Newbie With Diet Questions..

Hello, I am new to Anabolic Review and I would greatly appreciate any help to any of my questions...
The basics... I'm 18 years old, 5-10, 165, body fat below 10%, i think i have a pretty high metabolism.
I eat healthy, but I have not gained any lean body mass for quite a while. Maybe it is because i am not taking in enough calories?

my typical diet consists of:
meal 1 (6:45 AM)-3 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1 cup oatmeal, 1/2 cup soy milk
meal 2 (9:55 AM)-apple
meal 3 (11:45 AM)-2 slice wheat bread, 1 slice fat free cheese, 3 slice deli turkey
meal 4 (1:00 PM)-orange
Meal 5-preworkout-(2:30 PM)-Odyssey protein bar
Workout (2:30-3:30)
Meal 6-postworkout-(3:35)-2 scoops whey, 12 oz skim milk
meal 7 (5:15)-1 cup white rice, 1.5 cups broccoli, 1 large Tyson Chicken breast
meal 8 (6:30)-orange, apple
meal 9-preworkout(8:00)-1 cup white rice, 1 large Tyson Chicken breast
workout (8:45-10:00)
meal 10-postworkout(10:00)- 1 1/2 scoops cell-tech creatine, 2 scoops whey in 12 oz skim milk

I rarely do cardio, maybe once/twice a week for 20 mins on a treadmill.
Sometimes i work out once a day and i skip meals 5 and 6.
I take a multivitamin after meal 1 (vitimin world chewable)


I have found that this diet has helped me to keep my body fat in check, but i am having an extremely difficult time in strength gains as well as lean muscle gain. I know that the fat content in my typical day is extremely low. Is it too low? Do you think that i have spread my meals out too far apart? Is my metabolism moving too fast?
How much water should i be taking in each day?

Also, i am new to the concepts of cutting and bulking. What exactly are they?

If i want to gain lean muscle mass for spring break should i bulk and then cut or just gain lean muscle slowly without the fat?

Also, are there any other supplements i should be taking? (glutamine or flaxseed oil for example?)

Thanks to anyone who spent the time to read this post.
Any help would be appreciated!

-FTZ

Check out the sticky by MikeXXL atop the page.

My initial thoughts........you are over-training like mad and you aren't eating nearly enough to attain lean mass. There is more, that's just the basics, so I'd keep that in mind while you read that sticky. :)

~SC~

Thanks for redirecting me to the sticky... I read his diet and his diet adds up to about 3000 calories, and after counting my current diet, it is about 3300 calories, don't you think i would be harder to gain more lean mass by switching over to his diet? I have some ideas for what i could do in my diet, but i'm not sure they will work:
-cut 2 fruits, and add flaxseed oil
-combine some of my meals together (maybe 10 is increasing my metabolism too much)
-wake up in the middle of the night to add an 11th meal (don't want to do that if i can avoid it, although i am waking up about 3 times a night to excrete my pwo cell-tech and protein shake)

Also, one aspect of muscle gain i have neglected would be the sleep factor. How many hours of sleep are necessary to see gains in lean muscle mass? I am currently getting 6 1/2 to 7 hrs at night and 1 hr nap after meal 7.

Also, why does noone have fruits in their diets? I have always thought that fruits with a high water percentage should be eaten freely as they stave off hunger and provide minimal calories...

I have cut down my fruit intake to 1-2 a day and i'm taking in more protein shakes... i would really like to know about the sleep issue... thx

"Excessive" fruits on a cutting diet, or clean bullking diet can be counterproductive for the most part. They are just little bundles of sugar water. Stave off hunger with healthy nuts or supps.(ie. caffeine, eca, etc).

Are the fats from nuts are like flax oil? Are they healthy fats that should be in your diet? Also, is it the same with fish and olive oil as well?

yes to all of the above

Not all created equal but all are considered "good" fats.

I think calling fruits "sugar water" is a bit harsh...juice is sugar water. most whole fruits (with a few exceptions) also have fiber and are low-GI. Also, the sugar in fruits is absorbed more slowly than other sugars...The reason I think some people avoid fruits is because fructose refills liver glycogen rather than muscle glycogen...not really a big deal, but if you eat an excessive amount of fruits, you may store the excess fructose as fat once your liver glycogen stores are full, and you most likely won't be getting as many carbs from other sources that will refill muscle glycogen.

Some good point made Kim.