Meal Plan for a skinny guy | Eating 101 | Forum

Well, technically I'm not skinny.  My body fat is around 9-10 percent, but I'm an ecotmorph.  Not the classic kind who is tall and lanky.  Rather, I'm 5'8 and weight just 150 but my natural weight is around 142.  My skeleton is thin and narrow; my joints are small; and it's hard for me to gain or hold muscle.  With this small frame, small improvements look huge on me.  For instance, if my arms went from 14 1/4 to 14 1/2 inches, people would describe me as having big arms, because, symmetrically, they would look big.  Problem is, 1/4" is hard for me to gain.  However, the 8 lbs I've gained is mostly muscle, so my effort is not totally futile.

I'd like to put an example of a one-day meal plan on here and let Cameron, Darrin, or anyone else comment, critique, or ask questions.

Other concerns:  My annual medical exams have resulted in my blood glucose level slowly rising over the last three years.  I'm not at the level for needing drugs, but I'm trending towards it.  In 2008, my semi-fasted level was 98; in 2009, 100; and in 2010, 105.  It should be under 100.  Before 2008, it was always in the 75-85 range.  When it hit 100, I started eating like a diabetic with regards to carbs.  This makes it hard for a guy trying to gain and maintain weight.  Still, even with this strict diet, it's trending upwards.  Just don't suggest that I start eating everything in sight to gain weight, because I'd rather stay thin than to speed up my sugar problem.

I have a incurable disease called ulcerative colotis (UC).  It's sort of like crohns, except it affects only one's colon (crohns can affect any part of one's digestive tract).  Anyway, UC is not a problem unless I have a flare up.  I've had two in sixteen years, but I had one last year and it took away the small amount of progress I had made.  A flare up can occur for any reason or for no reason, but I may help keep one from triggering by keeping my diet steady (not too much strain on my digestive system from overeating or undereating or strange diet habits).  My theory is that last year's flare up was triggered by post-surgery antibiotics.  The only other thing I can do is to live a healthy lifestyle.  That's what you guys are helping me do.

Workout days:

Wake up 4 AM: 10 oz of water; 10 oz of coffee (approx.)

(1) 4:40-Thirty min. before workout: one serving of a protein shake mixed with either gatorade mix or skim milk; one banana; a couple of egg whites.

(2) 5:15-6:15-During workout: 3/4 serving of same protein shake/carb combo. (I start sipping after most of my high energy movements are performed.

(3) 6:20-6:30-After workout: 1 1/4 serving of same protein shake/carb combo.

(4) 6:50-7:05-30 min. after workout: banana or orange slices; three to five egg whites (jumbo)–include one yoke.

(5) 9:30-Turkey breast sandwhich on whole wheat with lettuce and tomato; an apple or grapes.

(6) 12:10-8oz of lean meat, chicken breast, or lean pork; vegetable; fruit (sometimes beans)

(7) 2:30-five to eight oz. of tuna, salmon, chicken breast (sometimes as a sandwhich); peanuts or almonds, or all-natural peanut butter (sometimes as a sandwhich).

(8) 4:45-5:30-six to eight oz of meat, poultry, or fish; large salad or large serving of vegetable (frozen or fresh); cup of milk (no starches).

(9) 1/2 cup of cottage cheese or some other lean protein source; celery or carrot or leaf lettuce, hand ful of peanuts or nuts.

*non-workout days–meals start with meal three and I wake up @ 5 AM.

**in my younger days, before I worried about sugar, I ate everything in sight, and had just as much trouble gaining muscle and getting stronger as I do now.

btw… yay for super long posts  (Does that count as 2??? )

Gatorade is  really just a simple substitute from a meal plan laid out by "Scrawny to Brawny".  I'm not really following their diet but I'm using some of their assertions.

For skinny guys, they recommend a protein cocktail (for three meals) pre-workout, during workout, and post workout on workout days.  They specify how much (by body weight) protein mix, malto-dexton, dextrose, BCAAs, glutimine, and water.   Malto-dextron and dextrose are cheap and are super-simple sugars for quick absorption, but I must order them, because I can't find any bakers in town who have them for sale.  I'm out of BCAAs as well.  So, just for the sake of getting some kind of sugar, I've been using Gatorade (sometimes).  I can't tell, other than overall, daily caloric intake, that eating or drinking anything around my workouts helps me gain muscle or have more energy.

With respect to adding carbs, this is where I'm most lost.  I understood more how to eat before I noticed my blood glucose levels creeping up, however, after one year of controlling my carbs througout the day, my sugar is even higher.  But it's not like I have a means to periodically test my blood sugar; I'm basing this simply on annual, physical checkups for morning, semi-fasted levels.  I don't know how high my glucose gets after eating, but I've read enough about diabetis to scare me.  My doctor says we won't do other test until it reaches 115.  Right now, I'm not eating hardly any starches.  Only whole grains when I eat grains; and mostly fruits and vegetable other than around workout time.  I have not always, however, been this skiddish of carbs.  But I can't tell that being carb strict has hurt my progress; though it hasn't helped either.

Currently, I do cardio twice every nine days.  Some cycles I do no cardio, but I'm never on a cycle where I do more than three times per week.

Until recently I was eating a real meal before workouts (what is now meal 4), and the protein shake during and post, but my workouts come so soon after waking that I felt dragged down with a meal in my gut.  Before that, I was working out semi-fasted, which works well for me (for energy) but seems to be discouraged by almost everyone.  This pre-workout shake and banana seems to work just as well as semi fasting.  If I eat any earlier, I'll have to get up before 4 AM.

I've tried working out after work in the evenings several times, but I just can't focus.

One thing I want to make clear is I don't drink Gatorade or anything else for hydration other than water.  The Gatorade is simply a simple sugar to replace the sugars recommended in the book.

Best of luck to you, but keep in mind… Darrin hasn't added his take either…

Post edited 2:05 pm – June 6, 2010 by gregsfc

First, I want to thank you and Cameron for all your time in critiquing me.

Secondly, I'd like to correct an error made in my one-day meal plan.  I do eat oatmeal just about every day, usually with a few raisins thrown in (about 3/4 cup before cooking).  It comes on meal 4 on workout days with the egg whites and fruit (the first solid meal of the day after working out).  My only concern about this is from some sources, I've read to limit fibrous food around workout time.  What is your belief on this?

I can tolerate any starch; it's just that I've been avoiding them (when they are not whole grain) just from fear that they may be considered worse for raising blood sugar.  This does not mean that I'm well-informed on how different carbs affect blood sugar.  In other words, I've been kind of winging it with only slight knowledge on the topic.  I know that I should not load up on starchy foods in the evenings.  I know that I shouldn't eat refined sugars and bleached flours, but after Cameron's explanation that there is no such thing as "good" and "bad" carbs, I'm really confused now!  If it's not the glycemic index that I should be concerned about, why don't we all eat bleached flour and bleached pasta, sweets, etc.?  In other words, why do reputable bodybuilder gurus discourage certain carb snacks, if all carbs are the same?

As for my UC, I've not found any foods that trigger flareups, but I avoid spicy foods and too many raw vegetables (i.e. salads), at one meal, simply because these can cause digestive discomfort for just about anyone.  UC affects each person that has it differently and flare ups can be triggered in as many different ways as is people that have it.  The only reason I mentioned it was that I wanted to make it clear that I'm not willing to change to a far different diet than the one I'm on.  But it sounds like, from you and Cameron's perspective, I'm not too far off track from what I should be doing.

As for "natural" weight, this is the weight I gravitate towards if I'm not lifting and not eating unaturally more or less than I want to, living the active lifestyle I have with a fairly physical job.  When I was serving in Iraq, in the Na. Guard, my "natural" weight was higher, because I was much more sedentary.  So, even though I was eating even less than during my non-lifting, active lifestyle, my natural weight moved up to about 152.  But this 152 is alot different than 152 would be in the current shape I'm in now.  It's just that reaching 152 (lifting, active, and eating) is alot harder than reaching it, being sedentary.

The frustration I have with my body and overall health is three fold:  1. Strength  Although you have stated that I seem pretty balanced and strong for my size, I still feel that my leg strength is poor.  Although my squat and deadlift strength is not awful, I feel like my legs don't produce much of the power to accomplish these lifts; i.e. my leg press and  leg curl abilities are pitiful; and I can barely even do lunges with my right leg forward.  And it's not just in the weight room.  I work with a couple of guys that are in their late fifties and they can handle things much easier than I can, lifting, pushing, tugging and the sort.  I've not been able to find a single routine that allows me to have progress in leg strength past the first month of training, even when periodically changing to different routines. 

In your last paragraph, you write about slow, consistent progress, but this is where I get stuck.  I've been through periods of my life where I was on alternating periods of weight lifting programs with good nutrition for several years straight (with periodic, one-week breaks), but gaining weight and strength has never been the results for me after the first month or two after starting consistent training.  Getting in great shape–yes.  Becoming more agile and flexible–yes.  Being more healthy(immune sytem)–yes.  Better body composition–yes.  But getting stronger and more massive–no!

2. Body composition.  Sorry about the picture thing, but I've not yet joined the digital revolution yet.  I don't own a digital camera or even know how to put pictures on line.  Part of this is financial limitations and financial priorities.  I'd rather keep an emergency fund intact than to buy a bunch of electronic gadgets that most every one else has.  I don't currently have a cell phone or even cable tv, but I have no debt.  I guess I'm what Dave Ramsey calls, "weird".

My legs are very small, which should be no surprise.  My upper body is full of muscle tone, but it doesn't have a lifters shape.  It's pencil like, unless I'm full of glycogen during a workout.  My triceps bulge out a little when my arms are by my sides, but this occurs due to a couple of well-develped small muscles in my back that pooch them out.  The name of these muscles start with a "t".   These muscles lie to the outside and on top of my lats.  I found them on my body when I was looking for the cause of this and then found them on a muscle anatomy chart.  But if I stand sideways to a mirror, my lower and middle ribcage stand out as the largest part of my body and then my upper chest shrinks inward.

My goal on body composition is to look like I spend time in the weight room and to have good symmetry.  It is frustration to be talking to someone about lifting, and then they ask–"do you work out".  It happens to me all the time.  I want to at least look like I work out.

3. Overall Health.  This is the most important.  I want weight lifting to help me achieve better, overall health.  I feel that it is very important that a guy who is ectomorphic, and is aging, to do everything he can to gain and maintain muscle mass, so that he does not prematurely become frail as he ages.  Since I have a natural tendency towards being thin and lean (as long as I'm active), I feel that I will naturally lose muscle mass as I age if I don't intervene.

But I don't want to focus so much on muscle mass and strength that I put other elements of my health in jeopardy, i.e. flexibility, injury prevention, etc.

Please feel free to further comment or ask questions or criticize my assertions and goals, but even if you don't, thank you for reading and responding to these long posts previous to this one.

Your "t" muscle would be either your teres major or minor, depending on placement, sound's like the major to me though from your descriptions.  Anyways, as far as strength goes, if at all possible, I think you would really benefit from getting help IN PERSON on some technique for doing some power movements.  If you start doing some total body stuff, it might help with your leg strength.  Try some single leg squats too, it should really help out your lunges (which are a very functional exercise.)

I have a client in his 50's after working with me who is in the prime of his life.  He's about 5' 9" 155 lbs.  And about 8% bodyfat (8 pack).  He's in better shape than I am, lol.  Anyways, it's absolutely possible to make gain while older, it's just like having other issues.  You just have to work harder.  That's the way it is, no it's not fair, but it is what it is.  Kinda like life.

As far as overall health, you are doing what you need to then.  The major difference between myself and my clientelle is that their goals are usually aesthetic, while mine is healthbased, we usually meet in the middle.  This causes me to be a little more worried about what they want to do, over what I want them to do.  By having your mind set you are ahead of the game.

Yes, I believe it is the teres major, because, as soon as I lower my arms, it sits down on top of my lat muscle and petrudes outward; then my arms set down by my side and I look as if my arms are muscular and bigger than they look in other positions.  I've noticed this on other people but the difference on me is more dramatic than anyone I've ever seen.  Anyway, I wish I could develop my larger muscles as well as I have the teres.

My right leg is only slightly weaker than my left (the left-leg-forward lunge ain't much better); The strength difference is no more pronounced than my arms, pecs, and calves, but with my upper legs, they are both weak at the bottom part of the squat or deadlift and especially when I'm doing one leg at a time in a movement like the lunge.  The weakness seems to be around the knee joint.  Once I raise my  body to where my legs are about 30 degrees from the floor (and my upper quad muscles get involved), I am much, much stronger.  I'm sure this is true for most people, but very pronounced for me and I have little muscle development around my knees.

I'm going to talk to my gym owner and see if he can help me (or refer me to someone) with some core stuff, corrective movements, and power lifting.  I'm not even against doing some pure, strength, power lifting, but I want to make sure I'm doing everything right.  None of this is worth an injury.