Cheers guys.
FF - point taken about the whey powder. I just can't bring myself to eat enough natural food for some reason.
Regarding fish, I used to eat a lot of tuna in wholemeal bread with low fat mayo, but I'm going through a phase of struggling with tuna in terms of boredom. My main fish intake comes from the occasional tin of mackarel (once per week or so) and the evening meal haddock or cod I mentioned above. So my oily fish intake is low.
At the weekends I eat scrambled or poached eggs for breakfast, but hardly ever eat eggs in the week. I'm actually allergic to nuts so unfortunately they are out of the question. This is a bummer as they seem like the ideal snack (except for the fact that they'd kill me
).
Regarding veg, I don't actually eat that much so when I said 'plenty', maybe it wasn't plenty. I eat maybe a fistful of broccoli on most evenings with my evening meal, none at any other time of the day. We normally chuck in some red peppers or carrots also. I've wondered recently - is the benefit of eating lots of veg that it fills you up more and prevents you eating rubbish later in the evening, or that it provides you with lots of low calorie vitamins?
cristi - I will add some oats to my shake post workout, thanks.
Veg is v. important. Certainly green leafy veggies. So kale, broccoli, rocket, spinach etc... really important. Try some mange tout, squash, sweet corn, carrots, and if you like it beetroot - amazing root veg, seriously good for you.
Yes it does fill you up, but for the evening meal it's actually better as it's not too calorific and works well as it slows the digestion process down.
Try some smoke oily fish like mackerel - you can have it cold too. Salmon steaks, trout, tuna steaks, haddock (I try and keep away from cod just because it's over farmed... ) and sea food is brilliant too.
For snacks, try some hummous (chickpeas) and carrots/celery, very tasty snack.
I know it hurts the wallet and if it is a struggle to buy wholefoods then shakes it must be. But don't go crazy, you don't need 250g of protein. At your bodyweight 150 is more than enough, and remember that it ends up turning to glucose ultimately and it's an expensive way of doing it and ends up doing nothing for you.
Chicken thighs are great - just cook lots and take them into work with you.
Make lots of lean mince (onions, chopped tomatoes, herbs and spices) and freeze it or take it with you the next day. Bring some cous cous into work (you just need boiling water) and you've got a good protein and complex carb mix there.
Munch on fruits and cottage cheese at work.
I used to do this - but fortunately for me I have an amazing cafe next to work which is run by a gym rat, so he makes lots of low gi high protein foods and snacks. I could do it myself, but I work long hours, and the food is great quality, and it hasn't done me any harm. If I worked normal hours, I'd have much more time do that. However, I do practice what I preach a couple of times a week - just not every day, besides I'm lucky that I can afford it, which not everyone can I know.
MAke some protein flapjacks for work - great snack and cheap to make.
I often have soups and chicken for snack/lunch - I also make wholemeal pittas with chicken etc to keep me satiated. I eat lots of fruit and veg - probably 10 a day combined. I also go for jacket potatoes, salads, pasta, chilli mince (lean), bagels with cottage cheese etc...
For gaining weight and hardcore weight lifting programs you musn't be scared to eat - it's SO easy to do, you just need a bit of forethought or be lucky to have a gym rat cafe round the corner from work!
The diet doesn't have to be boring, but it does include a lot of eggs, fish, and chicken, green veggies (and other veggies), complex carbs and so on. It can get samey. Treat yourself to a cheat meal once a week though like a curry, or pizza etc... You have to reward yourself.
It takes a LOT of planning to get the diet right. When I used to live alone I had space and time to make vats of mince, stews and roast chickens - but even now whilst I don't, I still get 3000k calories a day with only 1 post work out shake containing protein (30g max) and carbs.
If I change jobs I'll be gutted owing to the cafe I have near me (he used to compete at an amateur level (he's in his 50s now though), but even before I moved there (1yr ago) I managed to put on some decent mass as you've all seen.
You can do it mate - it's hard work, but you can do it.
. Dont know if I'll be able to do anything for the rest of this week either :'(.