Thoughts on current diet and routine?

[OhHannah]

Given that I am just now returning to lifting after a year off due to back injury, work schedule changes and general laziness, I figure I have a decent chance at reconditioning and regaining some strength while dropping a little bf% and possibly even getting some muscle back. Yeah, I know you really, really can't cut and bulk at the same time, but I'm going to exploit the hell out of "newbie gains" until they run out and I have to dial it in a little tighter to get anything accomplished.

Current workout routine is one light resistance training day a week done at home (abs and core work plus any body parts that I might not have hit hard enough), and one upper body day and one legs day done with a trainer/spotter at the gym. Typical resistance workouts consist of 5 minutes vigorous aerobic warmup, 2-3 minutes stretching and 45-60 minutes lifting, focusing largely on the heavy compound movements (bench, squats, deads).

Lately I've been fitting in 20 to 45 minutes of cardio immediately after lifting, but getting my PWO shake in before starting the cardio. On days I'm not lifting (and not destroyed by the aftermath of a seriously blitzing leg workout) I may slip in another 15-20 minute HIIT cardio session once or twice a week on my rowing machine at home. I have some concerns about catabolism from hitting cardio right after the weights, but I can only make so many trips to the gym a week due to my work schedule and I have very limited space for cardio equipment at home.

Sample day's eatins:

Breakfast: 1/4 cup raw oats, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup nonfat yogurt, 1/2 scoop whey protein. Might toss in a few berries.
OR 6 oz water pack tuna, 1/2 cup brown rice, green tea
Breakfast in a hurry: 2 scoops whey, 1 cup skim milk, 1 raw egg.

Pre-workout: BCAA's, scoop of whey in water

PWO shake: Scoop of whey, 1 cup skim milk, and either BCAA's or a tablespoon of dextrose

PWO meal: Steamed chicken breast, 1/2 a sweet potato, possibly with some spinach and a slice of tomato. Or more water pack tuna and brown rice.

Next meal (whenever I'm hungry again): 1/2 cup brown rice, 1/2 cup beans, 3-4 oz meat (generally lean, grass fed or wild game meat) Or a high fiber whole grain wrap with beans, meat and veggies. Clear some space around me in the squat rack, boys. If it's not a workout day this is where I drop my carbs, so the dinner meal below would be moved up a slot and repeated if necessary.

Dinner: 6-8 oz meat (poultry, fish, lean red meat, grass fed beef or wild game), salad greens and/or other raw or lightly cooked non starchy vegetables. Drizzle of olive oil on the veggies.

Before bed on heavy workout days or if I'm hungry: 1 scoop Muscle Milk in 1 cup skim milk.

Additional meal/snack if I'm hungry: Half an apple to dip in Splenda sweetened nonfat yogurt, maybe with a few walnut halves. Or a piece of whole grain bread with nonfat spread. Or a bran cracker with a little natural peanut butter. Or a protein bar. If I'm hungry I eat, I just pick clean foods and pay attention to macronutrient timing - carbs early in the day but little fat, fat later in the day but fewer carbs.

Occasionally I'll say fuck it and have a piece of pizza, since there's an awesome local place that does a whole wheat thin crust loaded with tomato slices, fresh basil, veggies and no cheese except for a few dots of fresh mozzarella. I take a bite or two of the boyfriend's desserts now and then, but generally I shy pretty far away from sugar and highly processed crap. My idea of a good dessert is a half scoop of chocolate mint Muscle Milk in half a cup of nonfat yogurt. Yum. My main dietary weakness is eating too much meat at one sitting, since half a steak never feels like quite enough.

I drink 1 to 2 gallons of water a day and take a fuckton of vitamins, dessicated liver tablets, milk thistle, calcium/magnesium, potassium, glucosamine/MSM and Super Cissus. I hit L-glutamine and extra BCAA's if my calories for the day look a little low. Calorie intake ranges from 1600 to 2400 depending on what I'm doing; current weight is around 145 lbs. I add more meals of clean foods or an extra protein shake whenever I feel hungry, and on some really heavy lifting days or recovery days after a heavy workout I do feel that hungry. Usually I come in right around 1900 calories, 50-60% of that from protein.

Currently natural. Will most likely be moving to very low dose nandrolone (25mg on a 14 to 21 day interval) in a few months, but figure on riding on the "newbie gain" honeymoon period first, for as long as that lasts. Mostly I'm interested in the joint protective effects, since I've been annoyingly injury prone.

[THE BOUNCER]

You have everything down pretty well so there is not much too critique.

I only noticed a few things that I dont like.

1. I don't like your post workout shake. Cut the milk. I like vitargo, whey, and water.

2. I dont like that your having a PWO shake and then doing cardio. The point of a PWO shake is to replace muscle glycogen. By doing cardio after the shake, you are hindering that process and not getting any fat burning benefit during the cardio. I would do cardio and then have the shake.

3. Last thing, 2 gallons of water a day for a girl is approaching dangerous. The foods you are eating aren't very rich in sodium either. Hell, I am about 245lbs right now and I am only drinking a little over a gal.

[OhHannah]

I used to do whey in water, then I started upping PWO carbs slightly and went to using milk. What's the downside of using milk PWO?

I could hold off on the PWO shake until after cardio, but the exercise physiologists who study such things are reporting good results in muscle glycogen replenishment and staving off catabolism from protein-carb mixtures sipped during prolonged strenuous activity. I also eat or have another shake immediately after the cardio.

I'm thinking that an hour of lifting plus another 20 to 40 minutes of cardio is an open invitation to catabolism and I'm trying to consider ways to prevent this while still accomplishing my goals in the limited time I have every week to get to the gym. BCAA's and glutamine maybe?

I have a 64 oz Monster Mug that stays filled with ice water and I usually go for at least three or four refills a day. I go through three or four bottles of water while at the gym. My job environment can involve doing physical labor at 80F or above, so I drink quite a lot (and sweat like a hog) at work. I'll often have a few additional cups of hot and/or iced tea during the day, and sometimes a small amount of coffee or diet soda. I think that's somewhere over the gallon mark, and on sweaty days it can be substantially more.

I didn't bother listing the seasonings I use on my food, since they don't add anything to the calorie or macronutrient count. I do season with things like fresh and dried herbs, garlic salt and sea salt, so I'd say my sodium intake is more than sufficient.

[THE BOUNCER]

Cow milk is just not something that comes to mind when thinking of a super fast absorbing source. Dextrose, Malto, Waxy Maize, are much better options

The posative I think for having the shake after your cardio is that you will be burning fat during that session of cardio because your blood sugar would have been depleted by the weight training. You could also cut your workout to 40-45 minutes instead of an hour.

[FitnessBrat]

If I wanted to lean up, I'd drop the milk in all of the shakes. Do you do that just for taste?

[OhHannah]

Taste, carbs and calories. I sometimes have trouble getting enough in, and I know I'm not going to keep muscle OR lose fat effectively if I let my calories drop too low.

[THE BOUNCER]

to me milk is one of those things that just never fits in. there is always a better source. never liked milk.

[rado]

Originally Posted by THE BOUNCER

to me milk is one of those things that just never fits in. there is always a better source. never liked milk.

How do you get your Calcium?

[OhHannah]

It fits in when I need something that matches the profile of "add some carbs and calories to my protein shake". Got any alternate suggestions? Fruit juice is a definite no for me, I don't respond well to it at all. I do eat some fruit but I do better when I don't spike fructose.

[THE BOUNCER]

Originally Posted by OhHannah

It fits in when I need something that matches the profile of "add some carbs and calories to my protein shake". Got any alternate suggestions? Fruit juice is a definite no for me, I don't respond well to it at all. I do eat some fruit but I do better when I don't spike fructose.

i would just add more oats, PB, ect.. if i am looking for more calories.

[THE BOUNCER]

Originally Posted by rado

How do you get your Calcium?

supplements. hell the optimum why protein has a ton of calcium. not a big dairy guy. messes up my stomach.

[Scrumhalf]

Originally Posted by rado

How do you get your Calcium?

You can get calcium from various non-dairy sources like beans, green vegetables and nuts like almonds. And you can supplement as well.

[rado]

Originally Posted by Scrumhalf

You can get calcium from various non-dairy sources like beans, green vegetables and nuts like almonds. And you can supplement as well.

I know how you can get Calcium...I just know Bouncer does not like milk...

[OhHannah]

Originally Posted by THE BOUNCER

i would just add more oats, PB, ect.. if i am looking for more calories.

Yeah, but that means eating, and there's days I have a really hard time eating or am working too many hours to pause for a real meal. Protein shakes are how I get by without catabolism. I do try to eat real food as often as possible, but there's times I'm definitely depending on being able to drink one or more of my meals.

[THE BOUNCER]

Originally Posted by OhHannah

Yeah, but that means eating, and there's days I have a really hard time eating or am working too many hours to pause for a real meal. Protein shakes are how I get by without catabolism. I do try to eat real food as often as possible, but there's times I'm definitely depending on being able to drink one or more of my meals.

i was talking about adding the PB or oats to the shake. but i do see what your saying in terms of a quick protein drink.

[OhHannah]

Originally Posted by THE BOUNCER

i was talking about adding the PB or oats to the shake. but i do see what your saying in terms of a quick protein drink.

Sometimes I do throw in cottage cheese, yogurt, PB or a raw egg, but the last time I tried to put oats in my shake it was annoyingly hard to drink. I've actually tried the tuna shake, and I liked that better than the oats. A tuna shake with V-8, raw garlic, hot sauce and celery really isn't bad at all.

[THE BOUNCER]

Originally Posted by OhHannah

Sometimes I do throw in cottage cheese, yogurt, PB or a raw egg, but the last time I tried to put oats in my shake it was annoyingly hard to drink. I've actually tried the tuna shake, and I liked that better than the oats. A tuna shake with V-8, raw garlic, hot sauce and celery really isn't bad at all.

i have protein powder, water, oats, PB, and ice every night. have to do it in a blander though. not hard at all to drink.

[OhHannah]

I think your blender must be a lot better than mine. :/

[THE BOUNCER]

Originally Posted by OhHannah

I think your blender must be a lot better than mine. :/

lol, as a matter of fact, i was just asking someone to get me a new blender for christmas because mine is a piece of shit!

hannah, i think you need to grow a set of balls and drink the damn oats!

[OhHannah]

So you're saying I need to do about 1,000 mg of test a week for my first cycle?

Chunky protein shakes kind of nullify the whole point of drinking a shake. If I have time to eat something chunky, I'll just mix the oats with cottage cheese.

[THE BOUNCER]

Originally Posted by OhHannah

I'll just mix the oats with cottage cheese.

you are a hardcore kinda girl.