# Skinny guy with very active job



## rhys78 (Mar 28, 2013)

hi lads ive been reading through this forum for months and months and finally grown the balls to ask a few questions myself.

Firstly my name is Rhys and im a Virgin media service technician, for those of you that dont know i basically go to 16 houses a day to fix/install TV, broadband and telephone. Not as easy as it sounds as im constantly running around from 8am to 7pm with no lunch break pulling cables out the floor in the gardens etc.

so im 21, 5ft 10 and weigh around 9stone 10. very skinny looking guy

My first question is what is the best foods to take with me to work in the van? ive been starting to take chicken and rice or chicken and pasta as i have no use of microwaves etc. is there anything else i could be taking to work? ive been told i should take nuts?

secondly as you can see i find it very hard to bulk with my very active job, how many calories should i be trying to consume in a day? i bought myself some weight gainer (Optimum Nutrition Serious Mass) and have oats as i dont have time to eat breakfast so going to start taking a shake to drink on the way to my first job

thanks for reading guys hopefully ill be round for a while!


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## Huntingground (Jan 10, 2010)

Hello mate

More food, good nutritious food is needed.

Meat, eggs, fish, cheese, milk, butter, potatoes, peanut butter. Mass drinks are good but most contain sugar (make you own - milk, bananas, whey, peanut butter, olive oil etc etc).

Go to www.fitday.com and put in daily diet. Come back with totals cals and macros (prot/Fat/Carb).


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## Echo (Sep 24, 2013)

Firstly, use this to find out how many calories you need to be eating:

http://www.uk-muscle.co.uk/food-diet-nutrition-info/164237-diet-formula-work-out-bmr-bulk-cut-calories-macros.html

A lot of food can be eaten without being cooked:

-Tuna Cans

-Salmon Cans

-Nuts like Almonds

-Protein Bars

-Shakes you can drink through the day

-Sandwiches

-Chicken and rice

Loads more


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## Boshlop (Apr 1, 2012)

buy a pack of brown pasta for a quid, cook it and put it in a big tub with some sauce. buy a pack on mince, think its £5 for 750g of 5% stuff at asda atm, cook 500g of ti the night before, in a tub with seasoning. take them both with you and you have a days worth of food for £4. doesnt have to be complicated atm, just get used to eating more and it will start well.

eat from each tub or bring a small bowl and mix as you see fit


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## Mclovin147 (Nov 11, 2013)

Take lots of good food with you and eat between every house you have to stop at.

My personal favourite, Chicken & fried rice (pre-cooked obviously)


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## a.notherguy (Nov 17, 2008)

nothing wrong with a good old sarnie.

chikcen breast and cheese in a wholemeal bun is good to go

and if your just after extra cals, nothing wrong with a chocolate bar as long as your macros are in check, its not as if your dieting for a comp mate.


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## monkeybiker (Jul 21, 2010)

I've heard it suggested before to use a large thermos and you can put hot food with a sauce in it like a stew. Other than that sandwiches and fruit.


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## 2004mark (Oct 26, 2013)

You're an ecto like me. To put an initial couple of stone it's just a case of a) getting the required cals down your neck, and B) making sure a decent proportion of those cals are coming from protein.

First thing you need to sort out is breakfast... a couple scoops of whey, whole milk, 80g oats and a good squeeze of golden syrup is my choice for getting 800 cals down me. You can drink it or eat it as porridge (I just microwave it in my shaker and eat it in the car).

Next is to get a big dinner. Then it's a case of filling in the necessary cals with food throughout the day... 1 or 2 lunches, 100g nuts, shakes etc.

Track your cals on myfitnesspal and make sure you seat enough every day.


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## rhys78 (Mar 28, 2013)

wow i didnt think i would come back to so many great comments already! i seriously appreciate it!!!

just used that diet formula and i need to consume 4430 calories to start gaining

had my fitness pal a while now and will start putting it to full use asap.


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## rhys78 (Mar 28, 2013)

i dont like to pester people so looked all over the forum but cant see anywhere that suggest how much oats, milk, evoo, eggs, peanut butter etc to put in a shake?

any help please lads?


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## TBWFC (Feb 3, 2014)

All the advice on here is good so far. How have you worked out 4000+ calories with the stats you gave in the post i worked out roughly if you train 5 times a week and you wanted to aggresive bulk (15% over tdee) you'd need 2732 calories. That will give you roughly a 500calorie surplus a day. So youd gain a lb a week. Gaining 4lb a week which 4400 would do roughly would be really hard to maintain. Thats over a stone a month. Try to get around 3000 calories that will be a good start for you I'd say. Regards to the aots i have 100g of instant oats and 500ml long life whole milk and add squirty honey for about 2/3 seconds. Regards to food on the move Cooking pasta the night before or even the whole week is good then ofcourse you can add tuna, ham, beef etc. Really get all your macros that you want together put down a list of foods you like and what macros they have. Then try and work something out which equats and then when you have something come back and I'm sure people will help you with improvements.


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## 2004mark (Oct 26, 2013)

rhys78 said:


> i dont like to pester people so looked all over the forum but cant see anywhere that suggest how much oats, milk, evoo, eggs, peanut butter etc to put in a shake?
> 
> any help please lads?


There is no right answer as what you eat in individual meals is pretty irrelevant. It's what you eat in total over the course of the day that matters.

The idea of supplements is to supplement your diet. To do that you need to have some idea of what you're eating and what you should be eating... you then fill in the gaps with supplements. snacks or adjust your existing meals.

Saying that... 1 or 2 scoops of whey, 50-100g of oats, enough milk to make it as thick/thin as you like and the a few tbsp of oil if you want to really bump the calories up.

Oh, and agree with @j0rd4n500, 4000cals is far too much. As a very very rough rule of thumb, times you're bodyweight in lbs by 18 to get your bulking cals. Even using 20 to take into consideration your job it only comes out at 2720.


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## rhys78 (Mar 28, 2013)

Those 3 replies makes a lot of sense I see what I need to do now. Just joined another gym today as I was at Bannatynes and I can pay half that at a local gym which gives me more money for FOOD!

Thanks lads really appreciate the advice. Really helped motivate me


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## TBWFC (Feb 3, 2014)

No worries bro, I remember when me and my friend tried helping another friend sort his diet out. We told him exactly what to eat etc and he agreed with us when we arranged it for him. But the next day I saw him at lunch he had made the lunch but then he tells me he dont like tuna and asked me if i wanted it haha. So really you have to be comfortable with what your going to eat. But all the foods mentioned are really good and definitely try prepping meals the night before helps soo much more. I make my lunch etc the night before takes me 5mins, but when i use to do it in the morning it would take me 20-30 minutes because I'm to tired and I want to sleep. But good luck with your goals.


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## 2004mark (Oct 26, 2013)

rhys78 said:


> Those 3 replies makes a lot of sense I see what I need to do now. Just joined another gym today as I was at Bannatynes and I can pay half that at a local gym which gives me more money for FOOD!
> 
> Thanks lads really appreciate the advice. Really helped motivate me


Mince beef is a great cheap food for bulking, full of protein and fat (just get the cheap 20% fat stuff for about £3/kg). Fry it up with some onions and then add tinned toms. You can then turn it into bolognese, chilli, or mince with tatties quite easy.

tbh I can do two meals for the price of a visit to the sandwich shop... only thing is you need access to a microwave really


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## rhys78 (Mar 28, 2013)

2004mark said:


> Mince beef is a great cheap food for bulking, full of protein and fat (just get the cheap 20% fat stuff for about £3/kg). Fry it up with some onions and then add tinned toms. You can then turn it into bolognese, chilli, or mince with tatties quite easy.
> 
> tbh I can do two meals for the price of a visit to the sandwich shop... only thing is you need access to a microwave really


That's my only problem mate the only way I can heat food up is lift the bonnet and put it on my engine bay haha


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## rhys78 (Mar 28, 2013)

j0rd4n500 said:


> No worries bro, I remember when me and my friend tried helping another friend sort his diet out. We told him exactly what to eat etc and he agreed with us when we arranged it for him. But the next day I saw him at lunch he had made the lunch but then he tells me he dont like tuna and asked me if i wanted it haha. So really you have to be comfortable with what your going to eat. But all the foods mentioned are really good and definitely try prepping meals the night before helps soo much more. I make my lunch etc the night before takes me 5mins, but when i use to do it in the morning it would take me 20-30 minutes because I'm to tired and I want to sleep. But good luck with your goals.


Challenge accepted mate! I'll post pictures up later to show just how skinny I am. Hopefully I can look back next year and see how far I have come


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## Robbie789 (Sep 6, 2012)

rhys78 said:


> wow i didnt think i would come back to so many great comments already! i seriously appreciate it!!!
> 
> just used that diet formula and i need to consume 4430 calories to start gaining
> 
> had my fitness pal a while now and will start putting it to full use asap.


That sounds like a lot, I'd start on 3000-3500, then adjust if you're not gaining.

Better to gain a bit slower at first and adjust, than eat to much and get fat!


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## rhys78 (Mar 28, 2013)

robdobbie said:


> That sounds like a lot, I'd start on 3000-3500, then adjust if you're not gaining.
> 
> Better to gain a bit slower at first and adjust, than eat to much and get fat!


I've changed my calorie goals to 3000 on my fitness pal


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## TBWFC (Feb 3, 2014)

3000 sounds a good ammount, but ifit comes later on in the day and your hungry, dont be afraid to eat. Your trying to just put on weight at the moment so going over your macros isnt so much of an issue there more there as a minimum. So try and get 3000 as a minimum then if your still hungry carry on eating, if not dont force yourself. I'm sure your do good mate with all the help and advice on here its hard to go wrong. But definately try and get some MP Instant oats 100g of that plus 500ml of milk and a bit of honey its roughly 800calories, perfect for breakfast even in the car. Can even warm it up in the micrwoave(make sure you remove the metal ball) before you leave.


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## jackdyo (Apr 8, 2012)

I was in a same situation and after a 4 month lay off my diet starts Monday will be

Porridge whey around 6am

4 eggs scrambled 7am

Rice and chicken 9am

Rice and chicken or pasta and mince at 12:30

2 brown bagels toasted with cottage cheese 3pm

Rice and chicken 5:30pm

Shake 45mins before training around 7/7:30

Porridge and shake before bed

Always seemed to work for me mix the foods up abit if anyone can see anything they can tweak in mine it would be helpful


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## DarthMaulscle (Dec 26, 2012)

Easiest way to add extra calories to your diet

Add maltodextrin to your water and sip through the day

Add a carb powder, such as maltodextrin or oats to your protein shakes

The food types other shave mentioned in this post are pretty much spot on, its just making sure you're eating the right quantities. Have an active 'outside job' might be awkward to fit meals in, so that's when the shakes show their benefit and come in handy for convenience.


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## PHMG (Jun 15, 2010)

Its simple. Post workout, few burgers or a whole pizza and a few bowls of ice cream and golden syrup. Works a treat for me.


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## RowRow (Nov 17, 2011)

Whole milk, bananas, flapjacks, fruit juice. And then whole meal wraps with steak/chicken in.

Very easy to eat and can just pick at throughout the day .


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## andymark25415 (Feb 26, 2014)

for gain weight fast eat high protein diet


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## rhys78 (Mar 28, 2013)

DarthMaulscle said:


> Easiest way to add extra calories to your diet
> 
> Add maltodextrin to your water and sip through the day
> 
> ...


what is maltodextrin? never heard of that before


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## ar4i (Jan 29, 2013)

rhys78 said:


> what is maltodextrin? never heard of that before


There you go - http://www.bulkpowders.co.uk/maltodextrin.html


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## rhys78 (Mar 28, 2013)

ar4i said:


> There you go - http://www.bulkpowders.co.uk/maltodextrin.html


Will this help with my weight gain. It's cheap so may give it a ago!

Best way is to add to my shake in the morning I guess?


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## DarthMaulscle (Dec 26, 2012)

rhys78 said:


> Will this help with my weight gain. It's cheap so may give it a ago!
> 
> Best way is to add to my shake in the morning I guess?


I personally buy it from MyProtein and I use it post workout. However You can either fill a shaker up with water and maltodextrin and sip on it all though the day, or you can add it to any shake you like.


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## Char1ie (Apr 10, 2014)

I'm a hard gainer or at least I thought I was, once you dial everything in, diet,sleep e.t.c it all starts to work out. I'm not far ahead of you and I'm taller (6ft 11.2 lbs) I was around 10.7 just over a month ago, my advice is just eat, some people may disagree with me here but even if it ain't the right food (some of my mums dinners aren't the healthiest) but **** it just eat eat eat. I also use optimum nutrition serious mass, this stuff has worked better than any other gainer for me I always have a big breakfast then have the shake on top One serving is like 1250 calories so if you have the shake on top of a good diet you will gain. You can pick up daa and zma tabs cheap, some don't think they help but I'm just gonna keep doing what I'm doing because its working for me. Hope this helps


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