Im New and in need of help...

HI im new to Fs website and well im 22 years old and 185 pounds,i want to build muscle and gain weight, im here because i need help , in nutrition, beginning that i go to school and work on weekends, i still wanna try to achieve the goals i have for my body, by eating five meals, since i have read mark laurens book.. just wanted to know who could recommend,a good nutrition plan, starting with shakes or smoothies at morning and any other meals in between, just a reminder im very new at eating just what my body needs. so if anyone can specify the types of meals to build muscle and gain weight would be greatly appreciated.. thank you so much..

There are SO many different beliefs out there about nutrition and some people think there are things you have to avoid and specific shakes/supplements that you have to have, and even people that think the government is out to get us and that we shouldn't listen to their ideas on nutrition.

Personally, I'm all about making lifestyle changes that you can stick with - if you aren't going to be doing shakes/smoothies every day for the rest of your life, then don't make them a staple now. They are fine for the occasional supplement or small meal replacement if you're rushed, but they shouldn't be the basis of your day.

Check out this USDA website on Healthy Eating Tips - I think it will help you get started!

If you want to gain mass, you need to eat at a calorie surplus. This means estimating how many calories you burn on an average day (which can be done in several ways) and then using some trial and error to see if you are above or below that number.

If you want the surplus calories to be partitioned into muscle rather than fat, these are the most relevant factors:

* The macro- and micro-nutrient sufficiency of your diet. In other words, are you getting enough protein and fats, and vitamins and minerals.

* The size of the calorie surplus. The rate of muscle protein turnover limits how much new muscle mass can be added over time. If your calorie intake exceeds this amount, you'll gain more fat.

* Your training. Lift weights - ideally, a program that incorporates progressive overload while focusing on the major compound lifts with freeweights.

* Your hormones. You don't have much control over this, unless you supplement illegally. Dietary fats can be important for androgen levels though.

* Sufficient sleep.


Notice what's not on this list - meal frequency, meal timing, and names of individual food items. Your body doesn't see food labels. It sees macro- and micro-nutrients. The timing and frequency of your meals, and the individual foods you select for nutrient sufficiency can and should be up to you - they may all make a difference to how you feel, and that will affect your training. So they matter, but it's your preference.

If you don't mind a little math, read this thread for methods on calculating the calories, protein, and fat you need.

Yep, yep.. listen to Nimm - for some reason I was in the mind frame of answering the "I need to lose weight, what should I eat?" type of questions and didn't read carefully enough to realize that you were a guy looking to add muscle weight.