Will I still gain muscle if I exercise, but still have a poor diet?
MatrixGravity
Posts: 55
So my diet is pretty poor (I don't know how to cook), so I'm only able to buy fast-food, or prepared food from the local supermarket. I don't track my calories or anything like that, so I have no idea how much I eat. But I weigh about 150, so I have a decent figure, but I just lack the muscle tone to accommodate it. I've been doing light exercises for the last few months, and I have noticed a bit of an improvement, but I'm wondering if I really need to get my diet under control before I see maximum improvement? I also want to mention that I'm not looking to get big so that's not my goal. I just want to get into shape, but I don't know if having a good diet is really that important? I'm not looking to lose weight, so would I really need to change my diet? I'm just confused how diet affects exercise. So my main question is, can I still gain muscle even if I have a crappy diet? Thank you.
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First off, claiming you can only eat fast food and prepared food because you can't cook is a cop-out. Anyone can cook. Place rice in pot, boil water, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minute. Congratulations, you can now cook rice. Obtain steak, heat steak until it is medium rare. Now you can cook steak and rice. Obtain broccoli, place in microwave. Now you can make a whole meal. YouTube can teach anyone to cook. Just start simple and over time you'll be able to cook whatever you want.
To answer you question, if you want "muscle tone" as you described you will need 2 conditions to be met. First you have built up some muscle. I know you said you don't want to be big, well don't worry, getting big takes YEARS. But to look fit you do need a muscular base. The 2nd condition is having low enough body fat that the muscular base is visible. Both of those things require a good nutritional approach. Most people would alternate periods of fat loss and muscle gain as doing both at once is far less efficient. You need to ensure that when losing fat you are in a caloric deficit and that during muscle building phases you are eating enough to grow. This requires tracking of calories and macro nutrients. Cooking your own meals makes adhering to macro nutrient goals easier but it can be done eating nothing but premade food. It's simply easier to do it by preparing your own food because it gives you much more control of the macro nutrient content of your meals.0 -
No, you will not gain muscle unless you are lifting progressively heavier weight. You also need adequate nutrition to gain muscle - sufficient protein, fats and carbohydrates. You probably will be able to strengthen what you have, although I am not sure what you mean when you say "light exercises." And it is entirely possible to make healthier choices at fast food places. You can get away with a bad diet as a 21 year old male for a while, but over time you will be doing damage to your body and setting yourself up for major health problems. Don't settle for a "crappy diet."0
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It's not a cop-out. I've actually attempted to learn to cook on numerous occasions and I ended up failing miserably, and spending a ton of money in the process. So that's why I don't cook. Because I can't. And I've tried. And it simply doesn't work for me. Plus, yes I can realistically cook steak or whatever, but it's not like I can determine how many calories would be in it? That's another problem I've always had. Counting calories and trying to find out how much I'm eating. And that's the other thing, I'm not sure if I need to lose fat. I mean, I weigh about 150, and I have a bit of belly fat but overall I'm not in bad shape by any means. I have been doing light pushup/dumbbell exercises over the last few months and I've seen my biceps grow a little bit from it. So that's really what I'm wondering. Does it really matter what I'm eating at this point if I'm still getting results?First off, claiming you can only eat fast food and prepared food because you can't cook is a cop-out. Anyone can cook. Place rice in pot, boil water, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minute. Congratulations, you can now cook rice. Obtain steak, heat steak until it is medium rare. Now you can cook steak and rice. Obtain broccoli, place in microwave. Now you can make a whole meal. YouTube can teach anyone to cook. Just start simple and over time you'll be able to cook whatever you want.
To answer you question, if you want "muscle tone" as you described you will need 2 conditions to be met. First you have built up some muscle. I know you said you don't want to be big, well don't worry, getting big takes YEARS. But to look fit you do need a muscular base. The 2nd condition is having low enough body fat that the muscular base is visible. Both of those things require a good nutritional approach. Most people would alternate periods of fat loss and muscle gain as doing both at once is far less efficient. You need to ensure that when losing fat you are in a caloric deficit and that during muscle building phases you are eating enough to grow. This requires tracking of calories and macro nutrients. Cooking your own meals makes adhering to macro nutrient goals easier but it can be done eating nothing but premade food. It's simply easier to do it by preparing your own food because it gives you much more control of the macro nutrient content of your meals.
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No, you will not gain muscle unless you are lifting progressively heavier weight. You also need adequate nutrition to gain muscle - sufficient protein, fats and carbohydrates. You probably will be able to strengthen what you have, although I am not sure what you mean when you say "light exercises." And it is entirely possible to make healthier choices at fast food places. You can get away with a bad diet as a 21 year old male for a while, but over time you will be doing damage to your body and setting yourself up for major health problems. Don't settle for a "crappy diet."
Yeah I agree. It's not like I enjoy eating fast-food. It's just convenient and makes up for my inability to cook and prepare food. The reason I don't cook is because it's too hard for me from my past experiences, and there is way too many recipes out there and it feels overwhelming finding out what works and what doesn't. So that's why I stopped trying to learn. Too many recipes, too many "diets", so it makes my head swim. Also, I don't really lift. I mainly focus on bodyweight exercises.0 -
MatrixGravity wrote: »It's not a cop-out. I've actually attempted to learn to cook on numerous occasions and I ended up failing miserably, and spending a ton of money in the process. So that's why I don't cook. Because I can't. And I've tried. And it simply doesn't work for me. Plus, yes I can realistically cook steak or whatever, but it's not like I can determine how many calories would be in it? That's another problem I've always had. Counting calories and trying to find out how much I'm eating. And that's the other thing, I'm not sure if I need to lose fat. I mean, I weigh about 150, and I have a bit of belly fat but overall I'm not in bad shape by any means. I have been doing light pushup/dumbbell exercises over the last few months and I've seen my biceps grow a little bit from it. So that's really what I'm wondering. Does it really matter what I'm eating at this point if I'm still getting results?First off, claiming you can only eat fast food and prepared food because you can't cook is a cop-out. Anyone can cook. Place rice in pot, boil water, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minute. Congratulations, you can now cook rice. Obtain steak, heat steak until it is medium rare. Now you can cook steak and rice. Obtain broccoli, place in microwave. Now you can make a whole meal. YouTube can teach anyone to cook. Just start simple and over time you'll be able to cook whatever you want.
To answer you question, if you want "muscle tone" as you described you will need 2 conditions to be met. First you have built up some muscle. I know you said you don't want to be big, well don't worry, getting big takes YEARS. But to look fit you do need a muscular base. The 2nd condition is having low enough body fat that the muscular base is visible. Both of those things require a good nutritional approach. Most people would alternate periods of fat loss and muscle gain as doing both at once is far less efficient. You need to ensure that when losing fat you are in a caloric deficit and that during muscle building phases you are eating enough to grow. This requires tracking of calories and macro nutrients. Cooking your own meals makes adhering to macro nutrient goals easier but it can be done eating nothing but premade food. It's simply easier to do it by preparing your own food because it gives you much more control of the macro nutrient content of your meals.
All I hear are excuses.
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Yes it matters what you eat. Have you thought about taking a cooking class to help you learn how to cook? Also like a poster above said, YouTube has a lot of educational videos.
Right now you may be seeing results, but you may get to a plateau and then you could start getting discouraged. In general, eating healthy along with exercise is the best way to see results. The fat content and sodium content in fast foods and prepared foods are very high and could inhibit the progress that you inevitably could be making.0 -
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MatrixGravity wrote: »Plus, yes I can realistically cook steak or whatever, but it's not like I can determine how many calories would be in it? That's another problem I've always had. Counting calories and trying to find out how much I'm eating.
I you want to do a better job at counting calories you can always get a food scale and that will tell you the size of the steak for instance and then you find that size in the food directory and there you go. It does a little time consuming, but you could always give that a whirl. Estimating the size of the food is ok, but measuring though the scale would be better.0 -
MatrixGravity wrote: »And that's the other thing, I'm not sure if I need to lose fat. I mean, I weigh about 150, and I have a bit of belly fat but overall I'm not in bad shape by any means. I have been doing light pushup/dumbbell exercises over the last few months and I've seen my biceps grow a little bit from it. So that's really what I'm wondering. Does it really matter what I'm eating at this point if I'm still getting results?
Do you want a six pack? If so, you will need to lose fat. It's that simple.
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MatrixGravity wrote: »It's not a cop-out. I've actually attempted to learn to cook on numerous occasions and I ended up failing miserably, and spending a ton of money in the process. So that's why I don't cook. Because I can't. And I've tried. And it simply doesn't work for me. Plus, yes I can realistically cook steak or whatever, but it's not like I can determine how many calories would be in it? That's another problem I've always had. Counting calories and trying to find out how much I'm eating. And that's the other thing, I'm not sure if I need to lose fat. I mean, I weigh about 150, and I have a bit of belly fat but overall I'm not in bad shape by any means. I have been doing light pushup/dumbbell exercises over the last few months and I've seen my biceps grow a little bit from it. So that's really what I'm wondering. Does it really matter what I'm eating at this point if I'm still getting results?
W a i t a minute..... you don't want to make your own food because you can't determine calories. This makes no sense. I have a much better idea of calories when I make something, than when I buy it from a grocery store deli.
If you lost weight....you lost some fat. That fat (layer) was covering existing muscle. I think this is the.....my biceps grow a little bit from it. Guys can build muscle more easily than women....but it's still not easy. Re: light pushups & dumbbells ....are you using dumbbells that are progressively heavier.....or are you using the same dumbbells? Using the same dumbbells, just more repetitions won't build visible muscle mass.0 -
Quality of food in = better or worse results. You probably don't notice it much now, but what we eat are the building blocks for health. Calories in = out is only one mantra. On that one, you can just watch your calories and make sure you have a specific deficit or not, to gain or lose. But quality, taking yourself away from packaged foods and cheap fast food options - will give you better nutritional value (and that is worth the extra pennies and time commitment).
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Absolutely yes, you need to get your diet under control to see significant improvement. If you are happy with your current rate of improvement, keep doing what you're doing. If you're not, you need to change something.MatrixGravity wrote: »I've been doing light exercises for the last few months, and I have noticed a bit of an improvement, but I'm wondering if I really need to get my diet under control before I see maximum improvement?
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Honey I'm the worst cook in the world, but I can still stick a pan on the stovetop and make up a bunch of scrambled eggs that I can weigh on my food scale. I can figure out how to make rice and beans and microwave some frozen vegetables. This "I don't know how" is just an excuse. This is not brain surgery. At some point in life we have to learn to do things on our own. Quit with the excuses and learn by doing. If you make a mistake, just learn from it and go forward.0
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i think that its pretty easy to cook but ive never really failed at it so wouldnt know. I eat fast food once in a while but not so much anymore. The place I love is A & W. you can get sweet potato french fries and a grilled chicken deluxe buurger and its not too far over your calorie range - if at all and tastes yummy with soo much protein. I'd say stick to grilled chicken burgers and skip fries. go to subway but only eat the salads - they are super cheap. it is totally doable to lose weight without cooking just more difficult.
Anyways yes if you want to gain muscle id say eat healthier too. you'll feel better - have more energy and get toned.0 -
Yes! Diet is very important if you want healthy muscle tone, healthy hair, healthy skin, etc. I was amazed at things that changed that I thought were just "genetic flaws" when I started getting healthy amounts of natural food, fats, protein, and vegetables. A major problem (one of many) with processed foods, is that you eat it in place of nourishing, healthy foods, that would do wonders for your body and immune system.
What if you just learned one simple meal (throw a chicken in a crockpot with some salsa, serve with rice, veggies, whatever...) and commited to making that one day a week? Then when that's going well, add another.
Good luck to you! If you take a couple steps in the right direction, followed by a couple more, and a couple more... you will get there! Sounds like you are already going in the right direction with the exercising and asking questions.0 -
First off, claiming you can only eat fast food and prepared food because you can't cook is a cop-out. Anyone can cook. Place rice in pot, boil water, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minute. Congratulations, you can now cook rice. Obtain steak, heat steak until it is medium rare. Now you can cook steak and rice. Obtain broccoli, place in microwave. Now you can make a whole meal. YouTube can teach anyone to cook. Just start simple and over time you'll be able to cook whatever you want.
Agree with this. I consider myself someone that "can't cook" (seriously...I burn garlic daily and set off smoke alarms because I walked away from the stove while I was heating up olive oil) but I manage. I mean breakfast, who can't scramble some eggs? Throw some bacon in a pan? Lunch and dinner...it's food...you stick it in a stove with some herbs, stove top pan with some oil, throw it in a crockpot...it's pretty basic. Worst you're going to do is overcook something. I may not be able to do anything fancy, but I can certainly put some oil on a chicken breast and bake it with herbs. Get a crockpot and you can literally just throw food into a pot and let it sit there. I'm about to make a crockpot meal with chicken and salsa verde and just going to throw it on a tortilla.
Look for recipes with small ingredients list. It's easier to cook, easier to track the calories, etc.
And it gets simpler as you go on. I used to take so long to cook because I had to follow recipes exactly (meaning I'd cook out meals for 4 when it's just me), measure, read over and over, etc. All it takes is a few times before you get comfortable and just start winging it. I'm not saying you cant have fast food...but it really shouldn't be the staple of your diet.0 -
MatrixGravity wrote: »It's not a cop-out. I've actually attempted to learn to cook on numerous occasions and I ended up failing miserably, and spending a ton of money in the process. So that's why I don't cook. Because I can't. And I've tried. And it simply doesn't work for me. Plus, yes I can realistically cook steak or whatever, but it's not like I can determine how many calories would be in it? That's another problem I've always had. Counting calories and trying to find out how much I'm eating. And that's the other thing, I'm not sure if I need to lose fat. I mean, I weigh about 150, and I have a bit of belly fat but overall I'm not in bad shape by any means. I have been doing light pushup/dumbbell exercises over the last few months and I've seen my biceps grow a little bit from it. So that's really what I'm wondering. Does it really matter what I'm eating at this point if I'm still getting results?
I've saved so much money cooking it's unreal. Maybe that's because my fast food habits weren't cheap places like McDonald's but it really is cheaper. And counting the calories in food that you cook is probably more accurate than the fast food calories since that really can vary as well. I don't use a scale personally but others recommend it. Even without a scale, it's very easy to get a close estimate.0 -
MatrixGravity wrote: »It's not a cop-out. I've actually attempted to learn to cook on numerous occasions and I ended up failing miserably, and spending a ton of money in the process. So that's why I don't cook. Because I can't. And I've tried. And it simply doesn't work for me. Plus, yes I can realistically cook steak or whatever, but it's not like I can determine how many calories would be in it? That's another problem I've always had. Counting calories and trying to find out how much I'm eating. And that's the other thing, I'm not sure if I need to lose fat. I mean, I weigh about 150, and I have a bit of belly fat but overall I'm not in bad shape by any means. I have been doing light pushup/dumbbell exercises over the last few months and I've seen my biceps grow a little bit from it. So that's really what I'm wondering. Does it really matter what I'm eating at this point if I'm still getting results?First off, claiming you can only eat fast food and prepared food because you can't cook is a cop-out. Anyone can cook. Place rice in pot, boil water, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minute. Congratulations, you can now cook rice. Obtain steak, heat steak until it is medium rare. Now you can cook steak and rice. Obtain broccoli, place in microwave. Now you can make a whole meal. YouTube can teach anyone to cook. Just start simple and over time you'll be able to cook whatever you want.
To answer you question, if you want "muscle tone" as you described you will need 2 conditions to be met. First you have built up some muscle. I know you said you don't want to be big, well don't worry, getting big takes YEARS. But to look fit you do need a muscular base. The 2nd condition is having low enough body fat that the muscular base is visible. Both of those things require a good nutritional approach. Most people would alternate periods of fat loss and muscle gain as doing both at once is far less efficient. You need to ensure that when losing fat you are in a caloric deficit and that during muscle building phases you are eating enough to grow. This requires tracking of calories and macro nutrients. Cooking your own meals makes adhering to macro nutrient goals easier but it can be done eating nothing but premade food. It's simply easier to do it by preparing your own food because it gives you much more control of the macro nutrient content of your meals.
All I hear are excuses.
Nope. It would be considered an excuse if I claimed to not be able to cook without actually trying to. But that's not the case here. I've tried to learn many times, and I've been unsuccessful each and every time. Yes I can prepare basic things like scrambled eggs, etc, but I don't consider that as a healthy food so..0 -
hmmmm... so what is your idea of a 'healthy' food?
(because I love my morning eggs... ) 0 -
chemteacher1987 wrote: »Yes it matters what you eat. Have you thought about taking a cooking class to help you learn how to cook? Also like a poster above said, YouTube has a lot of educational videos.
Right now you may be seeing results, but you may get to a plateau and then you could start getting discouraged. In general, eating healthy along with exercise is the best way to see results. The fat content and sodium content in fast foods and prepared foods are very high and could inhibit the progress that you inevitably could be making.
Yeah I've researched some local cooking classes nearby (I live in NYC) but they cost like $1000+ for a semester or something like that. I'll keep looking around, maybe I'll find something cheaper and more affordable. And yeah I've spent some time on Youtube researching various recipes but I always get overwhelmed by the amount of recipes that are just out there, so I never know where to start. If I can learn to prepare easy, healthy meals, that don't cost a lot, that would be great, but like I said I'm just pretty bad at cooking. I wish to try again, but it's a costly thing to learn. Especially when you're not good at it.0 -
GothyFaery wrote: »MatrixGravity wrote: »And that's the other thing, I'm not sure if I need to lose fat. I mean, I weigh about 150, and I have a bit of belly fat but overall I'm not in bad shape by any means. I have been doing light pushup/dumbbell exercises over the last few months and I've seen my biceps grow a little bit from it. So that's really what I'm wondering. Does it really matter what I'm eating at this point if I'm still getting results?
Do you want a six pack? If so, you will need to lose fat. It's that simple.
Well I mean I only weigh about 150-155lb. If I lose any more fat, I'll end up looking like a stick.0 -
Well, the only thing I have left to add is that when you want something bad enough you figure out a way to get it.
And I just had scrambled eggs for lunch. 133 calories and 9 grams of protein.0 -
RoseyDgirl wrote: »hmmmm... so what is your idea of a 'healthy' food?
(because I love my morning eggs... )
I guess something with a lot of greens, vegetables, and meat.0 -
MatrixGravity wrote: »chemteacher1987 wrote: »Yes it matters what you eat. Have you thought about taking a cooking class to help you learn how to cook? Also like a poster above said, YouTube has a lot of educational videos.
Right now you may be seeing results, but you may get to a plateau and then you could start getting discouraged. In general, eating healthy along with exercise is the best way to see results. The fat content and sodium content in fast foods and prepared foods are very high and could inhibit the progress that you inevitably could be making.
Yeah I've researched some local cooking classes nearby (I live in NYC) but they cost like $1000+ for a semester or something like that. I'll keep looking around, maybe I'll find something cheaper and more affordable. And yeah I've spent some time on Youtube researching various recipes but I always get overwhelmed by the amount of recipes that are just out there, so I never know where to start. If I can learn to prepare easy, healthy meals, that don't cost a lot, that would be great, but like I said I'm just pretty bad at cooking. I wish to try again, but it's a costly thing to learn. Especially when you're not good at it.
Look on meetup.com to see if there are any cooking groups that get together in your area. I'm sure there are quite a few of them.
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MatrixGravity wrote: »MatrixGravity wrote: »It's not a cop-out. I've actually attempted to learn to cook on numerous occasions and I ended up failing miserably, and spending a ton of money in the process. So that's why I don't cook. Because I can't. And I've tried. And it simply doesn't work for me. Plus, yes I can realistically cook steak or whatever, but it's not like I can determine how many calories would be in it? That's another problem I've always had. Counting calories and trying to find out how much I'm eating. And that's the other thing, I'm not sure if I need to lose fat. I mean, I weigh about 150, and I have a bit of belly fat but overall I'm not in bad shape by any means. I have been doing light pushup/dumbbell exercises over the last few months and I've seen my biceps grow a little bit from it. So that's really what I'm wondering. Does it really matter what I'm eating at this point if I'm still getting results?First off, claiming you can only eat fast food and prepared food because you can't cook is a cop-out. Anyone can cook. Place rice in pot, boil water, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minute. Congratulations, you can now cook rice. Obtain steak, heat steak until it is medium rare. Now you can cook steak and rice. Obtain broccoli, place in microwave. Now you can make a whole meal. YouTube can teach anyone to cook. Just start simple and over time you'll be able to cook whatever you want.
To answer you question, if you want "muscle tone" as you described you will need 2 conditions to be met. First you have built up some muscle. I know you said you don't want to be big, well don't worry, getting big takes YEARS. But to look fit you do need a muscular base. The 2nd condition is having low enough body fat that the muscular base is visible. Both of those things require a good nutritional approach. Most people would alternate periods of fat loss and muscle gain as doing both at once is far less efficient. You need to ensure that when losing fat you are in a caloric deficit and that during muscle building phases you are eating enough to grow. This requires tracking of calories and macro nutrients. Cooking your own meals makes adhering to macro nutrient goals easier but it can be done eating nothing but premade food. It's simply easier to do it by preparing your own food because it gives you much more control of the macro nutrient content of your meals.
All I hear are excuses.
Nope. It would be considered an excuse if I claimed to not be able to cook without actually trying to. But that's not the case here. I've tried to learn many times, and I've been unsuccessful each and every time. Yes I can prepare basic things like scrambled eggs, etc, but I don't consider that as a healthy food so..
Scrambled eggs aren't healthy?
Srsly?
You're 21. And live in the US, let's assume that you don't get hit by a cab (since you live in NYC), you'll live to about 77yo (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy <yes I used wiki, I'm lazy today), so that's another 56 years on this earth. You need to learn how to cook and redefine what is healthy because eggs are fantastic for you. 70cals, 9g protein, portable (if you hard boil them), so versatile (scrambled, fried, frittata/quiche, hard boiled, soft boiled, poached, etc) plus the seasonings you can add (garlic, various meats, the blasted banana/egg "pankcake", cheese, etc).
Egg ideas:http://www.allyou.com/food/family-meals/cooked-eggs
Also, you're in NYC, so many places you could go to learn to cook. You're limiting yourself so frigging much.0 -
well, I never 'learned' how to cook, but I just do it. I like to watch cooking shows though, to get ideas on how flavors match... and then when I cook, I tend to just throw things together and make one pan dishes.
Example - last night, I took 2 tablespoons butter, melted it in a pan. I diced an onion, cut up zucchini, sliced up a few handful of radishes and sautee'd all that together. When everything was almost cooked, I added a package of pre-cooked grilled chicken breast, and one can of stewed tomatoes. I let that heat through. Then I added 3 slices of butterKase cheese (similar to muenster) - and let that melt into the broth. This meal turned into dinner, and a portion for lunch today and was absolutely delicious. (and, it was HEALTHY)
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MatrixGravity wrote: »It's not a cop-out. I've actually attempted to learn to cook on numerous occasions and I ended up failing miserably, and spending a ton of money in the process. So that's why I don't cook. Because I can't. And I've tried. And it simply doesn't work for me. Plus, yes I can realistically cook steak or whatever, but it's not like I can determine how many calories would be in it? That's another problem I've always had. Counting calories and trying to find out how much I'm eating. And that's the other thing, I'm not sure if I need to lose fat. I mean, I weigh about 150, and I have a bit of belly fat but overall I'm not in bad shape by any means. I have been doing light pushup/dumbbell exercises over the last few months and I've seen my biceps grow a little bit from it. So that's really what I'm wondering. Does it really matter what I'm eating at this point if I'm still getting results?First off, claiming you can only eat fast food and prepared food because you can't cook is a cop-out. Anyone can cook. Place rice in pot, boil water, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minute. Congratulations, you can now cook rice. Obtain steak, heat steak until it is medium rare. Now you can cook steak and rice. Obtain broccoli, place in microwave. Now you can make a whole meal. YouTube can teach anyone to cook. Just start simple and over time you'll be able to cook whatever you want.
To answer you question, if you want "muscle tone" as you described you will need 2 conditions to be met. First you have built up some muscle. I know you said you don't want to be big, well don't worry, getting big takes YEARS. But to look fit you do need a muscular base. The 2nd condition is having low enough body fat that the muscular base is visible. Both of those things require a good nutritional approach. Most people would alternate periods of fat loss and muscle gain as doing both at once is far less efficient. You need to ensure that when losing fat you are in a caloric deficit and that during muscle building phases you are eating enough to grow. This requires tracking of calories and macro nutrients. Cooking your own meals makes adhering to macro nutrient goals easier but it can be done eating nothing but premade food. It's simply easier to do it by preparing your own food because it gives you much more control of the macro nutrient content of your meals.
you can't boil water and put some rice in it, really?0 -
MatrixGravity wrote: »MatrixGravity wrote: »It's not a cop-out. I've actually attempted to learn to cook on numerous occasions and I ended up failing miserably, and spending a ton of money in the process. So that's why I don't cook. Because I can't. And I've tried. And it simply doesn't work for me. Plus, yes I can realistically cook steak or whatever, but it's not like I can determine how many calories would be in it? That's another problem I've always had. Counting calories and trying to find out how much I'm eating. And that's the other thing, I'm not sure if I need to lose fat. I mean, I weigh about 150, and I have a bit of belly fat but overall I'm not in bad shape by any means. I have been doing light pushup/dumbbell exercises over the last few months and I've seen my biceps grow a little bit from it. So that's really what I'm wondering. Does it really matter what I'm eating at this point if I'm still getting results?First off, claiming you can only eat fast food and prepared food because you can't cook is a cop-out. Anyone can cook. Place rice in pot, boil water, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minute. Congratulations, you can now cook rice. Obtain steak, heat steak until it is medium rare. Now you can cook steak and rice. Obtain broccoli, place in microwave. Now you can make a whole meal. YouTube can teach anyone to cook. Just start simple and over time you'll be able to cook whatever you want.
To answer you question, if you want "muscle tone" as you described you will need 2 conditions to be met. First you have built up some muscle. I know you said you don't want to be big, well don't worry, getting big takes YEARS. But to look fit you do need a muscular base. The 2nd condition is having low enough body fat that the muscular base is visible. Both of those things require a good nutritional approach. Most people would alternate periods of fat loss and muscle gain as doing both at once is far less efficient. You need to ensure that when losing fat you are in a caloric deficit and that during muscle building phases you are eating enough to grow. This requires tracking of calories and macro nutrients. Cooking your own meals makes adhering to macro nutrient goals easier but it can be done eating nothing but premade food. It's simply easier to do it by preparing your own food because it gives you much more control of the macro nutrient content of your meals.
All I hear are excuses.
Nope. It would be considered an excuse if I claimed to not be able to cook without actually trying to. But that's not the case here. I've tried to learn many times, and I've been unsuccessful each and every time. Yes I can prepare basic things like scrambled eggs, etc, but I don't consider that as a healthy food so..
Scrambled eggs aren't healthy?
Srsly?
You're 21. And live in the US, let's assume that you don't get hit by a cab (since you live in NYC), you'll live to about 77yo (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy <yes I used wiki, I'm lazy today), so that's another 56 years on this earth. You need to learn how to cook and redefine what is healthy because eggs are fantastic for you. 70cals, 9g protein, portable (if you hard boil them), so versatile (scrambled, fried, frittata/quiche, hard boiled, soft boiled, poached, etc) plus the seasonings you can add (garlic, various meats, the blasted banana/egg "pankcake", cheese, etc).
Egg ideas:http://www.allyou.com/food/family-meals/cooked-eggs
Also, you're in NYC, so many places you could go to learn to cook. You're limiting yourself so frigging much.
The only limit in this case is my wallet. There certainly are places in NYC that I can learn to cook, but they all require money. Another thing that requires money is purchasing ingredients and experimenting and testing out recipes and seeing what works and what doesn't. If I had unlimited amounts of money to throw at this, I would but it's hard for me to commit to learning when I'm broke most of the time. But like I said, I'll continue researching and looking into it and seeing if I can find any good cheap healthy recipes that I can possibly do. And do right on the first try.0 -
MatrixGravity wrote: »MatrixGravity wrote: »MatrixGravity wrote: »It's not a cop-out. I've actually attempted to learn to cook on numerous occasions and I ended up failing miserably, and spending a ton of money in the process. So that's why I don't cook. Because I can't. And I've tried. And it simply doesn't work for me. Plus, yes I can realistically cook steak or whatever, but it's not like I can determine how many calories would be in it? That's another problem I've always had. Counting calories and trying to find out how much I'm eating. And that's the other thing, I'm not sure if I need to lose fat. I mean, I weigh about 150, and I have a bit of belly fat but overall I'm not in bad shape by any means. I have been doing light pushup/dumbbell exercises over the last few months and I've seen my biceps grow a little bit from it. So that's really what I'm wondering. Does it really matter what I'm eating at this point if I'm still getting results?First off, claiming you can only eat fast food and prepared food because you can't cook is a cop-out. Anyone can cook. Place rice in pot, boil water, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minute. Congratulations, you can now cook rice. Obtain steak, heat steak until it is medium rare. Now you can cook steak and rice. Obtain broccoli, place in microwave. Now you can make a whole meal. YouTube can teach anyone to cook. Just start simple and over time you'll be able to cook whatever you want.
To answer you question, if you want "muscle tone" as you described you will need 2 conditions to be met. First you have built up some muscle. I know you said you don't want to be big, well don't worry, getting big takes YEARS. But to look fit you do need a muscular base. The 2nd condition is having low enough body fat that the muscular base is visible. Both of those things require a good nutritional approach. Most people would alternate periods of fat loss and muscle gain as doing both at once is far less efficient. You need to ensure that when losing fat you are in a caloric deficit and that during muscle building phases you are eating enough to grow. This requires tracking of calories and macro nutrients. Cooking your own meals makes adhering to macro nutrient goals easier but it can be done eating nothing but premade food. It's simply easier to do it by preparing your own food because it gives you much more control of the macro nutrient content of your meals.
All I hear are excuses.
Nope. It would be considered an excuse if I claimed to not be able to cook without actually trying to. But that's not the case here. I've tried to learn many times, and I've been unsuccessful each and every time. Yes I can prepare basic things like scrambled eggs, etc, but I don't consider that as a healthy food so..
Scrambled eggs aren't healthy?
Srsly?
You're 21. And live in the US, let's assume that you don't get hit by a cab (since you live in NYC), you'll live to about 77yo (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy <yes I used wiki, I'm lazy today), so that's another 56 years on this earth. You need to learn how to cook and redefine what is healthy because eggs are fantastic for you. 70cals, 9g protein, portable (if you hard boil them), so versatile (scrambled, fried, frittata/quiche, hard boiled, soft boiled, poached, etc) plus the seasonings you can add (garlic, various meats, the blasted banana/egg "pankcake", cheese, etc).
Egg ideas:http://www.allyou.com/food/family-meals/cooked-eggs
Also, you're in NYC, so many places you could go to learn to cook. You're limiting yourself so frigging much.
The only limit in this case is my wallet. There certainly are places in NYC that I can learn to cook, but they all require money. Another thing that requires money is purchasing ingredients and experimenting and testing out recipes and seeing what works and what doesn't. If I had unlimited amounts of money to throw at this, I would but it's hard for me to commit to learning when I'm broke most of the time. But like I said, I'll continue researching and looking into it and seeing if I can find any good cheap healthy recipes that I can possibly do. And do right on the first try.
Learn to budget. Learn to coupon.
You want something bad enough, you will find a way.
I'm still hearing excuses.
0 -
MatrixGravity wrote: »MatrixGravity wrote: »MatrixGravity wrote: »It's not a cop-out. I've actually attempted to learn to cook on numerous occasions and I ended up failing miserably, and spending a ton of money in the process. So that's why I don't cook. Because I can't. And I've tried. And it simply doesn't work for me. Plus, yes I can realistically cook steak or whatever, but it's not like I can determine how many calories would be in it? That's another problem I've always had. Counting calories and trying to find out how much I'm eating. And that's the other thing, I'm not sure if I need to lose fat. I mean, I weigh about 150, and I have a bit of belly fat but overall I'm not in bad shape by any means. I have been doing light pushup/dumbbell exercises over the last few months and I've seen my biceps grow a little bit from it. So that's really what I'm wondering. Does it really matter what I'm eating at this point if I'm still getting results?First off, claiming you can only eat fast food and prepared food because you can't cook is a cop-out. Anyone can cook. Place rice in pot, boil water, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minute. Congratulations, you can now cook rice. Obtain steak, heat steak until it is medium rare. Now you can cook steak and rice. Obtain broccoli, place in microwave. Now you can make a whole meal. YouTube can teach anyone to cook. Just start simple and over time you'll be able to cook whatever you want.
To answer you question, if you want "muscle tone" as you described you will need 2 conditions to be met. First you have built up some muscle. I know you said you don't want to be big, well don't worry, getting big takes YEARS. But to look fit you do need a muscular base. The 2nd condition is having low enough body fat that the muscular base is visible. Both of those things require a good nutritional approach. Most people would alternate periods of fat loss and muscle gain as doing both at once is far less efficient. You need to ensure that when losing fat you are in a caloric deficit and that during muscle building phases you are eating enough to grow. This requires tracking of calories and macro nutrients. Cooking your own meals makes adhering to macro nutrient goals easier but it can be done eating nothing but premade food. It's simply easier to do it by preparing your own food because it gives you much more control of the macro nutrient content of your meals.
All I hear are excuses.
Nope. It would be considered an excuse if I claimed to not be able to cook without actually trying to. But that's not the case here. I've tried to learn many times, and I've been unsuccessful each and every time. Yes I can prepare basic things like scrambled eggs, etc, but I don't consider that as a healthy food so..
Scrambled eggs aren't healthy?
Srsly?
You're 21. And live in the US, let's assume that you don't get hit by a cab (since you live in NYC), you'll live to about 77yo (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy <yes I used wiki, I'm lazy today), so that's another 56 years on this earth. You need to learn how to cook and redefine what is healthy because eggs are fantastic for you. 70cals, 9g protein, portable (if you hard boil them), so versatile (scrambled, fried, frittata/quiche, hard boiled, soft boiled, poached, etc) plus the seasonings you can add (garlic, various meats, the blasted banana/egg "pankcake", cheese, etc).
Egg ideas:http://www.allyou.com/food/family-meals/cooked-eggs
Also, you're in NYC, so many places you could go to learn to cook. You're limiting yourself so frigging much.
The only limit in this case is my wallet. There certainly are places in NYC that I can learn to cook, but they all require money. Another thing that requires money is purchasing ingredients and experimenting and testing out recipes and seeing what works and what doesn't. If I had unlimited amounts of money to throw at this, I would but it's hard for me to commit to learning when I'm broke most of the time. But like I said, I'll continue researching and looking into it and seeing if I can find any good cheap healthy recipes that I can possibly do. And do right on the first try.
Learn to budget. Learn to coupon.
You want something bad enough, you will find a way.
I'm still hearing excuses.
You don't know my situation so don't act like it's that simple.
0
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