*** The 2019 Gym Rats Thread ***

Chaps ive been eating much cleaner this week as a result of the advice I recieved a few days ago. Ive been eating my preprepared meals which have really uplifted my protein intake and its proportion of my calories.

Ive averaged 2700 calories a day over the week but my weight hasnt changed. I was 11 st 9lb 15% bf last Wednesday morning and i am unchanged this morning.

I havent even started proper training yet as am waiting for the equipment to arrive. All i have done this week is 5 a side footy on Monday and a short gym session last week.

Anything I should adjust at this point?
 
danlightbulb said:
Chaps ive been eating much cleaner this week as a result of the advice I recieved a few days ago. Ive been eating my preprepared meals which have really uplifted my protein intake and its proportion of my calories.

Ive averaged 2700 calories a day over the week but my weight hasnt changed. I was 11 st 9lb 15% bf last Wednesday morning and i am unchanged this morning.

I havent even started proper training yet as am waiting for the equipment to arrive. All i have done this week is 5 a side footy on Monday and a short gym session last week.

Anything I should adjust at this point?
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No.
 
danlightbulb said:
That 2700 calories was my maintenance level was questioned though here. I did previously say i expected to need 3000+ to gain.
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The best thing to do is now that you're properly in control of your intake, just stick with it and start training.
If there's no gain, small tweaks till you get there. it's throwing big 3-500 calorie changes in which will ruin a good plan
 
GiraffePencils said:
The best thing to do is now that you're properly in control of your intake, just stick with it and start training.
If there's no gain, small tweaks till you get there. it's throwing big 3-500 calorie changes in which will ruin a good plan
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Ok. Having done starting strength before though, it quickly gets tough and id like to stay ahead of a stall really.
 
danlightbulb said:
That 2700 calories was my maintenance level was questioned though here. I did previously say i expected to need 3000+ to gain.
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You were aiming for 3200, with loads of milk, when we looked in to it in more detail your maintenance wasn't really 2.7k, its roughly around there 2.5kish, we went through the same, and like said previously, small adjustments and see how you go.

Stuffing food in so you don't stall is not the best solution, especially if you don't want to pile on loads of excess fat. Take your time, small steps, +300 cals or so over maintenance for the first couple of weeks then if you still stay the same, add some more.

Also I am not sure you answered this before but what is your day job like activity wise? is it a desk job or manually active?

I haven't changed my eating and have been on roughly 2.1k average cals over the last week and gained weight, hitting weights 4 days per week. Nothing changed from the previous 5 weeks where I had dropped weight each week.
 
danlightbulb said:
Ok. Having done starting strength before though, it quickly gets tough and id like to stay ahead of a stall really.
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Tough because your body is working to get the energy it needs
And
Tough because your body is failing to get the energy it needs

Have a thin line between them, that's why it's easy to just pile weight and muscle, but hard to gain lean mass, and harder still to lose fat and gain muscle
 
Syla5 said:
Also I am not sure you answered this before but what is your day job like activity wise? is it a desk job or manually active?

I haven't changed my eating and have been on roughly 2.1k average cals over the last week and gained weight, hitting weights 4 days per week. Nothing changed from the previous 5 weeks where I had dropped weight each week.
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I have a office desk job 9-5.

Online calculators put my BMR at 1700 and my TDEE at 2000. Ill lose weight if i eat that much though.
 
danlightbulb said:
I have a office desk job 9-5.

Online calculators put my BMR at 1700 and my TDEE at 2000. Ill lose weight if i eat that much though.
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Yeah so 700 over maintenance already, once you start training I would be surprised that you didn't gain wait at 700 over maintenance! Let alone your planned 1k-1.2k over.
 
As much as the scale is a useful tool to measure changes in the body over time, i personally would say that the mirror and the weight you pull at the gym is more useful. My scales have barely moved over the last few weeks but i can see that i am leaner and my strength hasn't taken a hit, which tells me that my cutting is heading in the right direction.
 
Yeap scales aren’t the be all and end all but for tracking over time they are still useful especially if you don’t want to be changing weight to quickly!

danlightbulb said:
I dont believe that figure though it seems silly low.
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When the RDA is 2.5k for a male, set at a time when most had manual jobs, what gives you any reason to believe 2.7k is a low figure??

I’ve tracked my own intake and it takes very little excess for me to gain. Everyone is different but for me, with my BMR calculates and a very low PAL modifier I still gain weight easily.
 
Syla5 said:
When the RDA is 2.5k for a male, set at a time when most had manual jobs, what gives you any reason to believe 2.7k is a low figure??
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Dunno really ive just never understood the relationship between food and size and weight.

I am a skinny person. Yet my Bmi, at 23.something, is almost at the overweight boundary. It makes no sense. I take a 32" waist trouser and most watches dont fit on my wrist without extra holes being added to the strap. I still have to buy a size S in some shirts and t shirts, depending on fit.

If i eat 2700 cals with a tdee of 2000 calories i should be gaining weight. Ive been eating 2500-2700 cals for ages but have cleaned it up thats all, this week. But my weight hasnt moved in ages.

Most people at work who are heavier than me dont seem to eat as much as me. Its confusing.

When i was doing starting strength before, i struggled to gain weight eating clean. I had to shove junk down me to progress from week to week. Because once im eating 4 meals it was hard to progress from there. I just wasnt hungry.
 
dirtychinchilla said:
How many calories and g of protein are you trying to get from milk though? It seemed like an awful lot..
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Take today as an example of why i feel I need milk (and other 'unhealthy' snacks too) to get me up to the calorie target I have.

Today I have eaten the following 'solid' food:

B - 2 boiled eggs
L - Tortila wrap with jerk chicken and mixed salad filling + bag of ready salted crisps
5pm - 240g chicken breast + 40g white rice + portion brocoli
D - 200g rump steak + 2 eggs + 1 tin spagetti hoops

All this comes to ONLY 1550 calories.

I had a pint of whole milk with my breakfast (because its quick and easy in the morning), and one with my dinner. That's another easy 730 calories. I could have another if I needed it.

I also had a chocolate bar snack (230 cals) and a bottle of apple juice (220 cals) with my lunch.

After dinner desert I had 2 chocolate mouse pots (210 cals).

That puts me on a total of 2950 for the day.


See, without the milk I'd be over 700 calories short - thats a large meal that I just can't fit in anywhere. The chocolate snacks have added another nearly 440, the same as the chicken & rice meal I had at 5pm.

Counting my 5-a-day portions I have the salad, apple juice, brocoli, and spagetti hoops. So thats 4 portions of fruit or veg.


I just don't see how Im supposed to reach 3,000 cals without throwing in these things. I'd be needing 7 meals a day to do it otherwise. It might look bad because of the snacks, but I don't think its a bad diet here really. There is lots of fresh meat, decent carbs, veg. Ive cooked my own stuff. I just need the milk and snacks to reach 3k.

The macro's on today's intake are 256g carbs (35%), 129g fat (39%) and 188g protein (26%). It is really hard to keep the fat level down and replace it with carbs.


Edit - just had an apple for a snack so thats my 5 fruit and veg portions in.
 
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I think you are thinking about this far too hard... You are not a professional body builder or hitting weight for a lifting comp.

Just get your brotein in (120-150g), and eat as much of everything as you can (fats first, then complex carbs - - - - - - - > sugary crud).
 
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