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I'm not quite sure what people mean when they say "eat more"

post #1 of 19
Thread Starter 
I understand that you have to eat more food to gain weight. But if you're trying to add muscle while simultaneously trying to trim fat, isn't it hard to eat yourself silly? Maybe I'm just doing it wrong.

For example, here's my daily intake:

-Breakfast=2 Poached Eggs, 2 Pieces of Wheat toast, 2 Pieces of Bacon, small cup of yogurt
-Snack=Banana and Granola Bar
-Lunch=3 Pieces of Pepperoni Pizza
-Snack=Big Spinach Salad with low-cal spray dressing, Protien shake
-Dinner=Whatever mom makes (basically turns out to be something like this): Chicken Breast, Mashed Potatoes, Mixed Vegetables, Milk

I normally eat until I am between satisfied and full, but never until I'm stuffed as I have some weird problem with my digestive system (I get bloated really easily and I literally cannot physically burp).

As far as physical activity, I lift MWF and do HIIT Tuesday and Saturday.

I gain a bit of muscle, but I always look a bit thicker around the midsection too. Am I not lifting hard enough? Eating too much?

I guess the other possibility is that it it's my digestive system that's making it look like I have a bit of pudge. In the morning when I wake up, I look a waist size or two lower than when I go to bed.
post #2 of 19
I might tune up the lunch a bit (you can do better than 3 slices of pepperoni pizza), but it looks ok. I would assume you're young (25 or under)? Give it time. Maybe eat a nutritious snack before bed. Throw in some more vegetables. Generally speaking, weight will come. If you're naturally slim, consider it a blessing. I was in the same boat. I wanted to gain mass and had the hardest time until I aged and my metabolism slowed.
From my experience: guys who were big and bulky when young, end up being fat when they age a bit. The voluptuous high school cheerleader almost always is overweight 10 years later. People who are slim/skinny when young often age into a nice body.
It's also very hard to gain weight while losing body fat. Usually it's one or the other.
post #3 of 19
Thread Starter 
I should also mention that my diet isn't as innocent as it looks, I kind of forgot about the alcohol. Friday and Saturday nights are usually 3-4 mixed drinks and 3-4 beers per night, so that's probably around 750 calories per night. Not to mention I'm a sophomore in college so I'm sure the mixed vegetables and etc. are even less innocent as you'd think.
post #4 of 19
Hit the heavy compound exercises when lifting. Squats, deadlift, cleans, dips, pull-ups. Go heavy, then go home and rest.
post #5 of 19
Quote:
Originally Posted by apocalypse later View Post
I should also mention that my diet isn't as innocent as it looks, I kind of forgot about the alcohol. Friday and Saturday nights are usually 3-4 mixed drinks and 3-4 beers per night, so that's probably around 750 calories per night. Not to mention I'm a sophomore in college so I'm sure the mixed vegetables and etc. are even less innocent as you'd think.

It kind of sounds like you know what the problems are already
post #6 of 19
Your diet sucks. Too many energy calories (fat/carbs).
post #7 of 19
Quote:
Originally Posted by apocalypse later View Post
I understand that you have to eat more food to gain weight. But if you're trying to add muscle while simultaneously trying to trim fat, isn't it hard to eat yourself silly? Maybe I'm just doing it wrong.
Unless you just started working out, trying to add any significant muscle mass while dropping fat is a losing proposition. Choose one or the other or you'll most likely fail at both. Clean up your diet also. Your breakfast is full of fat; switch out the bacon for lean turkey bacon and eat some kind of low fat greek yogurt (Fage or Trader Joe's are my preferred brands) instead. Same with your lunch. I'm not certain why if you're trying to lose fat you're still eating pizza. Granola bars are crap too.
post #8 of 19
You are old enough to drink and your dinner consists of what your mom makes? So you live at home?
post #9 of 19
dude, you answered your own question:

to gain weight, you have to eat more calories

to lose weight, you have have to eat less calories.

how do you expect to gain muscle (gaining weight) while losing fat (losing weight?)

your diet is eh, but given that you live at home, it's probably not going to improve much.

build, then cut, build, then cut....
post #10 of 19
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by sygyzy View Post
You are old enough to drink and your dinner consists of what your mom makes? So you live at home?
Um, college, and home for the summer. Ever occur to you? Guess not. And yeah, I guess I do know my problem, it's the drinking. I guess it's useless to bother trying to get ultra cut because there's no way I'm giving up drinking just to shave off a bit of fat and gain some muscle. Anyways, thanks for the advice all, I guess the key is just to keep working out and try to eat as well as I can.
post #11 of 19
I'm a bartender and in college, yet I still manage to eat healthy and not drink more than 1 alcoholic beverage per night. What's your excuse?
post #12 of 19
Is there some unwritten rule that you have to get trashed on the weekends to enjoy yourself while going out? If anybody gives you a hard time about being 'lightweight' give them a hard time about something they do.
post #13 of 19
Generally speaking once you get past that beginner phase where your body is willing to lose fat and put on muscle at the same time, its very very hard to do that. Your diet needs to be really on point and your lifting needs to be intense and frequent and you need to sleep a ton. Really the only way I've found that I can do this is following a paleolithic diet, with roughly 40% cals from protein, 40% from fat, 20% from carbs with no bread or anything containing flour, low glycemic fruits and lots of veggies. That probably doesn't sound like something you'll be willing to stick to.

So just accept the fact that muscle gain is going to be accompanied by fat gain. Break down what are called your "macros" (the ratio of calories from protein, fats, and carbs to total calories consumed) and shoot for 30% fats, 30% protein, 40% carbs. Clean those carbs up too, no need to be eating pizza and sugary yogurt or potatoes. Basically use nutritiondata.com to find foods with low glycemic indexes and try to stick to those as your sources for carbs.

Make sure at least half of the number of total sets you are doing are heavy compound lifts. You can throw in some bodybuilding isolation exercises to get a sick pump or whatever, but at the end of the day its going to be those 4 sets of 6 deadlifts that shock your body into producing more testosterone and adding muscle all over.

Good luck.
post #14 of 19
Dude, if you're not pledging a frat that particular semester, there's no way you HAVE to drink 8 drinks a night on weekends. Do the old "hang on to the same beer the entire night" trick.
post #15 of 19
Quote:
Originally Posted by redgrail View Post
Dude, if you're not pledging a frat that particular semester, there's no way you HAVE to drink 8 drinks a night on weekends. Do the old "hang on to the same beer the entire night" trick.


what an irritating misconception. first of all, noone makes you drink, if you dont want to, dont...noone cares. Second, Fraternity men appreciate pledges who are sober to lend a hand with driving...Safety first.

Driving is a good excuse btw, esp. if you drove your buddies. But yeah, diet isn't great.
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