[mlc82]

Originally Posted by Mark Lapierre

Well, I'm pretty sure some kind of weight training would help (such as the suggestions earlier in the thread), and I'm not keen enough to do that. I'm not too concerned about my weight, I was more-or-less saying that to point out it's not as simple as exercising. That said, I might change my mind and any advice that I could use then would be appreciated!

I ride to and from work, around 15 mins each way, though a few times a week I'll ride up and down the river after work, adding another 20 minutes or so to the ride. I do about 30-45 mins yoga every couple of days (ashtanga, fairly intensive), and on the days I don't do a full session I still do about 15 mins of light yoga. The full sessions of yoga usually alternate with the longer rides so that every day I get a good amount of exercise.

As for food, breakfasts are usually either a big bowl of muesli or 3 scrambled eggs and feta on toast. Lunch is usually dinner leftovers (during the week), or a big salad with some protein (lots of beans, or a tin of tuna, or a couple of hard-boiled eggs, or tofu), or a couple of sandwiches of some kind (usually the same kind of thing that goes into the salads, though I've never tried a tofu sandwich). Dinner is usually a pasta or rice dish, something with some red or white meat and some vegies. A few times a week I'll have leftovers for lunch and a big salad for dinner. Brown/wholemeal grains in the rice/bread/pasta. For snacks I have some biscuits or a banana at work, usually 2-3 times a day, and some fruit after work, or some crackers and dip, or some toast and avocado spread, or some mixed nuts. I usually only drink water or green tea. Everything except breakfast I usually only eat when I'm hungry, and only enough to satisfy me.

I found that to put on weight, and quickly, I just had to fill up on animal protein a few times a day, but while I was in Greece the meals were almost all meat. Carbs in the form of bread may have helped too, but I've found that carbs alone don't seem to do much, even if I eat a lot. And the current diet makes no difference even if the servings are consistently larger than I feel I need.

So there you go, hit me with your suggestions, and thanks

If you want to gain some extra muscle, all you'd really need is a standalone bench and some free weights, which would cost a lot less than a gym membership in the long run if you have a place to put them. A full body weight training routine done 3x a week along with adding some extra calories, mainly protein, per day in your diet should be all you need to make some muscle gain without gaining fat, and without making any major changes to your schedule.

Send me a PM and let me know of any fitness/muscle building goal(s) you may have, and I'll put something more specific together for you.


Also, you're right that carbs alone aren't going to do much for building muscle-you're going to need that extra protein! It usually doesn't take a huge amount though.