My Nutrition Regime

Hey all, my name is Lee and I'm from Kelowna, BC.

I've posted this before but it was lost with the recent forum rollback so I'm going to post it again!

I'm currently 170lbs, and my main goals are to increase lean muscle mass, and improve my strength:weight ratio.

Below is my daily nutrition breakdown, any advice/criticism that any of you have to offer would be greatly appreciated!

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07:00AM:

2 scoops 'Vega',

5g 'ChlorEssence' chlorella,

5g 'MacaSure' gelatinized maca (blended together as a smoothie).

08:00AM:

quinoa, amaranth, millet, teff porridge 1:1:1:1 ratio w/:

1tbsp freshly milled flax seed (golden and brown),

1tsp powdered stevia leaf,

1/2cup strawberries or blueberries.

10:30AM:

4 tbsp 4:3:2 ratio Pea:Hemp:Rice protein powder,

2 cups water (mixed together as a shake).

1 'Every Man's' whole food multivitamin.

11:30AM:

Mixed fruit smoothie w/ a small amount of:

spirulina, wheat sprout, wheat grass,

barley grass, alfalfa, oat grass,

beet, rosehip, flax, broccoli,

carrot, ginkgo biloba, bilberry leaf,

phosphatydydlserine.

12:30PM:

Big green leafy salad w/:

home made salad dressing:

'Vega' EFA oil blend,

apple cider vinegar,

dulse, stevia.

02:30PM:

4 tbsp 4:3:2 ratio Pea:Hemp:Rice protein powder,

2 cups water (mixed together as a shake).

1 'Every Man's' whole food multivitamin.

04:30PM:

Home from work, roughly an hour of weight training (including pre and post warmup/cool down and stretch).

05:30PM:

1/2cup goji berries,

1/2 cup blueberries,

1tbsp agave nectar

4 pitted medjool dates,

1 banana (blended together as a smoothie).

06:30PM:

2 scoops 'Vega',

5g 'ChlorEssence' chlorella,

5g 'MacaSure' gelatinized maca (blended together as a smoothie).

07:30PM:

Dinner (which varies, and is definitely a work in progress!).

Usually a veggie burger on 'Ezekiel 4:9' buns, w/:

some organic apple cider vinegar mustard,

sliced tomato and some mushrooms.

Pre/During Workout 'Sport Drink':

1tbsp agave nectar,

1tsp powdered dulse,

2cups coconut water (blended together).

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Supplemental Protein Totals (Daily):

26g protein from 'Living Harvest' hemp protein powder,*

32g protein from 'Heartland' sprouted brown rice protein.*

50g protein from 'Vega' (mix of hemp, rice, and yellow pea protein),

6.7g protein from 'ChlorEssence' chlorella.

~114.7g*

*these totals are not currently accurate, as I've recently changed the combo of proteins I take at 10:30 and 2:30.

Questions:

1) Considering that my goals are mainly to increase lean muscle mass, am I supplementing more protein than I'll need?

2) Can anyone see anything that I'm definitely not getting enough of/ getting too much of?

3) Does anyone know of any good supplements / 'superfoods' that I should look into that would help with gaining lean muscle and lowering body fat?

I'll update this post soon, but I'm short on time at the moment... thanks to everyone who's given me advice on this in the past, and to anyone who takes the time to read it!

Bumping this up...

There's gotta be something wrong with my diet, come on people! haha. Don't hold back now, let me hear the good, bad, and ugly!

Okay I will try and nitpick your diet since nobody else wants to...

It looks like you're getting lots of good food/supps. The only thing I noticed that seems strange (for me anyways) is that your meals are basically "carb heavy" or "protein heavy", whereas I tend to balance my carbs and protein in every meal.

I also noticed that you workout at 4:30pm, and the two preceding meals (shake with rice/hemp protein @ 2:30pm, and fruit smoothie @ 11:30am) don't really contain any complex carbs. Your body probably burns through the calories in the fruit smoothie pretty fast (simple sugars), and your pre-workout protein shake doesn't appear to have many carbs in it at all. My guess is that your glycogen stores are pretty well depleted by the time to hit the weights. You might get better results lifting if you consume some carbs along with your 2:30pm protein shake. You mentioned that you weigh 170lbs, and it looks like you're getting maybe 140g of protein a day including the real food you're consuming. Another 20-30g protein post-workout probably wouldn't kill you.

-Chris

Maybe add some protein to your post-workout smoothie? From what I understand, your muscles need the protein within 1/2 hour of resistance training...

Muscles need carbs first...not protein. Protein is that hardest thing for your body to digest and after a workout your body only wants things that get taken in quickly. This means high carbs with low fiber right after working out. Why would your body want protein??? It just used all the sugar you've stored for the day...it wants sugar to replace that. Give your body protein after its had a rest for a few hours. After all your body needs sugar for everything...even to digest protein.

Potter, you seem to be knowledgable regarding this, so maybe you can clarify something for me;

I always reasoned that a Post-Workout Smoothie with simple sugars (fruit, soy milk, etc.) AND protein would be okay, because your body absorbes the simple carbs fast, and since it takes longer to digest protein, the protein becomes available a little later, when your body wants it...

If I'm understanding you correctly, you are recomending waiting three hours after a workout to consume protein. Assuming it takes your body another hour to digest the protein (no idea how long it really takes, maybe you know?), your body then has protein available a full four hours after your workout? Do you feel this is ideal for both weightlifters AND endurance athletes like yourself?

-Chris

Protein is fine after a workout but potter is right about carbs.

Zack - We're all in agreement that simple carbs are good post workout. You and I also think protein is good post workout.

I think Potter is recomending no protein until 3 hours after your workout, and this is what I'm trying to get more insight into.

-Chris

Personally I think that's too long. I get some simple carbs in right after then protein shake with some more carbs about 30 minutes later.

Okay I will try and nitpick your diet since nobody else wants to...

 

It looks like you're getting lots of good food/supps. The only thing I noticed that seems strange (for me anyways) is that your meals are basically "carb heavy" or "protein heavy", whereas I tend to balance my carbs and protein in every meal.

 

I also noticed that you workout at 4:30pm, and the two preceding meals (shake with rice/hemp protein @ 2:30pm, and fruit smoothie @ 11:30am) don't really contain any complex carbs. Your body probably burns through the calories in the fruit smoothie pretty fast (simple sugars), and your pre-workout protein shake doesn't appear to have many carbs in it at all. My guess is that your glycogen stores are pretty well depleted by the time to hit the weights. You might get better results lifting if you consume some carbs along with your 2:30pm protein shake. You mentioned that you weigh 170lbs, and it looks like you're getting maybe 140g of protein a day including the real food you're consuming. Another 20-30g protein post-workout probably wouldn't kill you.

 

-Chris

Thanks for all the input! That's something that I hadn't really though of (whether my glycogen stores were sufficient still by the time I hit the weights) -- I'm starting to drink a sport drink (I'll post the ingredients above) pre-workout to see if that makes a difference at all.

Yeah, my meals really do seem to be either carb heavy or protein heavy, but that's probably due at least in part to the fact that I take food combination principles into consideration.

I definitely agree with potter's thoughts on carbs post-workout. Like he says, protein is relatively difficult to digest; I've also read that protein immediately after workout will make it difficult for your body to maintain proper hydration but I agree with Zack and LTV that a few hours might be a bit too long to wait (although with a really intense workout that leaves you utterly drained for a few hours, I could see that kind of a wait making sense).

I've started to experience some surprisingly quick gains compared to what I'm used to lately, so I'm going to try to get some before/after pictures up soon, as well as a daily training log... thanks for the advice everyone!