Supplements vs No Supplements

[fastortoise]

I don't take supplements, although I do use protein powder in my meals. I don't count that as a supplement because, well, it's my food lol. Also, too many antioxidants can be detrimental to your health. My mother kept trying to get me to take different vitamin pills, and I kept telling her that too much of a certain vitamin can do damage. I get enough nutrition from my current diet, so I don't need to include any filler. I'm a vegetarian, so some people who are vegetarians might need to take iron supplements. The only thing I'm sometimes short on is potassium, but I'll just add a second banana if that happens during that particular day. I'm on a 3,500 calorie per day diet, so my daily values are based on that (except protein, where I aim for 150-180 grams per day).

That sounds like... the perfect diet, nice. Do you buy/cook all your meals yourself? Because I would love to try a vegetarian diet but my parents love their meat way too much, I'm pretty much force fed red meat every day (not that I have anything to complain about).

 

Also, is there a certain aliment that boosts your calorie intake to 3,500 or do you just eat tons of everything?

[Bloodstain]

3,500 isn't really a ton, I'm hitting 3k minimum with relative ease personally. People who do huge amounts like 7k are [bleep]ing insane though, and I have no idea how Phelps managed 12k A DAY. Jesus that's a lot

[magekillr]

I don't take supplements, although I do use protein powder in my meals. I don't count that as a supplement because, well, it's my food lol. Also, too many antioxidants can be detrimental to your health. My mother kept trying to get me to take different vitamin pills, and I kept telling her that too much of a certain vitamin can do damage. I get enough nutrition from my current diet, so I don't need to include any filler. I'm a vegetarian, so some people who are vegetarians might need to take iron supplements. The only thing I'm sometimes short on is potassium, but I'll just add a second banana if that happens during that particular day. I'm on a 3,500 calorie per day diet, so my daily values are based on that (except protein, where I aim for 150-180 grams per day).

That sounds like... the perfect diet, nice. Do you buy/cook all your meals yourself? Because I would love to try a vegetarian diet but my parents love their meat way too much, I'm pretty much force fed red meat every day (not that I have anything to complain about).

 

Also, is there a certain aliment that boosts your calorie intake to 3,500 or do you just eat tons of everything?

 

Well right now my diet is less on course because I'm living with my aunt and uncle. When I get back to my apartment in August it'll be back on track and normal.

 

Anyway, here's a standard day, and there are different changes that can be made if you need more variety:

 

Meal 1:

Two egg white omelette with spinach and cheese, two slices of Arnold's Health Nut Bread, one serving of peanut butter (Smucker's natural, get rid of the hydrogenated crap), a glass or orange juice.

 

Meal 2:

Bowl of Total or Shredded Wheat cereal with skim milk

 

Meal 3:

4 cups of mixed vegetables with a glass of water mixed with protein powder

 

Meal 4:

3 servings of pasta (spaghetti, macaroni, fettuccine, etc)

 

GYM

 

Meal 5:

Protein shake: protein powder, 2 cups of milk, 1 cup of oatmeal, 1 frozen banana, 1 serving of peanut butter, 1 serving of brewer's yeast

 

Meal 6:

3 servings of black beans, 3 servings of brown rice, 3 servings of garbonzo beans

 

Lots of water throughout the day. Eat once every 1.5-2 hours.

 

People who do huge amounts like 7k are [bleep]ing insane though, and I have no idea how Phelps managed 12k A DAY. Jesus that's a lot

 

He needs to change his diet or he's going to have a heart attack by the time he's 35. Even if he burns it all off and looks healthy, the amount of pizza and fat he's consuming is dangerous to his health. Yeah, iunno how you can eat 7k calories in one day. My protein shake has like 1,000 in it, and each meal is roughly 400-600 calories a pop.

[Bloodstain]

Seems like it's a different story for the hardcore top tier athletes who do tons of exercise, he seems to get a lot of protein and not an over abundance of fat though

Does a diet like this make sense even for a calorie-incinerating human swimming machine? We checked in with Mark Klion, a sports medicine doc and orthopedic surgeon at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. He reminded us that the eating game all comes down to basic math.

 

If you eat fewer calories than you burn exercising, you lose weight. But an athlete like Phelps, who exercises up a storm, has to worry about eating enough to replenish the scads of calories he’s burned. If he doesn’t, Klion explains, his “body won’t recover, the muscles will not recover, there will not be adequate energy stored for him to compete in his next event.”

 

But what about the choice of foods? All those eggs and ham and cheese can’t possibly be good for him, can they? Says Klion, “I think for him, because of his caloric demands, he can probably eat whatever he wants to.” And besides, Klion says, if you’ve got to eat that much, it better be enjoyable, or you won’t be able to keep up. Phelps might not be so eager to shovel down a pound of tofu in a sitting, Klion points out.

But these kinds of calculators don’t really apply to a someone like Phelps, who exercises way more vigorously than the typical person, says Kathleen Laquale, an athletic trainer and nutritionist who teaches at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts. Even by athletic standards, Phelps is in his own league. Laquale says cyclists in the Tour de France commonly consume a paltry 8,000 to 10,000 calories a day.

 

I'd imagine they do hours of exercise and cardio a day, which certainly is far more than the average person