Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Does it matter where the calories come from?

Key · 06-11-2006, 06:44 AM

When you're weight training to gain mass, what you need to focus on is calories first, protein second, and then the other nutritional requirements.

Calories is KING. a calorie is a calorie. if you need pizza to get you to 3,000 calories (or whatever your daily goal is), DO IT. if you're at 2,500 calories before bed, and the only thing you have are fries and pizza, EAT THEM.

empty calories just means they have no OTHER nutritional value, no micronutrients. no vitamins, no other goodness. an "empty" calorie has the same energy as a "non-emtpy" calorie. when people say sugar and candy are empty calories, they'll still put muscle on you.

make sure you're getting at LEAST 1.0g protein per body weight, 1.5g is better but it doesn't hurt to go even more. on a bulk i'll sometimes get 1.7-.2.0g instead of 1.0-1.5g.

30% of your calories should come from FAT. if you need 3,000 calories, that's 1,000 you need from fats. don't get 2,000 calories of carbs and 1,000 protein, you need the fat. of these fats, try and get healthy fats. monnounsaturated or polyunsatured, as little saturated as possible.

make sure you're getting a multivitamin daily to make sure you're getting enough vitamins, if you're worried about eating a lot of empty calories. if you're eating mostly whole weat, vegetables and fruits that are packed with vitamins, you might be ok without one.

the fear of say, 3,000 pizza and fry calories vs. 3,000 whole wheat and peanut calories is that the pizza and fries will be high GI carbs and lots of saturated fats, leading to higher cholesterol (congrats - you're big and strong, but your heart's about to explode).

you can bulk on ice cream. just uh, not ONLY ice cream ..

back to calories vs. protein real quick. if you have a choice: to get less calories (than your goal), but your full dosage of protein VS. your full dosage of calories but LESS than your dosage of protien .. take the calories. but again this is a worst case, it's not hard to get your minimum amount of protien, it's hard as heck to get your caloric intake, it's constant eating.

figure out what your base calories are. 2500? 2800? whatever it is to maintain the weight you're at. eat the same amount of calories every day for a week to make sure that's your base calories. add 200-300 for the next week. weigh at the end of the week to see if you've gained weight. if not, add 200-300 for the next week, etc. until you start seeing gains.

counting calories is SUPER important when you're weight gaining, if you're serious anyway. get an account at www.fitday.com (i do not represent them in any way) to help with that.

i SUCK at cooking too, but believe me it's not that hard to get the proper amount of calories and a huge amount of protein daily, if you'd like i can list some of my "meals".

06-11-2006, 06:44 AM	#10 (permalink)
Key Crazy	When you're weight training to gain mass, what you need to focus on is calories first, protein second, and then the other nutritional requirements. Calories is KING. a calorie is a calorie. if you need pizza to get you to 3,000 calories (or whatever your daily goal is), DO IT. if you're at 2,500 calories before bed, and the only thing you have are fries and pizza, EAT THEM. empty calories just means they have no OTHER nutritional value, no micronutrients. no vitamins, no other goodness. an "empty" calorie has the same energy as a "non-emtpy" calorie. when people say sugar and candy are empty calories, they'll still put muscle on you. make sure you're getting at LEAST 1.0g protein per body weight, 1.5g is better but it doesn't hurt to go even more. on a bulk i'll sometimes get 1.7-.2.0g instead of 1.0-1.5g. 30% of your calories should come from FAT. if you need 3,000 calories, that's 1,000 you need from fats. don't get 2,000 calories of carbs and 1,000 protein, you need the fat. of these fats, try and get healthy fats. monnounsaturated or polyunsatured, as little saturated as possible. make sure you're getting a multivitamin daily to make sure you're getting enough vitamins, if you're worried about eating a lot of empty calories. if you're eating mostly whole weat, vegetables and fruits that are packed with vitamins, you might be ok without one. the fear of say, 3,000 pizza and fry calories vs. 3,000 whole wheat and peanut calories is that the pizza and fries will be high GI carbs and lots of saturated fats, leading to higher cholesterol (congrats - you're big and strong, but your heart's about to explode). you can bulk on ice cream. just uh, not ONLY ice cream .. back to calories vs. protein real quick. if you have a choice: to get less calories (than your goal), but your full dosage of protein VS. your full dosage of calories but LESS than your dosage of protien .. take the calories. but again this is a worst case, it's not hard to get your minimum amount of protien, it's hard as heck to get your caloric intake, it's constant eating. figure out what your base calories are. 2500? 2800? whatever it is to maintain the weight you're at. eat the same amount of calories every day for a week to make sure that's your base calories. add 200-300 for the next week. weigh at the end of the week to see if you've gained weight. if not, add 200-300 for the next week, etc. until you start seeing gains. counting calories is SUPER important when you're weight gaining, if you're serious anyway. get an account at www.fitday.com (i do not represent them in any way) to help with that. i SUCK at cooking too, but believe me it's not that hard to get the proper amount of calories and a huge amount of protein daily, if you'd like i can list some of my "meals".