how important is diet really??

[DaSpread0]

everyone said i wouldnt gain cuz my diet is bad cuz i dont eat enough but 2 weeks ago i was 5-6 163 now taking test prop and winstrol im 5-6 172 honestly not impressed with how body looks tho lol but i do like the weight and strength increase..was 45 pound db bench now 65 was 130 on a machine now 190

[Bio-Active]

Nutrition is 80% of it and I am speaking from experience. I only felt like aas were the icing on the cake for me. Without proper nutrition you will lose all the gains if any you make during your cycle

[Capebuffalo]

You won't keep your gains because you won't eat enough to support them off cycle.

Answer to your question: Very. It's 90% of anything.

[Lunk1]

It's as important as Aaron Hernandez getting a good attorney lol

[DaSpread0]

Im just plying i know it is lol but it should be easy cuz im moving to a unversity so tons more buffet food lol

[clarky.]

Very important from my own experience it's like night and day.

[austinite]

Nutrition is 80% of it and I am speaking from experience. I only felt like aas were the icing on the cake for me. Without proper nutrition you will lose all the gains if any you make during your cycle

Wrong.

It's 79.95669% - Let's be realistic!

[Bio-Active]

Wrong.

It's 79.95669% - Let's be realistic!

Thanks austinite lol

[MartyMcFly]

everyone said i wouldnt gain cuz my diet is bad cuz i dont eat enough but 2 weeks ago i was 5-6 163 now taking test prop and winstrol im 5-6 172 honestly not impressed with how body looks tho lol but i do like the weight and strength increase..was 45 pound db bench now 65 was 130 on a machine now 190

How long have you been working out? Don't mean to be insulting but 45lb db press doesn't sound like you were working out much if any at all when you started AAS.

I'm 163 5'8" 13-15% and I incline 100lbs dbs. I'd be worried about ligaments adding that much weight to my presses in two weeks. You increased weight by almost 50%.

[Bigshotvictoria]

Be it steroids , or simply healthy living, asking how important is diet is akin to asking how important is drinking clean water.

It's absolutely necessary.

[DexterMorgan]

If I want to make any changes to my physique I adjust my macros, not my routine. So diet is the king.
You see some guys using steroids , and they look like natural lifters because they don't eat right.

[Chx beach 79]

Diet is everything. Even if you gain a few pounds while on cycle, if your diet isn't right it will all be gone in a blink of the eye. If you don't know this you really shouldn't be using AAS. That is the first thing people usually learn not the last!!??

[< <Samson> >]

Nutrition is 80% of it and I am speaking from experience. I only felt like aas were the icing on the cake for me. Without proper nutrition you will lose all the gains if any you make during your cycle

This is just about dead on. But. . . To some diet is even more important due to genetics.

My diet is very clean, but could just be a tad bit better. But, I still hold my fatness.

Yet, I see guys who's diets are worse than mine and they are in fact leaner than me.


Just the way it is

[Back In Black]

You are 20 years old? And cycling?

[JAB1]

Your weight gain is all water weight I bet. you on an AI?

[powerliftmike]

everyone said i wouldnt gain cuz my diet is bad cuz i dont eat enough but 2 weeks ago i was 5-6 163 now taking test prop and winstrol im 5-6 172 honestly not impressed with how body looks tho lol but i do like the weight and strength increase..was 45 pound db bench now 65 was 130 on a machine now 190

If someone is malnourished and well below genetic potential taking AAS will cause gains with no adjustment to diet. Once you've been in the game for years and years (most people find an excuse and quit prior) you will realize diet is HUGE! You are NOT maximizing your performance if not eating right, I dont care what anybody says. Muscle takes massive amounts of energy to build--that energy can only come from food. And bullshit protein powders are not what Im talking about. Top guys are sponsored and cant tell you straight. Protein powder is processed bullshit. Eat real food. Dont copy fake diets in Muscular Development or any mag that secretly just wants to sell you supplements.

Younger kids and those looking to gain weight think they eat alot and constantly ask bigger guys and pros "how can I gain weight". They never like the answer: eat. They want them to say some pill or secret exercise. What they fail to understand is eating is ****ING HARD WORK!!! Taking drugs and training is the easy part. You can build a top physic training 45min-1hr per workout and 3 days per week. How many powerlifters do it. When you really think about it doint that--you are spending anywhere from 2.25-3hrs per week in the gym. A small fraction of the time in a week. But you will spend countless hours cooking, prepping, eating, etc. 7 days a week, every ****ing week. At least I do. Everyone serious does.

The body is very complex organism and many factors at play but no way getting around the fact you must eat big to get big. You wont be hungry. You will be sick of it. It will interrupt your life. Take meals to work everywhere. It sucks. Do it or do something else with your life.

[Chx beach 79]

^^^ agreed! You won't ever be hungry! I used to eat so much I hated it. I would look forward to dieting and cutting, it was so much easier to cut then bulk!

[< <Samson> >]

Very good point. Any food with the same values is way better than powder.

We all(most, I guess) still drink a shake or eat a protein. But, the less often the better.

There is a bit of cheap high protein food too. It costs about the same as powder, just takes longer to prepare.

[Bio-Active]

Very good point. Any food with the same values is way better than powder.

We all(most, I guess) still drink a shake or eat a protein. But, the less often the better.

There is a bit of cheap high protein food too. It costs about the same as powder, just takes longer to prepare.

Good point.. I stopped protein shakes years ago. To expensive and you can't replace real food

[swazte2004]

It's as important as Aaron Hernandez getting a good attorney lol

LOL I agree!

I have not cycled before. But I did not start feeling and looking decent until I got my sleep/diet in check. I used to party too much, stay up late too many times a week, eating only 3 or 4 times a day and relying mostly on my workout.

I got to up to 205 lbs at 5'10 and probably somewhere around 15 - 17% BF. I would go all the way down on the dumbbell rack, but I was FAT lol (I didnt think so then). Now, I am 181 lbs at 10% just guessing) and feel much better and definitely look better. No reason to take the risk of doing AAS to just get stronger and get bloated like a balloon. That's just my opinion though.

[RipOwens]

^^^ agreed! You won't ever be hungry! I used to eat so much I hated it. I would look forward to dieting and cutting, it was so much easier to cut then bulk!

^^^ def learning this...

[Igifuno]

You are what you eat... Good diet is so valuable if you want to sustain any muscle density gained while cycling, otherwise much of your weight gain is nothing more than water bloat and will disappear along with the end of your cycle

[toilet]

I'm sorry but all of you who are saying protein powder isnt real food... That's just bro science lol.

A gram of protein is a gram of protein lol.

Sure there are minor differences in how much your body digests but c'mon get real here...

[DexterMorgan]

^
Whey Protein is a high quality protein. Prices vary, but for all the protein you get it's actually pretty cheap comparing to some other sources. Also, saves you a lot of cooking time. I'm not saying that whey should be the primary source of protein, but it definitely has it's place in bodybuilding. Very convenient for busy people.

[powerliftmike]

I'm sorry but all of you who are saying protein powder isnt real food... That's just bro science lol.

A gram of protein is a gram of protein lol.

Sure there are minor differences in how much your body digests but c'mon get real here...

Whey protein powders (the most common) are highly refined dairy products. Your body wasnt designed for highly processed food. Why do you think they make people fart all the time? Using your elemental train of thought a donut and oatmeal are the same because a gram of carb is a gram of carb.

Not to mention you see people consuming all their protein from the same supplement sources. We must eat a variety of different protein sources due to different amino acid spectrum's among other factors.

[toilet]

The donut and oatmeal example isn't analogous to protein sources lol. A donut is high gi and lacks micronutrients. Oatmeal is high in fiber and many other important micronutrients that people need.

A lot of protein has amino acids in it, comparing chicken to whey is more analogous to comparing two healthy carb sources; oat meal and brown rice for example. Both are just as good.

Tbh I think you are all over complicating this - if you hit your macros and your micros it doesn't matter where your protein comes from. Whey is one of the best sources IMO.

Your body cannot really differentiate; to
Your body protein is protein it can't be like oh this gram came from chicken ill use that and oh this gram came from whey ill disregard it. In terms of body composition there is no difference.

Though in your defence there are some studies that suggest that ones body cannot absorb more than say 25g of whey at a time because it passes through the body too quickly. Then again there are studies that suggest the protein content of food is almost halved by cooking it. And of course there are many other studies that contend both of these propositions. Really no point worrying about it; if whey really was processed bullshit then there would be plenty of studies showing that people who hate real food in controlled studies gained far more than those on powder. Simply not the case.

[Java Man]

Funny how the dissenters stating protein powder its just as good as food sources for tissue growth and maintenance don't post pictures of themselves. Just a thought. Huge muscular guy tells me something... Unknown physique tells me something else... Combined with my own knowledge, if both sound reasonable whom do you think I would listen to?

[toilet]

Java man you are heavily subscribing to the theory we call
"Bro science". Just because a big guy does something a certain way and swears by it doesn't mean that is the reason why he got big. I got big on "whole foods bro" and never use protein powder would only fool an idiot. Hence why supplement companies manage to do so well - they get big guys to say it was their product that did it for them.

No going past logic and reasoning bro.

[Java Man]

Lol. That isn't exactly what I said but thanks for schooling me..."Toilet.".

[MuscleInk]

Go ask the pros how much protein powder they consume. Sure they endorse the shit out of it but you're out of mind if you think they're drinking that crap. It's not the protein that's the problem, it's all the other garbage they put into it.

If you're talking bro science, it's the belief protein powder is real food. Dump it in the toilet where it belongs and stop buying in to the marketing crap the nutrition stores are selling you. Compressed protein powder from a milk source isn't a replacement for real food and it never will be.

[dinomachino]

Protein synthesis is directly related to the leucine content of the ingested protein. Whey has the highest proportion of luecine of all digestable sources, hence facilitates the greatest levels of protein synthesis of all sources. This is fact, it was layne nortons PhD thesis. The only argument you can make agaisnt whey is less satiety vs whole food, which is important when cutting. Egg is second, then poultry, then other meats.

[toilet]

. It's not the protein that's the problem, it's all the other garbage they put into it.

specifics?

[OnTheSauce]

Go ask the pros how much protein powder they consume. Sure they endorse the shit out of it but you're out of mind if you think they're drinking that crap. It's not the protein that's the problem, it's all the other garbage they put into it.

If you're talking bro science, it's the belief protein powder is real food. Dump it in the toilet where it belongs and stop buying in to the marketing crap the nutrition stores are selling you. Compressed protein powder from a milk source isn't a replacement for real food and it never will be.

Don long has me drinking 3 shakes. Most everyone I know who competes uses shakes along with heavy calorie dense meals

[Bio-Active]

I'm sorry but all of you who are saying protein powder isnt real food... That's just bro science lol.

A gram of protein is a gram of protein lol.

Sure there are minor differences in how much your body digests but c'mon get real here...

Your body will digest a protein shake in about 30 minutes and it takes closer to 3 hrs for your body to digest real food. That's not bro science. I am not saying protein shakes don't have a place but they do not replace real food. If you choose to consume protein shakes they should be used to supplement your meal plan

[OnTheSauce]

If you choose to consume protein shakes they should be used to supplement your meal plan

Well yeah. I don't think anyone was arguing that

[Java Man]

Don long has me drinking 3 shakes. Most everyone I know who competes uses shakes along with heavy calorie dense meals

I do too. As supplemental protein AFTER I already ate a meal. I'm not saying protein powder is total junk, I don't think anyone here is.. Just that if I got one meal power day and my choice was protein shake or chicken breast I will eat the chicken breast. Fortunately none of is are facing such a choice I hope not!

[powerliftmike]

To be more specific Im not saying "whey protein" is shit but protein powder, whey just happens to the one of the most common and cheapest forms. The studies supporting whey protein, as it is just a dairy product, do show it to be a complete and bioavailable protein. However when pure whey protein is examined we see this touted fast absorption equals better bullshit does fly out the window as it elicits similar effects as sugar in the body in spiking insulin .

Any argument that natural food is inferior or indifferent to highly processed powders laced with bullshit flavors and chemicals is futile. This is the ultimate point.

Do eat cottage cheese, greek yogurt, milk all natural foods containing whey.

Like MuscleInk says watch what pros actually eat, dont ask them while they are standing behind an exhibit at an expo. They eat real food. And this is even considering they are given free protein powders from their sponsor. Ive seen it, done it, lived it. I am trying to educate, not sell you something. Do you think I get kickbacks from telling you to eat real food?

[panntastic]

Did somebody just drop the old "if it fits my macros" speech?
Here we go again!

[Giggle]

In addition to the BS flavors and chemicals you mentioned, don't forget all of the natural vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and fiber that you miss out on if you don't eat real food.
I agree with watching the pros and those big in this game - they do not rely on shakes! I'm friends with one pro who won't touch a shake. Her physique was build entirely on healthy food, and it shows.

[toilet]

In addition to the BS flavors and chemicals you mentioned, don't forget all of the natural vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and fiber that you miss out on if you don't eat real food.
I agree with watching the pros and those big in this game - they do not rely on shakes! I'm friends with one pro who won't touch a shake. Her physique was build entirely on healthy food, and it shows.

Lol fiber? Since when did pure protein sources contain fiber?

The point being made is that if you have fit all your micronutrients for the day then 20g of protein from whey is just as good as 20 from chicken breast. That point is irrefutable yet people are still trying to argue it without putting any evidence forward.