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Hi all.
I got a flood of response from my first post (very helpful) but then it all stopped. I attempted to answer a few questions that people had about my diet, etc. but apparently no one went back to my original post to read my responses. Be patient with me. This is the first discussion board I've ever took part in and I still don't know all the terminology and stuff. Keep it simple.
O.K., first off, I'm 34 years old now. When I was eating the 8000 cal/day and training like crazy was about ten years ago. Getting bursitis and losing it all over such a short period of time was so discouraging I just gave up. I figured I had done everything possible and it had been a waste of time (not to mention money. You should have seen my grocery bills). I was in graduate school and so my hours were strange. I got up around 8am and went to bed around 2am so 6 hours sleep a night was the norm. Since I set my own work hours, I could take a break to eat or work out whenever I wanted. My diet went about like this (keep in mind it's been ten years and I may not remember everything): Breakfast consisted of 3 boiled eggs and a 2000 calorie weight gainer shake (blended with 1 qt whole milk). About 2 or three hours later, I would eat a couple of turkey and cheese sandwiches, a cup of pudding and a piece of fruit. After another couple of hours, I would eat lunch, which varied in composition (hamburger and fries or a few chili dogs and fries would be typical). Another 2 or 3 hours later I would eat another between meals snack of 2 or three sandwiches, a yogurt and another piece of fruit. Dinner was usually late (around 9 or 10) because I was in graduate school and was in the lab until late. Dinner varied but was always something easy since I'm not much of a cook. Hamburger helper, Tuna helper, or barbecue chicken from a box would have been typical along with some vegetable like broccoli or corn. Once or twice a week I would cook a steak for dinner. One more 2000 calorie shake about an hour before bed and that was about it. That's five meals a day plus two 2000 calorie shakes. I also took one-a-day vitamins and a calcium supplement. Notice that most of the food I ate (with the exception of dinner) was portable so I could carry it with me to eat while I worked or studied. One thing that probably was counterproductive was that I was (and still am) a heavy coffee drinker. When I wasn't eating, I had a cup of coffee in hand. I know what you're going to say. With all that whole milk, fried foods and red meat my cholesterol must have been through the roof. Actually, I don't know what it was then but I still eat a lot of red meat, fried foods and whole milk and my cholesterol level was 155 last month. One of the good things about my metabolism I guess.
As far as the weight training goes. I didn't know what I was doing and am fortunate I didn't injure myself. I didn't know anybody who knew anything about lifting weights so I just went in and lifted as much as I could as many times as I could every other day. I can almost hear you all chuckling I went up as many as 2 to 5 pounds a week with curling and as many as 5 to 10 pounds per week with bench press. I guess I'm lucky I didn't tear everything to pieces!
-Spidey
I got a flood of response from my first post (very helpful) but then it all stopped. I attempted to answer a few questions that people had about my diet, etc. but apparently no one went back to my original post to read my responses. Be patient with me. This is the first discussion board I've ever took part in and I still don't know all the terminology and stuff. Keep it simple.
O.K., first off, I'm 34 years old now. When I was eating the 8000 cal/day and training like crazy was about ten years ago. Getting bursitis and losing it all over such a short period of time was so discouraging I just gave up. I figured I had done everything possible and it had been a waste of time (not to mention money. You should have seen my grocery bills). I was in graduate school and so my hours were strange. I got up around 8am and went to bed around 2am so 6 hours sleep a night was the norm. Since I set my own work hours, I could take a break to eat or work out whenever I wanted. My diet went about like this (keep in mind it's been ten years and I may not remember everything): Breakfast consisted of 3 boiled eggs and a 2000 calorie weight gainer shake (blended with 1 qt whole milk). About 2 or three hours later, I would eat a couple of turkey and cheese sandwiches, a cup of pudding and a piece of fruit. After another couple of hours, I would eat lunch, which varied in composition (hamburger and fries or a few chili dogs and fries would be typical). Another 2 or 3 hours later I would eat another between meals snack of 2 or three sandwiches, a yogurt and another piece of fruit. Dinner was usually late (around 9 or 10) because I was in graduate school and was in the lab until late. Dinner varied but was always something easy since I'm not much of a cook. Hamburger helper, Tuna helper, or barbecue chicken from a box would have been typical along with some vegetable like broccoli or corn. Once or twice a week I would cook a steak for dinner. One more 2000 calorie shake about an hour before bed and that was about it. That's five meals a day plus two 2000 calorie shakes. I also took one-a-day vitamins and a calcium supplement. Notice that most of the food I ate (with the exception of dinner) was portable so I could carry it with me to eat while I worked or studied. One thing that probably was counterproductive was that I was (and still am) a heavy coffee drinker. When I wasn't eating, I had a cup of coffee in hand. I know what you're going to say. With all that whole milk, fried foods and red meat my cholesterol must have been through the roof. Actually, I don't know what it was then but I still eat a lot of red meat, fried foods and whole milk and my cholesterol level was 155 last month. One of the good things about my metabolism I guess.
As far as the weight training goes. I didn't know what I was doing and am fortunate I didn't injure myself. I didn't know anybody who knew anything about lifting weights so I just went in and lifted as much as I could as many times as I could every other day. I can almost hear you all chuckling I went up as many as 2 to 5 pounds a week with curling and as many as 5 to 10 pounds per week with bench press. I guess I'm lucky I didn't tear everything to pieces!
-Spidey
