College student nutrition

Hello everyone!

I posted a thread a few months back about nutritional needs and I did get a few good comments but nothing solid enough. Since then I wanted to change somethings about my workout routine and nutritional plan but never had the time to. I am an art student so time is gold and I work A LOT. So anyone, I finally have some time to sit down and think about everything but I need your help, since you're much more knowledgeable than me.

Let me begin by saying that I am a vegetarian by choice. I wouldn't mind eating seafood but I'd rather stick with being just vegetarian. A few months ago I talked about having food allergies to a lot of things, turned out I had absolutely none. So this basically means that I can eat eggs, dairy, etc.

I'm not on a great budget so ideally I want something that is low in cost. I have absolutely no idea about supplements except a few general knowledge about whey, creatine and the "basics" but I have no solid understanding of what most of them do.

So what is my goal? My goal isn't really size at all. I am unfortunately a skinny fat. I have skinny arms and legs but I do have a belly and some chest fat, maybe on my thighs too but I am not entirely sure. When I stand under the light I can see 4 packs. I can raven feel them and feel the gaps without having too press too hard. My goal is basically getting ripped. I do realise that ripped and skinny isn't great that's why I don't mind adding some size but nothing too much. I'd prefer to gain size over the years instead of doing the monthly routine of bulking and cutting, I want to focus on my skills and performance more.

How's my training routine? Mostly bodyweight with some kettlebell. I can only workout 3 times a week and the other 4 days I have 3 days of skills (floor exercises, static and "bboying"). I only have access to the university gym, which isn't great. We don't have rings or such apparatuses, we've only got machines. I have found crossfit near where I live but at the current time I am unable to join, perhaps next year. There is also a gymnastics club but they only allow 2 days per week for adults (I'm 18) and one of the days is at 8 PM, the other I doubt I can attend since I have morning classes. So most of the other days I find some grassy areas to do my floor exercises.

I'm generally not a guy that eats a lot, but I stay clean and healthy. So I am just wondering what I need to be consuming throughout the day and when to consume and how much to consume. I don't mind purchasing supplements as long as they're not incredibly expensive.

Thank you for reading and I hope some of you can guide me.

Systemic said:

I have absolutely no idea about supplements except a few general knowledge about whey, creatine and the "basics" but I have no solid understanding of what most of them do.

Daniel Burnham and Joshua Naterman both speak highly of supplementing BCAA before and after your workout.

As a vegetarian, how's your protein intake.  I find it pretty hard to gain lean mass if I'm not getting around 180g a day...  You might want to look into hemp and/or split pea protein supplements.  Try to avoid soy if you can.  (I dunno, I have a phobia of soy due to broscience....)

Lentils are cheap and fairly high in protein as well.  They're also a good source of resistant starch, which I still need to do more reading on.

With Whey powder I can get about 80-90g per day. I do not know how many shakes I should take but I take 1 shake a day with 2 scoops (48g). The other 42 I get from stuff like beans, peanut butter, cheese and eggs. I focus a lot on eating healthy because I've read a lot about chinese medicine and it talks about the gut's mind and how the food you take in effects it. So I have never been really sure about supplements and if it is really a better idea to take them in rather than real food.

I've also heard someone talk about how it is much more effective to eat and take the shakes before workout than after workout. I believe it was Elliott Hulse.

I think the hardest thing right now is knowing how much I need to be eating to get a ripped body with some muscle. I heard about Carb cycling but as I've said before, I'm a newbie at this.

By choosing to be a vegetarian, you are going to have some very specific nutritional challenges that omnivores will not have. You will have trouble getting enough zinc, iron (though adding citrus to all of your greens will help), vitamins B6 and B12, and several other things. A registered dietitian can help you pinpoint where you may have some issues, and for a vegetarian I think that is a smart appointment to make, if you can. To help pay for this, see if you can get your doctor to refer you to an RD. I believe that the affordable care act gives EVERYONE a no-cost appointment each year, so you may want to look into that possibility.

Even if it's out of pocket, I think that visit will help you a whole lot. To avoid needing multiple appointments, make a food and activity diary ahead of time and bring it with you. Two weekdays and both weekend days should be good, but pick days that truly represent your range of dietary habits and can give the RD a good idea of your overall intake and activity level. Don't leave anything out, and don't change your habits. The diary isn't to judge you, it is to give an honest appraisal of the current situation. Make sure to ask about looking for any hidden micronutrient issues you might have.

Knowing how to properly use the available health professionals to your advantage will make life easier

As for your protein, ~30g of whey is all you need per serving. Any more is just wasted protein, so getting 2 doses of 24g  a few hours apart will be much more effective than a single 48g dose.

Finally, I want to suggest to you that it is very, very important to be careful about learning nutrition online. There is much, much more misinformation than true knowledge. The best thing you can do is go to half.com and buy an introductory human nutrition book. You will learn all the basics and only pay ~20 bucks for the book, and after that you can go to amazon.com and buy "Advanced Sports Nutrition" by Dan Benardot. I do NOT suggest buying Benardot's book first, you will need a good knowledge base first.

Link for a good intro book ($19-30 USD): http://product.half.ebay.com/Understanding-Nutrition-by-Eleanor-Noss-Eleanor-Noss-Whitney-Whitney-and-Sharon-Rady-Rolfes-2011-Hardcover-Revised/109094533&tg=info#moredetails

Link for Benardot's book ($15): http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Sports-Nutrition-2nd-Edition-Benardot/dp/1450401619/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1393822409&sr=1-1-fkmr1

After you have read these two books cover to cover, you will probably be pretty safe from nutritional BS.

.....You know whey protein is made from milk, right?

Edit: Ah, nevermind.  I was thinking vegan.

I don't know what you weigh right now, but I'd hesitantly suggest doubling your protein intake.  1g per lb of bodyweight is the generally accepted formula.

Thank you Joshua. I'll see what I can do about the appointment. And about the book, how much in depth does it go? And what areas do they cover?

I'm around 140lb atm and I believe 5'7 in height.

I looked at GOMAD and I thought I'd be able to pull off 2 litres of milk a day but not a gallon. This should give me a good 80g of protein on its own and the rest I can get it from eggs, cheese, beans, etc.

I'm probably following this http://endura.com.au/sites/default/files/paleo/what-does-a-day-look-like.pdf just replacing the meat with something else. 2700 seems realistic enough I guess and 65% of it is fruits and vegetables.

I'm also on creatine atm, I might add some B complex. This is just for a bit until I get back whatever muscle I lost (I know it's going to take a while). Tell me what you guys think.

Systemic said:

Thank you Joshua. I'll see what I can do about the appointment. And about the book, how much in depth does it go? And what areas do they cover?

 

I'm around 140lb atm and I believe 5'7 in height.

 

I looked at GOMAD and I thought I'd be able to pull off 2 litres of milk a day but not a gallon. This should give me a good 80g of protein on its own and the rest I can get it from eggs, cheese, beans, etc.

 

I'm probably following this http://endura.com.au/sites/default/files/paleo/what-does-a-day-look-like.pdf just replacing the meat with something else. 2700 seems realistic enough I guess and 65% of it is fruits and vegetables.

 

I'm also on creatine atm, I might add some B complex. This is just for a bit until I get back whatever muscle I lost (I know it's going to take a while). Tell me what you guys think.

It starts off assuming you know nothing, and gives you a good education in all areas. Certainly more than enough to understand Benardot's book. Hence the pairing. 

A google search for "calorie calculator" will lead you to sites that will let you get a basic idea of how much food you need to eat. Be sure to adjust for activity levels, you will see what I mean when you start visiting sites. A decent one will have activity level options for you, just choose which one sounds right for you.

Your particular food choices are up to you, I don't have the time to pick food lists apart. My suggestion is to cover half of your plate in vegetables each meal, get 50% of your calories from carbs, 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight, and try to avoid excessive amounts of pre-prepared packaged food.