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Hey guys,

First off I'd like to say hi and that I browse this site every day and love all the helpful information and thought provoking questions.

I've been Paleo/Zone (zone off and on) for 9 months now. I CrossFit 5 days a week as well. I'm a 24 year old male, extremely active, 5'7" and (last time I weighed myself) weigh between 140-150lbs.

I'd like to further tweak my diet because A) I want to build as much muscle and get as much performance and B) I study nutrition, love experimenting, and am OCD like that =P.

I'm currently sourcing options to make the transition to grass-fed meat only (I live in the middle of nowhere).

Here's a sample of a day's worth of eating (I began Paleo/Zone with a 15-16 block Rx and haven't really changed it over 7 months, except for recently adding a PWO shake starting 2 weeks ago):

Breakfast (Smoothie)

  • Coconut Milk -- 4 oz
  • Whey Protein Isolate -- 0.5 cup
  • Strawberries -- 1 cup
  • Blueberries -- 0.5 cup
  • Cherries -- 8 cherries
  • Cranberries -- 0.5 cup
  • Calories: 684 -- Carb: 87g -- Protein: 41g -- Fat: 21g

Lunch (Raw)

  • Chicken Breast -- 5 oz
  • Celery -- 2 cups
  • Broccoli -- 2 cups
  • Bell Pepper -- 1.25 cups
  • Grapes -- 1 cup
  • Olive Oil -- 2 tbsp
  • Calories: 651 -- Carb: 58g -- Protein: 52g -- Fat: 26g

Post WOD Snack

  • Coconut Milk -- 4 oz
  • Whey Protein Isolate -- 0.5 cup
  • Calories: 388 -- Carb: 10g -- Protein: 40g -- Fat: 20g

Dinner (Stir Fry)

  • Shrimp -- 7.5 oz
  • Bok Choy -- 3 cups
  • Mushrooms -- 2 cups
  • Bell Pepper -- 1.25 cups
  • Broccoli -- 2 cups
  • Cauliflower -- 1.25 cups
  • Coconut Oil -- 1 tbsp
  • Calories: 612 -- Carb: 40g -- Protein: 75g -- Fat: 21g

Supplementation (EPA/DHA)

  • Carlson's Finest Fish Oil -- 5 tsp
  • TwinLab Norwegian Cod Liver Oil -- 2 tsp
  • Calories: 280 -- Fat: 31g -- 7.5-8g EPA/DHA

TOTALS

  • Calories: 2,615 -- Carb: 195g (27%) -- Protein: 207g (31%) -- Fat: 120g (41%)

I have definitely put on some weight and muscle with the addition of the whey protein and I'm doing the Fat/Protein PWO protocol after reading Robb Wolf's PWO article. I've been reading about a 3x fat approach. Do you think I would do better and see better gains (muscle/performance) with adding more fat and cutting more carbs? Do you think I'm even eating enough?

I'm sorry for writing such a novel I just really want to tweak my diet further and get the most out of it as possible.

Thanks so much everyone and rock on =D

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female or male? – nnunn Feb 26 2011 at 6:30
edited for clarification – KD Feb 26 2011 at 6:58

4 Answers

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I agree with getting more calories, I'm 6' 150lbs and eat somewhere in the neighborhood of 3500 cals/day. If you can find a good quality source of eggs I would ditch the whey isolate and put 4-6 eggs in your smoothies. Maybe add some grass-fed beef or bison in at dinner, possibly also with some scrambled eggs.

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I don't think your overall cals are high enough to really build and grow beyond where you're at. I think with all that Crossfit you're prolly just burning it all. Also, being young I think those cals are just sustaining amounts, not building amounts. I mean, I'm 31 and feel like I'd eat that much just to get by.

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How many calories/blocks would you prescribe yourself if you were in my shoes? – KD Feb 27 2011 at 15:54
not sure. all i can say is with my current mass gain effort on ripp's starting strength i shoot for maybe 3 days out of every week where im getting down around 4k in cals. on the other four ish days of hte week im prolly in the 2500-3000 range. And im 31 years old. At your age im just thinking to actually make big gains you'd take down at least what i am, if not more yknow? – ben61820 Feb 28 2011 at 21:47
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First, you don't eat enough meat (beef, lamb, game); unless there is a reason for that, you should start there. Better source of protein than whey isolate, and good source of fat as well.

Second, cook your food, it is more nutritious.

Third, I don't think you get the amount of energy and nutrients you calculated: take dinner, for example, 615 calories? I don't think so; and 7.5 ounces of shrimps don't have 75 gr of proteins; the veggies there are almost negligible in that respect.

Fourth, more fat would do you good... but I wouldn't cut the veggies.

I really think you are undernourrished (not enough calories, not enough nutrients), but it should be very easy for you to increase your body weight and improve your performance with just a few changes. Good luck!

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jees, I hadn't noticed that the chicken was raw. I've never eaten chicken raw, beef yes. – oliverh Feb 26 2011 at 10:44
I hope Ke meant that only the veggies are raw... – Paola Feb 26 2011 at 11:39
Veggies are raw, not the chicken haha. In terms of meat, (yes I know chicken is bad I'm slowly using up my supply) I'm taking the steps to get a grass-fed connection out here. I'm trying to finish up my whey protein supply too. Based on my readings and investigation, isn't whey a pretty dependable fast source of protein absorption especially PWO? Hence the reason I bought it in the first place. A little more background about my cooking habits: I buy my meat in bulk and cook it all at once. Then I divide the meat into 5 oz portions (my protien blocks), put them in ziplock sandwich bags and – KD Feb 26 2011 at 15:59
throw them in the freezer. I do a smoothie in the morning because I love smoothies, I pack a lunch for school every day (hence the raw veggies + cooked meat + side of oil), and I cook my dinner every night. Do you guys think I should up my block amounts? If so, should my macronutrient ratios stay the same or up the fat? I'm intrigued by the increase of fat but don't know much about the reasoning for it. – KD Feb 26 2011 at 16:05
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Small tweak, cut out the strawberries at breakfast.

Or go for intermittent fasting, cut the breakfast totally. Try training fasted 2 hours or so before the main meal, feasting on more good protein (chicken is not so good) and tubers at that time. A second meal later, based around salad and condiments. This will provoke muscle growth which is your goal.

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when I say condiments, I mean throw tuna, meat, shrimps, cheese for example in the salad... – oliverh Feb 26 2011 at 10:46

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