Is protein the only thing I really to consume need to build muscle?

submitted by elchupacabra from self.AskSaidIt

I have trouble eating enough calories, but if I were to increase my protein intake and exercise a lot more, would it sort of cancel out? I don't really know how many calories I eat a day, but if I do turn out to be running a deficit, will my body just eat any muscle I build? Or can I just game the system with protein shakes...

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[–]Zapped 5 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 2 fun -  (7 children)

Peanut butter.

[–]agent_pecan 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

Meat. Peanut butter has a lot of Poofa, bad seed oul shit.

Eat meat, the way God intended.

[–]jet199 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Seed oils are only bad when processed and stripped of their antioxidant vitamins.

[–]Rah 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Unless you are pressing the seeds yourself, then that applies to all seed oils...

[–]elchupacabra[S] 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

Actually or is that slang for roids?

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

No, hes serious. There’s lots of protein and calories in peanut butter.

[–]Canbot 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Dont eat peanut butter, they add shit to it that makes it unhealthy. Just eat meat.

[–]Zapped 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

He can buy the "natural" peanut butter. You have to stir it every time you use it, but it has no added sugar or oil.

[–]1Icemonkey 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Eat real food like a man. Meat, vegetables, cheese, some grains. Protein shakes are for fags and women.

[–]Rah 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Nah protein shakes are okay as a post-workout drink.

[–]1Icemonkey 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Well yeah, that’s when I use them. They aren’t a food replacement.

[–]Rah 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Exactly

[–][deleted] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Calories matter too if you want to gain weight. Fat is the easiest way to consume a bunch of calories, put a bunch of butter on shit. (fat has 9 cal/g rather than 4 for carbs and protein)

For example, healthline says male bodybuilders need an average of 3800 calories a day during bulking, with 35% from protein being optimal for building muscle

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/bulking

[–]being-poisoned 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

You might as well ask a satanist about Jesus hating jews

[–]In-the-clouds 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

How does this relate to eating food for building muscle?

The Jews hated their Messiah and crucified him. The religious leaders preferred the temporary riches of this corrupt world over the eternal riches of the everlasting God. But there are those that falsely call themselves Jews.... and are actually the synagogue of Satan. So, we cannot believe everyone who claims to be a Jew.... or even a Christian. You will know them, not by what they say, but by their actions.

[–]Tums_is_Smut_bkwrds 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Generally speaking it's a calories in vs. calories out game. The average adult male uses about 2400 cal/day so if you consume more than that you gain weight, less and you lose weight. Though there is some variation across individuals. Counting calories is relatively trivial, especially after a few days and you've memorized the values for the foods you commonly eat. I think it would be a worthwhile exercise to count your calories for a week or so to see if you actually are running at a deficit.

Now if you are in fact consuming too few calories to maintain your weight then you will burn your body fat and then eventually start burning muscle tissue when the body goes into starvation mode. This is quite a serious condition and unlikely to occur unless you are undergoing some extreme circumstances, which your post does not seem to indicate.

If you were doing power lifting, for example, then you might need to consider some protein shakes to help build muscle. But for just everyday living including average level work outs the amount of protein most people consume is more than enough.

What you should be doing is increase your intake of good quality fats and oils. They are more calorie dense than any carbohydrate but do not result in your insulin spiking which has a host of other issues. Animal fats are great so load up on butter and fatty meats. Nut and seeds oils are also fine BUT only as long as they are not heated. Sadly deep fried foods like french fries and potato chips are all cooked using nut and seed oils now so are not recommended. Margarine also is bad. And of course transfats AKA hydrogenated oils are to be avoided like the plague.

Carbohydrates are fine in moderation but empty calories like candy and soda are terrible for you for all sorts of reasons. The more complex the carbohydrate is the longer it takes to be converted to blood sugar and the lower the resulting insulin spike.

Unless you are a top tier athlete you don't generally use enough calories while exercising to make a huge impact. I forget the exact figure but running for an hour only uses something like 600 calories. Of course if you're already losing weight then increasing the amount of exercise you do will compound that. But it doesn't take a lot of additional food to offset calories burned in exercise.

[–]Elchampo 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The average adult male uses about 2400 cal/day so if you consume more than that you gain weight, less and you lose weight

My BMR is 2200 and I'm 6". I'd think the average guy is a bit less.

[–]ActuallyNot 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

You don't need much protein.

An egg after your workout is sufficient. All those protien shakes just make your shit high in unabsorbed protien.

As you get older, it becomes more important to get the protein as soon after your workout as you can.

There's probably some vitamins or minerals you need for the process to work. But i don't know enough biochem to know what it is.

You need some carbs, or you'll burn muscle back down for energy.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (7 children)

Protine shakes are prob not healthy. But they are delicious.

Lots of people have success eating protein powders and pre workouts.

Make sure you are tired when your are leaving the gym.

Go to the gym 5 days a week. Work one muscle group per day. Pecs, back, shoulders, arms, and legs.

Do like 10-20 different workouts for each group on one day. You will be absolutely exhausted leaving the gym. Do this for a year and you will see great results.

Stay away from cardio.

[–]agent_pecan 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I got anemic off protein shakes before. They definitely aren't good for being a main meal item.

Good old fashioned meat is best.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Got it. Maybe w should tell OP.

[–]Dragonerne 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Are you doing these things?

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Yes. That’s my routine. But I do cardio.

[–]Dragonerne 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Have you seen results?

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I’m really strong. Women like me. Yes. I get results.

[–]Dragonerne 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Good to hear. Keep it up

[–]DirewolfGhost 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Chug raw eggs like Gaston.

[–]JoGooD 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

You'll hear all sort of things about diet. I recommend looking for what your ancestor ate and your blood type. That being said, a dietitian might be a much better solution, but like every field, probably most dietitian are bad or not so good and a few are good at what they do.

[–]ShekelPa 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

If you are doing exercise, then your muscles wont waste away. That is not how the body is designed. If you are not eating enough, then you are not giving yourself the building blocks needed to build the muscle fibers. And if your intake is extremely severely low then you can expect muscle wasting.

[–]Entropick 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

http://based.cooking

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I think muscles really like sugar and water mostly. But yeah if you damage them then you need protein for repair. Beta alanine never hurts, cysteine gives a nice pump, and citrulline really helps get them nitrogen.

[–]Zapped 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I just remembered that I have an older friend who was dropping weight and his doctor told him he needed to put some pounds back on. The food he finally found that worked (that he likes) was cornbread covered with honey. Like at least twice a day. Once he got his weight back up, he ate normally again. Maybe you have to experiment.