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P

PeteDownie

Guest
Morning all,
Looking for a bit of advice mainly on how much I should eat.

Brief background, I have lost a 18kg of weight over 12 months and have kept it off for 6 months by training for triathlons, so lots and lots of cardio, now I am wanting to get a bit of size to me.

I am 173cm and 70.3kg (this morning)

got a DEXA scan the other day which shows the following (not exactly sure what I'm reading)
Weight - 70.7kg
Muscle Mas - 33.0kg
Body Fat Mass - 12.4kg
Total Body Water - 42.6kg
Fat Free Mass - 58.3
Body Mass Index - 23.6
Percent Body Far - 17.6

So I start my new diet and exercise plan today (still writing the exercise, probably 5x5 + some accessories + cardio) but I'm kinda making it all up as I go.

I am a nurse who works shift work (mostly afternoons, starting at 2pm), so times will vary but will pretty much be along these times.

0700 - 2 English Muffins with Peanut Butter + Nubreed Devour
0830 - Muesli and Yoghurt
1000 - Pre workout - 1 teaspoon Creatine, 1 scoop Crank preworkout (Preworkout will depend on mood, I'm not a huge fan of stimulants they really hit me hard and I have trouble sleeping at night when taking them)
1100 - Post workout - 1 teaspoon Creatine, 1 scoop Superior Whey, 1 scoop Extreme Carbs
1200 - Banana (Might even combine this with the post workout, and make a smoothy or something)
1330 - 100g Brown rice, 100g Mixed veg (frozen), 95g Tinned Tuna (Chili) + Nubreed Devour
1530 - 60g Fruit and nut mix
1800 - Dinner with the family, this will vary from indian, roast and veg or spaghetti bolognese or what ever the missed and her son feels like. + Nubreed Devour
2000 - Dessert :D

I figure before I get too stressed about tracking macros etc I need to get past the beginner weights first.

This diet is following advice from the various PT's I have spoken to, who all say I haven't been eating enough food, which I agree with because I was actively cutting weight.

My biggest concern is I don't want to get fat again, and to be honest I'm half way through day 1 and I'm struggling to eat this much food,

SOO!! Question is, am I over doing it? Do I need more / Less food?

Cheers
Pete
 
Just weigh yourself every week at the same time.
Don't aim for more than 500gms per week or most will be fat gain. Adjust caloric intake as needed.
 
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Also, is that the POT;s diet?
How did they know what you like? Are you comfortable eating the same food every day? I'm not.
Vary it up.
 
Your numbers look in a good range. Hovering around 12% is a good place to be to stay lean and increase strength/muscle.

Food looks decent. Personally I would get rid of the muffins in the morning and just make some eggs, but that's not a biggie.

How often do you train? Weights and cardio? Seeing you're on your feet with your job, you should be able to burn off excess calories easily.

I'd say if you're feeling full, stop force feeding yourself. As you start to train heavier and harder, your appetite will increase. I'd just be weighing myself once a week and look to gain no more than 500g a month. With that figure a decent amount will be fat, but it's manageable.
 
Didn't see age listed.

Are you lactose intolerant?

Instead of cramming your face with unappealing foods if you don't have the appetite of a Man (lets face, tuna and brown rice is fucking awful anyway) then I would suggest liquid calories.

Keep veges and actual meat for meals in a quantity you can manage and drink the rest of your cals (oat/banana/berry/whey and milk smoothies are ace and it takes 5 seconds to shove 500cals in your piehole)

If you were fat before, you will probably get fat again if you overdo it.
 
Just weigh yourself every week at the same time.
Don't aim for more than 500gms per week or most will be fat gain. Adjust caloric intake as needed.

Wait, SteveP says 500g a month?? thats a big difference to a week haha.


Your numbers look in a good range. Hovering around 12% is a good place to be to stay lean and increase strength/muscle.

Food looks decent. Personally I would get rid of the muffins in the morning and just make some eggs, but that's not a biggie.

How often do you train? Weights and cardio? Seeing you're on your feet with your job, you should be able to burn off excess calories easily.

I'd say if you're feeling full, stop force feeding yourself. As you start to train heavier and harder, your appetite will increase. I'd just be weighing myself once a week and look to gain no more than 500g a month. With that figure a decent amount will be fat, but it's manageable.


I eat the muffins because I enjoy them haha, but can easily swap out for eggs, who doesn't love eggs!

For the past year I have been happily training cardio 5 days a week, thats a mix between running, swimming and cycling, I train with a local Triathlete coach and mix it up with speed intervals and endurance etc.

Ran the Gold Coast Half Marathon the other week and was quite happy with my time for being a runner of less then a year (1:47:26, pace 5.02min/k)

But my diet has always been up the shit, hence I'm not lean as f*%k as I should be doing so much cardio.


Didn't see age listed.

Are you lactose intolerant?

Instead of cramming your face with unappealing foods if you don't have the appetite of a Man (lets face, tuna and brown rice is fucking awful anyway) then I would suggest liquid calories.

Keep veges and actual meat for meals in a quantity you can manage and drink the rest of your cals (oat/banana/berry/whey and milk smoothies are ace and it takes 5 seconds to shove 500cals in your piehole)

If you were fat before, you will probably get fat again if you overdo it.



Woops, I'm 27 years old with no intolerances.

This is a great idea to drink the needed cals, but really wanting to avoid getting fat again, so will weight weekly as mentioned by both SteveP and Shrek.


Thanks for the quick replies guys.
 
Weigh daily. Every day. Same conditions. Reason being that your weight fluctuates daily. What if you are on the higer side one week and the lower side the next?
My weight fluctuates up to 2kg some days lol. So i take a daily wieght and evaluate the average each week

Tim.
 
Wait, SteveP says 500g a month?? thats a big difference to a week haha.

If you're gaining 500g a week, 480g will be fat (best case scenario). Not many pros on thousands of dollars of gear can pack on 500g of muscle a week, so how are you going to do that?

Shrek attacking the person instead of the debate just shows he doesn't know what he's talking about. It doesn't matter what I weigh, biology is biology.

I think at this early stage of your lifting phase, lifestyle, just focus on good solid training sessions. The only time you need to worry about food is if you're eating way below maintenance, way above maintenance or really shitty macros. You may actually need to cut down some of your cardio as well if you're not gaining strength.
 
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SteveP is happy to be 69kg. Are you?

I'm happy to be as strong as possible and as lean as possible. Whatever the scales say is just consequence. People get too caught up with numbers. You don't walk around with your weight stamped to your head. The only thing people care about is if you look like you lift.
 
Sure. Whatever you say.
Pete will have to trial and error his diet until he's happy with his gains.
 
Sorry if I was a bit forward. I just think it's terrible advice to tell someone they should be gaining 4kg a month via excess calories. Especially when his main concern is not getting fat again.
 
I said no more than 500gm.
It's easy to lower cals slightly if he thinks he's gaining too much fat.
I think trial and error will be his best bet.
 
Morning all,
Looking for a bit of advice mainly on how much I should eat.

Brief background, I have lost a 18kg of weight over 12 months and have kept it off for 6 months by training for triathlons, so lots and lots of cardio, now I am wanting to get a bit of size to me.

I am 173cm and 70.3kg (this morning)

got a DEXA scan the other day which shows the following (not exactly sure what I'm reading)
Weight - 70.7kg
Muscle Mas - 33.0kg
Body Fat Mass - 12.4kg
Total Body Water - 42.6kg
Fat Free Mass - 58.3
Body Mass Index - 23.6
Percent Body Far - 17.6

So I start my new diet and exercise plan today (still writing the exercise, probably 5x5 + some accessories + cardio) but I'm kinda making it all up as I go.

I am a nurse who works shift work (mostly afternoons, starting at 2pm), so times will vary but will pretty much be along these times.

0700 - 2 English Muffins with Peanut Butter + Nubreed Devour
0830 - Muesli and Yoghurt
1000 - Pre workout - 1 teaspoon Creatine, 1 scoop Crank preworkout (Preworkout will depend on mood, I'm not a huge fan of stimulants they really hit me hard and I have trouble sleeping at night when taking them)
1100 - Post workout - 1 teaspoon Creatine, 1 scoop Superior Whey, 1 scoop Extreme Carbs
1200 - Banana (Might even combine this with the post workout, and make a smoothy or something)
1330 - 100g Brown rice, 100g Mixed veg (frozen), 95g Tinned Tuna (Chili) + Nubreed Devour
1530 - 60g Fruit and nut mix
1800 - Dinner with the family, this will vary from indian, roast and veg or spaghetti bolognese or what ever the missed and her son feels like. + Nubreed Devour
2000 - Dessert :D

I figure before I get too stressed about tracking macros etc I need to get past the beginner weights first.

This diet is following advice from the various PT's I have spoken to, who all say I haven't been eating enough food, which I agree with because I was actively cutting weight.

My biggest concern is I don't want to get fat again, and to be honest I'm half way through day 1 and I'm struggling to eat this much food,

SOO!! Question is, am I over doing it? Do I need more / Less food?

Cheers
Pete

Man if I had to eat that diet I would hang myself.

I don't think I eat the same thing twice in a month let alone every day.

I would say eat food you like, provided it's not Maccas every day. Some people love micro managing things, I am not sure how anyone can possibly ascertain they have gained 500 grams in a week or a month.

My weight can vary a few kg's throughout the day, go for a dump and I can easily drop a kilo, have a good dinner could be a kilo the other way.

I generally I tend to weigh myself every morning, first thing when I get up. and you can see a trend either up or down, over a few weeks, don't stress over day to day, as again my weight will easily vary 2-3kg's between days.
 
to be honest I'm half way through day 1 and I'm struggling to eat this much food,

Firstly, can you please clarify - do you mean eating this MUCH or this LITTLE food?

Do you have any idea what the macro breakdown is of all this?
 
Just weigh yourself every week at the same time.
Don't aim for more than 500gms per week or most will be fat gain. Adjust caloric intake as needed.

I love this. Who the hell except noobs on gear puts on 500g of muscle a week??
 
Firstly, can you please clarify - do you mean eating this MUCH or this LITTLE food?

I also read that and was confused, I think he means that MUCH (that's what he said) but it seems strange as the whole days food seems like a small morning tea for an average bloke:confused:

Not sure what this Nubreed Devour is either.

Will go Google it now....
 
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I also read that and was confused, I think he means that MUCH (that's what he said) but it seems strange as the whole days food seems like a small morning tea for an average bloke:confused:

Yeah, I'm thinking it's on the low side.

Would be interested to see the real macro breakdown after recording for a week. Protein looks low but I don't know how Pete is training etc.

Not eating enough is as bad as eating too much for body composition imo.
 
Work out the rough macros/calories you are wanting to eat - work out the rough kind of foods you want to eat included in the macros/calories - try and stick with meat, veggies, rice, potato, fish, fruit etc - "cleanish" foods - add some "cheat" style foods in so you don't go mad and go from there.

If you start with example 3000 calories and your not gaining, increase it slowly and see how you go - if you gain weight to fast cut it down.

When you 1st start it is always be hit and miss but if I have learnt anything - start at a set point and work your way up slowly.

Its always hard to say if a diet is good or bad as everyones body reacts differently - what is good for one person, wont work for another - keep it simple though and play around with things.
 
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