Pegesus

I don't really balance my carbs at all. I just make sure I am eating roughly 1.5x my weight in protein in grams. My calorie intake ranges from 3700 - 4200 calories net a day. I eat if I feel hungry basically every 2.5 hours I eat a meal of around 300 - 400 calories. I eat a larger breakfast, lunch and dinner. I can steadily say I am gaining a lb a week if I keep up with this. I've packed on 10 lbs in 2 months now (6'0" 165). So far so good 15 - 20 more pounds to go.

ZMA works pretty well. But for sure as stated above go the Zinc and Magnesium route first way cheaper and actually achieves a better result. Just make sure to watch out for the gelatin in the capsules.

Only thing that works for me to get rid of that midrift is daily cardio. I don't do high intensity I usually just do it for 20 - 30 mins 4 to 5 times a week. I alternate between treadmill and elliptical. As far as bulking goes, your not gonna really achieve a good bulk if your burning off fat and calories for alot of cardio. For me I at the moment do very little cardio maybe 30 mins a week I eat over 4000 calories a day. When I achieve about 10lbs more than I want to be at l I'll start back up and cut off the unwanted weight and I should sit around my target weight.

I would say weigh the cost of the rack against the cost of the gym membership. I pay $34.95 a month and have access to a ton of equipment. That would be the equivalent to over a year and half to pay off the squat rack and all you would get outta that investment is the rack.

Maybe its just me but it's one thing to say that something is processed in a facility where milk is, it's another to say that something may contain milk or dairy products.

Haha...good point....edited now

I have heard alot of things that have been thrown around regarding negative impacts of soy. This will now go down as one of the most ridiculous ones next to my personal favorite "men could possibly grow breats" one. I response to your question of why most of us don't seem to use soy protein powder as a supplement I can only speak for myself but I eat enough soy from tempeh, tofu and soymilk that I would rather get my powder supplements from a mixed protein source (gemma, hemp, rice). I have always lived by the idea its better to not put all your egg replacers in one basket.

Agreed. Exercise does not make your bodies immune system weaken. Nor does bodybuilding. Poor nutrition does. If you eat a clean, healthy diet and exercise you will only make your body and immune system stronger. Frankly I find it ridiculous that a health care practitioner can even utter that to a patient.

As stated above Flax Seed is better than Flax Oil. Now with that said there is really only one flax oil I would recommend that is just about as comparable to Flax Seeds and that is Barlean's. It is fresh flax oil and has a very short date on it. If you are going to do flax oil then this is the only one I would recommend. Otherwise as Vegan Joe showed about get yourself a bag of Bob's and a cheap coffee grinder and go to town.

not to get off topic but that face palm.avi has got to be one of the funniest things i have seen on a website in a long time. To the OP. I eat a 4000 calorie diet and take in about 230g of protein off it a day. I don't see how it would be hard for anyone to get the 1.5 - 2g per lb of protein from a diet over 3000 calories. I vary it up: Beans, Rice, Tofu, Tempeh, Pea/Hemp Protein, soymilk, nutrional bars, get yourself a Amino Acid complex too. I average around 30g of protein per meal with 8 meals a day. at most I will have 2 shakes but every other spot of protein comes from foods that I eat.

How about the MCT's with the coconut milk? I didn't think there was much MCT content in the milk just in the pure oil.

Never tried it. However with really no benefits from it other than upping calories, i don't see a reason to use coconut milk over 3 tbsp of flax seeds. You should get nearly the same fat (a little less i think) but at least your getting some good omega's with it.

Totally agree. No need for protein at all to help you lose weight. If you want to make a shake to supplement a meal go for it but I see no reason to add a protein supplement to it. And try your hardest to do some sort of exercise. It will make all the difference in you achieving your goals.

Just got my first tub of TruProtein. Its pretty good and the cost is great. I went with a 50% Gemma, 30% Hemp, and 20% Rice Blend. Next time I think I'll flavor it but man for 2 lbs and a container/scoop with shipping for $25.00 I really can't beat that.

Good to have you!

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Was just thinking the same thing.

Thanks for the info. I can try to structure my workouts toward a 4 day a week training. Not really sure how that is gonna work out though. However as of right now I am only working out for a maximum of 40 mins. I can easily cut down to 5 days by only doing one day of legs. Good to know that the 4k won't bother me much. Thanks again for the tips and I'll see how it all works out.

I consider myself to be mostly Ectomorph. I am looking right now to pack on a total of 20 - 30 lbs before I start cutting. I started over 6 weeks ago at 155 I am 6'0" I was going pretty well with the gains at about 1.5 lbs a week. However the past 2 weeks I seem to not be gaining nearly anything. I fluctuate up and down between a 161 and 159. I am eating a net calorie of around 3600. This week I am gonna kick that up to around 4000 - 4200 and see where that gets me. I train 5 - 6 days per week. I do rarely any cardio at all if I do its for 10 to 15 mins maybe 100 calories burned off. However I do have a high metabolism and I do work outside some days which I know burns a hell of a lot of calories. Am I not eating enough? I can tell you that I am not hungry at all I eat 7 - 8 times a day 6 of the meals are solid food and one meal is a shake. I just feel like I should be seeing more weight being put on. So what I am wondering is if there is others out there that have gone through this and have any tips that I am not thinking of. And in addition to that since I am mostly Ectomorph should I workout more (sets and exercises) to keep my muscle growing. I am not looking to compete anytime in the near future if ever but I would like to have the body of somebody who does. I have noticed great changes in the past couple of weeks but I just want to know if I am on the right track and what kind of time line I can realistically expect with this weight gain. As far as my training goes I break my workouts into 6 days right now 2 days for legs/shoulder, 2 days for chest/back, 2 days for biceps/triceps. The majority of my workouts are based on compound exercises with very few isolation (isolation is nearly all for the biceps/triceps). I train anywhere from 2 - 3 exercises for each muscle group 1 day of the muscle group training per week is geared toward low sets, higher rep, maximum weight to finish out all sets. The other day of the muscle group training is for high sets, lower rep, high volume. So any advice or direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Glad to know I am not alone. Yeah I just need to stay away from that machine. Guess I will just stick to what is working never had any discomfort on my knees from squats *knocks on wood

I haven't done this in a long time usually just do Squats and Dead Lifts. However I am on a off week for Deads and figured hell why not hop on the leg extension for a few sets. I don't know if its me or what but that machine does a number on my knees. Sure my quads are working pretty well but my knees feel like Joe Pesci just took a hammer to them. Anyone else experience this aggravating discomfort? And if so what are some other leg exercises you all do? I basically just do Squats, Deads and Calf Presses but feel like I should mix it up with something else.

Yellow Rose is a pretty darn good one too.

Wondering what are some of the ones you all seem to like. I myself am very partial to the following: Vegan with a Vengance, Veganomicon, Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen, Italian Vegan Kitchen, Vegan Table. I also just picked up the 30 minute Vegan one the other day and it has some great recipes in it. But I have to say the Donna Klein series and Vegan Table are by far my favorite both with recipes and the fact that they have serving nutritional information for each recipe.

I also feel a disadvantage to too much tofu is the bloating feel it will give. I prefer Seitan over tofu and its so easy to make and has so many uses. But I am with you on the beans > tofu. For me my order of proteins most taken in would have to be: Beans Seitan Tofu Tempeh

I think its the matter of fact nature of this reply that did it, but I LOL'd when I read that this morning.