Thor Inspired Fitness and log

michaelp · 25 Aug 2012 at 14:59

Okay so this is my first diet plan can someone review it and give me feedback?

Skillmister · 25 Aug 2012 at 15:52

michaelp said:
Alright so time to start eating right so first off my calorie deficit diet using the links LiE provided I have worked out my BMR is 2246.72 so using the second link im up to 3482.416 with the 1.55 activity level so ill drop that 600 calories for now.

So I now need a diet that delivers ~2882 cals, But don't i need to take in fat and protein amounts into account when creating a diet? would it be a good idea to take a protein shake every also as to not lose muscle mass?

You wont lose muscle mass by not eating protein at regular intervals.

Those calories you worked out seem slightly high, what's your weight. Personally i used a slightly lower multiplier than LiE (around 1.4 iirc) to work out my BMR as other than the gym i was sat on my arse 90% of the time.

As for fat/carb/protein amounts read this . Key info:

I have my number, what about protein, carbs and fats?
Don't base these amounts on percentages, your body has no idea of what percentages it really wants or needs, so just make sure the end totals match the requirements for you. And as long as you do that, they'll work, it really is that simple

Protein
This is always going to be a controversial issue, with many papers leading to different findings about optimum amounts. But going back to popular belief and the general consensus, aim for the 1 to 1.5g per lb of bodyweight.
Ideally this should be per lb of lean body weight, but if you don't know this then it's not going to be a huge problem for doing total weight. However if you've used the Katch-McArdle method above you should know your LBM

Carbs
Carbs always get a bad rep, they're the first point of blame when people are dieting or putting on too much weight. But eating carbs, and the right carbs can be beneficial to your goals, both gaining and losing weight

Carbs give you the energy to have intense workouts or do high amounts of exercise, they're needed for your own sanity too (trust me on this one ). When I was dieting for my contest, I lost 3 stone while still eating close to 300g of carbs, but it was the right kind of carbs. Aim for wholegrain foods (pastas/rice/bread), oats and other stuff low on the glycemic index (GI).

The thing to remember with carbs is they are split into two categories at a basic level, Complex and Simple Carbohydrates. Complex carbs such as the ones I mentioned earlier are digested at a much slower rate, keeping you fuller for longer and giving a much more stable and steady flow of energy. Simple carbs, while deliver the same amount of energy per gram, are digested at a much faster pace and deliver an immediate boost in blood sugar and energy, but it wears off quickly. Meaning you feel hungrier sooner and your energy falls quicker.

If you consider yourself highly active, and again be honest, aim for 3-4g of carbs per pound of lean bodyweight, moderately active aim for 2-3g per pound of lean weight, and low activity, aim for 1.5-2g

Fats
Again, these get a bad rep, people assume because of the name that fats make you fat. But only the wrong kinds (trans fats are the worst kind)

Fats are crucial to regulating hormone levels, as well as aiding the body to actually burn fat. So these are a must in the diet. Saturated fats are important too, but again these are something that must be had in moderation

The types of fats you need to know about are Saturated Fats, Monounsaturated Fats, Polyunsaturated Fats and Trans Fatty Acids.

Saturated Fats
Usually found in food from animals (meat, butter, cream etc), they yield more energy than unsaturated fats however are linked to higher cholesterol levels and heart diseases. However, please don't shy away from Saturated fats, as a certain amount is important in your diet.
For men, you should be eating no more than 30g per day of saturated fats, for woman, 20g

Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated Fats
Found in plants, oils, cereal grains and fish oils. These are the good fats and you should be making up most of your fat intake from these. They are good for a number of reasons, two of these being Omega 3 and Omega 6. The oils and cereal grains provide Omega-6. The body uses the Omega-6 fatty acids to make hormone like substances called eicosanoids. These provide a number of functions including muscle contraction/relaxation, blood vessel constriction/relaxation, immune response to injury and infection. They also help to lower LDL cholesterol, the bad kind.

Omega-3 fatty acids from fish oils help with the brains cerebral cortex development and retinal development for vision. There are also a number of health benefits from Omega-3 fatty acids, including a healthier heart which is always a good thing and healthy joints. A number of studies also show Omega-3 fatty acids help with fat burning and minimising the effect of catabolism.

Trans Fatty Acids
Most of the nasty nasty fatty acids are the result of industrial hydrogenation of polyunsaturated fats. These fats are bad because not only do they massively raise the bad cholesterol, LDL, they also reduce the HDL levels of cholesterol too, the good kind. Margarine is a source of trans fats, so be careful if you use margarine.

Typically you want to aim for 0.45-0.8g per pound of total body weight, however if you are of a high bodyfat percentage, you want this to be per LEAN pound of bodyweight. And remember, make sure it's made up of mostly good fats and not bad fats.

Don't forget, do not get hung up about getting everything 100% perfect from the get go. This is not an exact science and everyone is different, monitor your weight making sure to weigh yourself at a similar time each day (eg. post dump pre breakfast for example) and if you aren't losing as much as you would like after a week or 2 lower the cals a bit.

Skillmister · 25 Aug 2012 at 16:04

Oh and another thing, don't bother with this stuff, it's just expensive glorified protein really.

michaelp said:
Another thing I have is protein I currently use Maximuscle Promax Diet in half doses as I figure my current regime doesn't need a full dose.

michaelp · 25 Aug 2012 at 16:22

Alright so I just weighted myself and am 16.3 stone which is 228.2lbs I used 1.55 because all my travel is done by bicycle and I have recently started playing basketball 1-3 hours a week or so.

Height: 6'0"
Weight: 228.2lbs
Age: 19

BMR: 2272.886 x 1.55 = 3522.9733

Not sure if it matters but I actually have a large bone structure aswell.

Also with the Maximuscle Promax Diet I wont be rebuying instead i will be replacing it with Impact Whey Isolate by MyProtein

Skillmister · 25 Aug 2012 at 16:26

Fair enough then, sounds good.

Brumboy · 25 Aug 2012 at 18:03

You really don't need to eat that clean and so precise for results.

As long as you get your protein requirement (1g/pound bodyweight) and enough calories (500 above maintenance is a good place to start) then the rest doesn't matter as much as you think.

Protein is easy..I used to rely on shakes heavily before but then realized I didn't need 200g+ protein so I cut back to 150g. 100g chicken = 27g protein so I usually have 500g chicken spread over 2 meals, that chicken is either cooked with some kind of sauce or I just put it in a wrap/wholemeal pitta bread. Tuna is also great (I love tuna and have tuna mayo with pitta bread quite often).

I was the exact same a few months ago..but then tried eating a little bit different and the results have been just as good..but I feel so much better not restricting myself to certain foods every single day. I was starting to get really bored and tired of eating chicken and broccoli and being scared of eating anything remotely unhealthy lol

At the end of the day it's calories in vs calories out. Of course eating super healthy will have added benefits but if you're just looking to put on muscle then you don't need to be so concerned.

Just lift heavy, eat big and rest!

Just my opinion anyway!

Cristian · 25 Aug 2012 at 18:19

michaelp said:
all my travel is done by bicycle and I have recently started playing basketball 1-3 hours a week or so.

While there is nothing wrong with cardio especially initially while losing fat you will never get to the size of Chris Hemsworth naturally while doing that much cycling simply because you won't be able to train and recover legs properly.

Also LOLOLOLOL at whoever said 18 months to get to Hemsworth physique. Yes, he did it in 6 months or so cleary "assisted" but to build that sort of muscle takes at least 3-5 years and even then it's rather unachievable naturally (size wise) for most people.

Don't get me wrong, it's great that you felt inspired and that you're doing something about it, but bear in mind reality can be quite harsh sometimes.

Chris1712 · 25 Aug 2012 at 18:36

Cristian said:
Also LOLOLOLOL at whoever said 18 months to get to Hemsworth physique. Yes, he did it in 6 months or so cleary "assisted" but to build that sort of muscle takes at least 3-5 years and even then it's rather unachievable naturally (size wise) for most people.

Don't get me wrong, it's great that you felt inspired and that you're doing something about it, but bear in mind reality can be quite harsh sometimes.

Glad someone else said it.

michaelp · 25 Aug 2012 at 19:24

Well the diet plan was more of a layout allowing me to replace the meals with similar meals of value in order to not get bored with it and i will refine it in the first week or so to see how i cope with my plan since i still have 766 calories to add into it.

Cristian said:
While there is nothing wrong with cardio especially initially while losing fat you will never get to the size of Chris Hemsworth naturally while doing that much cycling simply because you won't be able to train and recover legs properly.

Also LOLOLOLOL at whoever said 18 months to get to Hemsworth physique. Yes, he did it in 6 months or so cleary "assisted" but to build that sort of muscle takes at least 3-5 years and even then it's rather unachievable naturally (size wise) for most people.

Don't get me wrong, it's great that you felt inspired and that you're doing something about it, but bear in mind reality can be quite harsh sometimes.

Well the reason i cycle is for transport not for the cardio/fat loss benefits so if it effects my recovery from exercising it is something I can change.

Also gaining large muscles isn't the main goal as yet its to get a flat stomach and pecks and from there work up building the muscles.
I personally don't think at the moment I lack to much muscle and I think I have the build in order to support a large muscle structure so for now I wont be so pessimistic and just see what it is I can achieve since Im not giving up.

I figured I would upload an image of my bicept in order to have an idea of where it is at now.

I measured it to 15" and also measure shoulder to shoulder from the front as shoulder size was mentioned earlier and it is 22" across.

Cristian · 25 Aug 2012 at 20:05

michaelp said:
Also gaining large muscles isn't the main goal

Nothing wrong with that, it only means that perhaps the "Thor" goal wasn't perhaps most representative of what you want.
Because on the right hand side, that's probably 18" inches of lean muscle arms (anyone objecting to that - bear in mind he's very tall)

And trust me my good man, going from 15" arms to 18" lean arms takes AGES. I've spent the best part of 4 years trying to do that and I'm still not there yet. :mad:

mrthingyx · 25 Aug 2012 at 23:22

Chris1712 said:
Glad someone else said it.

I don't even think it was me... Looking at my original post, I think it said something along the lines of 'possibly' with the caveat of training and diet being 'awesome'.

Yes, it is very optimistic. And given a day job, human fallibility on weekends, etc., Cristian is probably right, too. :cool:

OP should just focus initially on cutting the flab: muscles can come later.

michaelp · 26 Aug 2012 at 10:30

Cristian said:
Nothing wrong with that, it only means that perhaps the "Thor" goal wasn't perhaps most representative of what you want.

And trust me my good man, going from 15" arms to 18" lean arms takes AGES. I've spent the best part of 4 years trying to do that and I'm still not there yet.

Well little bit misquoted.

michaelp said:
Also gaining large muscles isn't the main goal as yet

Originally I figured it would be easier than I had assumed so I think im going to have to take this on step by step and i figure the first step is to lose the flab. But the end goal is the Thor look just figured i would break it down into smaller goals.

So after 4 years how much progress have you made then?

Cristian · 26 Aug 2012 at 23:54

Went from this (on left)

to this

Now I acknowledge that my journey wasn't 100% straight and if I were to start again now with what I already know it would probably take me less.
But I've probably missed 20-30 gym sessions in those 4 years (always due to holiday) and my diet while not 100% clean was always enough to grow properly. There are a lot of things I have learned (and probably quite a few that I still need to) but the most painful lesson is that progress is not at all year. Once you get past your first year of serious lifting things slow down. A lot.

michaelp · 27 Aug 2012 at 22:21

Cristian said:
There are a lot of things I have learned (and probably quite a few that I still need to) but the most painful lesson is that progress is not at all year. Once you get past your first year of serious lifting things slow down. A lot.

Very nice what kind of things have you learnt that you could pass on to me?

Today was my first day of dieting and weight lifting and I figure it went pretty well.

However I'm not to sure on my nutritional values what do you guys think?

Calories : 2405
Protein: 249g
Carbohydrate: 249g
Fat: 113g

I weigh 226lb's and worked my BMR + activity level is a total of 3055.

mrthingyx · 28 Aug 2012 at 09:08

Practically speaking, your overall intake appears a bit too low. However, how do you feel? Are you hungry all the time?

Secondly my personal perspective is that your protein and carb level is too high and your fats are too low. More fat will get your overall calories up and potentially get you feeling fuller for longer.

I very seriously doubt anybody needs that level of protein in their diet - perhaps only those on huge amount of steroids.

michaelp · 28 Aug 2012 at 10:05

That is why I raised the question it seemed a bit high to me after eating a lot of protein and not hitting the target. I was using the basis of 1.1g of protein per lb of bodyweight but clearly I just weigh to much haha but yeah I didn't end up feeling hungry at all yesterday.

"Protein This is always going to be a controversial issue, with many papers leading to different findings about optimum amounts. But going back to popular belief and the general consensus, aim for the 1 to 1.5g per lb of bodyweight.
Ideally this should be per lb of lean body weight, but if you don't know this then it's not going to be a huge problem for doing total weight. However if you've used the Katch-McArdle method above you should know your LBM"

mrthingyx · 28 Aug 2012 at 10:49

Yeah, those numbers go back to a study in the 80s of bodybuilders and how much nitrogen was consumed by them. An extrapolation was then made for protein (which includes nitrogen), but - if I remember correctly - it did not take account for any other number of bodily processes, size, mass, steroid intake, etc.

The last study I readwas done the other way around - assessing the protein intake of athletes - found that strength athletes (not body builders) only need 10-15% more protein than regular athletes.

This makes a difficult comparison, as the definition of an athlete is a tough one: are you talking about a cardio/endurance athlete? Or a sprinter/shot-putter/etc.?

There is nothing wrong with consuming that much protein as it will just get flushed out your system (and make your loo visits much more socially unacceptable): general guidance for the AVERAGE human that's exited puberty is anywhere between 50-60g/day depending on what source you pick. If you're lifting hard with the aim being hypertrophy, then anywhere around double/triple on the basis that you will need more: overconsumption simply means your body won't struggle for protein (but also means you're loading unnecessarily).

Fat is better in a sense (assuming the 'right' fats) because it's a lot harder for your body to metabolise. It also makes you feel fuller for longer (packet of sweets vs. equivalent weight in peanuts).

I would generally aim to find what is a comfortable medium for you: if you have no problem with your calorie deficit, making your food, and are losing weight, then stick with it: there is nothing that will do serious harm your progress in your diet. You could have it perfectly tailored, but that requires techniques and analysis that you won't get from this forum. IF you're happy with your programme, you'll stick with it. If you're miserable, it will make it that much harder to maintain.