Plateau? Getting stronger but NOT heavier...

H

holabuster

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Hey guys, I think I may have hit a plateau in my training. I know/am pretty sure I'm getting stronger but I haven't gained weight in several weeks, even though i've been eating healthier (? let me know if I'm wrong here) than ever.

Question 1:
Can you increase muscle size with increasing weight?

Question 2:
How is my diet? How can I improve it?

Question 3:
How can I start gaining weight/muscle again?

My diet:

Breakfast
Yogurt
Orange Juice
Half a plain bagel, no cream cheese

Post Work-out
Protein shake
Snickers Marathon energy bar
Plain bagel

Lunch
Protein shake
Snickers Marathon energy bar
Plain bagel

Afterschool
Whatever, usually a sandwich or chicken

Dinner
Usually chicken, fish, or both
Either green beans, green peas, or snow peas
 
What is your workout routine?

It looks to me like your diet could definitely use some tweaking. First of all, you need to eat more, more often, and higher quality foods. I would cut out most of the marathon bars (except post workout I guess), it's just sugar with some whey protein and some soy protein. For breakfast, you need to get more protein. My breakfast always consists of 4 eggs and a slice of cheese on 2 pieces of whole wheat toast with a serving a half of oatmeal for about 45g protein and 90g of carbs. You're probably getting ~80g of carbs there but that's it, depending on your serving sizes. Add protein and preferably more complex carbs. Your post workout is OK, ideally you should eliminate all or most of the fat for PWO nutrition, but it shouldn't be much of an issue. For lunch, make a sandwich loaded with meat on whole wheat bread or something.. and add some veggies or some fruit. Additionally, add a meal before bed consisting of slowly absorbed proteins like from cottage cheese and milk.. and healthy fats, like peanut butter or olive oil. Veggies wouldn't be a bad idea either.

having 6-7 big meals is a good thing if you're trying to gain weight. What are your stats currently?

*edit* sorry, i just read your sig. Eat more.. your body will use it

If you have any questions you can either reply or PM me!
 
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You could gain muscle without gaining weight if you lost the same weight in fat. Example-you gained a pound of muscle and lost a pound of fat, then you would still weigh the same.

Your diet is really poor. You have a lot of reliance on protein shakes rather than real food. I see very very little vegetable and fiber content. I also think you're getting to few calories in to gain muscle.
 
I'm going to start having 2 PBJ sandwiches for lunch everyday.

Oh btw, I have an apple after dinner everyday. I really need to get in more fruits/veggies but I'm really not a fan of veggies. Which ones are good for weight training diets?

Thanks.
 
holabuster said:
I'm going to start having 2 PBJ sandwiches for lunch everyday.

Oh btw, I have an apple after dinner everyday. I really need to get in more fruits/veggies but I'm really not a fan of veggies. Which ones are good for weight training diets?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

2 Pb sandwiches isnt going to cut it bro. You need to seriously be eating in excess of 3200 calories day or so. Your breakfast needs some protein, eat some eggs. I eat 7 times a day or so and consume only about 2500 calories and Im eating more than you at each meal. Look for chicken, fish, and turkey. You need these for lunch, snacks and dinner. Eat your broccoli, spinach, green beans, blueberries, tomatoes, strawberries......
 
Eat more, and have a bigger breakfast. You havn't eaten for at least 8 hours and that's if you even ate before bed. Down a few classes of milk before bed.
 
Try this for starters-
-Skip the bagel for breakfast and go for 1/2-1 cup of oatmeal w/ strawberries or blueberries and a banana mixed in. You can get the frozen berries for pretty cheap.

-Add in 2 eggs+2 egg whites mixed with some tomato and onion for breakfast

-Before bed, have 1-2 cups of cottage cheese and 1 egg+2 egg whites

-Somewhere try and add in 1 orange, broccoli, bell pepper, and cucumber. An after school snack of broccoli, carrots, bell pepper, cucumber+ranch would be good.
 
Dayum, I guess I'm just kinda a picky eater. So I definately have to work on that diet. And I can't cook. How do all of you prepare this stuff?

I'm also a little lactose intolerant so that interferes with drinking milk.

So far, I've decided:
*1 glass of milk before bed, slowly building up to more glasses
*I'll prepare frozen grilled chicken breasts, and heat them up in the morning. Then I'll eat like two throughout my school day.
*Eat more eggs, I love eggs. But how do you separate out so it's only the whites? Btw, eggs have a LOT of cholesterol so what do you do?
*Eat carrots/celery during lunch.

Any comments? Thanks a lot guys.
 
holabuster said:
Dayum, I guess I'm just kinda a picky eater. So I definately have to work on that diet. And I can't cook. How do all of you prepare this stuff?

I'm also a little lactose intolerant so that interferes with drinking milk.

So far, I've decided:
*1 glass of milk before bed, slowly building up to more glasses
*I'll prepare frozen grilled chicken breasts, and heat them up in the morning. Then I'll eat like two throughout my school day.
*Eat more eggs, I love eggs. But how do you separate out so it's only the whites? Btw, eggs have a LOT of cholesterol so what do you do?
*Eat carrots/celery during lunch.

Any comments? Thanks a lot guys.
Click to expand...

Why can't you cook? You don't know? You'll have to learn sooner or later.

With the egg whites...you can use a funnel (the yolk should stay in there), and there are some other products specifically for it actually...or

1. Lightly crack an egg on the edge of a bowl.

2. Turning the egg upright, carefully open the shell into two halves, keeping the egg in the lower half.

3. Over the bowl, pour the egg from one half of the broken shell into the other, letting the egg white fall into the bowl, but keeping the yolk intact in the shell halves as you pour.

4. Repeat until all the white has fallen into the bowl, leaving only the yolk in the shell.
 
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