Will I still gain muscle if I exercise, but still have a poor diet?
Replies
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MatrixGravity wrote: »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.
Good luck in all of your endeavors then.
But my statement still stands. "If you want something bad enough, you will figure out a way to get it". And you very clearly don't want it bad enough since all you're doing is spewing excuses.0 -
[/quote]
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..[/quote]
Maybe before you learn to cook you need to read up on nutrition when it comes to easy foods like eggs, chicken, vegetables.
You could also learn to just assemble healthy foods in the form of sandwiches, wraps, using corn tortillas or healthful bread. You could assemble salads.....the list is quite long.
But you have to want to........I suspect that might be the problem.
Good Luck !
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Cooking at home is a hell of a lot cheaper than eating out, so using cash flow as an excuse is ridiculous! Anyone can learn to cook. Start simple, buy a bbq and that takes care of the protein. Vismal already gave you a lesson in rice. Veggies are simple-saute them, steam them or throw them on your bbq.
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MatrixGravity wrote: »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.
You can lose fat and gain muscle and not look like a stick. It really does depend on what your goals are. If you want a six pack, you have to lose the layer of fat over those mucsles. If you just want to be strong and don't care about looks, lift heavy and you'll get there fine. Diet does help but it won't 100% prevent you from gaining strength if that's all you're after.0 -
Find a recipe site or cooking blog you like and just start trying. eatgood4life.com and skinnytaste.com are good places to start.
Learn to deal with eating things that aren't perfect, because you're not going to start off doing everything right. As long as it's edible, it's better than fast food. The vast majority of adults who have learned how to cook started off by just trying things and learning as they went. You don't need to spent $1000 on cooking classes to learn how to roast a chicken breast and steam some broccoli.0 -
Excuses excuses excuses0
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You don't have to cook, there are plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables that you can eat raw. Proteins you can get from canned pre-cooked beans which you can heat up, the calorie content and nutrition are on the packaging. Nuts are healthy source of good fats and proteins as well. Yogurt and cheese also good sources of protein and don't require preparation. It is your life and therefore your choice, if you want change, only you can make it happen. Good luck.0
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I "can't cook" either, but...
- Put a pan on the stove. Dump in frozen veggies and a little olive oil, stir. Crack two eggs over that, stir. Dump on a plate, shake on some ketchup. Meal!
- Put a pan on the stove. Pour in a little oil, put chicken cutlet in. Shake whatever seasoning you want over it. Cook for 5 minutes, then turn it over. Meanwhile dump frozen veggies in a bowl and microwave until hot. Then keep sticking food thermometer in chicken until it says it's done. Dump everything onto a plate. Meal!
- Buy tortillas or pitas and stuff random ingredients into it. Meal!
- Pay $7 for rotisserie chicken at grocery store. Pull off all the meat and chop or shred it and put it in the fridge. Then use it for sandwiches, salads throughout week. Dump it into pan with frozen veggies and some oil. Meals!
- Put soy sauce, oil, chopped veg, some kind of meat in hot fry pan and stir. Meal!
I burn stuff all the time. If it isn't ashes I eat it, because money. I find overcooked anything is edible mixed with some jarred tomato sauce. Salads don't require cooking. Wraps and pita sandwiches don't require cooking. Basic whole foods aren't expensive.
You probably can get away with a crappy diet, but if you want the best results, you need to give your body the right fuel.0 -
Dude, you keep coming up with excuses. You don't need to take a cooking class. You don't need to "learn to cook". Start simple. Buy meat, weigh meat on a scale to determine calories, buy seasoning add it to the meat, then put it in the oven. Google temperature and time to cook the particular meat. You can bake most vegetables right along with the meat. You can microwave vegetables. You can eat fruits and vegetables raw. If you want to make rice or pasta just read the directions on the box and do exactly as they say. It's not hard by any means. You could literally train a monkey to cook rice. In the long run cooking your own meals will indeed save you money as many other people pointed out. Again, you could potentially achieve your goals eating nothing but premade/fast food but it will take much more work on your part balancing macro nutrients and it will most likely cost more. Also, while a restaurant might give you nutritional information, because you are not preparing it yourself, you must trust they are giving you the exact portion, made the exact way it was made to determine the nutritional content. Do you think the people at Chipotle are weighing anything? Do you think the person at McDonald's cares at all if you accidentally get to many or to few fries? What about the cook at olive garden, do you think they care if they make your food with 2 tbsp's of olive oil instead of one...THEY DON'T!0
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Dude, you keep coming up with excuses. Do you think the people at Chipotle are weighing anything? Do you think the person at McDonald's cares at all if you accidentally get to many or to few fries? What about the cook at olive garden, do you think they care if they make your food with 2 tbsp's of olive oil instead of one...THEY DON'T!
Plus they spit in your food0 -
FunkyTobias wrote: »
Truth hurts and he got a point. Mine did not show me that early but at 10 I was already able to make meals for every meal. You got to learn to cook man.
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I "can't cook" either, but...
- Put a pan on the stove. Dump in frozen veggies and a little olive oil, stir. Crack two eggs over that, stir. Dump on a plate, shake on some ketchup. Meal!
- Put a pan on the stove. Pour in a little oil, put chicken cutlet in. Shake whatever seasoning you want over it. Cook for 5 minutes, then turn it over. Meanwhile dump frozen veggies in a bowl and microwave until hot. Then keep sticking food thermometer in chicken until it says it's done. Dump everything onto a plate. Meal!
- Buy tortillas or pitas and stuff random ingredients into it. Meal!
- Pay $7 for rotisserie chicken at grocery store. Pull off all the meat and chop or shred it and put it in the fridge. Then use it for sandwiches, salads throughout week. Dump it into pan with frozen veggies and some oil. Meals!
- Put soy sauce, oil, chopped veg, some kind of meat in hot fry pan and stir. Meal!
I burn stuff all the time. If it isn't ashes I eat it, because money. I find overcooked anything is edible mixed with some jarred tomato sauce. Salads don't require cooking. Wraps and pita sandwiches don't require cooking. Basic whole foods aren't expensive.
You probably can get away with a crappy diet, but if you want the best results, you need to give your body the right fuel.
BAM! I cook every night and I still feel like you gave me ideas. lol0 -
FunkyTobias wrote: »
I think he just left off the "1" trying to write "21 years old." At least, that's what I gathered. If he was trying to be insulting he probably would've said "you're acting like a 2 year old" or "you aren't 2 years old."
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Lift heavy things. Eat enough protein. After 6 months if you aren't getting the body you want, then you might want to revisit diet.
Carry on.0 -
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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.
I gave you an option that may be helpful and cost effective but you chose to overlook it and find more excuses to give.
Good luck.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.
So if you're giving up on cooking after you mess up on something, then what makes you think you have what it takes to get the body you want? To do well at pretty much anything, it involves trial and error and you may not get it right the first time. It is life - deal with it.
And you cannot possibly use your wallet as an excuse. My DH and I decided to slice our budget by eating more meals in - and we weren't eating at fancy restaurants to begin with. It has helped out our budget a lot. When I was a poor grad student with zero parental support, I would buy staples - rice, beans, frozen veggies, canned soups, meat if I could afford it that month, pepper, garlic, salt, you get the idea - and put them together in various combinations. It is cheaper to eat at home than to eat fast food - that has nothing to do with "your situation."
If you don't have it in you to follow complicated recipes (I don't either so I get it), it's not required. You can even throw frozen veggies and cut-up chicken or steak into a pan with a little olive oil, pepper and garlic (or whatever seasoning you like), and mix that together on a stove until it's cooked all the way through. It's really not as hard as you're making it out to be.0 -
Let's see.... I "can't" cook either:
Last past months I made
Chilli Soup,
Pork Roast
Stir Fry Chicken
Stir Fry Steak,
Mini pizzas,
Ground beef and veggies,
Beef tongue with tomatoe sauce.
Marinated steak,
Chicken with Mushrooms
And that's just on top on my head. I am not counting all the eggs and veggies I have daily for breakfast (Really, just toss and mix, not rocket science)
Nobody taught me and I am the most clumsy unskilled (when manual skills are required) guy.
All I needed to do was to use google, combine ingredients, follow recipe instructions, and voila.
Some results were awful or meh at first, then I tried again, then tried again, and my food is getting actually something I can tell is much better than frozen meals/fast food (Not to mention healthier).
Again, I don't know your situation as you mention.
But my point is, if you can read, you can cook. I mean, I think if I can, anyone can.
But probably "I don't know your situation" as you say.
I used to be the "excuses" guy.
Please don't be.
Best of lucks0 -
You don't need to go to expensive cookery classes to learn to cook.
Omelette - crack 2 eggs in a bowl - add a splash of milk seasoning and whatever else you fancy (cheese etc) mix a bit put it in the microwave for 2-3 mins. Done.
There's loads of cheap easy stuff you can do. I'm hearing excuses0
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