Eating on off days

[ilmartelo]

I am currently working out to gain some size. As per what everyone has told me, I am eating alot of calories compared to what I normally eat. I went from eating about 1800 calories a day to about 2500. (Im 5'6, 145lbs.) People are telling me to eat even more than that. Ive seen some great results so far, and am keeping to it.

One concern I have is that I'm going to get fat by eating so much. I put on a lot of weight in college and I just got it off recently. I will never go back to what I was. Its not so much on gym days as rest days. After I work out I have no problem eating well. But the days I dont work out and I eat the same amount, I feel like a slob.

Should I reduce my calories on off days or will that negatively affect my recovery?

 

[Yanick]

If your having good results why change it, IMO you could up the cals a bit to maybe 2800-3000 but you run the risk of gaining some BF ? i say gain a little bf if it means you gain a few extra lbs of muscle

You could always try carb cycling, it seems to have good reviews.

 

[atherjen]

if its not broke. dont fix it

I used to cut slightly back on carbs on rest days.. no post workout meal.
however you could think of it this way... during your rest day your muscle are repairing and build... hence the growth. adequate energy (calories) is need for this to take place.

 

[JerseyDevil]

Listen to your body, not what others say. If you are getting good results don't change a thing. Like Jen said, on none workout days maybe cut back on the carbs a bit.

 

[aztecwolf]

Originally posted by JerseyDevil
Listen to your body, not what others say. If you are getting good results don't change a thing. Like Jen said, on none workout days maybe cut back on the carbs a bit.

that is what i go for, i eat huge amounts of food, especially carbs on w/o days, and on non workout days i up my fat/pro a tad and drop my carbs a good 30%

 

[monkeyd]

aztecwolf, as we are fairly similar in size, I'm wondering how much fat / carbs / protein you usually include in your p+c or p+f meals, or however you do it ?

 

[LAM]

Originally posted by ilmartelo
Should I reduce my calories on off days or will that negatively affect my recovery?

remember that the body grows when it is not in the gym, nutrition on Off days is very important...

 

[aztecwolf]

Originally posted by monkeyd
aztecwolf, as we are fairly similar in size, I'm wondering how much fat / carbs / protein you usually include in your p+c or p+f meals, or however you do it ?

since i'm trying to gain weight but at a moderate pace, i.e. as minimal fat as i can get, i usually eat somwhere around 3500 cals on w/o days at about a 50/35/15 split of carbs/pro/fat and on non w/o i go with about 2750 cals at roughly 35/40/25 c/p/f
I like to eat the majority of my fat in meal #1, and my last two meals, since i workout early afternoon.
I try to get minimal carbs in my last two meals and cram down the carbs within about 3-4 hours pwo.
On off days i try to make each of the meals even in terms of pro/fat/carbs in the first 4 meals, and pro/fat like on my w/o days in my last two meals

 

[monkeyd]

right seems good.

Have you consider completely splitting C and F apart ? It might help you minimise fat gain on a hypercalorific diet. I always shoot for <10g of fat / carbs in a carb / fat + P meal. Also I always have a tablespoon of apple cidar vinegar with or before every P+C meal. I hear ALA and lemon juice are also a good idea.

Nowadays I have pretty much stopped trying to hit 40/40/20, or think in those terms. Although I make sure I get at least 40% protein, I let my activities dictate whether I eat fat or carbs.

Always Carbs with meal 1 to set me up (can't start the day without porridge anymore), then carbs till meal 3 then fats for the rest of the day, if I really am doing nothing.

If I do cardio I keep it just P+F until afterwards, when I replenish the carbs... I figure this keeps me fat burning through the cardio, and I generally wait an hour to eat afterwards to maximise that.

If it's a proper workout, then it's carbs before, PWO shake, and then carbs for at least another 2 meals.. which if I work out in the evening often means I'm having a large bowl of porridge, and protein in skimmed milk at 12pm or even later (like now...)

oh yeah, and I'm going for 3300-3700cals everyday depending basically on how much I can cram down (weights 3x a week and cardio on off days). Often I rely on fats to make up the calories and it can end up being a 40/30/30 split or so.

 

[aztecwolf]

yeah i go somewhat by berardi's idea of not trying to combine too much fat/carbs in one meal, expect in meal 1 where i do a lot of everything pro/car/fat to set up my metab for the day.

 

[ilmartelo]

BTW, is there any protein shake that doesnt taste like f*cking spackle. I use Nitro-Tech and I have trouble trying not to gag while Im drinking this stuff. Ive tried adding fruit, chocolate syrup, everything, but it still is disgusting.

 

[monkeyd]

prolab lean mass matrix is supposed to be good (haven't tried).

I generally only use myoplex deluxe.

Both those contain complex carb sources and not malto...best imo

edit: sorry I was talking MRP's there, if you meant protein powder then listen to LAM below

 

[LAM]

Originally posted by ilmartelo
BTW, is there any protein shake that doesnt taste like f*cking spackle. I use Nitro-Tech and I have trouble trying not to gag while Im drinking this stuff. Ive tried adding fruit, chocolate syrup, everything, but it still is disgusting.

DON'T buy Muscle-Tech products ! they are sooooo overpriced, and are not of any higher quality than many less expensive supplements.

personally I think all of these taste fine in water:

ProLab
Syntrax
Optimum
Dymatize
Pro-Rated
Labrada

 

[kvyd]

eas choc whey tastes like garbage in water....in skim milk it rules