Too Skinny

[smoky2004]

Hi folks,

30 years old, 5ft 10, 110lbs/8 stone/52 kilograms

Typical days eating

7.30am - 2 scrambled egg on wholemeal toast, mug tea

09.00 - 16.00 - At work usually snack throughout the day, 2/3 wholemeal ham salad sandwiches, lots of fruit.

17.30 - 3/4 chicken drumsticks/thighs/breast with roast potatoes/mash and vegetables.

20.30 - pasta or cheese on toast or pizza

I have even been to the doctor to ask why I am so skinny, I was told nothing wrong with me at all but we are all individuals and this is just the way I am, some people are very big, others very small, I've been on various diets over the years to try and increase weight from living on fast food (which I am not keen on) and drinking 5-8 pints lager everyday without any success in gaining weight.

I have seen friends who have been in the same position as me, same age and just as skinny, they took AAS cycle and they were transformed into beasts, in fact I know many people that never did any training before they took AAS, however after their cycle again they are completely transformed.

[MaNiCC]

Could we have all of your Stats, Which include

Age
Height
Weight
Bodyfat
Training Experience
Cycle Experience

Your diet requires alot of work, I would recommend watching these

http://forums.steroid.com/showthread.php?t=323516

Then read all of the stickies and try make a new revamped diet for us to critique

-MaNiCC-

[smoky2004]

Age - 30
Height - 5ft 10"
Weight - 110lbs
Bodyfat - No idea but got to be very low,
Training - Not trained for 3/4 years, used to be mainly cardio, cycling, light weights, pressups, situps
Cycle experience - never cycled before

[gbrice75]

Could we have all of your Stats, Which include

Age
Height
Weight
Bodyfat
Training Experience
Cycle Experience

Your diet requires alot of work, I would recommend watching these

http://forums.steroid.com/showthread.php?t=323516

Then read all of the stickies and try make a new revamped diet for us to critique

-MaNiCC-

Follow his advice. If you don't have your diet and nutrition in check, AAS will do NOTHING for you. I don't care what you 'think' your friends accomplished; If they grew, then they were eating - AAS is not a magic 'grow pill'. Food is still required for the body to build itself, plain and simple. AAS merely helps to speed that process.

Watch the vids that MaNiCC posted above, and use the info below to educate yourself on proper diet. You will be 100% better after going through both. Good luck!

BMR/TDEE formula:

Let’s start with BMR. This is your Basal Metabolic Rate. AKA – how many calories you burn each day by just sitting on your ass. In order to figure out your BMR, you need to know what your lean body mass is. In turn, you need to know what your body fat percentage is.

If you don’t know your body fat percentage, go to your gym and get tested (please don’t use electronic scales to get your bf % checked, they're horrible). If you don’t have a gym that offers this service; ask me and I’ll give you a pretty good estimate.

With your bf % in hand, here’s the formula:

BMR (men and women) = 370 + (21.6 X lean mass in kg)

Total weight x bf % in decimal form = total bf weight

Total weight - total bf weight = total lean body mass

For example:

I am 6'1 210 lbs at 10% body fat... so I would multiply 210 by .10 (converted from percent to decimal) = 21 lbs
210 – 21 = 189 lbs lean body weight

189 / 2.2 = 86.0 lean mass in kg

370 + (21.6 x 86) = 2227.6 BMR (this is high for the average person)

Now that we have a BMR figure, we can move on to TDEE. Total Daily Energy Expenditure. This is how many calories we actually use during the day via our BMR and activities such as work, exercise and various tasks. We can figure this number out with simple math but be honest because this figure is to be the cornerstone of your diet and healthy lifestyle. We need to determine your activity level. We’ll choose from a few levels:

§ If you are sedentary (little or no exercise): Calorie - Calculation = BMR x 1.2
§ If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week): Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
§ If you are moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week): Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
§ If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week): Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
§ If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training): Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

For example:

I train with weights 5 days for 90 minutes per week. I play hockey three times per week
for 90 minutes. I do 60 minutes of cardio training 5 times per week as well. I also practice my sport 3 times per week for 90 minutes. Either via skating or puck/shooting drills. All are high-intensity. I am between very and extra active. Let’s say BMR x 1.8. My TDEE is 4010.

In terms of food choices, here goes:

I love analogies. Let’s use a good one. Think of your perfect body as a house that you must build. You’ve figured out your BMR and TDEE, so you know the exact specs of the property you have to work with. You know how exercise affects weight loss and how much of a caloric deficit/surplus we must create to lose/gain said weight; so you know how to build - you understand architecture. You also know the pace you intend on losing/gaining weight at based on these other factors, so you know it will be harder to get your house built in weeks as opposed to months. The only thing left is the tools/building material you must use and because you don’t know how to eat, you still can’t build anything. At least, not well. Sure, you can starve yourself for a few months but you’ll just gain all the weight back in a couple weeks of binge drinking and shitty eating on a vacation – you’re house will fall down!

So, let’s talk tools baby. Let’s talk food. First off, there are only 3 types of foods/macronutrients. Protein. Carbohydrates. Fat. That’s it.

Protein – 4 calories per gram - Building material. Bricks. You can’t gain energy from protein, you can only use it to build muscle/skin/hair/nails. It’s basically just amino acids and it’s what our bodies are made of. As such, we need lots of it. 1g of protein per body lb is a good number to shoot for . Go as high as 2g per body lb if you’re lifting weights and trying to build muscle. For example, I am 207 lbs and I eat between 300-400 grams per day. Our body can only break down so much at one time however, so we want to eat 20-40 grams of protein in every meal, several times per day. Protein, being building material only and not energy/labor – the body can rarely find a reason for it to be stored as fat. If you must over-eat – make it lean meat/fish.

Carbs – 4 calories per gram - Think of these as human labor for your house. Think of sugar as dudes you pick up out front of home depot and oatmeal as a skilled carpenter. Both are carbs, both serve very different purposes. Carbs help transport essential nutrients to the muscles, create glycogen stores, and as such, increase protein synthesis but do not build muscle; they are simply an energy source. As such, they should only be eaten/used when we need energy. Any carbs we ingest before bed or before watching a movie, or something sedentary are not used as energy, and as such, are more likely to be stored in the body as glycogen (glucose/water in our muscles that we will use when doing high-intensity exercise). Once our glycogen reserves are full, they will spill over and be stored as fat. Yes, they will make you fat. Carbs can be your best friend or your worst enemy.

Fats – 9 calories per gram - Like carbs, fats are an energy source, not a building material like protein. They provide nowhere near as much energy as carbs however. Ask anyone who's on a ketogenic diet. With regard to our house, think of fats as the glue/cement. They provide much needed essential fatty acids, which are great for joint/organ health and increase our protein synthesis. Going back to our analogy, cement/glue increases the effectiveness of bricks! If we give our bodies the right fats, it will be able to burn stored body fat quickly as it won’t see any use in keeping it. Remember, like carbs – not all fat is good and ALL fat is high in calories so watch out. A tablespoon of peanut butter can be a good addition to a meal. Snacking on 5-6 tablespoons, however, means you’ve just eaten over your TDEE for the day.

Acceptable proteins for your healthy lifestyle diet:

The goal is to eat lean protein. Meats/other sources low in fat/carbs.

§ Ground beef (93% lean or better)
§ Lean steak (Flank, flat iron, or top sirloin)
§ Bison sirloin (the highest quality red meat)
§ Chicken breast
§ Turkey breast
§ Tuna (canned or sushi grade)
§ Salmon
§ Tilapia (mostly all white fish)
§ All shellfish
§ Venison
§ Whey protein (post-workout recovery purposes only)
§ Casein/Cottage cheese (before bed only)

Black-List Protein sources. Do not eat these because they are high in fat. And not the
good kind we find in nuts and olive oil – I’m talking about cholesterol raising saturated
fat!

§ Bacon
§ Sausage
§ Expensive fat-marbled Steaks (Ribeye, Strip, Filet)
§ Pork and beef ribs
§ Pork/Lamb chops
§ Restaurant ground beef (80/20 fat – most burgers)
§ Duck
§ Chicken legs/thighs
§ Chicken skin
§ Cheese

Acceptable Carbs for your healthy lifestlyle:

Complex carbs are now your creed. These are slower-digesting, natural, low on the glycemic index carbohydrates that digest slowly and provide us with sustained energy. They do not drastically affect our blood sugar and do not cause insulin spikes. Thus our body sees no reason to store them as fat, it would rather burn them for energy. Simple carbs such as enriched white breads/pastas/rice/potatoes/sugars (including most fruit) cause insulin spikes and are high GI foods. They should not be eaten when on a strict diet. Fruit can be consumed early in the day or pre/post-workout because of it’s high nutritional value but should usually be avoided due to being a form of simple sugar. Remember, healthy, low-calorie foods aren’t always the correct foods and such is the case with fruit.

§ Oats/Oatmeal
§ Grits/Cornmeal
§ Unsalted/non-buttered popcorn (great, low-cal snack)
§ Sweet potato (the best choice)
§ Butternut squash
§ Whole wheat pasta (not enriched)
§ Organic whole wheat bread (not enriched wonder bread crap)
§ Brown rice
§ Ezekiel bread
§ Swedish grain bread
§ Gluten free bread
§ Wheat couscous
§ Corn
§ Quinoa
§ Lentils
§ Beans
§ Many more, look up the GI (glycemic index) for healthy choices

Black List:

§ White pasta
§ White bread
§ Baguette
§ Bagels
§ Cookies, cake, muffins, cupcakes, all sweets basically.
§ White couscous
§ White rice
§ You get the idea…

Don’t get discouraged upon reading this list. I still make desserts all the time with whole
grain flour and splenda. I buy bagels and baguettes at the health food store that use
complex carbs as a base. If you’re dedicated, you don’t have to miss out 100%

Acceptable fats for your healthy lifestyle:

We look for fat sources that are high in omega-3, 6, and 9 fatty acids. Also, many are high in protein. We do not want saturated fats such as butter, cream, meat fat. We don’t want test tube fats like trans (the worst). We want mono/polyunsaturated fats that our body can use for something other than calories. Remember, even good fats are high in calories.

§ Natural peanut butter (no sugar added, just roasted peanuts)
§ Natural almond butter
§ Cashews
§ Almonds
§ Peanuts
§ Flax seeds
§ Flax seed oil
§ Salmon and Trout (great fatty proteins)
§ Fish oil
§ Extra virgin olive oil (should be used on all veggies/salads)
§ Chia seeds
§ Grapeseed oil
§ Macadamia nut oil

Acceptable miscellaneous foods:

These foods don’t provide much as far as macronutrients but are great for adding vitamins/minerals and taste. Notice some of these other foods are dairy. Dairy is another animal’s milk. We lack the enzymes to digest it as they do and it’s high in fat/sugar. It should only be eaten early in the day for nutrient purposes with the exception of whey and casein (cottage cheese).

§ Skim milk (Hood brand is only 45 calories and 3g of sugar per cup)
§ Greek yogurt (no sugar added)
§ Berries (all berries are much lower in sugar than other fruits and packed with fiber/nutrients – eat berries)
§ Green Vegetables. These are technically carbs but they are packed with fiber (a type of carb that isn’t used as energy or stored). In bodybuilding/nutrition – we refer to most vegetables as fibrous carbohydrates. While a serving of Broccoli may have 6g of carbs, 5 are from fiber. Meaning that it contains only 1g of storable carbohydrates. In addition, green vegetables are a calorie neutral/negative food (our body uses more calories to digest them than they contain – think celery). Veggies should be eaten with every meal. Every day. If you do this, you can become almost impervious to getting sick. Some vegetables are better than others for healthy diets.
§ Many non-green vegetables. Most are fine – just check labels, some have a good bit of sugar and should be eaten in moderation only (carrots)

[Damienm05]

Yeah, you're so skinny because of the way you eat. As an ectomorph, you need lots of calories, mainly complex carbs and protein. Using my info above, come up with a proposed diet that has big protein meals such as - "2 large sweet potatoes, 10 oz. steak." and eat that 4 times a day plus 2-3 shakes.

Right now, your meals are so standard and low in pro/carbs that you wouldn't even gain much if you did do a cycle or retain any of it. Eat right and at first, you'll pack on muscle as if you were on steroids without them. Then you can reconsider taking compounds when you've at least reached 150+ naturally.

[smoky2004]

Thanks for the very detailed post, just planning my shopping list, at a minimum 1 gram of protein per lb of bodyweight looks like I will need a protein shake as well as protein enriched foods, can see now how I have been eating nowhere near the 110grams of protein needed per day.

[gbrice75]

Thanks for the very detailed post, just planning my shopping list, at a minimum 1 gram of protein per lb of bodyweight looks like I will need a protein shake as well as protein enriched foods, can see now how I have been eating nowhere near the 110grams of protein needed per day.

Thanks to Damienm05 for the info.

AT LEAST 110g of protein/day - i'd aim for 150 if I were you.

[smoky2004]

Follow his advice.

If you don’t know your body fat percentage, go to your gym and get tested (please don’t use electronic scales to get your bf % checked, they're horrible). If you don’t have a gym that offers this service; ask me and I’ll give you a pretty good estimate.

Would really appreciate that estimate if you have the time.

Thanks

[Damienm05]

Would really appreciate that estimate if you have the time.

Thanks

I'll need to see a pic to do that. Shirtless, not flexing. No need for a pro photo shoot, just bathroom mirror will work.

[smoky2004]

I'll need to see a pic to do that. Shirtless, not flexing. No need for a pro photo shoot, just bathroom mirror will work.

Don't wish to intimidate anyone, but is this enough of a pic to estimate my bfp?

Thanks

[Damienm05]

14-15% approx.

You're skinny fat - no offense. Add quality mass with diet. Lots of protein and complex carbs.

[smoky2004]

14-15% approx.

You're skinny fat - no offense. Add quality mass with diet. Lots of protein and complex carbs.

Thanks bud, just getting my diet in check, already had 5 meals so far today including 2 beef steaks, can of tuna, eggs etc, will post my new diet up soon, thanks again!

[gbrice75]

Agree with 15% - you still appear skinny because there's no meat on them bones! - no offense.

[smoky2004]

Agree with 15% - you still appear skinny because there's no meat on them bones! - no offense.

No offence taken mate - I totally agree with you, love the great advice I'm discovering on this site,

[gbrice75]

No offence taken mate - I totally agree with you, love the great advice I'm discovering on this site,

Great attitude! Keep on like this and i'm sure you'll go as far as you want to take this thing! =)