10hr days with one break

[johnjohn84]

I'm a commercial electrician and so far I've been getting down about 2800 calories daily. Now I'm on a jobsite that only takes one half hour break in the middle of the day. Having snacks like peanuts or small stuff I can hide in my pocket usually isn't an issue but I can't be seen eating something substantial. I've been using ON serious mass and drinking 4 half shakes during the work day but I'm losing weigh(214 to 207). My water intake is around 7-8 qts.

Any help would be greatly appreciated cause I'm totally at a loss.

[Windex]

Need more information to be able to help you.

What are your stats (height, bodyfat%, age, etc) and what are your short term + long term goals? What is your complete meal breakdown for the whole day including at and away from work?

[johnjohn84]

Need more information to be able to help you.

What are your stats (height, bodyfat%, age, etc) and what are your short term + long term goals? What is your complete meal breakdown for the whole day including at and away from work?

I'm 6' 207lbs and right at 14%
Short term is 230lbs and long term is 300lbs

Meals are 4 eggs and 100g oatmeal
Lunch is 8-12iz chicken or pork with half cup of rice and a cup of broccoli
Dinner is 12oz of chicken or pork and half cup of rice and usually green beans or spinach
during the work days I drink 1-2 gainer shakes which are right around 1700 calories or I throw in a whey isolate just to break it up a little

Weekends are sane basic structure but no shakes and in getting in roughly 6 meals.
Thanks for any help you can give me. I was up in weight and since starting this project I'm losing it and it's driving me nuts

[Windex]

I'm 6' 207lbs and right at 14%
Short term is 230lbs and long term is 300lbs

Meals are 4 eggs and 100g oatmeal
Lunch is 8-12iz chicken or pork with half cup of rice and a cup of broccoli
Dinner is 12oz of chicken or pork and half cup of rice and usually green beans or spinach
during the work days I drink 1-2 gainer shakes which are right around 1700 calories or I throw in a whey isolate just to break it up a little

Weekends are sane basic structure but no shakes and in getting in roughly 6 meals.
Thanks for any help you can give me. I was up in weight and since starting this project I'm losing it and it's driving me nuts

There's a sticky at the top of this section that shows you how to calculate your TDEE. It takes about 10 minutes to do but will save you hours upon hours of time in the long run. Once you have your TDEE, I would start with +250ish calories and go from there and see how your growth is.

Why is your long term goal 300 lbs? Are you looking to compete in high level powerlifting and/or strongman competition? Also to give you some realistic expectations going from 207 to 230 lbs is a 26-52 week process if you want to be clean.

Right off the bat, you need to toss the gainer shakes and make your own. The premade "mass/gainer powders" are full of additives, sugar, and garbage. It's actually cheaper, healthier, and 100x better to make your own. The basic skeleton will look like:

Protein Powder (I would choose casein over whey for your long shifts)
Whole Milk / Almond Milk / Water
Oats
Frozen/Fresh Fruit
Nut Butter (Peanut, Almond, etc)


you can adjust as you need to. Some people add in coffee packets for the caffeine or flavour. In general, shakes are a bitch of a crutch and are not going to be overly beneficial in the long run. If you can get away with snacks at work I would make 2-3 different types of trail mixes composing of nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. The reason you want 2-3 different types is so you can rotate without banging your head into the wall. Keep all the trail mixes though at roughly the same macros.

In my opinion, fitness, whether it be bodybuilding, physique, personal health, or anything in between is 80% diet, 10% training, and 10% mental (sleep, mind-to-muscle connection, etc).

I can relate to your frustrations as I use to work 60-70 hours/week but you just have to get creative to reach those goals. Most people use 1 day of the week (usually an off day from work/training) to do their meal prep for the week. This will not only save you time, but reduce the risk of cheat meals, and keep you laser focused on the diet.


Once you figure out your TDEE you can repost the full diet (On work and off work days) and we can go from there.

[johnjohn84]

There's a sticky at the top of this section that shows you how to calculate your TDEE. It takes about 10 minutes to do but will save you hours upon hours of time in the long run. Once you have your TDEE, I would start with +250ish calories and go from there and see how your growth is.

Why is your long term goal 300 lbs? Are you looking to compete in high level powerlifting and/or strongman competition? Also to give you some realistic expectations going from 207 to 230 lbs is a 26-52 week process if you want to be clean.

Right off the bat, you need to toss the gainer shakes and make your own. The premade "mass/gainer powders" are full of additives, sugar, and garbage. It's actually cheaper, healthier, and 100x better to make your own. The basic skeleton will look like:

Protein Powder (I would choose casein over whey for your long shifts)
Whole Milk / Almond Milk / Water
Oats
Frozen/Fresh Fruit
Nut Butter (Peanut, Almond, etc)


you can adjust as you need to. Some people add in coffee packets for the caffeine or flavour. In general, shakes are a bitch of a crutch and are not going to be overly beneficial in the long run. If you can get away with snacks at work I would make 2-3 different types of trail mixes composing of nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. The reason you want 2-3 different types is so you can rotate without banging your head into the wall. Keep all the trail mixes though at roughly the same macros.

In my opinion, fitness, whether it be bodybuilding, physique, personal health, or anything in between is 80% diet, 10% training, and 10% mental (sleep, mind-to-muscle connection, etc).

I can relate to your frustrations as I use to work 60-70 hours/week but you just have to get creative to reach those goals. Most people use 1 day of the week (usually an off day from work/training) to do their meal prep for the week. This will not only save you time, but reduce the risk of cheat meals, and keep you laser focused on the diet.


Once you figure out your TDEE you can repost the full diet (On work and off work days) and we can go from there.

Ok bud so I did the TDEE and I did two different levels with the addition of about 500 calories

My moderate levels were 2270 daily and my extreme levels were 2470

With a 40/40/20 split as a good starting point I have

2270/3 meals daily at 756 calories at 75g carbs and protein and 17g fat

2470/3 meals at 823 calories at 82 G protein and carbs and 18g fat

I'm gonna average my meats protein as there isn't much fluctuation from pork,steak and chicken at 7g per ounce

10 ounces of meat protein Per meal
Rice or pasta or potatoes will be my main carb source

Here's what confuses me the most
Are carbs weighted dry or cooked
Does fruit count as a simple or complex carb (dries or fresh)
Where on earth do I find the actual values of potatoes and produce
I have an intention of having some geeen with every meal but their carb values are pretty low so should I not concern myself with them and just eat them for the micro values
Thanks again for all your guidance. I have contacted a few nutritionist but all the ines in this area are not at all familiar with bodybuilding nutrition
My long term goals are 250 pounds solid and then depending on my size I would like to do some local bodybuilding competitions. I'm 34 so I don't think I'd ever get sponsored but some local shows would be fun
Thanks again

[HoldMyBeer]

I'm a commercial electrician and so far I've been getting down about 2800 calories daily. Now I'm on a jobsite that only takes one half hour break in the middle of the day. Having snacks like peanuts or small stuff I can hide in my pocket usually isn't an issue but I can't be seen eating something substantial. I've been using ON serious mass and drinking 4 half shakes during the work day but I'm losing weigh(214 to 207). My water intake is around 7-8 qts.

Any help would be greatly appreciated cause I'm totally at a loss.

Get a fitbit (with a HR sensor) so you can get a good estimate of your daily calorie expenditure. Online calculators are inaccurate in my experience. You are going to just be spinning your wheels unless you have a accurate number of calories to aim for

[Windex]

Get a fitbit (with a HR sensor) so you can get a good estimate of your daily calorie expenditure. Online calculators are inaccurate in my experience. You are going to just be spinning your wheels unless you have a accurate number of calories to aim for

Not true. I've used the online TDEE calculator found in the sticky for 7 years and had only success.

[Windex]

Ok bud so I did the TDEE and I did two different levels with the addition of about 500 calories

My moderate levels were 2270 daily and my extreme levels were 2470

With a 40/40/20 split as a good starting point I have

2270/3 meals daily at 756 calories at 75g carbs and protein and 17g fat

2470/3 meals at 823 calories at 82 G protein and carbs and 18g fat

I'm gonna average my meats protein as there isn't much fluctuation from pork,steak and chicken at 7g per ounce

10 ounces of meat protein Per meal
Rice or pasta or potatoes will be my main carb source

Here's what confuses me the most
Are carbs weighted dry or cooked
Does fruit count as a simple or complex carb (dries or fresh)
Where on earth do I find the actual values of potatoes and produce
I have an intention of having some geeen with every meal but their carb values are pretty low so should I not concern myself with them and just eat them for the micro values
Thanks again for all your guidance. I have contacted a few nutritionist but all the ines in this area are not at all familiar with bodybuilding nutrition
My long term goals are 250 pounds solid and then depending on my size I would like to do some local bodybuilding competitions. I'm 34 so I don't think I'd ever get sponsored but some local shows would be fun
Thanks again

Nutritionists are a dime a dozen, don't waste your time with them. A lot of the seasoned staff here have half the "credentials" and more than double the knowledge.

Professional bodybuilders step on stage at 250-260 lbs - truthfully I think your goal is very ambitious. Break down your goal into many smaller goals. Look at the member pictures thread of the guys who compete at the amateur level to give you an idea what the different weights look like at single digit body fat.

Fruit is a simple carb because it's sugar.

You don't need to count things like Spinach, celery, cucumber, etc in your macros. Avoid carrots.

My Fitness Pal is a pretty good tool for finding out macros, same as google or I think USDA website works if you are american.

I calculate rice macros based on uncooked because that's how the macros are shown on the box.

Rice and potatoes are going to be superior than Pasta. They have superior digestibility and I find sait my hunger a lot more, ie 50g of carbs of rice will make me feel a lot more full than 50g of carbs of pasta. To each their own.

Don't forget about your fats, you want healthy fats beyond the fat in meat.