A Question of Ability

Nutrition
1

Hey Guys,

I am usually able to manage my diet just fine when I am living at my own house, reguardless of budget or time constraints… This time it’s different.

Right now I live aboard one of the aircraft carriers out of San Diego. Sure, I get 3 squares a day, but here was today’s lunch menu: Personal pizzas, corn dogs, fried chicken, cooked carrots, steamed broccoli (sitting in a vat of water, mmm), cake and all that other b.s. We also have a salad bar, but I know better than to succumb to a rabbit diet w/o any protien. Now through the week they do have SOME decent choices (Baked Chicken, Roast Beef, Turkey, etc.) but it’s usually pretty fatty, preprepared (high in perservatives) or I run into one of the above mentioned meals

For the next 6 months I HAVE no other option than to live on the ship. Also, because of the simple cost and lack of facilities (read “no kitchen”) I can’t go buy and cook my own meals that I know are healthy. The best I can do right now is to keep some tubs of Grow!, Surge, milled flax seeds, raw nuts, and a few multi’s in the little space that I do have… I’ve been consuming about 3 Grow!/Flax shakes a day on average.

This is where my question comes in. How do I overcome this feat? Do I do a ton more cardio to counteract the horrible food as best as possible? If so is it a 50/50 moderate/HIIT blend? Do I increase my volume of training? I am at a COMPLETE loss here. I hope someone’s got some direction.

Thanks

Kyle

2

No One?

I am going to start doing fasted morning cardio 4x/week and about 2-3 HIIT type sessions/week. I am lifting about 3x/weeks mostly TBT style with lower reps and higher 1RM%.

Soon I will do the Velocity Diet/workout for a month (or more if results continue) and slowly start to integrate the decent carbs we get here (Fruits, Veggies, Salads)…

Kyle

3

i’m just upping this so u get a response bro

4

[quote]Upstate Lifter wrote:
No One?

I am going to start doing fasted morning cardio 4x/week and about 2-3 HIIT type sessions/week. I am lifting about 3x/weeks mostly TBT style with lower reps and higher 1RM%.

Soon I will do the Velocity Diet/workout for a month (or more if results continue) and slowly start to integrate the decent carbs we get here (Fruits, Veggies, Salads)…

Kyle[/quote]

With limited food choices it’s not easy sometimes but the days with crap food. Make it a protein/fat meal, keeping the carbs to a minimum. Other days with better food, eat “normal”. Just do the best you can.

Beef jerkey(sp) is also a good snack , could also be a thing to stock up on, takes almost no space.

5

Thanks for the Bump Xen Nova and for the advice Mr. Moose.

Is there any thoughts on the cardio… I know that doing too much is bad for the physique, but how much is too much? I need to shed this ever growing fat…

Kyle

6

Hey Upstate!!

Bummer that you’re stuck there with all that junk food! Off the top of my head I would suggest some of the following, not the most ideal nutrition, but the best you can do with non perishables.

-Flip top cans of chunk chicken breast (I used to use pouches/cans of tuna but avoid it because of the current contaminant controversy)

-Jack Link’s soft beef jerky chunks (teriyaki and pepper are the best)

-Raw Almonds, Cashews, Sunflower seeds

-Natural peanut butter

-Dried prunes, figs

-Packets of instant Cream of Wheat and Oatmeal, unsweetened

-Raw Oatmeal

-Vacuum packs of Milk, nonfat

-Big tub of Grow!/Whey protein- both flavored and neutral

-Shaker bottle

-Protein bars

Suggestions:
-Microwave brownie flavored protein bar for 20 seconds and top with 1T. peanut butter (got this one from a Tmag reader, thank you!)

-Make a milk and whey shake, and pour over cold cereal (credit to Iron, who eats this all the time), or raw oats mixed with a handful of sunflower seeds and dried fruit

-Reconstitute cream of wheat until it’s watery- stir in Vanilla Grow!, handful of raw nuts, chopped up dried fruit

-Throw two cans of drained chicken over salad greeens and anything else healthy from that salad bar (cottage cheese?), or into savory dishes

-Mix neutral/unflavored whey into savory hot food

I’ve used all of these working on long night shifts in a hospital, where there is nothing but vending machine food (cookies, candy, soda), and I hope it helps you…

Good luck and Aloha from Hawaii!!!
chinadoll

7

Hey ChinaDoll,

Thanks so much for the tips. I’m already utilizing a few (i.e. Grow! and some mixed nuts, but I’ll definitely look into getting the packaged stuff that you mentioned. Unfortunately I can’t own such nice things as Natty PB or anything else that needs refridgerating (sp?) because I have absolutely no access to a fridge, and I don’t want that sort of thing around when we head over to the Arabian Gulf (115 F, Yuck!).

ANYWAY, do you have any cardio ideas? I’ve always been really bad at assessing my cardio needs as I’ve always had access to good foods. This is what I know (or think I know) about cardio:

  1. Moderate jogging is highly overrated if you use it as your main/only source of cardio and too frequently… It eats away muscle mass and makes you look like one of those guys from Runner’s World.

  2. HOC, Anaerobic Circuits, Sprinting, and HIIT Elliptical are all acceptable cardio methods, but must be used according to your means… i.e. If your sleep and nutrition are poor, recovery will be hindered and fitting in 3 training sessions w/ 3 or 4 of the above cardio sessions may cause overtraining.

  3. Moderate paced walks outside for 30-60 minutes can slice off some of your daily calories without fear of overtraining or fatigue. How effective is this method? I’ve seen Lowry suggest it, but other than Shugart’s Velocity diet, I haven’t seen it in many peoples’ programs.

Thank you guys so much for the feedback

8

Hi Upstate!!!

Can I first say that our soldiers are our absolute heroes, you are preserving the very foundation of our great country, which is our freedom and our country is so proud of you!!!

Ok, wow that sucks that you can’t have natural peanut butter there. I know this isn’t the best, but I work long night shifts, when there is no decent food anywhere, and I keep a jar of skippy lowfat peanut butter in my locker and eat a spoonful here and there, plain or smeared on a microwave-warmed brownie-type protein bar. I know that PB has a ton of preservatives and sugar, but it’s better than that gross stuff from the vending machine.

Yuck the Arabian Gulf is Hot! Hotter than the hottest days here in Hawaii!!!

I’m not the best person to ask about cardio. I walk continuously for 12.5/work shift as an ER nurse, so I feel my body has long adapted to brisk walking/jogging type exercise. I know there are great articles here on the subject.

Upstate, you must post photos, if you can, for your friends here at T-Nation!

All the best to you!!!
chinadoll

9

skipping rope. once conditioned in the upper body, a great workout, and not much room needed! just get a cheap plastic one. much better than leather.

10

What are your goals? You could just look at it as one big off-season. Gain 10-20 pounds. Eat what is given you plus your Grow! and Surge. Try to increase the poundages on your main lifts (I assume you can train hard on board?). Gain size and strength. Then eat clean and lean up when you come back.

11

[quote]miniross wrote:
skipping rope. once conditioned in the upper body, a great workout, and not much room needed! just get a cheap plastic one. much better than leather.[/quote]

I second the skipping rope. Higher intensity than jogging and you can do it almost anywhere. Plus it is impressive when you get good at it.

I prefer leather to plastic, but that is just me. A slower rope may be good for you if you are just starting out.

Coach Davies did a nice article on Renegade Rope Training or something like that.