Ok, this has probably been asked a million times. I understand that whey protein is a basic, and creatine too. I’m just starting out on the Biotest products. I’m just starting to get serious about lifting and gaining some size. What products should I start using and how frequently?
It’s difficult to give you an answer without knowing more about you, your goals, and your diet.
I recommend reading Supplementation for Newbies at http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1852816
Check out A Stack for Every Occasion, it has the supplements you need for specific goals.
If you’re just starting to get serious about lifting and gaining size then your best friend is going to be good nutrition. Figure that out and then move on to supplements. Supplements are not a panacea and won’t do much good if your nutrition is sub-par. But you’ve come to the right place, everything you need to know is right in these forums. Keep reading and keep hitting the weights hard!
Best of luck!
Daily: Flameout, Superfood,
After workout: Surge, Creatine,
protein or meal replacements if needed/
[quote]Jay-B wrote:
If you’re just starting to get serious about lifting and gaining size then your best friend is going to be good nutrition. Figure that out and then move on to supplements. Supplements are not a panacea and won’t do much good if your nutrition is sub-par. But you’ve come to the right place, everything you need to know is right in these forums. Keep reading and keep hitting the weights hard!
Best of luck![/quote]
Absolutely. You look pretty skinny, so work on eating enough first. When you’ve got that down, and put on a descent amount of muscle, but your gains have plateaued, then you can use supplements to take it to the next step. But get as far as you can with whole food first.
So are you saying I shouldn’t worry about anything other than my main diet? I was looking to buy Grow! Whey and possibly some creatine. Are you saying I don’t need to take it at this point?
[quote]hawki15 wrote:
So are you saying I shouldn’t worry about anything other than my main diet? I was looking to buy Grow! and possibly some creatine. Are you saying I don’t need to take it at this point?[/quote]
No one will know whether you’ll benefit from Grow! Whey without knowing everything you eat.
diet for yesterday (most days have similar amounts of food):
breakfast: 2 cups yogurt with blueberries and granola
mid morning: Metabolic Drive protein bar
lunch: ham and cheese sandwich (2 slices american cheese, 4 slices lunch meat ham, two slices whole grain wheat bread), handful of baby carrots, 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, 10-12 pringles chips, 1 cup milk
mid afternoon: Metabolic Drive protein bar and handful of raisins + dried apricots
dinner: 1 ham and cheese sandwich, 1 turkey and cheese sandwich (see above, similar ingredients plus miracle whip), carrots
How old are you? Did you do the math on how much protein is in each slice of ham?
You are eating fruits and veggies and that is good, but you aren’t eating any real meat (lunch meat is ‘eh’), and your not getting enough good fats.
Add some olive oil to your veggies, add some nuts to your meals, eat chicken/beef/turkey/buffalo/venison/fish, with every meal.
use the search function and read John Berardi’s 7 healthy habits. Start there, then keep adding foods that fit the rules until you gain weight.
[quote]Uncle Gabby wrote:
How old are you? Did you do the math on how much protein is in each slice of ham?[/quote]
I’m 23. No I have not. I realize that I don’t get enough protein from lunch meat. That’s partially why I was wondering about the Grow! Whey protein.
[quote]hawki15 wrote:
Uncle Gabby wrote:
How old are you? Did you do the math on how much protein is in each slice of ham?
I’m 23. No I have not. I realize that I don’t get enough protein from lunch meat. That’s partially why I was wondering about the Grow whey protein.[/quote]
I use to have the same problem you did. I thought i was eating enough to grow and then i had a nutrition class at my college where we had to track what we ate for 3 days. I found out i was only eating about 2,700 calories a day. That was my problem. I gradually increased it to over 4,000 and let alone i ended up gaining around 25 pounds in a year.
Instead of eating lunch meat, get some real meat like chicken or beef. I’m a sucker for a nice filet plus they are naturally lean. Another thing that i like is to buy some lean ground beef, season it up, cook it on a pan, and throw in some veggies to it. You get a nice high protein meal with your veggies.
Also, it looks like your breakfast is too small. A lot of people suggest to eat eggs, i don’t because of stomach issues, but they are a great idea. What i do is take a bunch of fruit, juice, water, protein powder, and mix it all into a blender. Just beware you will have to use the bathroom within an hour of drinking it until you get use to it.
[quote]hawki15 wrote:
Uncle Gabby wrote:
How old are you? Did you do the math on how much protein is in each slice of ham?
I’m 23. No I have not. I realize that I don’t get enough protein from lunch meat. That’s partially why I was wondering about the Grow! Whey protein.[/quote]
Ok.
I asked about your age because if you were still living at home, or living in a college dorm you wouldn’t have as many options, so a lot of the things I would recommend wouldn’t work.
You have to start doing the math on what you eat. Like me, your problem is that when you eat intuitively you under eat. If you know how many calories each meal contains, you can see where you will need to add calories.
Lunch meat can give you an adequate amount of protein, but you’d have to put about half a pound per sandwich, and most lunch meats have too much sodium, and other unwanted ingredients. They also aren’t the cheapest option.
A better sandwich would be 1 whole can of tuna, 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise on whole wheat bread. Have that with an apple and a cup of yogurt and you’ve got a descent sized meal.
A great, traditional bodybuilder lunch is an eight ounce chicken breast, a cup of broccoli and 2 cups of brown rice. Get your frozen chicken breast, and frozen broccoli in bulk at Sam’s Club, Costco, or if you don’t have a membership, Walmart.
For Breakfast, hard boiled eggs. Start with a couple and work your way up.
[quote]Uncle Gabby wrote:
hawki15 wrote:
Uncle Gabby wrote:
How old are you? Did you do the math on how much protein is in each slice of ham?
I’m 23. No I have not. I realize that I don’t get enough protein from lunch meat. That’s partially why I was wondering about the Grow! Whey protein.
Ok.
I asked about your age because if you were still living at home, or living in a college dorm you wouldn’t have as many options, so a lot of the things I would recommend wouldn’t work.
You have to start doing the math on what you eat. Like me, your problem is that when you eat intuitively you under eat. If you know how many calories each meal contains, you can see where you will need to add calories.
Lunch meat can give you an adequate amount of protein, but you’d have to put about half a pound per sandwich, and most lunch meats have too much sodium, and other unwanted ingredients. They also aren’t the cheapest option.
A better sandwich would be 1 whole can of tuna, 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise on whole wheat bread. Have that with an apple and a cup of yogurt and you’ve got a descent sized meal.
A great, traditional bodybuilder lunch is an eight ounce chicken breast, a cup of broccoli and 2 cups of brown rice. Get your frozen chicken breast, and frozen broccoli in bulk at Sam’s Club, Costco, or if you don’t have a membership, Walmart.
For Breakfast, hard boiled eggs. Start with a couple and work your way up.[/quote]
Or, a great idea for a sandwich is to just get two pieces of whole wheat bread, half an avocado and lather up both slices of bread, then put a seasoned cooked chicken breast in the middle. The avocado is definately a better option than the mayonnaise plus it tastes 100 times better.
Another recommendation i have is to cook up some whole wheat pasta. Sautee some vegetables on the side. When you are done, add some olive oil to the pasta then mix in the vegetables. Get some canned chicken, tuna, or salmon and mix that into it. It tastes good and has your carbs, fat, and protein all mixed together.
Just try new things. The last thing you want to do is be eating the same meal everyday because you will get bored of it.
You definitely need more protein, especially for breakfast. Metabolic Drive would be a big improvement for breakfast.
And if you lift weights, THE Biotest product to get is Surge, IMO. If I couldn’t get protein powder, I could substitute other protein sources most of the time (ricotta, eggs, Trader Joe’s Greek yogurt), but there’s no substitute for Surge.