Cannot attain a caloric surplus

Mark Collins said:

If you are eating 1400 calories a day there is no way you should have a mass gainer. If you eat two meals a day and low calories your body will hold onto its fat stores and it sounds like you are skinny fat.

Why can you not eat more and still be spiritual?

Well they are vaguely meals. It is quite expensive here and I needed to use the money I get on equipment (art student) so all I eat is plain noodles or rice. I have also forgot to include that I have egg allergies as well. I used to eat egg fried noodles but it made my rashes/eczema even worse. Yes I am aware that the body will store fat on such low caloric intake. I could perhaps try to increase my caloric intake to 1800 if I add beans and vegetables to my dishes.

The thing is that I fast in mornings and break my fast in evenings so it would be hard for me to eat more than 2 meals without feeling bloated. The philosophy behind indulging in so much food affects your heart and how you view the world (poverty and how others do not have such rights of food and such). That is part of the spiritual bases but the teachings are huge and I don't think it would be appropriate to discuss it in detail.

However, please enlighten me to why I shouldn't have a mass gainer? I am fairly new to nutrition, strength and muscle building in general. And I also cannot confirm that it is 1400 calories that I intake during each day but that's more or less the number. I would really like to bulk and build proper strength but it seems I am in a rough situation.

If you're going the vegan route, I would suggest a blend of hemp and split pea protein.  It can be really hard to get enough protein on a vegan diet, and these offer an excellent profile of amino acids.  They'll definitely be more pricey than whey protein, but much healthier as well.

Yeah, second what Bipocni says. Good way to get some more protein in you.

Sounds like you have some awful food allergies though, you should get those mapped out and see if you can do anything about them. Maybe check out Chris Kresser - he's an interesting character and although his views are probably more Paleo, there could be good stuff to pick up there about food intolerances and such. Some paleo people are also big on the FODMAP stuff, you might want to look into that as well. But I think you should find a balance between what kind of food you should definitely avoid and what you can tolerate in certain amounts. Going totally FODMAP free etc I think would be very depressing, food is more than fuel after all.

For getting more calories, I would suggest upping the fat intake on your non-training/low-intensity days - look into what nuts you can handle, get some avocados, coconut milk and maybe even blend some coconut oil with nuts to eat as bars (I remember Rob Wolff talking about something like that as a way for mountaineerers to carry enough condensed calories on expeditions).

On your high-intensity training days you can probably eat more fruit and drop the fat consumption a lot. Just use fat normally, for cooking and such. Fruit is delicious, but the fructose can apparently add to your body's tolerance for insulin (i.e. pushing you towards diabetes, making you fat and sick). So it's best to not go totally hog-wild on it, eat normal amounts. If you can handle beans, lentils, rice, quinoa, oats, peas, potatoes and sweet potatoes - those are very good carb sources for beefing up your carbohydrate intake on your higher-intensity days as well. As a man I'd rather avoid the processed vegan/vegetarian crap made from soy, since it contains so much added crap and is not so good for your hormonal balance (estrogen). So, again, for increased protein, I'd do what Bipocni said. And look into pairing different stuff in your meals to get a better amino acid makeup of the total meal. I'm not great with vegetarianism/veganism, but I seem to recall that lentils and rice somehow complement each others amino acid profiles (which makes the body utilize it better as a protein source). And get some Indian cookbooks, those guys are amazing with vegetables. They tend to their vegetables like we tend to our steak when they cook, just amazing sautees and stuff. Fantastic, complex cooking.

Oh, yeah - and Precision Nutrition is a great system, no matter what your personal food preferences are. I think they have some articles on veganism and vegetarianism also. The PN System (folder and that stuff you can buy) does come with a plant based eating guide, but it's nothing huge. If you are very interested in learning more about nutrition, it's absolutely worth the 100 bucks or so though.

And consider buying Veganomicon, I hear it gets rave reviews as a Vegan cookbook.

Kage said:

Going totally FODMAP free etc I think would be very depressing, food is more than fuel after all...

They lost me at no garlic...

Kage said:

beans, lentils, rice, quinoa, oats, peas, potatoes and sweet potatoes

Don't forget barley!  Lentils are great, but I hate how long they take to cook.

Mass gainers are an overpriced supplement. Why pay a lot of money for maltodextrin and protein powder when you have not got your diet right. You would gain a lot more micronutrients eating real food. Once you get that right, then if you need add some supplements.

Mark Collins said:

Mass gainers are an overpriced supplement. Why pay a lot of money for maltodextrin and protein powder when you have not got your diet right. You would gain a lot more micronutrients eating real food. Once you get that right, then if you need add some supplements.

echoing this, I have a side business where I promote supplementation among several selections of products that focus on what people are calling "new age" or "green" products and being around this atmosphere(GB.com and others) made me do two things: 

1. if I say I know something, how do i know something? at second hand? through text? what kind of text? what kind of first hand experience do i have with what i'm talking about? (in other words, am i a repeater? or am I an investigator and thinker?)

2. really think about what I'm about to say, especially if its in the air of "I know more than you, listen to what im saying" because you will always encounter someone much more knowledgeable than you in the subject you think you are knowledgeable.

so let's get one thing out of the way, if you are following a particular diet for religious or spiritual purposes, power to you. take matters into your own hands and follow your practice, it's a free world(of choice, to some degree.) but let's get a few things straight. 

there is a fine line between the perceived "supplementation" and it's often included mis-interpreted message of "substitution". 

Nature is what gives us what we need and it's upto us, through trial and error and experimentation to really come to the conclusion on what benefits us as a species. as much as we are a "creation" of our surroundings and (redundantly) the system that surrounds us as metabolic creatures, we have to take what people promote with a pinch of salt. 

1. our body follows physical and natural law. if you need something, your body needs it. period. 

now, I went out on a limb and went cold turkey from my supplements for about 4months and through process of elimination(fast food, primarily) and re-introduction(whole foods and supplements) I found that I had been adding to the fire of misinformation going off on tangents based on "fad" and "bro" science. 

I was shocked that eating meat, complex carbs, healthy fats, veggies and filling the cracks with supplements(predominately, Calcium, Vitamin C, Collagen, Co Q-10 and Omega 3's) which are the building blocks that are missing from my nutritional geographic standpoint(there has to be a shorter and simpler term to coin this, but this is what comes to mind) is what made the difference between feeling fine and okay most days, to raising the standard of "fine and okay" to "wow, i wasn't even close to this performance capacity, 7-8 months ago"

point in case, in order of effectiveness, ease of delivery and cost, focusing on whole foods and filling the cracks(wherever they may show up) with supplements is THE best course of action for your basic health. anything else can be sorted with a quick and easy genetic test to see where you are different and lastly, medical intervention. 

to put it simply, you really are what you eat(not only in a metaphorical sense, but also in a chemical standpoint.)

carbs run certain energy systems.

proteins run certain energy systems. 

fats run certain energy systems. 

trace elements run certain functions. 

all you gotta do is pick, what sources you choose with those fuels included. it really is that simple and investing those several months to purge myself of dogma, i did myself and my customers a great deal of good (for their health, their wallets and most of all, their conscience that they were investing in something worthwhile) and I have no doubt that anyone can experience the same if not more. there are more than enough excellent products in the global market place for dietary use. the key is how to sort through the "marketing" and know how to implement what you need, when you need it, not buy it because the packaging is nice or morally re-assuring. 

(i am a simpleton, afterall)

Mark Collins said:

Mass gainers are an overpriced supplement. Why pay a lot of money for maltodextrin and protein powder when you have not got your diet right. You would gain a lot more micronutrients eating real food. Once you get that right, then if you need add some supplements.

Undeniably so.  However, it can be really hard getting enough protein on a vegan diet.  And yes, I know that the average adult male only needs 56g of protein a day to maintain muscle mass (half of that if it's from uncooked vegetable sources) but I know that when I sorted out my daily protein intake and really hit that gram per pound of bodyweight ratio my gains started properly coming through.

I do not know if this has been asked before but how much Soy is okay to be consumed?

I was looking at brands like "Earth Balance" and it seems to me that the only way I'd be able to get good amounts of protein in my vegan diet is Soy. But how harmful is it?

I remember reading something about a study where japanese men who consumed more than 200g per day were at risk for developing hormonal problems, man-boobs etc. but I could be wrong about the amount. Should be possible to google, though - I'll bet it has been looked into.

However, like I said - combining foods which are considered to be carb-sources for meat-eaters, is a way to get some protein though. You can probably supplement with rice/hemp protein powders and some soy - but avoid basing your diet on premade crap like "facon", "soy-rizo" and stuff like that. It's mostly E-numbers in there anyway. Always surprises me how little vegetables some vegans and vegetarians actually eat....

The reason why egg is considered to be a near-perfect source of protein, is it's amino acid profile. Let's say it has 5g alanine, 10g aspartate and 5g leucine. Your body doesn't care if the AA come from one source or multiple, as long as it's consumed at the same point in time. So if kidney beans contain 10g aspartate and your brown rice has 5g alanine and 5g leucine, you still get the same out of it as you would eating that egg. You just have to do some reading and create nutritious meals. You'll probably have to eat more rice and beans to get the same amount of nutrients as that egg would have, but just eat as much as you can and then supplement. That way you won't have to worry.

And if feeling too full all the time becomes a problem, just try to eat more meals throughout the day. Your body will adapt to the amount you feed it, over time. After a while it will start to feel normal. And if it's still a problem, get a food processor or blender and blend it, then drink it. Liquids are absorbed faster and more easily digested, so you won't feel as full.

I do occasionally have the desire to eat cheese but since I am allergic it is kind of irritating. Would there be a possibility of creating cheese from hemp/pea protein? Because I would like to have "cheese" pizzas at times or so.

I cannot consume eggs because I am allergic. I wish I could.

Well, I said that even though animal protein - like eggs, are considered to be best, you can get a decent protein consumption from your plant sources alone, like rice + beans and then just supplement from there. So you can stay vegan and still healthy. I didn't mean that you should eat eggs.

And I'm way out of my turf here, but you can google a lot of this stuff, apparently:

http://www.theveganwoman.com/how-to-make-vegan-cheese-at-home/

http://vegangela.com/2011/10/15/homemade-vegan-cheese/

http://www.thegentlechef.com/NDFindex.php

http://www.amazon.com/Artisan-Vegan-Cheese-Miyoko-Schinner/dp/1570672830


Never tried anything like this, but it looks like interesting projects for the kitchen.

To quote the Vegetarian Society:
"Of the eight essential amino acids two– lysine and methionine are given special attention in vegetarian diets. This is because compared with foods of animal origin such as eggs, milk and cheese various food groups of vegetable origin have an imbalance of either lysine or methionine. The food groups mainly in question are; cereals, such as wheat, oats and rice, and legumes; beans, peas and lentils.  Wheat and rice proteins are comparatively low in lysine but better sources of methionine whereas beans and peas are relatively high in lysine yet in lower methionine. This has naturally led to the idea of cereals and legumes as ‘complementary’ proteins. In practice this means that meals that combine for example beans and rice or houmous and bread will provide a biologically ‘complete’ protein intake.   It was thought until relatively recently that, as the body does not readily store amino acids it was essential for vegetarians to combine ‘complementary proteins’ at each meal. There has been some debate over this which has concluded that this isn’t strictly necessary, however it still has some advantages and seems a sensible way to approach a varied and complete diet."

Domz said:

Soy- 3 or less servings a day.

Over 5 servings may increase IGF-1 levels which increases disease risk.

Fermented soy products are probably best.

Processed soy (as said above), like anything else, is junk. Avoid it.

Soy milk, like regular milk, will bind with the good stuff in tea/coffee and reduce health benefit of that drink.

Here is a lovely literature review paper that discusses the often thrown around argument that soy causes feminization of males: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20378106

 

Wrt to feminization of males, I'd be worried about BPA in canned foods among other sources.

 

There is an amino acid pool in the body. You do not have to food combine to ensure every single meal creates a complete protein. As long as your diet is varied throughout the day, it's fine.

I stand corrected - and thanks for linking to something tangible about men and soy. It was a long, long time since I read anything about that and all the newer investigations seem to refute the feminization possibilities, I see. The reputed cases also seem to be few and far between - and with additional factors involved.

As for food combining, there might be practical value in food combining, since you will be sure you have your amino acids covered if you get a broad spectrum of them at every meal. Less to think about during the day.