Protein Bars and Diet

duffpaddy

Hi,

I'm currently on a bulking phase and just wanted a bit of feedback on the diet that I'm running at the moment. I'm making progress but just wanted to check I'm actually eating enough. Currently weigh 165lbs and I'm aiming to eat about 3,000 calories a day split over 6 meals. Here's a breakdown of a typical day:

1) Breakfast

• 3 Medium Scrambled eggs
  2 slices wholemeal toast

2) Meal Replacement powder

• Protein/Carb/Fat (g) = 42/25/2 (g)

3) Lunch

• Tuna sandwich made from a can of tuna on two slices of brown bread with salad

4) Meal Replacement powder

5) Typical Dinner

• 180-200g of chicken/mince
  Half cup full of rice

6) Bedtime meal

• 40g of Protein powder

I take the meal replacement powder and protein powder with skimmed milk typcially 400-500ml. I'm currently using Holland & Barrett Meal replacement powder purely cos it mixes well with milk and actually tastes ok. Im also using EAS Protein Powder which tastes ok. Can anyone recommend anything else? Any good value buys out there as I'm looking to buy some more protein powder in the next couple of weeks.

Also, I don't always get time to mix up a shake while at work so I am finding that I occasionally miss meals due to meetings or being out of the office fixing computers etc which really pisses me off. Are protein bars a useful substitue? Seen a few that seem to deliver a good amount of protein but not sure if they are suitable replacements for in between meals. Your thoughts?

Nick500

duffpaddy

I think I can help you out.

Firstly - lose the holland and barrett meal replacement powder. If you can, eat real food. If you can't get to a kitchen to cook food, then prepare food in advance.

For example, i would cook say 250grams of rice in the morning, and 4 chicken breasts. This i would split over 3 meals.

If you don't have time to make a meal and you DO want a meal replacement shake, then its common concensus that holland and barrett are overpriced and not particularly good. One of our sponsors, Extreme Nutrition, offers an excellent MRP - visit the banner for more info. If you are interested in other brands, check out: http://www.cheapuksupplements.co.uk/...c8d5938ed5907b

If you have access to a blender, perhaps you could consider making your own MRP shakes (which is what I do) - see here for my ingredients: http://www.musclechat.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=3848
This works out at about 1 a shake, with about 55/75/20 split

Whey Protein: I personally use and condone the use of dymatize ELITE whey, (have been using it for about 15 months), flavours to look out for are banana and chocolate mint. I would suggest that if you do not have access to a blender, then go for banana, which mixes excellently in a shaker or even in a pint glass with a fork. it tastes especially good with a banana and some milk, which you may choose to have as a meal replacement yet again. You can buy this here:
http://www.cheapuksupplements.co.uk/...Prod=2&xSec=15

Protein bars: I use Chemical Nutrition 'Dorian Yates approved' pro-flapjack bars. Whenever I feel like a snack, you get 18/32/7 split ( i think...). The best flavour is cherry almond - seriously i could eat about 5 of these and not get sick. THey work out at just over 80p each so not too bad !
You can buy them here:
http://www.discount-supplements.co.u...rry-almond.asp
I have also used the peanut chewy crisp chemical nutrition available here: http://www.discount-supplements.co.uk/eshop/protein-bars/chemical-nutrition-pro-bar-xs-(12-in-box)-peanut-chewy-crisp.asp
-they are 32/5/5 or so (so better for cutting), and are more expensive and a little sickly.

Your diet - for a bulk diet it strikes me that your not actually eating all that much - perhaps i'm just used to eating loads.

Breakfast - go for 3 whole eggs, add in some more egg whites, so 3 whole, 3 whites, bump up another slice of toast

Lunch - 2 cans of tuna instead of 1, or some chicken as well as the tuna

typical dinner - good, although stick to lean mince as budget mince is very high in saturated fats and actually not that high in protein content. Maybe go for a cup of full rice rather than 1/2

Before bed - definitely stick with the 40grams protien powder, but have it in 1 pint of skimmed milk. You want to combine it with milk because it will slow down the speed at which the protein is absorbed into your body and therefore have you better prepared for the many hours you will be asleep.

So to summarise - I would say less MRP shakes and more real food if you can. Protein bars are an excellent snack/SUPPLEMENT (remember that these are only to be eaten in accompaniment with real food ideally)

Hope that helps and please reply with any further questions.

Nick

Young Gun

Very good response Nick. Looks like a cutting diet to me

Nick500

Its a self confessed bulking diet according to him:

"I'm currently on a bulking phase and just wanted a bit of feedback on the diet that I'm running at the moment. "

Nick

Young Gun

yeah I know I meant I was in agreement with you he needs more calories. It looks like a cutting diet as a pose to a bulking one which is what he wants

duffpaddy

Cheers for the response guys. I figured I was actually being quite generous with 3000 calories a day, but as young gun said, my diet is probably more akin to a cutting diet than a bulking diet!

Anyways, I'll try and take those points on board. Plan for the moment is to continue as I am for now to finish the stuff I've got already, and then factor in the rest of the stuff into my diet. Like the protein shake btw so will definitely include that for my breakfast in the morning. It'll probably be quicker to prepare than cooking scrambled eggs every morning anyway which is another plus!

My main sticking point with my diet at the moment is eating the in-between meals and its been the primary reason for missing meals at the mo. I'm not always necessarily in the same office on any given day so ideally I need something that I can carry around with me during the day and prepare and eat quickly especially if I'm in-between meetings. Would protein bars be a worthy subsitute for those in-between meals? How have other people in a similar situation got round this?

I should be ok for sorting out lunch as I'll normally have time to either prepare something or head into town to get something to eat. However, should I include carbs with whatever I'm having like maybe a baked potatoe?

Appreciate your feedback

Extreme

Duff, as a board member you get 25% off the RRP of anything on our site but you need to put in the comments box you are a member and your screen name.

Sam

lol

Nick500

?