Newbie Epiphany About Calories

[stxnas]

I have always had problems with making size gains. I eventually concluded it was probably just genetics (easy excuse, right). After doing a lot of lurking on the AM forums I began to think twice about this. Somebody mentioned using fitday.com to keep track of their calories so I thought I would do the same.

I was pretty shocked with what I found out: I had probably been eating about 1700-2000 calories a day. No wonder I couldn't gain any mass! I have quickly seen a difference in body compostition in only a few weeks just by bumping up my caloric goal to about 2500-2750 on a 40/40/20 macro ratio. My weight has gone up slightly, but I actually have more striation in my muscles and my pants are more loose around my waist.

Moral of the story? I was considering using supplementation (even possibly AAS), but with some good research I found that I have a lot of room to improve naturally (I'm 5'8 and floating around 159...lots of room to improve there).

 

[B5150]

I nominate stxnas as newbie member of the month. I'm going to stickie your thread for a while. Thanks for sharing. Maybe others here can learn from your example.

 

[Beelzebub]

perfect example. awesome job bro.

 

[jmh80]

Bro - the same thing happened to me in the fall of 2003. I took an intro nutrition class (didn't get any credit towards graduation though - was mainly to meat chicks...)
We had to log 3 days of our eating including one weekend day and input into something similar to Fitday (a CD that came with the textbook).

I was surprised at how much crap I really was eating. And also at how little I ate on weekends.

 

[Achilles13]

Excellent thread to be stickied! I think if many people would start to use fitday.com, they would see alot of faults in their diet. At my father's school, I suggested it to a couple of his employees and they love it. Hell, one guy has drop some lbs after using fitday. My own cousin, came to me advice because he was having a problem losing weight. I explained macro ratios and fitday to him and now he has a better since of what is going on. He recently just started using fitday, but is loving it already. Fitday will do wonders for anyone who takes the time and effort to log and track their diet.


Once again excellent thread to be stickied.:thumbsup:

 

[harleyhoney]

I too use fitday and it was an eye opener to say the least, I log everything every day !! It has been a big help for me

 

[rhunt000]

was mainly to meat chicks...)

So, did you "meat" any? :lol:

Sorry, bad taste I know, but couldn't resist.

 

[Mach .78]

So, did you "meat" any? :lol:

Sorry, bad taste I know, but couldn't resist.

I added some of this meat you speak of, and all it did was put a smile on my face.

Seriously, I'm really impressed that stxnas after 4 posts hasn't come here and started asking all the dumb questions like where to get some stuff cause I'm 140 lbs. and want to put on crazy mass. Good stuff newbie.

 

[stxnas]

I just wanted to thank everybody for their positive feedback. This forum can be really overwhelming and intimidating for somebody new and you guys made me feel right at home.

Thanks Bros!

 

[shaorinor]

Yah, amazes me how many people have the "I'm a hardgainer" mentality. Few friends of mine who have been lifting for awhile, but have the crappiest diets, complain to me that they have these raging metabolisms that prevent them from adding any weight.

So simple, eat more food.

 

[JuanJon]

I too had the "hardgainer" attitude until I sat down and tracked my caloric intake. I was shocked to see that I had only been eating around 2500 calories. Lack of calories plus overtraining for nearly two years had me spinning my wheels and not gaining any muscle. Luckily I stumbled across this site a little over a year ago. :thumbsup:

 

[Moyer]

I had the exact same problem. In high school I tried to eat as much as I could for a month and I still didn't gain any weight. Like most people, I just chalked it up to high metabolism.

Wasn't until a few years later that I started counting calories and realized I averaged about 1800/day.

Great thread stxnas. :welcome:

 

[LCSULLA]

There's an intresting article over at tnation. John Berardi (sp?) is helping Dave Tate lose some weight because of health issues. Anyway John had Dave keep a log of what he was eating aday. Well Dave was eating about the worst Amrican diet possible. Poptarts for breakfest, Mcdonalds twice aday and ect. When they totaled it up he was eating a huge amount of cals but only about 150grams of protein. Yet he weighed about 290lbs. And he said he had always followed this type of diet and that when he ate like a BBer he got really sick and would throwup!. Weird.

 

[stxnas]

I had the exact same problem. In high school I tried to eat as much as I could for a month and I still didn't gain any weight. Like most people, I just chalked it up to high metabolism.

Wasn't until a few years later that I started counting calories and realized I averaged about 1800/day.

Great thread stxnas. :welcome:

It's reassuring to find out that I wasn't the only with this mentality/syndrome. Thanks for the welcome bro.

There's an intresting article over at tnation. John Berardi (sp?) is helping Dave Tate lose some weight because of health issues. Anyway John had Dave keep a log of what he was eating aday. Well Dave was eating about the worst Amrican diet possible...And he said he had always followed this type of diet and that when he ate like a BBer he got really sick and would throwup!. Weird.

My situation was a little different. I have always eaten very "clean". I'm talking like you could ask me at any given time when I had last eaten fast food/soda/candy/fried food etc etc....and I wouldn't be able to remember. I just straight up wasn't eating enough of the right stuff even though I felt like a pig all of the time. I was eating way too little protein

And it's funny that you mentioned getting sick from changing eating habits. I can't ever eat out at wing joints or Mexican places...I don't exactly throw up...I like to call what happens an assplosion.

And just an update, but I stepped on the gym scale yesterday morning and I am still making slow gains. I have gained about 4 pounds in the past six weeks or so. I hope that is mostly lbm, but I don't currently have an accurate way to measure BF%. From the feel of my clothes and the look in the mirror I would say it has been mostly lean weight. Whatever though...I'll cut up later. I'm really enjoying eating this much food.:food:

 

[Moyer]

I have gained about 4 pounds in the past six weeks or so. I hope that is mostly lbm, but I don't currently have an accurate way to measure BF%. From the feel of my clothes and the look in the mirror I would say it has been mostly lean weight. Whatever though...I'll cut up later. I'm really enjoying eating this much food.:food:

I have something for you to try if at any point you really feel like you're getting fat. You just go back to your old diet (or a cutting diet) for one week. Crowler told me about this and it works great for me. When I bulk I start to get a little bloated around my stomach and after a while it gets to me. I'm not sure if it's just from the extra food in my intestines or all the extra sodium I usually eat. When I go back to maintenance calories or below for a week, it vanishes. Of course in the short run this isn't going to help you add weight, so don't do it often. It's just a great psychological boost to see a flat tummy again and a nice trick to have up your sleeve.

 

[Mach .78]

I have something for you to try if at any point you really feel like you're getting fat. You just go back to your old diet (or a cutting diet) for one week. Crowler told me about this and it works great for me. When I bulk I start to get a little bloated around my stomach and after a while it gets to me. I'm not sure if it's just from the extra food in my intestines or all the extra sodium I usually eat. When I go back to maintenance calories or below for a week, it vanishes. Of course in the short run this isn't going to help you add weight, so don't do it often. It's just a great psychological boost to see a flat tummy again and a nice trick to have up your sleeve.

Just did this and it works. Felt like I was full all the time for two weeks! Cut back a little and hey there are my abs, quite flat I must say.

 

[stxnas]

...It's just a great psychological boost to see a flat tummy again and a nice trick to have up your sleeve.

Thanks for the trick. I might give this a try in the next week or so.

Just did this and it works. Felt like I was full all the time for two weeks! Cut back a little and hey there are my abs, quite flat I must say.

Thanks for the confirmation on the use of this tactic. The bloated feeling really bothers me, but it seems to be a necessary evil in order to eat my goal of calories and still meet my 40/40/20....

...This makes me wonder though. What calories do you cut to do something like this? Should I still aim at my usual macro breakdown and just lower the cals or should I keep the protein high and back off of carbs or fat (or both)?

 

[Mach .78]

I'd cut down on the carbs. Also try intestinal formula #1 and #2 from this crazy guy. Time for a cleaning, people.
http://herbdoc.com/home_1024x768.asp

 

[stxnas]

NO THANK YOU. I stay away from products who's selling points include (and I quote from the website):
-A strong purifier and Intestinal Vacuum
-Stimulates/strengthens the muscular movement of your colon:toofunny:
I'll stick to my two bowls-a-day of colon blow w/added flax seeds and rolled oats.

 

[Mach .78]

That stuff rocks imho. My sister-in-law took it and cursed me from work, out on the road all day. Oh my God, This is sooo inconvenient. I just left a Baton at a Mom and Pop convenience store in their bathroom. I feel so bad, and it stank. Too funny.:rofl:

 

[BigVrunga]

I have always had problems with making size gains. I eventually concluded it was probably just genetics (easy excuse, right). After doing a lot of lurking on the AM forums I began to think twice about this. Somebody mentioned using fitday.com to keep track of their calories so I thought I would do the same.

I was pretty shocked with what I found out: I had probably been eating about 1700-2000 calories a day. No wonder I couldn't gain any mass! I have quickly seen a difference in body compostition in only a few weeks just by bumping up my caloric goal to about 2500-2750 on a 40/40/20 macro ratio. My weight has gone up slightly, but I actually have more striation in my muscles and my pants are more loose around my waist.

Moral of the story? I was considering using supplementation (even possibly AAS), but with some good research I found that I have a lot of room to improve naturally (I'm 5'8 and floating around 159...lots of room to improve there).

My god, a convert!!!

Welcome to AM.com bro...very glad to have you

BV

BV

 

[HeIsLegend]

yeah i just did fitday starting today after i read about it here i ate like 2522 calories 47 grams of fat 389 carbs 145 g of protien. i never knew how much or how little i was eating i need to cut though get rid of the belly flab

 

[stxnas]

So how's it working out for you so far HeIs?

I have still been trimming up some, and adding a little size slowly. My vascularity in my arms is getting to be non-stop now and I haven't had that in years. Oh, and btw, I was able to still trim up some at 2500 calories per day using the above split. I'm probably and ecto though and I aim to workout 3-4 times per week. I also do a moderate five minute warm up b4 lifting and a 5min+cool down after weights. I have back problems and found that this is necessary in order to be able to walk later!

Oh, and I'm still working for the abs too bro! I'm looking for a good read on nutrient timing now as I think I might be able to cut down my carbs some, especially on off days.

Sorry I didn't see your post sooner. Good Luck Bro.

 

[HeIsLegend]

ehh its been working pretty good when i come back from vacation im going to start making a meal plan for everyday and stick to it i think this may be the bext plan I am 5 foot 10 and about 190 lbs not sure on body fat but I have most of my fat in my stomach and chest area so I think I'm gonna aim for somewhere around 2200-2500 calories a day? any suggestions on how many grams of carbs I should be consuming at those calorie range??

 

[stxnas]

Well, first off what are your goals? Mine, for example, is to gain lbm (lean body mass) as I'm 5'8 and only 162. I know a pretty standard macro nutrient split to obtain this is a 40/40/20 macro split meaning 40% cals from protein, 40% cals from carbs, and 20% cals from fats (shoot for EFAs). Do some searching and find out how many cals you need for maintenance of lbm. From there find a macro split that meets your needs and apply it accordingly.

It sounds as if you are trying to lose body weight. If so you may want to start a thread in weight loss forum. Try searching AM for varioius macro splits or macro nutrients . A lot of bros also suggest various types of cardio: HIIT or Low Intensity cardio. There seems to be a lot of debate on those two.

I hope I was able to help some, but I am pretty green with this stuff too. Hopefully a more experienced bro will step up with some good suggestions so we can both learn.

 

[juggernaut333]

What kind of caloric total are good guidelines for ppl to start for gaining lbm?bw times 20 seems to be a good general consensus to start at and then adjust from there yes?perhaps as high as 25 if one has a fast metabolism...

god bless the blender is all i gotta say as otherwise its a real ***** to get in all those calories sometimes.