eat lots of PASTA!

 

Wow, this is the first time i've checked up on this thread! Thanks for all the useful info. I'm Italian, so I eat lots of pasta, and stuff like that, but I also eats lots of fast food since i'm always on the run. I do situps and pushups every night, and arm curls almost every night. I'm in college, so I do my share of beer drinking as well. I think i'll make a trip to GNC to pick out some protein drinks. Well, keep the good info coming, I surely need it.

Thanks, Greg

 

dbjb:

that should .9grams to 1.2grams per lean boday mass.
Fat does not need protien

 

Ive been 5'9" 140lbs for about 3 years now (im 20). I used to go to the gym every day and drink protein and creatine everyday. After about a year I had hardly noticed any difference. I got bored with not seeing any results and stoped working out all the time. Then I started drinking beer. A lot. Now I have gained maybe a few punds but ive got a beer belly from hell!! How the hell can I get rid of it? I do crunches every night (almost ). I dont know what else to do ...

 

How old are you? You mentioned you were still in college- I would not worry about it- time will catch up with you. It happens to the best of us, metabolism just slows down as you get older.

I'm 5'9", and all through college I tipped the scales at a whopping 115- no kidding. This despite a horrible diet (tons of red meat and sugar) and lack of exercise. I kept that going after college, and didn't gain much weight. But once I started to put on pounds, it was like an exponential curve. Getting to 120 took a few years, but getting to 125 was less than one year.

The weird thing is, even though I know I'm horribly underweight (about 3rd percentile on the BMI index even at 125), being thin is something I always took for granted so it felt weird. Also since I wasn't working out, I was just gaining it all in the gut. Also didn't help that my 95lb gf kept joking that I was fat Once I started approaching 130 and had to let my 28 waist suit pants out, I freaked out and started cutting down on sweets. I think I've lost 5lbs now.

My point is, you'll naturally gain plenty of weight in a few years, even if you don't do anything. But tritium probably has the best advice, it's always healthier and better to gain some weight thru good diet and putting on muscles.

Peter

 

Pasta and bread is a sure fire way of getting fat

Doing crunches everyday wont make the gut go away. Diet comes before everything.

 

To gain weight you have to focus on a few things; this is a very basic way of looking at it. If you want more detail, PM me.

First and foremost, diet.

What do you eat? Like everyone says you should eat protein and carbohydrates, more protein than carbs though. For protein, fish and chicken is very good. Chicken breast is a very good source for amino acids also.

There are two different kinds of carbs; simple and complex. You want complex carbs. Look for leafy greens (fibrous) like brocclli or spinach. Try not to eat a lot of starch based carbs like breads and pasta. Breads and pasta will cause more insulin to be released and two things can happen. Insulin will bring it to your muscles only if it needs it, otherwise it will be stored as fat. I'll go more into this in a little bit.

If you are eating 3 big meals a day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), split it up to 6 small meals a day instead. Why? Stuffing yourself until you're full isn't efficient. Your body can only take so many proteins and carbs at one time. Anything not used turns into waste.

Second your weight routine.

You want to probably workout for an hour at the gym. Schedule your to workout three times a week; Monday, Wednesday, Friday. You want to focus on certain groups like this:

Monday = Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
Wednesday = Quadraceps, Hamstrings, Calves
Friday = Biceps and Back

Before you workout, eat a small carb meal one hour before. This will give you the energy you need one hour later for your workout. Immediately after your workout, you'll want to eat a high carb and high protein meal. The carbs will help your body replenish your glycogen level which was used up during your workout.

Man, I could go on forever. This is what I have been following, if I'm wrong, feel free to correct me. PM me if you want to know the book I read. Take it easy guys.

 

Just to add to Acumo's post.

Complex carbs- oatmeal, yams, veggies, brown rice, whole wheat bread although the last two I rarely eat.

After workout you need SIMPLE sugars

You also need to eat some fats, healthy fats that contain OMega 3,6,9's like flax seed oil, natural peanut butter, fish oil.

you dont need to eat carbs in every meal, actually thats a sure way to get fat, even if its all complex.

NEVER mix carbs and fats, ESPECIALLY bad fats and simple carbs

Workout routine, I think overtraining is overrated. I do:
Day 1 Pull
Day 2 Push
Day 3 Rest
Day 4 Legs
Day 5 Rest
Repeat

Multivitamin is recommended. Whey protein is excellent. I recommend DPSnutrition.net, instead of GNC since GNC is a rip off.

 

Certainly, if you're going to be doing 'basic' training with the Air Force - you will need to have very good aerobic fitness and stamina, to go with any added strength.... otherwise you'll simply tire very quickly, cause your body can't cope with the training and running around with the added weight?!

As for your headaches.... I'm guessing your NOT drinking enough water (most people, don't drink any where close to what they should!) and/or your body does not have enough energy/glucose in the system - do as Acumo suggests, by eating a small Carbo meal 1hr before your workout?!

 

and you'll need to combine the 'good' diet with some aerobic exercise, to work off your gut.... I prefer cycling to running!!