Beating a Ridiculous Metabolism

[Ecstasy]

Hey I had a few questions I'd like to get some answers to; I just happened to stumble across this forum and thought it seemed like a suitable place to do it. I'm 3 months away from being 20 yrs old, 6'2 and between 155-160 lbs. I'll start off by saying I know I have terrible eating habits. On days that I work I have a bacon egg and cheese and ice tea at 1pm, or tuna at 1pm. On my next break at 4pm or so I'll have some random piece of fruit, my next meal usually is at 8pm or even as far as 11pm and is usually some variety of fast food or whatever leftovers I find at home. I know that's a big reason why I am underweight, but even when I eat an insane amount of food (ie. on vacation) I return rather quickly to the 155-160 range. I'm perfectly fine health wise and just had a blood test done that confirmed that, I just have a fast metabolism and a ridiculously low amount of body fat.

About how many calories a day should I be taking in, and what foods would be the most beneficial? (also in terms of quality carbs and protein). Mind you I work in a supermarket in the seafood department during the summer when I'm not at college so really, I have access to any type of imaginable food at any time lol.

I was going to start lifting regularly when i got out of school in May but I was a bum and didn't. I have a multistation fitness machine w/ benchpress and some freeweights. I'm somewhat strong and can do many pullups and about 25 pushups right out of bed, but my upper body is pretty lanky, especially being 6'2 heh. Are there any particular exercises that really help developing shoulder and chest muscles?

 

[MegaVovaN]

Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. Full body barbell workout. Check sticky in this forum for diet.

 

[KoolDrew]

Make an account at fitday.com or sparkpeople.com and start eating somewhere around 3000 calories a day and at least 160 grams of protein. Monitor weight and adjust from there. A solid lifting routine such as Starting Strength would be a good idea as well.

 

[Ecstasy]

Heh.. I just used fitday and noticed that Saturday I ate 895 calories, and 41 grams of protein. I need to uh.... quadruple what I ate lmfao.

 

[MegaVovaN]

Originally posted by: Ecstasy
Heh.. I just used fitday and noticed that Saturday I ate 895 calories, and 41 grams of protein. I need to uh.... quadruple what I ate lmfao.

There's your problem, not metabolism. You eat 1/4 of norm and expect to be big?

 

[Ecstasy]

Well even when I actually do eat a lot or extreme high calorie foods, like on vacation or at college for a prolonged time, it doesn't really show. I guess I need to be more consistent with eating a lot of calories. I'm going to try to actually eat 3k calories a day and see how much I weigh a couple weeks from now. The thing is, even if I ended up gaining 7 pounds, it would disappear within a matter of a few days. We'll see what happens.

 

[MegaVovaN]

Those 7 pounds you speak of are not muscle.

Get on full body free weight barbell program, eat big consistently, and you will build muscle slowly but surely - muscle that will stay as long as you eat and exercise.

Another thing, it might be uncomfortable for you to eat 3k cal when you're used to about 900 cal. So, ramp up the intake gradually. Maybe try 1200 calories tomorrow.

 

[GenHoth]

Originally posted by: Ecstasy
Heh.. I just used fitday and noticed that Saturday I ate 895 calories, and 41 grams of protein. I need to uh.... quadruple what I ate lmfao.

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

 

[Ecstasy]

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
Those 7 pounds you speak of are not muscle.

Get on full body free weight barbell program, eat big consistently, and you will build muscle slowly but surely - muscle that will stay as long as you eat and exercise.

Another thing, it might be uncomfortable for you to eat 3k cal when you're used to about 900 cal. So, ramp up the intake gradually. Maybe try 1200 calories tomorrow.

I never said it was going to be muscle, just that it would be nice to not see my ribs anymore lol.

Oh and so far today I'm at ~1350 without dinner yet lol.

 

[KoolDrew]

Eat more calorie dense foods, perhaps even liquids (whole milk?).

 

[Ecstasy]

So I wrote down what I ate and the portions to get a general sense of how many calories I took in today:
Sausage egg and cheese, soft shell crab, salmon, tortellini and broccoli, hot dog, flank steak, rice and pinto beans, fried chicken, cheeseburger, about half a cup of sunflower seeds, almonds, more pasta, and various beverages. When all was said and done, it came out to a little over 4000 calories. I guess that's a good start.. quintuplet what I ate yesterday.. lol. The gym tomorrow should be interesting.

 

[KoolDrew]

Make it easier on yourself and make an account on fitday or sparkpeople and track your food there rather than on a piece of paper.

 

[Cstefan]

Chug muscle milk buddy.

 

[Ecstasy]

Yea I actually used fitday to do it but I wrote down a few things I couldn't find.

 

[MegaVovaN]

Originally posted by: Cstefan
Chug muscle milk buddy.

Regular milk will do - a gallon of whole milk a day.

 

[txrandom]

I'm in this same exact situation. It's hard for me to continually eat a ton of food. I eventually get tired of eating food haha. It's hard when you are somewhat health conscious and don't like scarfing down McDonalds or pizzas.

 

[purbeast0]

lol @ thinking you have a cheetah like metabolism when you are only eating 900 calories a day ...

no wonder you are skinny, start actually eating and then you can see how fast your metabolism is.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: txrandom
I'm in this same exact situation. It's hard for me to continually eat a ton of food. I eventually get tired of eating food haha. It's hard when you are somewhat health conscious and don't like scarfing down McDonalds or pizzas.

No, no it's not. If you plan ahead, it's actually pretty easy. Plan your day ahead of time and have those things made the night before. It really is easy. You don't have to eat junk food to bulk.

 

[Ecstasy]

Haha I'll take you up on that. Ill try to eat the same ~3000 calorie diet for 2 weeks and see what I weigh at the end of it lol. And it is kind of weird when you're used to not eating a lot, but if I have even any semblance of hunger in me, I eat a meal. Doing it right now actually lol, had more tortellini and broccoli for breakfast and now I'm having more flank steak and rice w/ pinto beans.

 

[cdmccool]

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN

Originally posted by: Cstefan
Chug muscle milk buddy.

Regular milk will do - a gallon of whole milk a day.

:thumbsup:

 

[presidentender]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: txrandom
I'm in this same exact situation. It's hard for me to continually eat a ton of food. I eventually get tired of eating food haha. It's hard when you are somewhat health conscious and don't like scarfing down McDonalds or pizzas.

No, no it's not. If you plan ahead, it's actually pretty easy. Plan your day ahead of time and have those things made the night before. It really is easy. You don't have to eat junk food to bulk.

Agreed. The hard part, for me at least, is to remember to eat. Just make it part of your schedule and always have good food around.