A few diet queries

Hi folks,

Wonder if you can confirm my thinking is OK:

I'm male, 30, 1.79 m (5 foot 10 and a half) and 69 kilos (152 pounds). I
have a sedentary lifestyle.

I understand that I will need 3000 cals daily to gain muscle weight. Is that
correct? I plan to eat 160 g protein daily.

Therefore:


20% cals from good fats = 600 cals

Cals from 160 g protein = 160 x 4 cals per g protein = 640 cals

Balance from carbs = 1760 cals


Does the amount of carbs seem too high or is it OK?

A final query: do blueberries count as a "low-glycemic" carb and are sweet
potatoes so much better to consume than regular, white potatoes?

Thanks alot for any advice!

Cheers, Ed

Ed wrote:
> I understand that I will need 3000 cals daily to gain muscle weight. Is that
> correct? I plan to eat 160 g protein daily.

Just wondering where did you come up with that 3000 calorie number? One
size does not fit all. Use a free online program like FitDay
http://www.fitday.com to log all your food intake. Find out how much
you eat now to maintain your current weight. Add in a modest 500 extra
calories to that (an extra chicken breast & a baked potato as an
example) If you add in too many calories it just gets stored as fat.

> Therefore:
> 20% cals from good fats = 600 cals
> Cals from 160 g protein = 160 x 4 cals per g protein = 640 cals
> Balance from carbs = 1760 cals
> Does the amount of carbs seem too high or is it OK?

When you log your foods into FitDay it will give you a graph breakdown
of what you have eaten and you can make adjustments as you go along.
The ratios of the foods you eat can be guided by your activity level,
and the goals you set for yourself.
Just as an example, if you were to eat 3000 calories a day and wanted
higher carbs in say a 50/30/20 ratio (carbs/protein/fats) then it might
look like this:
3000 x .50 = 1500 calories from carbs
3000 x .30 = 900 calories from carbs
3000 x .20 = 600 calories from fat

Now remember: 1 gram of protein = 4 calories, 1 gram of carbs = 4
calories and 1 gram of fat = 9 calories. (and btw 1 gram of alcohol is
7 calories)

Then convert the above figures to grams:
1500 divided by 4 calories per gram = 375 grams of carbs
900 divided by 4 calories per gram = 225 grams of protein
600 divided by 9 calories per gram = 67 grams of fat
(The above is a daily total)

A breakdown of six smaller meals would then contain:
375 grams divided by 6 = 62 grams of carbs per meal
225 grams divided by 6 = 38 grams of protein per meal
67 grams dvided by 6 = 11 grams of fat per meal

You can use the above example to figure out other different ratios that
may suite your needs better, because you may not need 3000 calories a
day.

> A final query: do blueberries count as a "low-glycemic" carb and are sweet
> potatoes so much better to consume than regular, white potatoes?

Sweet potatoes have a bit more fiber than regular potatoes,
betacarotene/vitC, lower glycemic (if that matters)and you dont have to
smother them in something to taste good. Regular potatoes tho are a
good source of potassium. You can compare food nutrients here:
http://tinyurl.com/bzsq5

Most berries are moderate to high on the glycemic index due to their
sugar content, but one cup of blueberries contains lots of antioxidents
and almost four grams of fiber so dont cut them out yet:
http://www.topfitonline.com/chartglycemic.htm


joanne