My fitness trainer is no musclehead. It's his second career, following his passion. Yes he is strong and athletic, but he knows physiology and anatomy as well as any civilian and loves learning as much as he can.
He has now instructed me to gain 5-10 lbs over the next 4 months with a correct balance of carb+extra protein+fats.
I may be abnormal, but in recent years - maybe since turning 50 - my appetite has decreased, and decreased even more since I have been working out hard almost daily. He says my current diet is not sufficient to get me through the physical demands he is now putting on me with the weights and calisthenics. He plans to push the heck out of me this year with his daily grind claiming that, after one year, I am experienced enough to work really hard. He is not kidding. It is now brutal beyond my imagining and highly unpleasant. But I can do it, mostly. No pain, no gain. Loud grunts of agony and exertion.
The strong lifts - barbell squats, deadlifts, bench, etc. just kill me at these current weights. He keeps a record of what I do, and ups it every week mostly in weight, not reps. As they say, tho - if you want a 200 lb dead to feel light, do 225. Otherwise, 200 will always feel heavy.
I will grant that my muscles and overall strength, and my endurance, have improved dramatically, as well as the shape of my old cadaver. Same with Mrs. BD. However, my recovery time for a hard (ie weights or calis, not my cardio) workout is about 48-72 hrs. I know, because I am afflicted with DOMS. The consequence is that you never get to feel as good as you deserve to because you always feel sore or weak with fatigue from a day or two before. Sheesh - where is the pay-off? Vacation?
Since I often have to force myself to eat a meal and can rarely if ever clean a plate of food, I told him that this challenge will be as difficult for me as it would be for someone who was charged to lose 10 lbs. BTW, I am not scrawny at all but I do not carry much fat and my belly is cut, as they say.
We agreed that wine is an appetite-stimulant and I should try that with supper. Although I love a good wine, I usually only have wine with meals in restaurants and parties.
Any suggestions? I definitely need to add a second protein shake daily. Another thought was to try McDonald's or Wendy's for lunch for a while. A Big Mac with a small fries is probably a perfect balanced diet. Or a glass of milk, and maybe some ice cream at night. I like Subway, but they don't put in enough meat.
Another trouble is that midday food makes me drowsy for an hour so I can't really eat carbs at lunch. I don't know how other people do that and keep their functional edge. I don't know how anybody can eat breakfast either, beyond 2 coffees. Who wants food in the morning? Gross. Morning is for coffee. I will try to force down a protein shake or protein smoothie to be a cooperative client, but I don't want it. Breakfast is for children.
If I can gain 1/2 lb of muscle per month, that would be remarkable but probably unattainable. I would not enjoy that in adipose tissue. I am not anorcetic, but I just think fatty tissue is gross and definitely not sexy.
