Don’t try to implement a new diet and a new exercise plan at the same time.
If you are underweight or normal weight, you’ll need to eat more when you start exercising.
Don’t these two statements contradict each other? If I’m on the light side (which I am) and start exercising without changing my diet first, won’t I have a calorie deficit?
Question 2.
I’m vegan and in college. These make it harder to get adequate nutrition because the dining halls don’t usually have calorie-dense plant-based foods. It’s my understanding that I need to eat about 4000 calories a day while gaining muscle mass, but if I eat at the dining hall, that basically means eating tons of rice, beans, and pasta. What other options do I have? Right now my plan is to drink a lot of Vega Sport, which I can order from Amazon and store easily.
I wasn’t counting eating 500 calories extra a day as a diet change. Most people can do that with an extra glass of milk and some cookies easily.
I don’t know a lot about vegan nutrition. I would imagine getting caloric density basically means fatty plants. Avocados, coconut oil, peanuts (peanut butter and oats with some almond milk is probably a staple bulking food), tree nuts, etc.
Depending on your current body constitution you might prefer to shift some of your fat to muscle which would not necessarily involve upping your calories.
every 500 calorie increment is 3500 calories a week, or about a pound of tissue a week. Studies and the experiences of coaches agree strongly here: You can’t gain lean body mass much faster than this. Small and temporary exceptions occur for people who are very underweight or recovering previous strength levels.
Leaving aside the vegan issue, why is it necessary to plan to eat more if you exercise more? Won’t the exercise make you hungrier and lead to eating whatever you need anyway?
This might just be a personal quirk, but I don’t really get hungry—I have no instinct telling me “you need to eat right now.” If I don’t plan my meals, I end up way undereating.
Questions about nutrition:
Question 1.
Don’t these two statements contradict each other? If I’m on the light side (which I am) and start exercising without changing my diet first, won’t I have a calorie deficit?
Question 2.
I’m vegan and in college. These make it harder to get adequate nutrition because the dining halls don’t usually have calorie-dense plant-based foods. It’s my understanding that I need to eat about 4000 calories a day while gaining muscle mass, but if I eat at the dining hall, that basically means eating tons of rice, beans, and pasta. What other options do I have? Right now my plan is to drink a lot of Vega Sport, which I can order from Amazon and store easily.
I wasn’t counting eating 500 calories extra a day as a diet change. Most people can do that with an extra glass of milk and some cookies easily.
I don’t know a lot about vegan nutrition. I would imagine getting caloric density basically means fatty plants. Avocados, coconut oil, peanuts (peanut butter and oats with some almond milk is probably a staple bulking food), tree nuts, etc.
I currently eat about 2000-2500 calories a day. If I started lifting weights, wouldn’t I need more like 4000 calories? That’s a pretty big jump.
Depending on your current body constitution you might prefer to shift some of your fat to muscle which would not necessarily involve upping your calories.
every 500 calorie increment is 3500 calories a week, or about a pound of tissue a week. Studies and the experiences of coaches agree strongly here: You can’t gain lean body mass much faster than this. Small and temporary exceptions occur for people who are very underweight or recovering previous strength levels.
Leaving aside the vegan issue, why is it necessary to plan to eat more if you exercise more? Won’t the exercise make you hungrier and lead to eating whatever you need anyway?
This might just be a personal quirk, but I don’t really get hungry—I have no instinct telling me “you need to eat right now.” If I don’t plan my meals, I end up way undereating.