Baraka_Guru

Keep it simple:

• Don't worry too much about supplementing, eat the right food. Supplements can be a big waste of money, especially when much of what is found in those pills are found in the right foods. Also, many of them are basically useless, and most of them are a waste of money that could be spent on good food. If anything, supplement with a good multivitamin, and maybe some vitamin C (500mg) if you get sick easily. I use soy protein to make homemade protein bars, but I consider this more of a food item, as each serving of protein isn't nearly as high as 25-50g like some of the protein supplements out there. I use it to balance my diet, basically.
• Keep your workouts focused (i.e. don't waste your time on toning-style lifting, focus on the big, compound exercises).
• Lift heavy, eat heavy: Don't be afraid of carbs if you are eating natural foods--balance your diet (Keep eating your mum's food; maybe eat more of it; load up). Be sure to eat a meal or a snack every 3 or 4 hours max. If it's been 4 hours, you've waited too long.
• Most recommendations for protein intake are overhyped; the goal is to eat enough calories on a balanced diet. You don't need 200g of protein a day. I've built muscle at about a pound/month on 120-140g or protein/day. I likely could with less, even. If anything, my barrier was not eating enough overall calories.
• Train with high intensity; lift to muscular failure on three sets.
• Blast the crap out of your legs; some people don't focus enough on their legs; this sells you short above your waist. The human body is a machine; all parts included. Use it.

I'm a "hard gainer." I've read many articles and books, and I've seen results on efficient (read: non-obsessive) plans. If I wasn't such a slacker, I'd be in far better shape, with some nice lean muscle. Actually, I just restarted a routine, so this is on my mind these days.

The trick is to "listen" to your body. Push your muscles to the limit without overdoing it, then rest and eat. It's a simple cycle, but you've got to work hard at it.

Gains should be viewed as a long-term thing. Lean muscle mass is not the same as "bulking." Avoid bulking; it's for professional builders. Build lean mass, which realistically will equate to ten or so pounds per year--as high as twenty plus, depending on your genetics. This is lean muscle mass. You don't want to build fat; it's difficult to get rid of. Build pure muscle from the ground up.

Another big advantage of a personal trainer is motivation. God knows I could use that. I'd look like Brad Pitt in Troy if I could afford one.

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot