine. Also my young brother is completely ripped with a very obvious 6 pack. He is apparently 15% bf :D:D:D

Need calipers!
 
Hey guys!

I've just started my bulk. I'm 19, 60kg and 173cm so yeah, pretty skinny.

This is everything I ate yesterday:

2we9buu.jpg


I know my protein intake should be upped a little but I'm actually a bit shocked at the amount of calories I've had. Should it be less than that?

Thanks in advance. :)
 
Im sorry you had how much whey?! 400 grams worth? thats 16 scoops!

I'd stop measuring milk in grams too. 4500 calories does seem quite high and you're likely to gain some fat if your diet is similar to that every day. I'd aim for nearer 3000/3500 personally. And even then build up to it gradually.

No vegetables?

Why bugger around with 5 egg whites and 4 yolks? Just bang 4-5 eggs in the microwave and scrambled them. It's all good stuff.

Edit: Something isn't right with they calculations for that whey. If it was meant to be 40 grams? it's more likely. Either way it's not 1400 calories? Unless this is some kind of vegetable I've never heard of?

Use dailyburn.com, much better than that tosh you're using now:)
 
I should probably get on one of those calculators soon, I really have absolutely no idea how many calories I'm eating a day, but life is too short and my body isn't a calculator.

True. That's the attitude I take when bulking as you can be a bit slack. Though when cutting it's such a PITA. Calories in ketchup, milk, butter bla bla bla.
 
Hey guys!

I've just started my bulk. I'm 19, 60kg and 173cm so yeah, pretty skinny.

This is everything I ate yesterday:


I know my protein intake should be upped a little but I'm actually a bit shocked at the amount of calories I've had. Should it be less than that?

Thanks in advance. :)

If you generally eat 4500 calories you are going to become a complete lard unless your day job is climbing everest or treking across the arctic!

Go for about 3000cals
 
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