Mid 20s Gain - Products to help?

mikeatx

New member
I'm new to all this stuff. Brief History
At 25 I was 6'5" 180 30" waist, basically skinny.

I recently turned 27 and am up to 220 and a 33" waist.
I've put on both fat and muscle, but more fat that I want.

My body fits my height much better now than when I was real skinny. My daily routine gives me plenty of exercise and I eat pretty healthy. Slimfast Optima Shake for breakfast and usually lunch, good old home cooked type meals for dinner. I do my best to stay away from processed foods and fast food. I also take Centrum for Men multivitamin. I love to mountain bike also, but hate the cold weather and tend to stay off it till about April/May.

My goal is to trade some of this extra fat I have (Specifically around the waist area) and trade it for some muscle.

Looking for a product or combination of products that will take advantage of my long busy days at work and my constant weekend projects around the house. Some increased energy and stamina would be nice also, but I know exercise is the big thing there.

I've been taking creatine on and off and from what I've read so far, seems to be a great/safe product. I think it accounts for my last 10 lbs of weight gain. I've lost about 1/2 in the waist and gained about 10 lbs over the last couple of weeks.

I took ephedra a few years ago and couldn't sleep while taking it, plus the constant news of health risks, so I quit taking it... It did work, but the loss of sleep was not worth it.

Historically I gain weight every winter and lose it by the summer. Altho I didn't lose any last year. I also plan to quit smoking soon ($1/per tax increase in Texas is helping) and I know thats gonna make me gain some weight too.

I'm just trying to stay ahead of the curve. My dad started gaining at 25 and is now diabetic, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc.. I'm gonna learn from his choices and stay in shape.

What product or products might help me reach my goal?

Also, my creatine use is on and off because of my crazy work schedule. Can I mix 4 water bottles up the day before and take them to work with me... I wondered if the product breaks down after being mixed for a while.

I would like to drop the body fat and keep my weight about where it is. Don't want to be huge, but for my height, I've got to have quite a bit of muscle to avoid looking scrawny.

I don't mind spending a fair amount of money for good solid products with quality ingredients.

Thanks in advance for your help.
 
I checked out FitDay and put in what I've eat (Will have eaten) today and apparently don't eat quite as healthy as I thought.

56% (438g) Carbs, 31% (105g) Fat and 13% (96g)Protein and a total of 3063 Calories. Another report shows that I burn about 4100 Calories per day, yet I still seem to be gaining weight slowly.

I exceed all the nutritional requirements except Vitamin K and Selenium (I have no idea what either of these really do for you)
 
I've continued to read and read. I had no idea there were this many products and all this stacking of drugs, ECA, etc... Its all new to me, but I've picked up enought that I think I know what I'm looking for now.

A Stimulant Free Fat Burner (I smoke and drink alot of caffine, don't need to be jittery and suffer insomnia)

I would like this to stack well with Creatine (I've read alot of fat burners also cancel out the effects of creatine)

May add Nitric Oxide with the Creatine. Still reasearching that.

Any other suggestions?

My goal is burn fat and gain muscle without stimulants.
 
What needs the most work right now is your diet. Your protein intake is far too low for your bodyweight. I'd aim for at least 1.5 grams/lb lean body mass if dieting and at least 1g/lb bodyweight if bulking. I'd keep carbs pretty high as they tend to help preserve muscle tissue and give you energy for the active lifestyle you lead.


I think the main benefit of NO products is cosmetic. It gives a nice pump and acts as a pde-5 inhibitor if you need or want that. Otherwise I wouldn't spend the money. In any event, if you go with an NO product, I'd get a cheap powder source of l-arginine AAKG online and avoid the exhorbitant expense of some of those products.

You seem quite health conscious. To only gain 3 inches on the waist and 40 lbs bodyweight is excellent imo! My advice would be to simply cut a little bodyfat off first, then bulk back up to your desired goal weight. Trying to use supplements to build muscle and lose fat concomitantly is a tough task. It is hard enough to do that on steroids. So for my part, I have little faith in trying to use otc supps to do that. Just cut and spare your muscle then bulk. Makes more sense.

A lot of the drugs that I know work well for fat loss are not even remotely over the counter. And you have yet to express a desire or need to use anything that strong. If you are looking to put on another 20 lbs of muscle or get to competition leanness, then I would say differently. If you want to hold another 10 lbs muscle or so over the long run, I think the key will be being able to eat enough calories every day indefinitely to hold it. You seem to get really good partitioning naturally. By the numbers I see you appear to have made fantastic progress naturally in a very short time. Keep going with it if you can.

I think a good non-stimulant fat burner would be anything that does a good job suppressing your appetite. This may be especially important when you go off nicotine. You'll get cravings no doubt. Nicotine is such a powerful appetite suppressant I think the main reason many people gain after quitting smoking is b/c they increase their appetite. Nicotine itself is considered a pretty mild stimulant.

Also, if you are not supplementing with fish oil, I strongly suggest you consider it.

If you have tons of money to spend on this is might be a better idea to get healthful supplements designed to increase longevity, heart health etc.....or look to the grey or black market just to do some research on what really works well. Knowing about black market drugs puts many things into perspective in a way you can't understand until you have researched them thoroughly.
 
Come to our website and check out some of our product. I was stacking stizm, dicana, and zappatite and I had great results with it I lost 30 lbs atleast
 
Cardinal, thanks for the detailed responce.

I'm really new at this, so let me make sure I understand everything you've said.

Diet: Seems like adding a high in protein & calorie suppliment here would be helpful. Maybe some protein bars while I'm at work?

I hadn't really even looked into the NOs much, just keep seeing them around and was curious. I'll stay away from that for now.

After some thought, I had an idea for this delema. Once I figure all this out I could come up with a fat burning/cutting diet/suppliment combo and stay on that for a few weeks. Then switch to a diet/suppliment combo to help build muscle mass. Basically something along a monthly or bi monthly rotation. Maybe take a few days to a week off between to let my body process everything fully and detox before switching?

I'm definatly not looking for something real strong. My body has naturally done well on its own, just looking to give it a little help. If it takes 6 months+ to achieve the small changes I'm looking for I'll be happy. I'd rather do this slowly and not take chemicals that could potentially be real hard on your body.

Regarding my weight/inches gain. I noticed the fat gain I've had is pretty spread out. Mostly at the stomach area, but also in the chest, upper legs, arms, etc... Not really much of a gut, just a thicker layer spread around mostly my upper body.

I'll definatly look into an appetite suppressent when I go to quit smoking. Unless I use another form of nicotine to curb the cravings. I've tried the patch before, I'm going to talk to my doctor about perscription stop smoking aides this time around.

Fish oil, I keep seeing that around and already on the list of things pickup. Any specific product better than something from the grocery store for this? Do I want this for just weight loss? or is it good for gain as well?

Money isn't a big issue... I don't want to spend a fortune, but I'll pay a little extra for suppliments that meet my requiments and have some health benifits.

I'm still trying to sort out the various types of products out there. Havn't really even gotten to the level of specfic brands/products out there.

Thanks again for your responce :)
 
To increase protein, you could definitely try some protein bars (watch out that many contain fillers and not much actual protein though). You can also get protein powder supplements and mix them in a shaker cup easily while at work (just add water, shake and drink). That is a less expensive option.

What I was thinking more of was a shift in macronutrients using whole foods also though. For a given level of calories, you will want to increase your protein, which would mean to decrease fat and carb intake slightly. Canned meat (tuna for example) is an excellent way to increase protein intake while at work. You can also buy some raw meat in bulk once a week and cook up enough for the whole week ahead (like do it on Sunday). At night you might try cottage cheese if you like it (good source of casein). You can find nighttime protein blends that use casein powder pretty easily too. Whole eggs or egg whites are great in the morning. Oatmeal and egg whites or oatmeal and whey protein are classic breakfasts.

I am sure some fish oil pill products are better than others. If you care about fish oil burps you might get a deodorized version. Some also come with higher concentrations of EPA/DHA per pill and with other fatty acids in there too. To make it simple, the standard 30% concentration fish oil pills with about 180mg EPA and 120 mg DHA per tab can be bought just about anywhere. Sams, costco, walmart, probably even here on the forum with a sponsor. The thing about fish oil is that the health benefits are undeniable. There is just too much research backing the positives not to take it.

Browse what the board sponsors have to offer. They generally have some pretty cutting edge stuff...stuff you typically won't find at gnc etc with much better prices.
 
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