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2009/05/11, 10:48 AM
Um, is it legal in your state to work more than 5 hours without a break? It pretty much isn't in most states.I'm pretty sure that by law your employer owes you a 10 minute break every two hours, and at least 30 minutes after 5 hours. The problems you are facing is that you are super active during the day and expending a lot of calories. As well as starving yourself for several hours without food, which is probably arresting your metabolism. To gain muscle mass you need to take in a lot more calories than your body normally burns, in conjunction with heavy lifting. The lifting is usually at least 3-4 days a week.
Luckily there's not a lot of cardio involved with gaining mass. There's proper breathing, but it's not like running a marathon.
So here's the bottom line: Ya gotta make time to eat,lift, AND rest if you want to put weight on.
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2009/05/10, 03:05 AM
Hello everyone, first time poster here. Names Jon and i'm one of the unfortunate "hardgainers" out there and im looking for some some solid weight gain advice. Let me get into things by saying my case isn't the norm for alot of people in my position. I am 22, 5'11" and I weigh a pitiful 129lbs...I'm a hardgainer w/o question as my weight has remained unchanged since I was 17.
Anyway onto where my situation is a bit different, I have read a bit on the subject and see alot of "eat 6 mid size meals daily" but for me this would be impossible. Not because I don't have the discipline but more because I work about 60+ hours a week in a kitchen, and while you might think since im a chef and I can eat whatever and whenever I want you'd be very mistaken. I CANNOT eat in the kitchen (its a health violation, plus I work at a 4 star place with an open view kitchen), my surroundings are probably a constant 115 degrees and get really stressful as the place I work sits 300+ patrons and is only capable of having 9 cooks on line at once. This being the case I am unable to have a meal from about 9am till 4pm (when I get a 30 min break) then from 4:30 pm to 10:30pm and I sweat constantly, plus every single order I get is on a incredibly short time frame so I have to work very fast and hard in a loud chaotic enviornment.
Also im the kind of person who simply cant eat huge amounts of food in short times or alot at once. If im full eating more food will make me puke despite my best efforts to will it down.
Finally a bit about my health ect.I dont smoke but I have had Chronic Asthma since I was an infant, I do my best to stay active but even with medication I end up constantly getting less oxygen then the guy next to me (a peak flow meter reads me taking in about 12% less oxygen then my roomie who is a heavy smoker). I eat very healthy when I can eat during the day, alot of lean meats and fish, bread and veggies tends to be what I go for during the day and night, I eat fruit and drink milk for breakfast everyday (unless im running late). I don't have time to work out, and only have one day off a week (and by then im exhausted).
Any advice you guys could share for a guy like me would be helpful. I'm not trying to get buff or anything but being 150lbs(gasp!) or at least a sensible weight would do wonders for my health and confidence.
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2009/05/13, 01:43 AM
Thanks for the advice Plex. I have been doing my best to increase my calorie intake (besides bfast, lunch and dinner I now eat before bed too) when I can and I have started a simple lifting/workout regiment (I dont have weights, atm im using 4 oil jugs full of water that weigh 35lbs each, doing pushups, chinups and crunches).
I live in the commonwealth of Virginia (its NOT a state, one of only 2 commonwealths in the union) and here the labor laws are different and greatly favor the employer to the employee. The way our laws are I am supposed to get a 15 min break every 3 hours (or a combination thereof like a 30 min break after 6 hours) my employer gives me a single break to eat in the day (for about 30 to 45 starting at 4pm). I realize they are in the wrong here but threatening to take your boss to the labor board over something like that is a risky decision and frankly I cant afford to do that right now.
Anyway bitching about my workplace aside I was wondering if you had any advice for good snacks/supplements to take quickly if I cant get a meal. I don't really know jack about all the protein powder, replacement supplements, ect. on the market and I was wondering if there are any that help out. I know the supplement scene is unregulated so I have always been a bit sketchy about trying to put random junk in my body.
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2009/05/22, 01:19 PM
Stay away from supplements for now, just focus on protein centric snacks. Make it things that you can prepare at home and bring with you. Try a google search for healthy snacking for tons more than I can fit in this little box.
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