Really confused about my nutrition. Please help

[betsabe88]

@jonnylugs I find it hard to actually gain noticeable amounts of strength using just WODs. The only time I HAVE increased strength is on a linear strength progression program for 3 months such as 5x5, wendlers 531 etc

If I had an hour a day (including warm up etc) and wanted to build strength and muscle mass I wouldn’t be doing crossfit WOD unless it was programmed constantly for strength progression.

 

[jonnylugs]

@betsabe88 I do agree with you. I try to do strength cycles when possible, but work keeps me quite busy.

Currently, due to the opens, the box programs the wods more linked to conditioning than strength but it has in the past had strength cycles in the program. I make it a point to not miss them.

 

[dreamer6424]

@jonnylugs You’ve got a lot of potential issues going on:

You need to be committed to eating a caloric surplus and hitting protein goals. (Body composition-wise, your body will look and perform more how you want with higher protein intake than carb intake. You can eat caloric surplus on Oreo cookies which are vegan but you’ll feel and perform differently than if you’re eating a whole food, nutrient dense diet.) Your diet is pretty fats heavy with carbs and not what I’d consider a good protein level for your goals.

Gaining muscle mass and strength (again, while eating enough calories) is difficult if you’re creating a deficit through working out and doing metcons as opposed to strict strength training. You can do it all but you have to eat enough to offset the calorie expenditure.

Your Olympic lifting could be throttled by strength issues or it could be technique relatedf. Being strong enough to get 55kg overhead doesn’t mean you have the technique to do so.

You need to train in a way to actually gain strength. “Constantly varied” may not lead you towards the performance gains you seek. There are a variety of ways to incorporate strength training. You may want to look to periodization.

 

[jonnylugs]

@dreamer6424

1. I do not eat any junk foods or any type of alcohol, so yes, I have a lot of nutrient dense food and not oreos. Last i ate them was maybe 7 years ago.
2. While I do agree, my diet is on the fat high side, but can't help it cause I am a vegetarian, I still hit 200+g on protein per day, which I consider high if not at least enough for my 63kg body.
3. Again, I agree gaining mass and strength is indeed difficult while doing metcons and I do need to do more isolated strength sessions. The question here was what should I improve nutrient wise?

 

[msaning]

@jonnylugs Do you like eggs or tofu? Those would help increase your protein intake. Maybe adding those instead of the pancakes and bananas? You could get a blood glucose meter and test your reactions to different kinds of foods to see what exactly was causing you to “get fat” on the higher calorie diet.

 

[jonnylugs]

@msaning Again, I feel my protein intake is enough at 200+ g/day and should consume more carbs to get better strength. Also, more strength than condition at the box seems to be the way to go for me from now on.

 

[dreamer6424]

@jonnylugs

1. I didn’t accuse you of having non nutritious food. I used Oreos as an example of a food you could eat at surplus which would yield different body composition results than if you ate say, steak, eggs, and kale to the same caloric surplus.
2. I saw elsewhere in this thread you say you eat 50/30/20 in a C/P/F macro balance to the effect of 3000+ calories a day. You also said you’re eating 200g of protein a day.

Did you actually sit down and work out your BMR and TDEE?

That would mean: 1333cal of carb, 800 cal of protein, and 533cal of fat. Or....about 2666 calories a day (I rounded decimals.) that is not 3000 calories a day. I don’t have the time to sit down and math out the actual macro content from your typical daily diet but I’d be shocked to see 200g of protein and 333g of Net carbs reflected. At any rate, at 2600 calories for your stated activity, you’re not eating at surplus.

My suggestion to you is to food log, weigh and measure your food and ensure you’re hitting the caloric surplus you need to reach whatever your goal is.

 

[jonnylugs]

@dreamer6424 It was a rough rounding that I did. I did used to keep food log up until about 6 months ago, but gave up after seeing no increase in the weights I lifted.
My last log shows 58-28-13 C-P-F with 2900 cal. Protein intake was 199g and carb intake was 345g

 

[lindacare]

@jonnylugs Have you tried seeing a nutritionist? I know they’re a little pricey but they’re trained in this stuff. I’ve had many friends have great results working with nutritionists. Trust me, if you find a good one they’re well worth it- and probably a little more experienced and helpful than random people on the internet.

 

[jonnylugs]

@lindacare Hmm, a good advice. Will give it a go. Thanks.

 

[rorylion]

@lindacare This. Its hard for the internet to give you advice because everyone is different. What might work for some may not work for you.

Also I agree with another comment. You will have a hard time seeing major gains in your stength if your box is not programing for that. Depending on what's going on for programing you could see big differences in your stength/body comp with the same diet.

 

[bmichael]

@jonnylugs Giving you my 2 cents on this as I went through something similar a while back (and don't get me wrong, I am not a nutritionist or a coach, but I've been training for years and tried many different training styles and programs).
At one point I started doing crossfit exactly like you are, i.e. 4-5 times a week, following a box's wods and really nothing more. I did so for almost a year. Just like you, I saw little to no improvements on my lifts, but improved my gymnastics. I was eating a similar diet, even maybe with less protein. I quickly realized something wasn't right. I decided to stop crossfit entirely and tried strength training programs (tried 5x5 and 5-3-1) and saw drastic improvements on my lifts, without touching my nutrition at all. Did so for another year, and then started doing wods again, but now with strength incorporated in my trainings as well (I would have strength training only days, wod only days, and days where I would have both. Even had some gymnastic specific sessions). I went from something like (don't remember the numbers exactly) 180 lbs squats to 380 in around two years.

I think the key takeaway here (and many others highlighted it) is you can't expect to increase your lifts only with 4 wods a week. Your squat surely won't increase if you are specifically squatting once every 2 weeks (when a wod has some) and doing it in a (e.g.) AMRAP manner. Your body needs progressive overload to learn how to consistently lift more. Nutrition is often the issue, but I don't think it is your case.

Another point I want to raise (that maybe you won't like hearing ): You keep saying your work keeps you busy and you can't do more than 4-5 one hour session per week. I find it hard to believe that you work 15 hours a day 7 days a week, leaving exactly one hour every day for training (assuming you are sleeping 8 hours a day). Like everyone else, you have other hobbies or engagements than work and training, but you can't say that you CAN'T train more than you currently are, you maybe just don't want to take time from other stuff for training. Anyway, I don't think you would need to go crazy and train 7 days a week for 2 hours to see improvements. In my opinion, 30 more minutes per training session where you would focus more on strength (maybe even not 4-5 times a week, could be 2-3) would be enough. I'm pretty sure that if you really want to see gains in your lifts, you will be able to find that extra time.

 

[dogcat]

@jonnylugs You need to lift more (strength work, Not metcons) when you're eating at a surplus.

Just eating more won't make you stronger unless you put in the extra work.

 

[abaseg]

@jonnylugs How big is your penis though? I know that sounds like a strange question, but athletes with larger penises require about 15% more calories on average.

Not enough people take this into consideration.

 

[jonnylugs]

@abaseg Wow, good point. It is indeed an elephant's trunk down there. :/

 

[angelique867]

@jonnylugs With any bulk you’re going to gain some amount of weight. Right now I’m on a 5% bulk to help with muscle growth and development during this strength cycle. Just slow walk it over 12 weeks, you’ll be fine. Stick to the plan, and you can always lose weight quickly with crossfit

 

[jonnylugs]

@angelique867 Thanks for the motivation. Will incorporate strength training 1 day/week and see how it goes.

 

[mranonymous573]

@jonnylugs 1/day per week isn't going to get you strength gains.

I'm not claiming to be an expert, but most strength programs prescribe 3 days /week for beginner and intermediate lifters, and more for advanced.

If I strength trained only 1 day a week I wouldn't be surprised when my 1rm squat went down not up

 

[jonnylugs]

@mranonymous573 I spoke with my coach. She too recommended me to do 3 months of only strength cycles and no Crossfit. Damn! the reason I stooped bodybuilding was because it tends to become monotonous and boring after sometime. No Crossfit for 3 months. I will try, but someone give me some strength......

 

[gitz]

@jonnylugs This is not an issue of diet. It's an issue of training. You work out 4 hours a week doing WODs. Crossfit is great. I started out doing crossfit. I still do the occasional metcon and I still drop in on this subreddit every few weeks. Sure Crossfit has some built in strength stuff but the too guys like Froning and Fraser follow strength programs. Think of it like this. Crossfit is your sport. You don't do your sport to get better at it. Football players don't just play football. Stop doing crossfit for one month and instead do a strength program like 5/3/1. I promise you you will get stronger. I became a better Crossfitter when I stopped doing crossfit. I promise you this is not a diet issue. It is a programming issue.