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84jeepster

Hey everyone! I have been on MFP since August and have lost tons of fat since, but its time to get ready for the muscle gaining portion of my fitness goals. I have several recommendations for weight routines from fellow MFPeeps, but the nutrition part is driving me crazy. There seems to be so many options that people have been successful with and I am unsure which to utitlize. I know I have to pick one and give it a chance and then switch it up if things aren't working, but its tough to decide where to start.

I have read about leangains.com but I don't know if the fasting would work for me. I have seen other programs that use the same concept as leangains but do not have the feeding/fasting windows. Others have said to just eat 250-500 calories over maintenance every day despite workouts while others have said only have a surplus on workout days.

Others have said that HIIT cardio is OK on non-workout days while others have said that cardio is not a good option. If I do cardio, would I eat back those exercise calories?

I know I sound like I am rambling and have no idea what I'm talking about but I have done my research and am just having trouble deciding which nutriiton method would most likely work the best for me. If anyone has advice on what nutiriton program they used and why, I would appreciate it. I would love to hear what programs people have tried that did NOT work for them and why they feel it didn't work as well as the ones that worked for them and why they think it worked.

I really like the information provided on this site. It seems to cover everything and it is easy and clear to read and understand. http://www.acaloriecounter.com/diet/

Thanks in advance for any and all feedback.
Mark

jmjatlanta

What worked for me:

Slowly replace the crappy food with the healthy food. What is healthy? That's where MyFitnessPal comes in!

Log everything. Add the sodium column to your log if you haven't already.

I upped my meals to 6 per day. Some use 3, some use 1. 6 works for me because I can't stand to eat big meals. There are plenty of plans out there, and all of them claim theirs is the best. The real answer is there are goods and bads to each.

Watch your macros. Get plenty of lean protein in your diet, but still get your share of fats and carbohydrates.

Watch your micros. You'll need all those vitamins and minerals to repair your body. You're hard on your body when you don't take care of it. Unfortunately, you're hard on your body when you do take care of it too!

Strive to get your nutrients from foods, not pills and powders. The convenience factor makes it tempting to shortcut it, but try not to. I try, but would not eat enough protein if it weren't for whey powders.

Get a physical that includes blood work. That not only tells you where you've been, but where you're going. Tune your diet if you see something out of whack.

It is not as hard as it seems. All the books and plans and DVDs are there to make money. Spending quality time in the kitchen was something I didn't think I'd enjoy. Looking back, it saved me a lot of wasted time and money.

delmc1

What worked for me:

Slowly replace the crappy food with the healthy food. What is healthy? That's where MyFitnessPal comes in!

Log everything. Add the sodium column to your log if you haven't already.

I upped my meals to 6 per day. Some use 3, some use 1. 6 works for me because I can't stand to eat big meals. There are plenty of plans out there, and all of them claim theirs is the best. The real answer is there are goods and bads to each.

Watch your macros. Get plenty of lean protein in your diet, but still get your share of fats and carbohydrates.

Watch your micros. You'll need all those vitamins and minerals to repair your body. You're hard on your body when you don't take care of it. Unfortunately, you're hard on your body when you do take care of it too!

Strive to get your nutrients from foods, not pills and powders. The convenience factor makes it tempting to shortcut it, but try not to. I try, but would not eat enough protein if it weren't for whey powders.

Get a physical that includes blood work. That not only tells you where you've been, but where you're going. Tune your diet if you see something out of whack.

It is not as hard as it seems. All the books and plans and DVDs are there to make money. Spending quality time in the kitchen was something I didn't think I'd enjoy. Looking back, it saved me a lot of wasted time and money.

everything above is probably best advice you'll get , only thing i would add is aim to get 1.5 / 2 grams protein a day ,whey protein is a life saver for this especially on training day .as for supplements i would use a good b.c.c.a to help recovery

Beastette

What worked for me:

Slowly replace the crappy food with the healthy food. What is healthy? That's where MyFitnessPal comes in!

Log everything. Add the sodium column to your log if you haven't already.

I upped my meals to 6 per day. Some use 3, some use 1. 6 works for me because I can't stand to eat big meals. There are plenty of plans out there, and all of them claim theirs is the best. The real answer is there are goods and bads to each.

Watch your macros. Get plenty of lean protein in your diet, but still get your share of fats and carbohydrates.

Watch your micros. You'll need all those vitamins and minerals to repair your body. You're hard on your body when you don't take care of it. Unfortunately, you're hard on your body when you do take care of it too!

Strive to get your nutrients from foods, not pills and powders. The convenience factor makes it tempting to shortcut it, but try not to. I try, but would not eat enough protein if it weren't for whey powders.

Get a physical that includes blood work. That not only tells you where you've been, but where you're going. Tune your diet if you see something out of whack.

It is not as hard as it seems. All the books and plans and DVDs are there to make money. Spending quality time in the kitchen was something I didn't think I'd enjoy. Looking back, it saved me a lot of wasted time and money.

everything above is probably best advice you'll get , only thing i would add is aim to get 1.5 / 2 grams protein a day ,whey protein is a life saver for this especially on training day .as for supplements i would use a good b.c.c.a to help recovery

I think you mean "1.5-2 g protein per lb lean mass", maybe? Because you only need 1 g/lb to maintain, so if you're building that's what I'm guessing.