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[nitecrawler]

Hello all,

I am 23 old and weigh around 89 Kgs (height 6 ft). I have been going to gym for 6 months now out of which in first 3 months I only did cardio like tread mill, stationary bicycle etc... And later also started to do some weight training. When I started I was at 100 Kg so I have been able to make some progress and I think if I work with same intensity I would be fit in few months.

Now the question..
Even after continuous weight lifting for 2-3 months I was unable to lift a bit heavy weight or you can say progress is not as much as it should be..so some one at gym asked me take supplements, he told me to take Creatine as it will provide with enough energy to go on...

So I use a bit of google and decided to try creatine for 6 weeks including 1 week of loading phase and then 4 weeks of off period and maybe 6 more weeks depending on effectiveness. (as I don’t have much money to spare )

I also thought to take whey to complete my daily protein requirement coz being a vegie, it becomes sort of difficult to complete daily protein requirements, so I plan to start whey after 6 weeks. or maybe some protein shake like soy or some thing like that.

Beside Creatine my daily diet (protein) consists of :
1. Milk with cornflakes or a mixture of Oat, seads , cereals and nuts.
2. soaked grains, black chick peas and soya bean.
3. some green vegetables, salad.

Is this ok. or should I try something else ?

My overall goal is to reduce fat and gain strength.
Also I am in Middle East so only popular stuff is available tough all stuff that I saw were made in US only...

cheers,
Nitecrawler

[Boss Man]

Creatine would be better when you've trained more, and gotten more size, and better body composition. Despite your weight, given your short timespan of doing weights, your power levels could still be inefficient to make best use of Creatine.

Gaining more size would allow for more power and better Creatine results.

I would only use a Protein Powder for now as a supplement, it should be all you need.

[swanso5]

increase your healthy fats to get total calories up...don't worry about creatine until food is up to par...try fish oil

[nitecrawler]

Thanks for your inputs Boss man and Swano ,

1. So should i stop taking creatine now that I have been taking it for 1 week or should i complete 1 cycle and then stop until i get stronger.

2. Will any other protein like soy or something like that will do or is there any other specific stuff or only natural stuff.

3. Swanso, how can i get food upto par, can you recommend what should I eat daily considering I am a vegetarian.

4. As for fats I daily consume some nuts like almond, walnuts, resins. are these sufficient or should I try something else ?

5. Also wouldn't my weight increase if i try to increase my calories intake ? when I am thinking about loosing few more kgs.

Thanks in advance..

Cheers

[Boss Man]

Stop now. You shouldn't have a problem stopping Creatine now.

Soy Protein products can work well.

Almonds and such like are fine for Fats intake. They have a goodly amount of EFA Fats.

Weight might not necessarily increase with caloric increase, if you're calorie intake is too low, you will use more muscle for fuel, and harm the Metabolism, whereas extra calories can help to create a better Metabolic environment, with which you can lose weight.

The only way you'd put on any real weight, would be if you ate too many calories and the excess converted to Fat, or you ate too much bad Fat like Saturated.

[swanso5]

1. you might as well save it and drop it for now

2. whatever protein you have make sure you're getting about 20 grams per meal so relying on beans for protein won't cut it

3. search up protein sources that you can have where you might need a combination of foods oper emal to reach the 20g...for carbs focus on veggies, fruits and salads but the occasional rice, bread, pasta and cerial is alright (2 serves a day maximum although you might be able to have a 3rd everynow and then)...for fats get some fish oil for sure as well as fish/tuna/sardines if you have it and avocados

4. nuts aren't the best for fats but can be included i suppose...use oils for cooking and with salads and veggies (fish, olive, safflower, flaxseed)

5. dropping cal's too low can cause wt gain so you need to find a balance between your exercise and your food intake...the last thing you want to do is lose muscle which will be the wt lost if cal's are too low...you'd be surpridsed how much you cane at without putting on wt if exercise is sufficient

[swanso5]

actually just found this in on an email i received:

Vegetarian Fitness

Being a vegetarian requires a full understanding of the
role nutrition plays in achieving your fitness goals.
There is a direct relationship between nutrition and physical
performance in workouts or sports. Hard physical activity
requires an increase in nutritionally dense calories and
also due to sweating a higher fluid intake. Threfore you
need to carefully plan what you eat and drink.

Your calorie intake needs to be balanced with your energy
output and goals. If you want to lose you need to cut back
on calories, if you want to gain you will need to increase
calories. If your going in the wrong direction, adjust your
calorie intake and/or activity levels, so you are moving
towards your goals.

An important point for vegetarians to realize that they digest
their foods more quickly than non vegetarians. This means
you need to eat more often to compensate for the higher
energy needs.

When engaging in fitness training workouts you do need
to increase your protein intake, but remember excess
protein that is not burned for energy will be turned into
fat.

Best Vegetarian Protein Sources

It's easier than you might imagine to get plenty of protein
from vegetarian foods. If you include dairy products and
eggs in your regimen, look no further. These are good
sources of protein. Stick to low fat dairy products to avoid
excess saturated fats.

If you want to be certain that you are getting all eight
essential amino acids, you should eat learn to combine
foods to form complete proteins, such as:

Beans on toast
Cereal/muesli with milk
Corn and beans
Granola with yogurt
Hummus and pita bread
Nut butter with milk or whole grain bread
Pasta with beans
Pasta with cheese (e.g., lasagne, macaroni and cheese)
Rice and beans, peas, or lentils
Rice with milk (rice pudding)
Split pea soup with whole grain or seeded crackers or bread
Tortillas with refried beans
Veggie burgers on bread

Note that these combinations don't necessarily have to be
eaten at the same time; you can eat one several hours after
the other and still benefit from the complete protein.

Complete protein can be gotten from eating soy based foods
like tofu tempeh or sprouted legumes, and meat substitutes
made from soy protein.

[nitecrawler]

Thanks a lot for your help Boss man & swanso..
and that was a very informative article

Also I got the point that there is no issue in eating more food if the food being consumed is healthy..

Cheers.