Question about some food/proteins shakes

[brownzilla786]

So to start, I'm clearly not eating enough because I am 163 pounds and I am 6'2'

For breakfast I drink 1 Boost nutritional drink with roughly 340 calories and 14 grams of protein in the morning.

Lunch varies for me, since my classes make it hard for me to eat a meal. On Monday/thursday I eat 15 chicken nuggets from Wendy's, otherwise I just eat a snickers bar as that is the only thing I can eat fast enough.

After class I lift, and I get home around 4:00 where I either open a can of tuna, cook chicken breast, or go to Mcdonalds (1 fish fillet and 10 chicken nuggets).

Throughout the rest of the day I just eat randomly, but never a really big meal, usually 2 bowls of cereal and a microwaveable dinner.

So here are some of my questions:
I bought Tuna (canned) but I have heard you can only eat it twice a week because of the mercury levels in it, is that true?

I ran out of my protein shake called Nlarge^2 (Nlarge squared), should I buy another bottle of it or do you guys recommend something else. I'm looking for a post workout mass gaining shake.

Should I add something to my diet? Should I have an eating schedule?

Thanks in advance

 

[Unmoosical]

Well, to start off, yes it seems like you should eat some more and less fast food. I'm sure you didn't see that one coming...

I would suggest making meals to take with you during the day for your classes. Make a sandwich for later. Bring a piece of fruit. And as for the tuna, I'm pretty sure most people here agree 1 can a day is safe.

As for the shake, sure, buy another supplement but remember that it should be just that, a supplement. I first think you should try to eat more food in general and not worry so much about something pre-made. However, since a lot of people do have protein shakes as a meal, make them yourself with some whey, milk, fruit of choice, and oatmeal.

What's that sound? Yes, that's my 2 cents.

 

[TripleAAA]

Are you exercising regularly? If so, what type of exercise?

I would avoid the nuggets at all costs...lots of bad stuff in those. The tuna is fine 2-3 times a week. I wouldn't worry about the mercury levels.

You are getting tons of sodium in your diet by eating all that fast food. Although sodium is usually not a problem in most people's diets, it sounds like it may be an issue in yours.

I would add some lean chicken breast and some whole grain bread (you can make toast with peanut butter as something to add to your Boost shake or just as a snack) With the chicken breast you can do all kinds of easy things with it. If it's easier, buy the pre-cooked packaged stuff. The canned chicken also has a ton of sodium in it.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

It seems to me that you're using protein shakes in the place of meals. That's not really the way to go. It would probably be in your best interests to buy some chicken, lean beef, ground turkey, etc and make actual meals with them that you can dip into any time during the week. The protein shakes are supplements, meaning they are supplemental to your overall meal plan and such. They shouldn't really be a meal unless you're bulking and the have like 900 calories in them. Eat more, drop the fast food, prep ahead. I'm 5'8 and 150ish and I have 3 eggs (210 calories), sausage (~150 calories), 2 cups of milk (300 calories), and granola (2xx calories) + milk (150 calories) for breakfast. I'm not even bulking. You're not getting enough food in. Just gotta plan it out a little bit better. A logging website for your meals would go a long way. Good luck.

 

[brikis98]

I'm not exactly sure what your goals are, although based on your height/weight, I'm guessing you're trying to add weight. However, whatever they are, you need to stop just "guessing" at your diet and start doing some tracking. Here is a simple approach:

1. Calories in > Calories out. If you're trying to gain weight, this is really the only formula that matters. If you eat more calories than you burn, your body will store the rest as fat or muscle (more on that in point #2). To have any success at this, you should start tracking your diet & exercise on a site like thedailyplate.com or fitday.com. You'll never know exactly how many calories you at or burned, so you'll need to get good at estimating. Weigh yourself once a week - if your weight is moving in the right direction, you're estimating correctly. If not, you're over/underestimating something and will need to adjust.

2. A calorie surplus only guarantees that you'll gain weight, which consists of muscle and fat. To encourage your body to primarily add muscle, you should do weight training. Additionally, keep your protein intake high: ~1g of protein per pound of bodyweight is a good goal and the sites in point #1 will track this number for you automatically. Finally, don't overdo it on the caloric surplus as too much guarantees more of the weight gain will be fat. Typically, a 300-600 calorie surplus per day is a good goal.

Your diet kind of sucks now, but in general, strictly following points #1 and #2 will force you into better food choices.

 

[brownzilla786]

Originally posted by: brikis98
I'm not exactly sure what your goals are, although based on your height/weight, I'm guessing you're trying to add weight. However, whatever they are, you need to stop just "guessing" at your diet and start doing some tracking. Here is a simple approach:

1. Calories in > Calories out. If you're trying to gain weight, this is really the only formula that matters. If you eat more calories than you burn, your body will store the rest as fat or muscle (more on that in point #2). To have any success at this, you should start tracking your diet & exercise on a site like thedailyplate.com or fitday.com. You'll never know exactly how many calories you at or burned, so you'll need to get good at estimating. Weigh yourself once a week - if your weight is moving in the right direction, you're estimating correctly. If not, you're over/underestimating something and will need to adjust.

2. A calorie surplus only guarantees that you'll gain weight, which consists of muscle and fat. To encourage your body to primarily add muscle, you should do weight training. Additionally, keep your protein intake high: ~1g of protein per pound of bodyweight is a good goal and the sites in point #1 will track this number for you automatically. Finally, don't overdo it on the caloric surplus as too much guarantees more of the weight gain will be fat. Typically, a 300-600 calorie surplus per day is a good goal.

Your diet kind of sucks now, but in general, strictly following points #1 and #2 will force you into better food choices.

Wow awesome website...yea my diet really does suck


As everyone else said I'm gonna try to cut the fast food down and make more chicken/healthier foods.

My goals are to get to at least 170 by adding mainly muscle weight. I don't know if I am lifting properly but I'll make another thread later specifically about tweaking my workout program, for now I just want to make sure my diet is up to snuff.

 

[brownzilla786]

Originally posted by: TripleAAA
Are you exercising regularly? If so, what type of exercise?

I would avoid the nuggets at all costs...lots of bad stuff in those. The tuna is fine 2-3 times a week. I wouldn't worry about the mercury levels.

You are getting tons of sodium in your diet by eating all that fast food. Although sodium is usually not a problem in most people's diets, it sounds like it may be an issue in yours.

I would add some lean chicken breast and some whole grain bread (you can make toast with peanut butter as something to add to your Boost shake or just as a snack) With the chicken breast you can do all kinds of easy things with it. If it's easier, buy the pre-cooked packaged stuff. The canned chicken also has a ton of sodium in it.

monday - bicep/back
tuesday - tricep/chest
wednesday - shoulder/legs
thursday - friday - basketball

Once I get my new course schedule I'll try to lift more often.

 

[Net]

It was hard for me to eat a lot too since I'm usually at school. However since i checked out a locker for the soul purpose of storing food i have been able to meet my goals. All of my classes except one are in the engineering building which is where i was able to get a locker.

As a result I have also saved a lot of money since I don't have to buy food on campus.

I recommend getting a locker if it works out for you.

 

[TanisHalfElven]

Originally posted by: brownzilla786

Originally posted by: TripleAAA
Are you exercising regularly? If so, what type of exercise?

I would avoid the nuggets at all costs...lots of bad stuff in those. The tuna is fine 2-3 times a week. I wouldn't worry about the mercury levels.

You are getting tons of sodium in your diet by eating all that fast food. Although sodium is usually not a problem in most people's diets, it sounds like it may be an issue in yours.

I would add some lean chicken breast and some whole grain bread (you can make toast with peanut butter as something to add to your Boost shake or just as a snack) With the chicken breast you can do all kinds of easy things with it. If it's easier, buy the pre-cooked packaged stuff. The canned chicken also has a ton of sodium in it.

monday - bicep/back
tuesday - tricep/chest
wednesday - shoulder/legs
thursday - friday - basketball

Once I get my new course schedule I'll try to lift more often.

imo don't workout 3 days in a row. i know your using different muscles and should matter, but atleast think about taking a day break b/w workouts.

 

[gramboh]

OP if you are new to lifting (guessing you are based on your height/weight) you would be better/more efficiently served doing a full body 3x5 or 5x5 routine like Starting Strength or stronglifts.com 5x5 novice program. You only have to lift 3 times a week and it will help you build mass and strength fast with all the squatting (if you fix your diet).

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: tanishalfelven

Originally posted by: brownzilla786

Originally posted by: TripleAAA
Are you exercising regularly? If so, what type of exercise?

I would avoid the nuggets at all costs...lots of bad stuff in those. The tuna is fine 2-3 times a week. I wouldn't worry about the mercury levels.

You are getting tons of sodium in your diet by eating all that fast food. Although sodium is usually not a problem in most people's diets, it sounds like it may be an issue in yours.

I would add some lean chicken breast and some whole grain bread (you can make toast with peanut butter as something to add to your Boost shake or just as a snack) With the chicken breast you can do all kinds of easy things with it. If it's easier, buy the pre-cooked packaged stuff. The canned chicken also has a ton of sodium in it.

monday - bicep/back
tuesday - tricep/chest
wednesday - shoulder/legs
thursday - friday - basketball

Once I get my new course schedule I'll try to lift more often.

imo don't workout 3 days in a row. i know your using different muscles and should matter, but atleast think about taking a day break b/w workouts.

It's not necessary in a program like this. Some people work out 6 days a week in a bodybuilding program. It is split purposely so you CAN work out in adjacent days.