I Have No Idea What to Eat Now

Nutrition
1

I’m new to T-Nation but it has been a great source of motivation and information for me. I am at a turning point but am unsure what to do next. I am 37 yrs old, 6 ft. I have never lifted before but have joined a gym and started.

In Nov, I weighted 222 lbs. Using a no carb diet I have now lost down to 180 lbs. I really want to see my abs and the weight loss does continues although it has slowed down. The problem is that I am pretty small. I’ve had a few people tell me that I’m too small but in my mind I still carry too much of a gut.

My diet now consist of at least 180g of protein/day. The only carbs I eat are with a protein bar I take when i lift, 20 gram of carbs before and after lifting, 40 total. The rest of my calories come from fat.

When I lost all the weight I stayed under 1500 cal/day, no carbs, no eating after 7pm, and I was eating 6 small meals/day.

Do I need to start eating like a monster to pack on some muscle? I do want to be a little bigger but more than anything I want to lose the gut and be cut. Do or do I need to continue with the low carb low cal diet diet to loose the rest of my gut? Or is there another option I haven’t even though of?

2

At this point I say you are restricting carbs too much in order to build some muscle.

And from your long history of restricting carbs you’ve likely lost a bit of muscle, so while you lost weight, this is why people say you look small, yet you know you have a gut.

read up on Berardi’s 7 habits of Highly Effective Nutrition you can find it on here or his site www.johnberardi.com

4

1500 calories a day is a starvation diet at your weight and height. you will need to slowly increase your calories every week so you can get to an optimal muscle building stage without laying on too much fat.

As well, you won’t see any gains on such a carb restricted diet. Make a decision to gain muscle now. Follow a good eating plan (I can suggest the anabolic diet because you are already super low on carbs, all you have to do is make a few macronutrient modifications and add in a carb loading day), lift heavy, gain some good mass, and then later on down the road when you have something to cut down to, you can lose some fat.

If you want to see your abs, you need to gain muscle. I used to weigh a measly 150 lbs at 5’ 10". I had no visible abs at all, and trust me, I was very skinny. Now I weigh 175 lbs and I have abs, although I think my bf% is slightly higher. If you think of it in terms of lean mass and not overall weight it is clearer.

5

Thanks everyone for the advice. I’m going to slowly add calories over the next couple of weeks and try to get up over 3000/day. I’m going add some carbs as well but I think I’m going to keep the diet low carb.

I’ve read some and I’m going to use the T-dawg diet (which is a modification of the anabolic diet) as well as the ideas in Berardi’s 7 habits of nutrition. If I can add 10-20 lbs of muscle I think I will be very satisfied.

6

These results will help you to know how many calories you need to maintain your current weight, and the number of calories needed per day to achieve your goal weight in a healthy, steady manner.

You need 2597.9 calories per day to maintain your current weight without exercise.

You need 2525.6 calories per day to reach your goal weight slowly and maintain that weight without exercise.

If you reduce your current caloric intake to 2097.9 calories per day you will lose one pound per week without exercise.

If you increase your current caloric intake to 3097.9 calories per day, you will gain one pound per week.

Exercise and Calorie Needs

If you exercise for 30 minutes each day, you may increase your caloric intake to 2849.7 calories per day and still maintain your current weight.

If you exercise for 60 minutes each day, you may increase your caloric intake to 3170.1 calories per day to maintain your current weight.

If you exercise for 30 minutes each day, you will be able to reach your goal weight with 2769.4 calories per day.

If you exercise for 60 minutes each day, you will be able to reach your goal weight with 3079.7 calories per day.

7

Those numbers seem rather precise.

More protein, adjust the rest to suit your progress.

As far as what people are telling you about your appearance, as most people are overweight these days, you are more likely to get called skinny than you are to get props for having abs under your clothes. Bearing in mind how tall you are and how much you currently weigh.

You say you have joined a gym, are you training hard enough to make any progress with this new diet?

8

[quote]Joe D. wrote:
Those numbers seem rather precise.

More protein, adjust the rest to suit your progress.

As far as what people are telling you about your appearance, as most people are overweight these days, you are more likely to get called skinny than you are to get props for having abs under your clothes. Bearing in mind how tall you are and how much you currently weigh.

You say you have joined a gym, are you training hard enough to make any progress with this new diet?[/quote]

I know less about weight lifting than I do about eating. I have been using Christian Thibaudeau’s OVT weight lifting plan as a guide and have only been lifting for 2 weeks. I can see a difference in my body for sure. Even my wife has noticed my arms and chest. At this point I would describe the changes as me firming up but no real increase in size.

Honestly though I don’t know how well I am training. I am the weakest in the gym by far but I’ve accepted that. I don’t get real sore but at the end of my last few sets (I do 5 sets) I do not have the strength to finish all the reps. I’ve trained legs before in the morning (I train in the mornings) and walked out with noodle legs only to feel so good in the afternoon that I go back that evening and do more leg work. I’ve had a membership for 14 days and I’ve been to the gym 13 of the 14 days, sometimes twice a day. I just keep looking in the mirror and thinking “that’s not good enough.” I don’t know if working out twice a day is good or bad but I like it when I get to do it.

The first time I trained my biceps I felt something wrong in the right one. It was more than soreness or muscle fatigue, not sure what it was, it almost felt pulled or something so I immediately quit. No problems since then and I have worked them a couple of times since.

[quote]TheDudeAbides wrote:
These results will help you to know how many calories you need to maintain your current weight, and the number of calories needed per day to achieve your goal weight in a healthy, steady manner.

You need 2597.9 calories per day to maintain your current weight without exercise.

You need 2525.6 calories per day to reach your goal weight slowly and maintain that weight without exercise.

If you reduce your current caloric intake to 2097.9 calories per day you will lose one pound per week without exercise.

If you increase your current caloric intake to 3097.9 calories per day, you will gain one pound per week.

Exercise and Calorie Needs

If you exercise for 30 minutes each day, you may increase your caloric intake to 2849.7 calories per day and still maintain your current weight.

If you exercise for 60 minutes each day, you may increase your caloric intake to 3170.1 calories per day to maintain your current weight.

If you exercise for 30 minutes each day, you will be able to reach your goal weight with 2769.4 calories per day.

If you exercise for 60 minutes each day, you will be able to reach your goal weight with 3079.7 calories per day.[/quote]

That is great advice! But I have a few questions. The second point there says “You need 2525.6 calories per day to reach your goal weight slowly and maintain that weight without exercise.” What is my goal weight? I’m 180 now but really I would move to weigh 200 with no more body fat than I have now. Basically I want to add 20lbs of muscle. I think I could do that in a year if I got the diet and lifting programs right. I think being so new to lifting may work in my favor. I’ll have the newbie gains working for me.

Can you give me a link to the source of that info? I’m sure it’s on T-Nation somewhere.

Thanks again for all the input.

9

Changing your body composition is a long term goal. Forget seeing abs and buffing your muscles by this summer. You can’t build muscle and lose fat at the same time - at least not without steroids or freakish genes. Getting started and educated about it is the easy part. Popping up in the gym is also not so demanding. Eating 6 protein laden meals per day is a bit tougher. But all that is nothing compared to sticking with it. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Anyway, I’m just rambling 'cause after about a year of this lifestyle, the sight of chicken breasts, broccoli and boiled eggs is starting to get to me hard. I look better and I’m stronger than I ever did, and my confidence has been boosted through the roof, but it can get pretty hard to stick with it sometimes. Just letting you know what to expect in the future.

The articles on this site should answer most (if not all) the questions you might have. Do not overlook supplements. Proper PWO nutrition (e.g: Surge) will get you a long way. Also, you should consider supplementing your diet with fish oil and creatine.

Best of luck,

10

Whoa 13 of 14 days and going twice in one day?!

Go back and read the beginner articles. It has a wealth of information I think you really need to know and will help you get the best result. Overtraining can have a worse effect on your muscles then no training.

REST is a massive part of building muscle. Your muscles don’t grow in the gym, but when you are at home watching a movie or reading these forums. I train 3 days a week and am rarely at the gym more then 90mins. Don’t expect overnight results, it could months before you start physically seeing changes.

All your questions can already be found on this site, just take the time.

11

Well, my only general advice is to train to get stronger and to eat to change your body composition; at least that is how I look at it.

Over time you will learn what works for you and how good your recovery is (more or less days/volume and whatnot).

Good training.

12

[quote]TheDudeAbides wrote:
These results will help you to know how many calories you need to maintain your current weight, and the number of calories needed per day to achieve your goal weight in a healthy, steady manner.

You need 2597.9 calories per day to maintain your current weight without exercise.

You need 2525.6 calories per day to reach your goal weight slowly and maintain that weight without exercise.

If you reduce your current caloric intake to 2097.9 calories per day you will lose one pound per week without exercise.

If you increase your current caloric intake to 3097.9 calories per day, you will gain one pound per week.

Exercise and Calorie Needs

If you exercise for 30 minutes each day, you may increase your caloric intake to 2849.7 calories per day and still maintain your current weight.

If you exercise for 60 minutes each day, you may increase your caloric intake to 3170.1 calories per day to maintain your current weight.

If you exercise for 30 minutes each day, you will be able to reach your goal weight with 2769.4 calories per day.

If you exercise for 60 minutes each day, you will be able to reach your goal weight with 3079.7 calories per day.[/quote]

You obviously weren’t paying attention in your intro physics lab when they talked about precision vs. accuracy. Just because a number is precise (such as 3097.7 calories) does not mean it’s accurate.

This is a load of shite, and I can only hope it was posted in jest.

13

Like others have said, you dont grow in the gym, but when you are resing. The battle is won and lost in the kicthen, period. If you starve yourself with 1500 calories, you will not gain muscle. You need to read up on here and learn to eat for your goals, and slowly and steadily acclimate yourself to preparing meals and having them with you, until its completely normal (i always have 3-5 meals prepped, ready to go, and never leave without one). You will learn how to multi-task, and make food in bulk so you are in and out of the kitchen quickly. I can cook 3-4 days worth of meals isn about 30-45 minutes beginning to end, I think I might do a thread on it to help others.

14

[quote]xdime00 wrote:
Like others have said, you dont grow in the gym, but when you are resing. The battle is won and lost in the kicthen, period. If you starve yourself with 1500 calories, you will not gain muscle. You need to read up on here and learn to eat for your goals, and slowly and steadily acclimate yourself to preparing meals and having them with you, until its completely normal (i always have 3-5 meals prepped, ready to go, and never leave without one). You will learn how to multi-task, and make food in bulk so you are in and out of the kitchen quickly. I can cook 3-4 days worth of meals isn about 30-45 minutes beginning to end, I think I might do a thread on it to help others.[/quote]

If you do start that thread please send me a PM and let me know!!! Thanks in advance!