Need some help on my diet and building up
 

hi, i had an op last year that put me out of training for best part of a year and i have currently dropped down to about 9 3/4 stone as a result. I have been going to the gym again for around 2 months just taking things easy but have now had the go ahead from the doc to ramp things up! i need some advice on my diet though as i have always found it difficult to build muscle.

i eat the following in a day

7:00 - phd snyergy protein shake & 2 shredded wheats
10:00 - phd pharma whey shake + banana
1:00 - 150g chicken with coleslaw + 2 whole wheat pita
4:00 - phd pharma whey shake : 30g almonds
7:00 - meal (mainly fish or soy protein with veg and pasta)
10:00 - phd synergy protein shake

do you think this is enough quality food to build muscle without putting on too much bodyfat? i have only started eating properly (i.e.) 6 times a day in the last 2 weeks so i was ready for when i start the gym properly? any advice on this or tips on building up would be much appreciated!

thanks in advance
:WEIGHT~13:

Do you have any idea how much protein / carbs/ fat(calories) you are taking in ?

I would replace most of those shakes with real food. I'm sure shakes are easier and that's why your doing it , but they are also digested faster and therefore not the best for mid-day meals . Maybe keep them to pre and post workout.

You can use www.fitday.com to find out what your calorie intake is .

^x2 I would keep the shakes for pre and post-workout and maybe upon waking.

the reason i have a number of protein shakes is due to my op. basically my stomach got massivly reduced in size as a side result of what they had to do to sort my throat out. i find it very difficult to eat much solid food for months i struggled to eat much more than half an evening meal and maybe some cereal so i found that by supplementing with protein shakes (i chose ones with lots of vitamins and complex carbs and creatine combined) i could fit in my other meals in the day. If i try to eat too much solid food it just makes me throw it up. I hope this makes sense and clarifys why i have so much liquid meals during the day.

In reply to how many calories i am eating and the other figures i will find out asap however i am eating 1.5g of protein for evey kg of body weight i have found that this advice seemed to be quite universal across most material i have read. would you guys concur with this?

Its usually 1-1.5g per pound of bodyweight (usually lean bodyweight). Don't ask why its metric and imperial units combined, thats just how it is :biglaugh:


In this case I would say that a 'liquid' diet is ok, you're already eating as much as you can or close to it. I might put some casein in during the mid day since its a slow digester.

As a sidenote here... It sounds like you had gastric bypass (or lapband or something along those lines). Am I right?

Because 136 pounds lost in roughly a year is a lot of weight. And that would seem to explain the need for so many shakes, since a majority of people that have undergone that type of operation have a hard time eating solid foods for quite a while.

i tried the other types of proteins available however it has taken me quite a while to find these ones by phd which seem to sit well with me, however can you recomend a casian (sorry my spelling is terrible) protein that i could try?

yes ironkitten you are right i had a hiatus hiernia and also found i had barrets osphegus as well they tightened my throat off too tight and so i couldnt actually eat solid food at all for 3 months eventually they slacked it off a bit but due to the barrets i found that when i ate solid food it just stuck in my thoat and i had to just throw it up as it wasnt even getting to my stomach. I still find even a year on that i very often suffer from bloating if i dont watch what i eat. but yeah you were pretty spot on my dear! have you had much dealing with it before then?

I know this is a nutrition board but if i posted my workout routine would you guys tell me if its a good one for trying to build some mass? i am just getting really fed up of being so skinny and i need to bulk up in order to join the police so basically i have 3-4 months to gain as much muscle as possible!

i know that people have said that my diet is very liquid based however i have worked out that i eat around 2000 calories a day and i take in around 140 - 160 grams of protein a day (using an online converter i think this sounds like i have got the amount of protein for my body weight right based on what kane said)

thanks for your feed back guys i really appreciate the help and support its good of you

:-)

:weights:

I don't have/use any casein products. I get my casein from cottage cheese. So I'm afraid I'm of no help to you here :biglaugh:

There might be some info about casein on the site somewhere, or maybe someone else will share a brand they like.

no problems :-) i have tried to make myself like cottage cheese but i just cant do it however i have found the joys of ricotta cheese lots of protein and not a lot of fat (and tastes lovely with chicken and spinach) lol

Sorry to hear that you've had to go through all of that.

I don't have a TON of experience with those kinds of surgeries, but as they've become more popular, I've been extremely interested in both the process and the long term effects. Especially how a lot of times the patients can end up having a hard time fulfilling their nutrient requirements since it can be so difficult to eat/drink much at a time without becoming sick.

I've yet to find any good clinical studies on the more long term effects. But if there's any kind of documentary on tv I guarantee I'll be watching it :biglaugh:

Since your doc has given you the go ahead to get into some more vigorous exercise, have you talked with him/her more in depth about your plans for lifting?

Also, is it still difficult for you to take in solid food for a majority of your meals in a day?

I'd say you should definitely start slow with the weights. Ease your way into it and see how you adapt. When working with higher volume training (ie, trying to add mass) your caloric needs go up. And if you try to make too much or a caloric jump, you may find yourself getting sick more often. Or if you were to try to incorporate higher volume training with not enough calories, you will severely sap your energy levels and your recovery time will be longer. Which, if that were to happen, and you pushed things too hard, even though it's been a year since your surgery, it could lead to you relapsing into your body wanting to reject food again (you'll be nauseous/ill more).

Can I ask what you're pre-surgery weight was?