Nutrition Advice for 18-20 Hour Days

Nutrition
1

So I will be starting school again on the 21st of September and I preparing for LONG 18 to 20 days for at least 2 and a half months.

These days include early AM workouts, travailing, College, and closing shifts at Chipolte.

I’m really not looking forward to all this but it is all necessary.

Im currently 260lb at 6’1"
20-22% bodyfat
Age 20

Im struggling to put together a meal/nutrition/supplement plan for this. Im kind of lost in HOW many calories I should eat and how to split the macros for it. Im currently on a 150$ budget for sups as well.

Currently training 3-4 days a week.
Moving all training to 8 AM from 8 PM starting Monday

Anyone will to help me put this plan together or just throwing some advice anything will help. You’re time and words are GREATLY appreciated.

2

We need a bit more information to give you any good help.

What are your goals? You mentioned a supplement budget (I’m assuming per month?), do you have a max for food? What type of training are you doing (bodybuilding, powerlifting, crossfit, gymnastics, sport, etc)?

What has been your macro breakdown over the past couple weeks? Alternatively, what, exactly, did you eat yesterday?

3

First of all I’m no expert, but I am in a similiar situation as I spend usually 14 hours a day either working or commuting.

The best way to reach your nutrition goals is to invest in a juicer, slow cooker and tupperware. For me Sundays are a free day so I will pre cook all my meals ( usually throw a chicken or a roast in the slow cooker) divide the portions into the tupperware so I don’t even have to think about cooking anything but breakfast for the week.

For breakfast I load up on the protein, generally 3 eggs, 4 strips of turkey bacon, A bowl of steel cut oats with some honey and hemp/flax blend.
I then Juice some kale and assorted veggies/fruit toss in some protein powder, and your good to. It may sound like alot to do in the morning but if you multitask it isn’t a lot of time really.

As far as calories it depends on your goal: to maintain at your size is 3088 calories. For weight loss 2470. Cutting out processed food and empty calories is very tough with the long days but with planning you can do it.

For supps on a budget I’d stick to a quality protein powder, BCAA’s, Glutamine, and Creatine.

Good Luck!

4

4 to 6 hours of sleep per day for 8+ weeks. You’re talking about less down time than I had deployed to Iraq. Track whatever you want to track, but seriously dude, just eat your way through it. Eat to stay awake, eat to keep moving. The less processed the better, the less liquid calories the better, but whatever gets you through a shift, a class, a workout.

What metaphor works here? You’re trying to track the gas mileage of a car you’re about to drive off a cliff. Do what you’re going to do, but put roadkill in the tank if it’ll get you another mile.

5

[quote]DavidMas wrote:
We need a bit more information to give you any good help.

What are your goals? You mentioned a supplement budget (I’m assuming per month?), do you have a max for food? What type of training are you doing (bodybuilding, powerlifting, crossfit, gymnastics, sport, etc)?

What has been your macro breakdown over the past couple weeks? Alternatively, what, exactly, did you eat yesterday?[/quote]

Currently my training is revolving around powerlifting and strength training. Monday Im starting Dave Tate’s 6 week bench press cure program with a Push/Pull/Legs/Push split for the week.

Food is around 300$ for the month. Tons of eggs, drumsticks, oats, brown rice, and red meat are staple foods. Ive been eatting like shit for the last week by choice so I’ll go into what I normally eat when Im not shoveling cookies, beer, and Chipotle into my face hole lol.

Mornings: 6-8 eggs, 1-2 cups of oatmeal with cinnamon.

Lunch: 2-3 drumsticks, 1-2 cups of brown rice.

Pre-work out meal: 8 ounces of steak with a whole sweet potato

Post-work out meal: 3-4 drumsticks, 2-3 cups brown rice

Dinner: Never 100% sure what this is, Me and the roommates kind of just throw around ideas till we settle on something. half the time its Brown rice pasta with 80-97% lean ground beef with a salad.

Macros: I try to shoot for 270 grams protein, 300-400 grams carbs, 150 grams fat.

Never really 100% solid I switch out carbs for more protien and fat from time to time

6

I would just put your focus on organising your sleep and naps as much as possible and not stress too much about food just make clean choices whenever you can.

Saying that I would try and get a loads of green veg in your diet, maybe get superfood also and drink a ton of water between

7

[quote]RampantBadger wrote:
I would just put your focus on organising your sleep and naps as much as possible and not stress too much about food.

Saying that I would try and get a loads of green veg in your diet, maybe get superfood also and drink a ton of water between[/quote]

Sleep is honestly what Im MOST stressed out on. Looking into sleep aid supplements like ZMA and other mineral support stuff. Not melatonin though. I get nothing but jacked up dreams about death with melatonin.

Water Im pretty good about 4-6 liters a day over 18-20 hours isnt hard to do.

I never thought of getting superfood. Have you tried it yourself?

8

look at a few articles on sleep /recovery in regards to performance might bust your bubble on your goals
where i work i have seen alot of people try to roll those kind of days only seen 2 pull it off one guy was older and appeared to handle the hours the other has been doing long hours for years his behaviuor is very erratic boderline nuts