Felt_Rider wrote:
velox canis wrote:
Been working hard to up my overall intake but am stuck around 100-110g/day and should be closer to 150 per the RD I work with. The volume of food necessary to hit even this amount is tricky some days, nevermind all the roughage I'm eating too. It feels like force-feeding myself to get beyond this point on a consistent basis. I've been using protein powder to boost the bottom line but am wondering if anyone has other suggestions for how to sneak more into your daily routine through real food. As mentioned above, I meet with a dietician periodically to tweak macros and talk strategy, but this remains a challenge for me so welcome any creative ideasI used to compete as a high level bodybuilder and my protein intake in the prime was a combination of both solid food (meat mainly) and protein drinks. At the time I was shooting for greater than or equal to 2.2 grams per kg of estimated lean weight. It was frustrating to say the least when it comes to eating that much meat. I ate every 2 hours and with boiled chicken or lean red meat it is hard to get down day after day, year after year. To the point my meals would start to blend together as I would nibble at each meal until the next one started. So I am very familiar with your journey. Not to mention the cost of meat these day is greater than the cost of protein powder. My wife and I both use daily and I keep 5 lb containers at home and at work. Back in the day I had to carry a large cooler into work with all my meals prepared and packaged into the appropriate amounts. The suckage factor was intense, but I was successful in competition.
That being said I now have a half and half solid vs drink on protein intake. I've been doing this for now well over 30 years and at least 20 years with reduced meat intake and increased whey and a little casein protein powder. Much happier with this.
disclaimer: My primary training is still strength. I am not a competitive athlete and certainly piss poor at endurance type stuff, but oddly I do like sitting in aero for 5 hours at a steady fast pace. So I am not suggesting anything above in terms of endurance folk boosting protein levels to what I was doing back in the day.
I did what you did once (6 months) and had good results, aesthetically. But looking back now, how much do you think it was the increased protein vs. how much do you think it was just proper nutrient timing and how much was just lack of carbs from eating all the protein? I think for me the protein was a hack to ensure I always had protein during the small windows when it was needed and kept me from eating crap I didn't need during the windows where it wasn't.
Finally, IMO at least half if not more of bodybuilding is the timing of glycogen loading and fluid management to make you look cut and swole... another indicator in hindsight to me that my hypothesis might have some merit. Not saying it doesn't work, just that it might not work how we think it works.
E
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