Maintaining Muscle Mass

[Jugga J]

This topic has probably been covered once to many times, but I'm going to post it anyway. Just need a small bit of advice, very short. I regularly exercise, I run roughly 2.5 miles a day, I also do stretching and some sort of Combat Training (building muscle mass without weights).

Now, I'm currently 17, I find it hard at times to keep my body weight high even when I'm eating a vast diet full of all sorts of crap (It is pretty cool being able to eat as much as you want ) But as soon as I start cutting out the crap (i.e. the sweets and the like) my body weight falls to quite worryingly low levels .

This normally happens because for a start my family tends to eat quite small portions of food. Plus I don't really bother making myself food because by the time I've prepared and eaten it, I'm going to have to start preparing some more food to eat because I'll start just feeling hungry again. Even when I try to snack on fruit constantly it doesn't seem to be enough to maintain my bodyweight, is there any food really high in carbohydrate and unsaturated fat that is actually good for you?

Also, this is in combination, I find the combat training barley does build muscle mass like it should because when I'm eating more of a Veggie diet, I don't really know what to intake in terms of protein, it all seems very small amount in comparability with the mighty animal protein. It's also partially due to the fact that my lack of carbohydrates means that when i run my body resorts to eating my muscles away. Not good for the arm wrestling sessions I must say . Any really high veggie food in terms of protein?

Thanks in advance

[Zukin]

It's kind of hard to cover all the important topics related to sports nutrition and muscle maintenance in a single post, so I'd recommend this book:

Macrobolic Nutrition

[Uplift]

Check out that Mike Mahler site in an earlier post by joey m. I think it was on the Bodybuilding.com site. Its easily the best thing I have seen, for anyone not wanting any animal protein, and wanting muscular development and size.

[ZHereford]

Gee JuggaJ, that' a real problem you have. We should all be so unfortunate.

Actually, what about protein drinks, or making your own?

I've been a vegetarian all my life, long before it was fashionable, but I do eat dairy products. It's what sustained me my whole life. We really do need that protein. As far as veggies go, beans are very high in protein as are whole wheat products, however most veggie proteins don't contain all the amino acids your body needs. There are some other posts here on whey protein that Iamsuperman started.

[Jugga J]

Cheers for the responses guys. I'll take a look at that link and article. Cheers ZHereford, Yes When the problem is to put weight on it does become difficult! ~ no honestly its actually quite hard. I have to eat so much as too not to lose weight I literally make myself skint buying so much food every lunch.

Of the 20 amino acids there are, I will try your beans and wholewheat

[silicon toad2000]

1 egg white of 1 egg 3.5
1 egg 1 large 6
scrambled egg whites 100g 9
lean ground beef, cooked 100g 25
chicken breast without skin 100g 30
broiled top round beef 100g 30
salmon 100g 27
cheddar cheese 100g 23
low-fat yogurt 1 cup 10
skim milk 1 cup 8
tuna 100g 29
baked beans 1 cup 14
lentils 1 cup 18
pasta 1 cup 5
bread 2 slices 6
tofu 1/2 cup 10
cottage cheese 1/2 cup 14
turkey breast 100g 23

rough protein values of some common foods.
if you want to build muscle mass, you must increase your protein intake and have a surplus of calories in your diet.
Towards the end of the day, substitute as many food low in protein for foods high in protein.
Nutrition is equally important as exercise to the body. Spend as much time on your nutrition as you do on your exercise.

[Jim]

It's definitely your protein intake.

I can personally recommend the Optimum 100% Whey Protein. Very low fat calorie count, and the carb levels are kept to a minimum as well.