Need help - I cannot stick to a diet

[Island Roots]

I've been weightlifting on and off for the past couple years; I'm just now starting to pick it back up.

A quick history; I'm definitely ectomorph, about 5'11" and at the height of my lifting I was about 155lbs. Now I'm back down to around 145lbs. I have such a hard time putting on weight.


On to the problem. I'm going back to college in a little under a month - one of the problems is I'm eating cafeteria food a majority of the time. It's not because I choose to - as a college student I cannot afford to buy food for every meal.

The cafeteria food isn't great at all; they have your basics. Pizza, pasta, salad bar, soups, sandwich bar, and deli sandwiches.

I have never been able to count calories or follow a specific meal plan - I'm an extremely picky eater.

I'm looking to gain weight and feed my body as I'll be working out 4 or 5 days a week; upper, lower, and cardio. No hardcore lifting, just getting myself in shape and staying there. As far as supplements all I'm on is whey protein after workouts and multivitamins (two a day, in the morning & evening).


What are some very basic pointers as far as foods and what I should be eating (from my limited selection, ala cafeteria food)? I've read the topics at the top of the forum and they either cater to people who are cutting or can afford to buy the proper food for all their meals.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Again, I'm not trying to break any records but rather just get my body in shape and put on some mass/weight.

 

[Valias]

My mates lives at a college and i bet if you just ate alot you'd get easily enough protein from the sandwhich meats etc, ham and tuna is win here. I'd say the problem is that college food is only 3 times a day right? so have your 3 normal meals at college times and just use whey protein post workout, it really shouldnt be a problem, 3 college meals and 2 whey meals should be sweet? have you got like a mini fridge or anything, 12x eggs cost like 2.40 (Aus) here so they're cheap as sources of proteins and fat.

long story short don't really worry too much, but yeah knowing caffeteria food just eat alot of salad, occasional of any type of slow digesting carb and stock up on the tuna / ham kinda stuff they have - by far the healthiest more than likely.

 

[tucker01]

Use the stickies as a guideline and adjust to your needs.

If you are an ectomorph, then eating can become a chore. Use the pasta bars, salad bars, and any meat/chicken products you can. When you get to school, check the types of food available, and use www.fitday.com. That way you can get an idea on the number of cals you are consuming and macro breakdown. You will also have something to reference to make adjustments based on your progress.

You may also want to look into some sort of EFA supplement(ie Fishoil caps)

 

[GoalGetter]

To add to IainDaniel's suggestion - definitely stick with the pasta and salad bars. As far as adding protein on salads - don't forget hard boiled eggs, if available, are a great source. Beans and nuts offer protein and fat, and use Olive Oil as your dressing to add some more calories to your meals without really feeling like you're stuffing your face. As far as deli sandwiches, if they offer whole grain breads, go for those, and load up the sandwiches with good protein sources.

I know you said you're not consistent with counting calories or tracking whta you eat, but if you at least get an idea of what you're eating, or what caloric values certain foods have, you'll be able to make the best possible choices. With that in mind, spend some time looking up your foods, as IainDaniel suggests, on fitday.com, calorieking.com, nutritiondata.com, dietfacts.com, and other such online databases. Armed with that information, you should be able to get in there and make that school cafeteria food work for you.

As a hardgainer AND working out 4-5 days a week, you don't have to worry as much about eating 100% clean, though I'd suggest you try to keep MOST of your food choices on the clean side for HEALTH reasons. Whole foods, grains, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, and unsaturated fats.

 

[Martinogdenbsx]

3 college meals and 2 whey meals should be sweet?

Nope

White bread,mayo's loads of crap in cafeteria food

Pick out the best parts,Tuna,hardboiled eggs,

Or better still buy it and take it in a plastic box it's wat i do and i can assure you my eating pattern is ALOT harder than yours

I am up at 1am and eating sweet potato and chicken at like 3

 

[Island Roots]

My next question, before I start researching calories of certain foods and such...roughly how many calories should I be taking in per day? 5'11" and about 145lbs, looking to gain weight.

I have an extremely low BMR. If I sit around all day and do nothing, I can go on just a couple snacks sometimes and I'd be fine. Which makes it so hard for me to shove food in my face because it gets to the point of where thinking about food makes me want to upchuck - very frustrating.

 

[GoalGetter]

My next question, before I start researching calories of certain foods and such...roughly how many calories should I be taking in per day? 5'11" and about 145lbs, looking to gain weight.

I have an extremely low BMR. If I sit around all day and do nothing, I can go on just a couple snacks sometimes and I'd be fine. Which makes it so hard for me to shove food in my face because it gets to the point of where thinking about food makes me want to upchuck - very frustrating.

Rough calculations, not knowing exactly how intense your workouts are or how long they last, just using your weight, height, age, and my guess for what your activity level is I'd say start at 3000 cals (3118 to be exact, by my little calculator). But a lot of other factors go into that. That's just a number to start with since you're asking for a number. If your metabolism is faster then you may require more. If your metabolism is slower, or your activity level is lower than what I calculated it to be, then you may require less. Best thing to do is start out at a certain calorie level, stick to it, without changing anything else, for two weeks. measure yourself at the beginning and end of that two week period: weight, BF% if possible, and a few key body areas like waist, chest, thigh, bicep. See where you stand, adjust accordingly, up or down.

 

[Jodi]

Excellent suggestions from the new mods

As far as how many calories?!? Only you can determine that. Check out the stickies at the top of the forum. There are a few ways described in there on how to calculate your maintenance. Once you find your maintenance you can add 200 or so cals to that and slowly increase over time until you are gaining over 1-2lbs per week.