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Help me gain weight and muscle while learning muay thai


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Help me I'm still a rookie. Post links to other threads if necessary. There's a lot on this site.

 

I've been really skinny for awhile and trying to gain weight and muscle. I'm 22 and only 135 pounds. Pretty thin but healthy. I've been weight training 4 days a week for 2 months and have gained quite a bit of muscle but barely any weight yet. I'm not getting results really and it's getting frustrating. There is weight loss information everywhere but not much on weight gain, especially for vegans.

 

I'm trying to change up my diet. I'm sure everyone responding will want to see what I'm eating and how I'm training. Before I get into that I'll mention that I've been low on money and haven't been able to eat the full 6 meals a day. Usually only 2-4. I've been making hemp smoothies or vega smoothies every day though. A lesson I learned was to stop eating out a lot and make every single meal at home to save money (I get all my food strictly at farmers markets and health food stores too). Even with sufficient money though I've been ignorant on how to form an adequate meal plan for weight gain. Can someone on here with a lot of knowledge throw some ideas out there of all the different types of foods they try to fill up on everyday to gain weight?

 

I jump rope and run a lot because I'm doing muay thai kickboxing. Learning muay thai feels completely counterintuitive to my weight goals at the moment but I've been wanting to take it up for awhile.

 

My friend is a vegetarian but only uses local dairy. He was a boxer and has been nagging me to start using dairy. It seems like a good way to gain weight but I know it's not necessary. I need help forming a solid meal plan. Some better training tips as well maybe.

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Buy brown rice in bulk. It's dirt cheap, and you can cook up large batches of it, keep it in the fridge and just reheat and eat a bowl twice a day for two more meals. It's extremely nutritious, too. Cooking it with olive oil can add extra calories. Condiments like hummus and salsa (both cheap) make it tastier. Just cuz it's rice doesn't mean it has to be bland. Also while vega is a great product, if you're on a budget, you'd be better off spending that money on fresh fruits and vegetables - it's kind of expensive.

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Also while vega is a great product, if you're on a budget, you'd be better off spending that money on fresh fruits and vegetables - it's kind of expensive.

I agree, drop the vega and spend that money on rice, beans and vegetables.

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I'd recommend substituting rice for buckwheat, quinoa or/and amaranth as rice (even brown and wild) is rather crappy. It's quite similar to bread - lots of high-GI carbs, not much vitamins, minerals and protein. And I agree with dropping the Vega and eating more tofu, tempeh, peanut butter, veggies, fruits, berries, etc. instead.

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I'd recommend substituting rice for buckwheat, quinoa or/and amaranth as rice (even brown and wild) is rather crappy. It's quite similar to bread - lots of high-GI carbs, not much vitamins, minerals and protein.

 

I disagree with you, rice is great as a part of ones diet. Who cares about glycemic index anyway, and why? I can however agree that quinoa is a better choice because of the protein and I believe there's also more fat(?).

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I'd recommend substituting rice for buckwheat, quinoa or/and amaranth as rice (even brown and wild) is rather crappy. It's quite similar to bread - lots of high-GI carbs, not much vitamins, minerals and protein.

 

I disagree with you, rice is great as a part of ones diet. Who cares about glycemic index anyway, and why? I can however agree that quinoa is a better choice because of the protein and I believe there's also more fat(?).

 

What's great about it?

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What's great about it?

 

The taste and the dishes you are able to make. The price, easy preparation etc. It's very filling and gives you a lot of satiety per calorie (not sure if that makes it a good bulk food but you get the point). It's rich in some B vitamins, magnesium (a mineral a lot of athletes lack), selenium, phosphorus, manganese and some other stuff.

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What's great about it?

 

The taste and the dishes you are able to make. The price, easy preparation etc. It's very filling and gives you a lot of satiety per calorie (not sure if that makes it a good bulk food but you get the point). It's rich in some B vitamins, magnesium (a mineral a lot of athletes lack), selenium, phosphorus, manganese and some other stuff.

 

Not to mention brown rice is high in fiber and a good source of protein.

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What's great about it?

 

The taste and the dishes you are able to make. The price, easy preparation etc. It's very filling and gives you a lot of satiety per calorie (not sure if that makes it a good bulk food but you get the point). It's rich in some B vitamins, magnesium (a mineral a lot of athletes lack), selenium, phosphorus, manganese and some other stuff.

 

Taste, price and easy preparation say nothing about whether it's healthy or not. As for vitamins and minerals, yes, it does contain a fair amount of those, but that's it In any case, I don't think we're going to agree on this (just like most other topics), so we might as well not hijack the thread.

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What's great about it?

 

The taste and the dishes you are able to make. The price, easy preparation etc. It's very filling and gives you a lot of satiety per calorie (not sure if that makes it a good bulk food but you get the point). It's rich in some B vitamins, magnesium (a mineral a lot of athletes lack), selenium, phosphorus, manganese and some other stuff.

 

Taste, price and easy preparation say nothing about whether it's healthy or not. As for vitamins and minerals, yes, it does contain a fair amount of those, but that's it In any case, I don't think we're going to agree on this (just like most other topics), so we might as well not hijack the thread.

 

You asked what was great about it. If you only wanted to know the nutritional benfits of rice you should have said so.

So basically rice is energy, vitamins and minerals and that's it....Not that bad in my book, what more do you want? Diamonds?

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How has nobody mentioned the almighty oat? Right now my pantry is like an ode to oats WW pasta a quinoa. Also some brown rice (never buy white was its been through too much already). Also, if you in a pinch ezekiel cereal/breads are awesome and low GI carbs but they are a little more expensive.

 

Also, have you tried making your own tofu? I never have but im sure it would be pretty cost efficient.

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How has nobody mentioned the almighty oat? Right now my pantry is like an ode to oats...

 

Also, have you tried making your own tofu? I never have but im sure it would be pretty cost efficient.

 

Right on, I haven't even thought of using oats yet. Can you give me some basic recipe ideas?

 

I actually live close to the local tofu and tempeh company here. If you go in their actual building you get sick deals. I'm trying to stop eating tofu even though it's so good. Trying to eat mostly tempeh.

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You asked what was great about it. If you only wanted to know the nutritional benfits of rice you should have said so.

So basically rice is energy, vitamins and minerals and that's it....Not that bad in my book, what more do you want? Diamonds?

 

As I said, the biggest drawback of rice is the high-GI carbs. And you can argue that the glycemic index doesn't matter until you're blue in the face, but I know full well how I do on high-GI carbs and on low-GI carbs, so save it. It may not matter for an ecto/meso, but it sure does matter for skinny-fat type of guys.

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As I said, the biggest drawback of rice is the high-GI carbs. And you can argue that the glycemic index doesn't matter until you're blue in the face, but I know full well how I do on high-GI carbs and on low-GI carbs, so save it. It may not matter for an ecto/meso, but it sure does matter for skinny-fat type of guys.

 

How does it matter different for skinny or fat persons?

 

And besides your argument is totally out of bounds since brown rice has a glycemic index of 55 and buckwheat, that you reccomend, has a GI of 54. Or does something magically happen between those two numbers?

 

I second the oats thing. Probably the best grain out there because of it's high(er) lysine and fat content.

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And besides your argument is totally out of bounds since brown rice has a glycemic index of 55 and buckwheat, that you reccomend, has a GI of 54. Or does something magically happen between those two numbers?

 

I second the oats thing. Probably the best grain out there because of it's high(er) lysine and fat content.

 

True. I must've mistaken it for something else then, I guess Sorry for the flame. Now you can nail me to a cross.

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True. I must've mistaken it for something else then, I guess Sorry for the flame. Now you can nail me to a cross.

 

You seem to have the wrong picture of me. Even though I enjoy being "right", that is not my motivation for argumenting. I'm not out to "nail you to the cross", in fact I enjoy having you around and hearing your opinion. You seem to know a lot more about sports nutrition than most people here and oten you have valid science to back up your claims. However, this time both I and science disagrees with you. You like Lyle McDonald, right? Well so do I, his site and articles are worth a lot for athletes and more people on this board should def check out his articles. I don't know if you've read this article: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/glycaemic-index-effects-on-fuel-partitioning-in-humans.html#more-2278, if you haven't you should. I'm using his article as an example since you seem to trust Lyle even though I think McDougall, Fuhrman and others have written better or just as good texts about the issue of glycemic index.

I find that many people become nearly clinically insane over the issue of GI, it becomes a level of absolute dietary extremism that is simply not necessary. For these folks, anything without a super low GI is a devil food and will cause one’s muscles to instantly fall off and be replaced by body fat.

 

And as with so many other topics, that’s just not the case. Small differences in GI, especially within the context of mixed meals and lean individuals who are training regularly appear to have no significant impact on overall fuel utilization, fat oxidation, or anything else.

 

GI diets were and still are the biggest thing here in Sweden. It's accepted even by our version of the FDA etc. But many fail to see the truth because of the hype. The low glycemic index of many healthy foods is not what makes it healthy, it's just something they have in common. When people compare high GI diets with low GI diets they often use refined grains vs. whole grains, which is a big mistake because you miss the fiber, vitamins and minerals in the equation. There is no proof that low GI diets have an advantage over isocaloric high GI diets when it comes to weight loss. Insulin does not seem to have a key role in regulating fat tissue. And if it's insulin you're worried about GI is not a good measurment since something with low GI can still increase your insulin more than something with a high GI.

There are studies suggesting that low GI gives better satiety compared with high GI, but there are just as many suggesting that there is no effect. I haven't looked through all of them but I can safely say that some make big mistakes like not taking fiber into consideration etc.

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