Protein shakes/drinks

so let me get this straight...in your eyes it would be just as efficient for me to wake up and pound down 4000 calories in one meal then just not eat anything the rest of the day, maybe skip food all together a few days and I would still be fine...thats insane, no good trainer would say such things

so let me get this straight...in your eyes it would be just as efficient for me to wake up and pound down 4000 calories in one meal then just not eat anything the rest of the day, maybe skip food all together a few days and I would still be fine...thats insane, no good trainer would say such things

Don't delve into extremes. Everything breaks down when you go into extremes in the nutritional world. Now, let's say you haven't ate all day, hypothetically. There is nothing wrong with consuming all your calories in a single. There are some issues with one meal a day but the idea is that meal frequency is not as important as it is made to be. More importantly, you do not need to worry so much about breakfast unless you're working out in the morning. Even then, some people prefer fasted training with the possibility of BCAA supplementation.

3 square meals a day is just as good, if not better, than 6 meals a day. People need not worry so much about eating constantly. Sometimes it's okay not to eat for an extended period of time without repercussions.

The idea is to suit it to your needs. Optimal protocols rarely yield as much benefits unless you're a true athlete. For your regular, bodybuilding/strength-orientated joe, simplicity is optimality.

see that last part is what I was bothered so much by, I consider myself to be a legitimate athlete and therefore at my level I try hard to get every advantage I can my life literally depends on it, but here in afghanistan we eat what we get served and theres no way around that but I try to make do. I myself do sometimes workout in a fasted state in the morning but im talking 5am and Ill still get breakfast in i would never just delay a meal until noon, the issue being I need 4000 calories a day and that sustains my athletic ability my six-pack and a good mood throughout the day, to try and cram that into a couple of meals is totally unrealistic

A legitimate athlete, to me, is someone who trains multiple times a day and therefore need to take advantage of glycogen replenishment, nutrient timing, etc. I don't think advance principles applies to someone who doesn't train multiple times a day. If you are like this then it i swor

I also don't think it's unrealistic to consume 4000 in two-four meals. Some people do it because they may have a dense-style of cooking or prefer calorically dense foods. But this is entirely preferential. I expect someone to eat the amount of meals they are comfortable and eat in a fashion that allows them perform optimally. My position is simply that a lot of meals and breakfast are not needed and therefore one does not need to worry about these things. This statement is dynamic, though. It changes based on situations and people. The advice I give out on these forums is for a regular joe, not an athlete.

at any rate I appreciate the way you put it better, see lion head up there just dismissed scientific studies and the idea of getting the right kind of nutrients altogether to claim that total calories is the ONLY thing that matters and nothing else is relevent which is an insult to everything I have worked for, if im wrong then how am I 195 pounds of solid muscle, can dealift over 500 pounds and still run marathons, im living proof my methods work who is anyone to argue with results?? still, thank you for putting that side of the argument into a much more logical point of view

The issue with using yourself as proof of a specific principle working is that there are far too many variables at work to single out a specific one and attribute success to it. But there is importance to more than calories and macronutrients but this is situational. Calories and macronutrients are the foundation and many people end up missing the foundation for the more complex (and sometimes unnecessary) stuff.

Ultimately, I think two things matter: (1) do what works for you and, most importantly, (2) be happy doing it.