Two questions, please help...I am new!!!!

I am new. I am an Indian, vegetarian and new to calorie counting etc. The whole thing is so confusing. I need help, so please........

Due to health issues, I lost a lot of weight, now I am pencil thin at 121 pounds at 5'10". I need to bulk, so I have two questions.

1) I have no access to weights, so is it okay to do bodyweight exerices every other day? Or will this make me lost more weight and therefore avoided?

2) This is my bulking diet. Can someone pls see whether it is at least 2500 cals and enough for bulking? I am not able to calculate, at least an approximate calc. will do, so pls. help.

Morning: 1 bowl of corn flakes, one slice of bread/1 spoon of peanut butter, 10 peanuts, 5 almonds, 1 glass of milk

Afternoon: one medium plate of rice (cooked), a medium cup of green veggies (cooked)

evening: two slices of bread with two spoons of peanut butter, 10 peanuts

Night: Indian bread/roti (4 pieces) with two cups of Indian side dish/side order

Later: a glass of milk, two pieces of chocolate

I am new. I am an Indian, vegetarian and new to calorie counting etc. The whole thing is so confusing. I need help, so please........

 

Due to health issues, I lost a lot of weight, now I am pencil thin at 121 pounds at 5'10". I need to bulk, so I have two questions.

 

1) I have no access to weights, so is it okay to do bodyweight exerices every other day? Or will this make me lost more weight and therefore avoided?

 

2) This is my bulking diet. Can someone pls see whether it is at least 2500 cals and enough for bulking? I am not able to calculate, at least an approximate calc. will do, so pls. help.

 

Morning: 1 bowl of corn flakes, one slice of bread/1 spoon of peanut butter, 10 peanuts, 5 almonds, 1 glass of milk

 

Afternoon: one medium plate of rice (cooked), a medium cup of green veggies (cooked)

 

evening: two slices of bread with two spoons of peanut butter, 10 peanuts

 

Night: Indian bread/roti (4 pieces) with two cups of Indian side dish/side order

 

Later: a glass of milk, two pieces of chocolate

Oh gosh it would be hard to calculate the calories in that because it's not enough information. But if you are looking to bulk I wouldn't so much worry about adding calories as I would pay more attention to gain on a weekly basis. If you can weight you are eating enough, if not then your taking enough calories. So simply eat more or try to eat foods that are calorie dense.

Def add in the body weight exercises because you want to add muscle for size not just body fat.

Can u at least tell me approximately how many cals? Will it be at least 2500?

ALso must i check weight every week? How much increase - 1 kg per week?

I wouldn't worry too much about the calories. Considering you want to bulk up, your diet seems very limited on proteins especially. Cut down on processed foods like bread and chocolates especially. Eat more tofu, soy, ice cream and fruits. Peanut butter would be good before workouts. I don't know if you would find body weight home workout videos or programs here but you can definitely google them. Start eating more and stop worrying about numbers. Good luck

Thanks. I know I should eat more, but I was wondering if the diet I posted would be at least 2500 cals because I need that much to increase weight every week. If that diet is only 1500, for example, i will be in trouble, lol.

I am new. I am an Indian, vegetarian and new to calorie counting etc. The whole thing is so confusing. I need help, so please........

Due to health issues, I lost a lot of weight, now I am pencil thin at 121 pounds at 5'10". I need to bulk, so I have two questions.

 

1) I have no access to weights, so is it okay to do bodyweight exerices every other day? Or will this make me lost more weight and therefore avoided?

 

2) This is my bulking diet. Can someone pls see whether it is at least 2500 cals and enough for bulking? I am not able to calculate, at least an approximate calc. will do, so pls. help.

 

Morning: 1 bowl of corn flakes, one slice of bread/1 spoon of peanut butter, 10 peanuts, 5 almonds, 1 glass of milk

 

Afternoon: one medium plate of rice (cooked), a medium cup of green veggies (cooked)

 

evening: two slices of bread with two spoons of peanut butter, 10 peanuts

 

Night: Indian bread/roti (4 pieces) with two cups of Indian side dish/side order

 

Later: a glass of milk, two pieces of chocolate

Working out DOES NOT make you skinny, cardio does...don't have any fear that you will be getting skinnier because you are strength training. As long as you are eating ALOT, you will be gaining mass and strength the harder you work at it.

Body weight exercises are great and I would definitely recommend doing them everyday, if you do not have access to weights for isolation exercises. If your arms are all sore and weak from too many push ups the night before, this is good. This is Hypertrophy, when your muscles grow and tear because you've worked them out. Unless your arms are really sore, don't rest a day. Doing these exercises everyday will get your body in grow mode.

Not a nutrionist expert, but, just browsed my pantry...here's a few #s. My initial assessment up front was that NO, you're likely under 2500 cals.

Note, from the web, ideal weight range for 5'10 is 19-183 lbs.

Off to the pantry (and checking things I don't have on http://nutritiondata.self.com/). And a few notes on portions.

1 serving of peanut butter is 2 tablespoons, not one. 1 serving of peanuts is ~40 nuts, 1 serving of almonds is ~22

Morning: 1 bowl of corn flakes, one slice of bread/1 spoon of peanut butter, 10 peanuts, 5 almonds, 1 glass of milk

140 + 120 + 90 + 40 + 42 + 122 = 554 calories

Afternoon: one medium plate of rice (cooked), a medium cup of green veggies (cooked)

150 + 67 (genrically here, will vary slightly with what kinds) = 217

evening: two slices of bread with two spoons of peanut butter, 10 peanuts

240 + 180 + 40 = 460

Night: Indian bread/roti (4 pieces) with two cups of Indian side dish/side order

~ 120 x 4 + 220 (again, generic will vary with what you actually have) = 700

Later: a glass of milk, two pieces of chocolate

122 + 150x2 = 422

So add it all up, you're getting some 1893 cals...with some wiggle room either way, range is probably 1700-1900.

Agree with what the others have said. Generally speaking, if you avoid highly processed foods (e.g. bread), stock up with whatever fresh seasonal veg is in your area. Consider adding some chickpeas/garbanzo beans to your meals for protein...beans in general (kidney, etc.), if qunioa is available in your area get some of that too....complete protein source, cooks like rice really easily, mixing whatever you like (for example, my breakfast this morning was quinoa+mushrooms+spinach+peas+redpeppers+leftoverbitsoftofubacon. (1 serving of qunioa is 155 cals, 6g protein).

When eating generally plant-based diet, shouldn't have to worry about over doing it on the calories, but making sure you're getting enough. I added in general quantities esp with the nuts as you're getting about 1/4 of a serving. While peanuts can be good source of protein and are pretty cal sufficient, go easy on the fat count (just watch it really, wouldn't worry about it now as you're shooting at bulking up to a healthy weight).

First, you're likely not eating enough to barely maintain your current weight, never mind put some on. You're target of 2500 will vary based upon your activity levels. Suggest you target atleast 2000, but make them QUALITY calories, not just low-nutritional value empty calories.

Second, for your exercises, you absolutely can get going with body weight exercises and doing something every day won't hurt, be sure to mix it up though and include upper and lower body stuff. Like:

Day 1 (upper body/chest): standard pushups, wide pushups, military pushups, narrow/diamond pushups, downward-dog pushups (keep hips up, target here is your upper chest and shoulders), dips, decline pushups, 'under the fence' (hard to explain, think of starting in downward dog position (head down, arms straight, butt in the air), then sort of drop your hips down as you shift your self forward as if you were trying to slip under a fence or a board, end postion is like an upward dog (head/shoulders up, arms straight, hips down near the ground)....Do ALL of these 1 time through with max reps, then repeat.

Day 2 (lower body): lots of squats in various forms here, sit down and rise up from a chair, toes-out, toes-forward, toes-in squats, running/walking up and down stairs or similar activity, toe raises, lunges, (all I can think of at the moment).

Day 3 (back and arms): lots of pullups (standard, wide, narrow, underhand), flex-arm hang (get at the top of a standard overhand pullup with your chin above the bar and hold as long as you can),

Mix in DAILY plank, timing yourself to hold the position, target 1 min, and as your core gets stronger go for 1:30, then 2min, etc.

Get yourself a notebook to journal your progress. for each type of exercise write down your max # reps. Helps to keep you motivated as you see your reps increase over time.

Last thing before I hit send, plan out your eating based on mantra of fueling up for either what you're about to do, or what you just did. You'll need good calorie load prior to exercising to give you power and endurance, post exercise recovery can replenish what you burned and the nutrients will be what your body needs to repair/build muscles. Try google searching for things like P90X worksheets or similar (insanity worksheets maybe?). Should be free to download and you can pick out the exercises you can do without weights.

Keep us posted!!!!

Thanks, badass. It was a great post, great advice. I think i'll add 3 spoons of olive oil to get the extra 300 cals. At this stage, even junk food may be better because I've become so thin that everybody is making fun of me. And I used to weigh 75 kg (more perhaps) hardly three years ago.

I am new. I am an Indian, vegetarian and new to calorie counting etc. The whole thing is so confusing. I need help, so please........

Due to health issues, I lost a lot of weight, now I am pencil thin at 121 pounds at 5'10". I need to bulk, so I have two questions.

 

1) I have no access to weights, so is it okay to do bodyweight exerices every other day? Or will this make me lost more weight and therefore avoided?

 

2) This is my bulking diet. Can someone pls see whether it is at least 2500 cals and enough for bulking? I am not able to calculate, at least an approximate calc. will do, so pls. help.

 

Morning: 1 bowl of corn flakes, one slice of bread/1 spoon of peanut butter, 10 peanuts, 5 almonds, 1 glass of milk

 

Afternoon: one medium plate of rice (cooked), a medium cup of green veggies (cooked)

 

evening: two slices of bread with two spoons of peanut butter, 10 peanuts

 

Night: Indian bread/roti (4 pieces) with two cups of Indian side dish/side order

 

Later: a glass of milk, two pieces of chocolate

 

Working out DOES NOT make you skinny, cardio does...don't have any fear that you will be getting skinnier because you are strength training. As long as you are eating ALOT, you will be gaining mass and strength the harder you work at it.

Body weight exercises are great and I would definitely recommend doing them everyday, if you do not have access to weights for isolation exercises. If your arms are all sore and weak from too many push ups the night before, this is good. This is Hypertrophy, when your muscles grow and tear because you've worked them out. Unless your arms are really sore, don't rest a day. Doing these exercises everyday will get your body in grow mode.

Thanks, I udnerstand working out doesnt automatically make you skinny. But what if my pushups are simply taking the place of cardio (and thereby making me lose weight)? Is that possible? Or will pushups help in muscle gain only (and never unintentionally became some form of cardio)?

unless you up your game to plyometric push-ups (which are higher intensity, greater cardio burn perhaps?) and pressing on with max reps, you get some bulk and lots of tone. Obviously as you put on some more weight your body will have to work harder for each rep, but eventually I think you'll plateau and either need to add some weight to the equation or up the intensity (decline push ups up the intensity and the steeper the angle the greater the intensity.). Likewise, the speed of the movement will factor in as well. You can mix up the pace along the way, max reps at 'normal' pace, go for speed, go for endurance by doing the motions s-l-o-w-y like taking 4 counts in your head to go down, pause, then 4 counts pushing back up....

Got a while to go before you'll plateau though in my opinion.

Thanks, badass, I have two more questions if you dont mind.

1) I came down from 139 to 121 - 3 inches of my waist are reduced. Arm/chest are more or less the same. Does that mean the 18 pounds I've lost are mostly from the waist?

2) if I gain 2 kg per month, will it be more muscle and less fat?

answer to #1, likely yes. Mostly (atleast around here) excess weigh carried around the waist. for Arms/Chest staying the same, linked in to whether training for strength or size, mostly to be expected esp as you're not really using weights. Suggest taking 360 pics and measurements as part of your journal. Should see more definition in chest, back, shoulders, arms with focus on strength training. Core will be to include your lower body too (squats, burpees, lunges, etc.) as there's natural balance between upper and lower body.

For #2...harder one for me to answer. I could probably start consuming more empty cals and put on the weight per month, but not in desirable places. I get it though that in your case you've sorta bottomed out below a normal/healthy weight. So maybe good for splitting the difference...accept that some of the added weight may be softer than you desire, but then focus on toning it up down the road. Have to think about that one some more.....while I go out to shovel snow...IN APRIL!!!! LOL!