“Regarding your post of 14 -16 points. I’m trying to get a proper multivitamin for my age and requirements. I’m trying to do this w/o having do go through TRT. I asked the doc at the VA and he was kinda flippant about it. I don’t know if you can help me with understanding the lab readings or not. I’ve upped my fish oil to 3000 mg per day. We’re experimenting with salmon, mahi mahi, different chicken, boiling a dozen eggs almost weekly, eating tuna packaged in water with boiled eggs, relish and a bit of mayo. I can send you the recipes via pics. I tried to count calories through the LoseIt! app. My wife has lost 30# and maintained it for about a year or two. I’m also trying to find a good snack like the KIND Bars. But, they and most everything else has soy. I shouldn’t have soy should I? Thanks for reading!!”
To be honest, your diet looks like it’s got all your bases covered. And when your bases are very well covered on a consistent basis, you don’t actually need a multi.
Yeah Western doctors will be flippant about TRT – it’s how they’re trained.
Salmon, sardines, mahi mahi, tuna, eggs, red meat and lots of veggies are going to cover your bases as far as micros, essential fats, and general health is concerned. If you’re one of the rare types of guys who actually gets lots of this into his diet every single week without fail, then you really don’t need a multi.
I wouldn’t be looking at snack bars though. They’re almost never a good addition to a diet as far as satiation per calorie, and almost never helps with diet compliance.
“Want to put on muscle but hate that chubby bulking face any tips”
(I’m not sure when it became cool for everyone to ask questions without question marks…I obviously missed the boat on that one!)
If you’re looking to lean bulk, then first thing’s first:
You have to accept that your face will not look as handsome as it could do.
The very act of putting yourself into a negative energy state makes your face begin to sharpen up and drop a little water weight. The inverse is true of a calorie surplus – even a small one. HOWEVER! There are ways to minimise the damage:
- Keep your calorie surplus small (5-10% tops)
- Keep your salt low (this one’s HUGE!)
- Sleep 7+ hours per night (yes, a lack of sleep will make you hold more water in your face, similarly to being ill, although not as extreme)
- Don’t go overboard on the carbs – yes, you need more carbs when you’re lean bulking, but actually track them and MAKE SURE they’re not going too high
- Don’t drink frequently, AT ALL – nothing bloats your face up more than booze
“Hey man quick question! I’ve been cruising with IF for a couple weeks now but wanted to know if I should cut my fast a little shorter on heavy deadlift and squat days? As in get some food in prior to lifting rather than lifting fasted? I eat immediately after fasted workouts I just don’t know if these heavy workouts are counterproductive when fasted?”
If you were a competitive powerlifter, and had an imminent competition coming up, then I would say yes. But if you’re like 99% of people and you want to simply be stronger, leaner, healthier etc., then my short answer is no.
Why?
Dietary compliance and consistency almost always comes first, and is the area most people fuck up. Frankly, unless you’re bulking, your workouts shouldn’t be high volume anyway. High intensity? Sure. But that doesn’t require a load of carbs in your stomach.
Higher volume training is what is leaning in the direction of (although still absolutely nowhere near, of course) long distance running, which absolutely does require a load of carbs. I’m not saying it’s anything like running a marathon, but I AM saying that you’ll use more glycogen, similarly to runners.
Lower volume training, which is what you should be doing in a calorie deficit (to ensure you’re actually recovering from it and maintaining muscle), does not require carbs immediately in your stomach.