240 lbs, 6’3" lifting 1.5 years(last year seriously)
The first year I went from scrawny to average. The past 3 weeks I’ve been doing Arnold Level I 3x per week. The previous 3 months I was doing assorted Waterbury programs from Muscle Revolution. Before that, I did New Rules of Lifting programs by Schuler and Cosgrove. The past 4 months I’ve been the most serious.
You seem to fry a lot of items in olive oil. Granted some olive oil is good, but I’m fairly certain that exposing it to high temperatures destroys its beneficial properties.
Also, I’d probably ditch the brown rice at lunch and have it (or oatmeal) at breakfast to bring your body out of its 8 hr fast.
Get different types of meats. Each has a unique amino acid profile and having several types will most certainly help you. Beef, turkey, fish, eggs (whole and whites), pork, game meat, etc are all available, not just chicken.
Asparagus is good, but try to vary the veggies - different kinds will provide you with different benefits. Some more fruit could be beneficial, too (1-2 more pieces). The fructose probably won’t be a problem considering your meso-ectomorph type.
As for the PWO shake, loose the PB! You do not want fat to slow the absorption of nutrients to your muscles. Add carbs to this shake, as well. Add the PB to your last meal.
Regarding your lifts, work on that squat! You are tall, but it should definately be higher. The other two are pretty respectable, though. Good job on pursuing structured programs.
[quote]Trenchant wrote:
You seem to fry a lot of items in olive oil. Granted some olive oil is good, but I’m fairly certain that exposing it to high temperatures destroys its beneficial properties.
[/quote]
Absolutely right.
The smoke point refers to the temperature at which a cooking fat or oil begins to break down. The substance smokes or burns, and gives food an unpleasant taste. Beyond the smoke point is the flash point, the point at which combustion occurs.
I fry at a low heat to avoid this issue.
[quote]
Regarding your lifts, work on that squat! You are tall, but it should definately be higher. The other two are pretty respectable, though. Good job on pursuing structured programs.[/quote]
Arnold’s program with Squats 20/10/8/6/4 reps should increase my leg strength. Also, I need to drink more milk. I only drink 12 oz a day.
Definitely impressive. It’s odd that your strength on your DB bench and squat is so low, but I’m assuming you’ve been hypertrophy training this whole time. Your deadlift seems good, though.
As for the Olive oil thing, personally, I don’t like the taste, especially for frying. I typically opt for peanut of canola, the taste makes it much easier to down a whole bunch.
Great work overall, it’s refreshing to see more lifters who are entirely committed to all aspects of their training.
[quote]eengrms76 wrote:
You haven’t listed any actual progress. All we see is a snapshot of you today and what you are eating. How can we critique that?[/quote]
You make a good point. I was merely asking if my work so far and eating habits are in line for continuous progress.
Seems like everyone is mentioning the oil, so thought I would add comment.
There was an article on here a while ago and it was saying that olive oil is beneficial cold, but frying with it destroys most of the benefits. It recommended Macademia Nut Oil as good for frying as it had similar properties to olive oil but kept them even after heat.
Regarding olive oil:
I feel a duty to call bullshit on this one since organic chemistry is one of my specialties. I thought about writing up a lengthy treatise about catalysts and heats of hydrogenation and such but then realized that it’s much quicker to just cut and paste. This one is easily understood by a non-chemist and the source is quoted within the article.
Olive Oil Myth: Heating a cooking oil will make it saturated or a trans-fatty oil.
The Facts: As far as making a saturated fat, according to Dr. A.
Kiritsakis, a world renowned oil chemist in Athens, (Book - OLIVE OIL
FROM THE TREE TO THE TABLE -Second edition 1998), all oils will
oxidize and hydrogenate to a tiny degree if repeatedly heated to very
high temperatures such as is done in commercial frying operations.
Olive pomace oil and virgin olive oil are both highly monounsaturated
oils and therefore resistant to oxidation and hydrogenation. Studies
have shown oxidation and hydrogenation occurs to a lesser degree in
olive oil than in other oils. But in any case, the amount of trans
fat formed is miniscule and no home cook would ever experience this
problem.
The large refinery-like factories which take unsaturated vegetable oil
and turn it into margarine or vegetable lard do so by bubbling
hydrogen gas through 250 to 400 degree hot vegetable oil in the
presence of a metal catalyst, usually nickel or platinum. The process
can take several hours. You cannot make a saturated product like
margarine at home by heating olive oil or any other vegetable oil in a
pan. We don’t know where this weird notion has come from. For more
see our olive oil chemistry page
Changing a cis-fat to a trans-fat does not occur on a home stove.