"REAL" foods vs. Caned foods

[ColdSore]

OK guys im looking for everyones opinion on this. Im going tommarow to buy my groceries for my first week on AS. Now my question is, How do real foods, a.k.a fresh produce and others compare to canned foods. My biggest concern was my carb choices, i want to get alot of my carbs from veggies ad i know they have canned sweet potatoes, and canned corn, beans, and so on. But how do they actually compare to buy the real stuff and preparing it your self.

Also if im on and AS diet is white rice or brown rice going to be a better choice. And will wholewheat pasta be better than egg?

And one more, how much fruit should i include because of the simple sugars?

Let me know something...Thanks

[saboudian]

Uh are you sure you're ready for this cycle....?

Anyways to answer your question.

Fresh Food > Canned Food

Whole Food> Processed Food

So this means, instead of gettin the canned yams, just buy fresh ones, i think you can get potatos for like $1.29 per lb so it aint that much more expensive anyways.

This also means to take the brown rice over white rice, they're both cheap as hell but brown rice is a whole food while white rice is processed.

And just wondering, you say that you're buying food for your first week on AS, why would this be different from a week not on AS? (except for the fact that you will be eating more of everything)

[ColdSore]

Saboudian, do you think im in 1st grade or what? I think you miss understood my post. Yes i know fresh food is better than canned food, i was asking, How much better? I was using the sweet potatoes for an example because they would be easy to open up and pop in the microwave at work. If the micronutrient factor wasnt that different then i would definatly go with the canned for an easy option. And yes i know white rice is processed, but for a carb loaded meal is it really thatbad to eat the white rice over brown rice?

I was simply trying to get everyones opinon on how much better natural/unprocessed food sources are than the canned foods.

I dont mean to flame back on you its just your last paragraph kinda made me feel you jumped on me with out reading the post correctly.

And the reason this grocery cart will be different is because i am increasing my calories by 1,500 to reach 4,000 a day, my protien from 175-200 to 275-300, and my carbs from about 100 up to 400 a day. So as you see my biggest concern is the variety of carb choices i need to choose to get that large number compared to what i ate before AS.

And yes im ready for AS, ive spent over 6 mo's reasearching, and well over a year contemplating the issue.

[BIG TEXAN]

First off, raise your cals gradually over a few weeks, not overnight. Also, your diet should be the same whenther on gear or not, just more of it. I'd get fresh produce instaed of canned. It's just as easy wrapping a yam in a papertowel and tossing it in the microwave as compared to canned yams. Wholewheat pasta is what you want IF you decide to eat pasta. There is a place for brown and white rice in your diet. For example your 2 pwo meals should be nothing more tham WHITE rice and chicken or fish (something lean and 0 to little fat). Other than that you want brown rice. As for fruit that all depends on how your body tolerates cars.

[saboudian]

Originally posted by ColdStone
Saboudian, do you think im in 1st grade or what? I think you miss understood my post. Yes i know fresh food is better than canned food, i was asking, How much better? I was using the sweet potatoes for an example because they would be easy to open up and pop in the microwave at work. If the micronutrient factor wasnt that different then i would definatly go with the canned for an easy option. And yes i know white rice is processed, but for a carb loaded meal is it really thatbad to eat the white rice over brown rice?

I was simply trying to get everyones opinon on how much better natural/unprocessed food sources are than the canned foods.

I dont mean to flame back on you its just your last paragraph kinda made me feel you jumped on me with out reading the post correctly.

And the reason this grocery cart will be different is because i am increasing my calories by 1,500 to reach 4,000 a day, my protien from 175-200 to 275-300, and my carbs from about 100 up to 400 a day. So as you see my biggest concern is the variety of carb choices i need to choose to get that large number compared to what i ate before AS.

And yes im ready for AS, ive spent over 6 mo's reasearching, and well over a year contemplating the issue.

Ok, i'm really glad you proved me wrong because I was pretty scared that you really didn't understand the differences, so i'm glad we're on the same page now.

Alright, so if you're looking for opinions on how much better whole foods are than processed foods, i can give ya mine. I know alot of times the whole foods might have the same amount of everything in them as the processed version, but i feel soooooo much better after eating whole foods. I think part of the reason is that their GI is always lower, and just really seem to give me 10x more energy than the processed version and fills me up better.

I swear after i start eating brown rice, rolled oats, whole bread, etc, i noticed i had more energy and they filled me up easier. If i were to eat a few slices of whole bread, i would get a decent amount of energy and it would fill me up a bit, now if i tried to eat white bread it would probably take me an entire loaf to get that same feeling. Same goes with oats and rice and etc.

I don't know, its kinda hard to describe, but i swear if you just start eating whole foods for a week, you will never ever be able to go back to processed foods, after that week it will be like night and day. I always have to go that extra mile if i have to just to have my whole foods.

Oh, btw i disagree with big texan about having white rice postworkout, but i understand why one with go with the white rice.

[BIG TEXAN]

I say white rice cause it'll breakdown faster and the cars will hit you faster for recovery than brown rice will.

[ColdSore]

Thanks guys you gave me just what i wanted to hear, i knew all along that whole foods were better for you i just didnt know if it made a HUGE difference. And just to let you know at the stoe today the only thingi bought canned was tuna, so am planing to go with whole foods the entire time.

But Big Tex and Saboudian, youve got my mind stirring on another topic. How long before my workout should i have my meal of chicken and rice, or anything contaning carbs? I ussually try to eat 1-1.5 hours before, but that was ussually 100% protien, then a protien shake right before. I thought it wasnt a good idea to eat to many carbs to soon before your workout...Im sure im worng, so give me yalls take on this topic.

Thnaks Bro's

[RockyX]

Hey bro, this is just from my limited knowledge, but I think carbs are a must before you workout....carbs equal energy....most people I know fit the bulk of their carbs in before their workouts because carbs have the ability to burn quickly throughout your workout...I would also say to save the protein shake for post work out, it would probably do you more good there, throw some good carbs in post workout as well, about an hour or so after your protein shake.

[RockyX]

When bulking Lee Preist eats a bucket of fried chicken pre-workout....he also gains an ungodly amount of weight but...just something to think about.

[ColdSore]

Teen, yeah i see what your sayin, i do eat carbs before i workout but generally about 1 to 1.5 hours before, then the shake RIGHT before i hit the gym. And load up on carbs after, i was asking how soon before i workout is it ok to eat carbs, and what kind? Simple or Complex, Slow acting or Fast acting? From my experience i am always feeling bloated or tired if i carb up to soon. Thats just me though....

[Pete235]

About 1.5 hours before training ingest some kind of low glycemic carb such as oats, rice or sweet potato (not too much). These carbs are slow burning and will give you sustained energy throughout the workout. Immediatly after lifting, take in a high GI carb such as dextrose mixed witha quality protein. After hard lifting your glycogen levels are deplted. The insulin spike that comes from the dextrose will replenish your glycogen stores and will also help drive the protein into the blood stream/muslces. This will cause the body to switch from a catabolic state (muscle burning) to an anabolic state (muscle building/sparing). IMO this is the only time you should use a high GI carb. About 1 hour after that, you can have a well balanced meal.

[BIG TEXAN]

As usual Pete is right on the money!