Bodybuilding

Join

Just saying Hi / Advice on diet

derekjnichols
derekjnichols Posts: 49 Member
in Social Groups
Hey everyone,

I haven't introduced myself yet. Wanted to say hello and I'm looking for more friends that are into bodybuilding. I'm still having trouble getting the diet part down, and would love advice. I used to be overweight, so now I'm extremely nervous about eating too much, but at the same time I don't want to be preventing muscle growth. Anyone else have this issue?

Thanks!

Replies

  • UponThisRock
    UponThisRock Posts: 4,519 Member
    I've never experienced it personally, but I've seen it many times. JC Deen calls it "Former Fat Boy Syndrome": http://jcdfitness.com/2009/10/the-former-fat-boy-syndrome/

    My advice is to be very methodical with your calorie intake. Take your "feelings" out of it and focus on hard numbers. Maintain a consistent calorie intake. If you don't gain weight within a 3-4 week time period, add 250 calories, and stay there until you plateau again (which will probably happen).
  • ouija86
    ouija86 Posts: 138 Member
    Hey everyone,

    I haven't introduced myself yet. Wanted to say hello and I'm looking for more friends that are into bodybuilding. I'm still having trouble getting the diet part down, and would love advice. I used to be overweight, so now I'm extremely nervous about eating too much, but at the same time I don't want to be preventing muscle growth. Anyone else have this issue?

    Thanks!

    You will not gain muscle without also gaining some fat.

    Specifically though, what problems are you having with diet?
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
    I'm a FFB. Same issue really. Add me if you want :)
  • Arleigh7
    Arleigh7 Posts: 150 Member
    Well as both a fatty and a muscle head I can share what I have found works for me. I'm currently 54 years old am 5' 9" and at the beginning of April weighed 267 pounds. Today I'm 244. I've dropped the weight with almost no muscle loss (yes my arms a 1/2" smaller but more muscular and my waist is down 4 inches) but better yet I have not lost any of my strength.

    I like to lift heavy and and as an example top out with 115lb dumbells on the Incline Bench press for 5 reps (gym dumbells top out at 120lb which I am going to try when I am down to 240 lbs). Along with lifting heavy I lift every other day and do light cardio the days in between. At this age it takes me longer to heal then when I was in my 20's but I also think this is helping me from losing muscle size and strength.

    So how I did this was start to seriously use MFP and track everything. I have dropped all empty calories, sugar, bread and most carbs. However I have increased protein and eat as much spinach and steamed vegetables as I can. I love red wine so I still have that on weekends. Also I put together a very clean proten shake with high quality ingredients and drink this within 30 minutes or less of every workout. I do around 180 to 200 grams of proten each day (egg whites, chicken sausage, tuna, chicken and occasionaly steak, lamb and fish).

    I also added more cardio but felt hard cardio was making me lose muscle so I scaled back on that and now do more walking (got a fit bit and hitting 10K steps nearly everyday the past week).

    Not sure if this will work for you but everyone at the gym thinks I'm on Steroids with how much better I look (getting a tan doesn't hurt either). Good Luck!
  • derekjnichols
    derekjnichols Posts: 49 Member
    Hey everyone- thanks for the advice. My major issue is that I'm concerned that I won't grow muscle. I do a lot of cardio- I really enjoy spinning, running and hiking. I don't want to burn away the progress I make with building muscle.


    Does that even make sense?
  • jeffpettis
    jeffpettis Posts: 865 Member
    Read this article, http://jcdfitness.com/2009/10/the-former-fat-boy-syndrome/

    In my opinion if you're wanting to gain muscle cut out most of the cardio. What is your goal, build muscle or lose fat? If you are wanting to build muscle you are going to have to accept some fat gain along with it, sorry that's just the way it works. If you are wanting to lose a lot of fat just try to hang on to as much muscle as you can until you start to try to gain muscle again, (I don't like to use the terms "cut" and "bulk".) You can't be nervous about eating to much cause if you want to gain muscle you're going to have to eat at a calorie surplus.

Categories