[quote]laroyal wrote: Welcome to T-Nation forums, you will find a lot of great information in here! I learn something new everyday on this site and I have been training for a long time. On to your question.
First, DITCH THE SOY PROTEIN!!!
Reason 1 - Toxicity
Reason 2 - Potential hypothyroidism
Soy contains goitragens, which are compounds that lead to hypothyroidism (this equals poor use of protein and slow metabolism)
Reason 3 - Blocking mineral absorption
Soy has a high content of phytates, which are known to inhibit the absorption of both macro-minerals (i.e. calcium) and trace minerals (i.e. zinc). (this equals low testosterone and bone loss)
Reason 4 - Increased cardiovascular load
Hemaglutinin is found in soybeans. This compound is known to make red blood cells aggregate, therefore increasing your cardiovascular load
Reason 5 - Soy contains 80times more maganeese than breast milk and too much of this mineral can be neurotoxic.
I ave posted through the site about some of my thoughts on diet so you can have a better sense of my approach. There are some great articles on the web site which include sample plans too, I would look at those.[/quote]
I’m still not completely convinced about all of the anti-soy stuff that’s out there - I’m sure it has a negative effect in large quantities, but I’m almost done with the jar and plan on switching to whey. Additionally, goitrogens are also found in green vegetables (broccoli, turnips, Brussels sprouts) and haven’t been shown to negatively impact health unless you already have thyroid problems. Phytates are also used by your body to limit excess levels of minerals from accumulating in your body and may bind with minerals that feed tumors. I don’t know anything about hemaglutinin or manganese, but I’ve been taking in soy over my entire life with no ill side effects. Granted, I’ve only recently started ingesting it in large quantities, so I’ll keep an eye on my intake.
[quote]laroyal wrote:
I am also not big on breads because they carry an acid load in the bloodstream which results in poor digestion and poor nutrient uptake as well as potential loss of bone calcium to balance out ph. [/quote]
I would agree on that, I usually keep quite low on my bread count - Subway is an occasional thing, usually I try and stay under 100g of grains a day. Sometimes I use a slice of multigrain and peanut butter as a snack, with a bit of jam - I don’t think that’s much to worry about.
[quote]laroyal wrote:
I appreciate that you took the time to post your diet and you have clearly done some reaearch on it as I see the kcal totals listed but, I would recommend going baack to the drawing board.
I will give you a little bit of a head start here:
Meal 1
4oz lean sirloin 2 whole omega 3 eggs 1/2 cup blueberries
1 serving Oatmeal
Meal 2
Shake
mix 1 1/2 scoops Metabolic Drive (I like the banana for this recipie) with 1 cup frozen broccoli/cauliflour 1/2 c cup frozen organic mango 1T whole flax seeds
Meal 3
7oz lean meat large salad with balsamic dressing 12oz H2o with lemon
Meal 4
shake like meal 2 except sub strawberries
Meal 5
7oz fish 2 cups steamed broccoli
Meal 6
7oz turkey large salad with balsamic H20 with lemon.
Pre workout
Surge
During Workout
BCAA
Post wokout
Surge
This is not written in stone but rather a model to go by. I hope this helps to point you in the right direction. Best of luck in your pursuits![/quote]
Thank you for the model diet plan, that’s definitely something I’ll aim for. How are Biotest’s supplements? I’ve been wary of them just from all of the exposure they recieve, but their whey looks pretty good. What are Surge and BCAA exactly?
[quote]Zagman wrote:
Eat/Eat/Eat/Eat/Lift/Eat/Eat/Sleep/Repeat.
You already know what you need to do, eat. Don’t worry too much about calculations that predict your BMR, they tend to be very generalized and are of little use one a baseline is established.
Pick a calorie total, say 3000 kcals; now, eat at that level for 2 weeks, if your weight did not increase after 2 weeks, spend the next two weeks at 3500, etc. until you start to gain weight.
If you find yourself gaining too much fat bring the calories back down a few hundred until you find a comfortable 2-300 kcal surplus. That is what you are looking for, a surplus, but not one that is excessive and leads to unnecessary fat gain.[/quote]
I actually put on two and a half pounds from Wednesday (when I was 165) to Friday, however, I ate and drank about twenty minutes before weighing myself, so I think that affected it (no shoes with training clothes on both times.) Today at the doctor’s, I was 170 lbs, with normal clothes and no shoes - that doesn’t seem right, as I haven’t been eating that much more. I want to say a difference between the scales? Thank you for the advice!
[quote]gabex wrote:
To make this a little more easy on you as oppose to changing your whole diet…
Replace soy protein with a whey/casein/egg blend. Also, I don’t think 1/3 cup of blueberries is 130cal. Maybe you are eating sweetened? Eat plain blueberries. Eat a whole cup.
Most people will advice against subway due to it being mostly processed. But whatever. If you are trying to bulk up, and eating a sandwhich from there helps you get calories, whatever.
Simply add another chicken thigh. Easy enough.
Once again, add another chicken thigh.
And now, back to the soy. Ditch it. Maybe drink a shake with a protein blend and some natural peanut butter. At this point in the day, if you feel you are low on calories, feel free to eat peanut butter by the spoonful… or almonds by the handful, etc.
Edit: And if you feel like you aren’t gaining after this… simply increase portions. Add an extra egg in the morning. Eat a handful of nuts with your lunch, or add a piece of fruit, etc. [/quote]
I’m planning to swap out the soy for whey once I finish the jar (pretty close, actually.) They were dried blueberries, so maybe that accounts for it? Although I don’t think there were any additives… Again, Subway is not a daily thing for me, but recently I’ve been hitting it a couple times a week - aside from that, my diet is almost entirely whole and natural foods (still in high school and don’t have to pay for my own food yet! Yeah!) Will look into a large bag of almonds.
[quote]geispoage wrote:
Lots of good advice here, I won’t belabor it. One thing you might want to think about, though, is to look for places where you can “sneak” calories. Try to sneak a tablespoon of peanut butter into a shake. Try to sneak a T. of olive oil into a yam. You get the idea. 100 kcals over 6 meals a day add up to a lot. [/quote]
I use olive oil whenever I cook meat, but I’ll start upping the quantity. That sounds like good advice.
[quote]Moon Knight wrote:
Butter and bacon go with everything; trust me.[/quote]
Eeh, I don’t know about that - have you ever seen a Luther Burger?
[quote]Daemonion wrote:
Natural peanut butter is great.
Also, try mixing it up with some turkey, wild salmon, and free-range buffalo. Shoot for 8oz/200g of each.[/quote]
Yeah, definitely - chicken really does get dull. I actually eat quite a lot of wild salmon (Costco sells them in these delicious patties w/out additives or anything, and they taste amazing for frozen.) I developed a taste for turkey recently, and thank you for the buffalo recommendation. There’s a good place near me that actually stocks some, so I’ll try that out when I’m there.
For the next week, I’ll be at a law program at University of Cincinnati. I know they’ll feed me well, but should I stay with 5-6 meals a day? (I’ll bring a blender and some fruit, I have access to a minifridge.) And as I won’t be able to lift (I also have a injured wrist and a distinct lack of time while there), should I also cut back my calorie intake? I’m still trying to trim my body fat from 15%, although I know it’s not going to look too good without freshly grown muscle. Thanks!
