Home General Chat
If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.

need more calories

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited January 2023 in General Chat
imagine the laziest person in the world that never has any money and no time to prepare a meal, much less knows how to cook. youve got me.

i used 'calorie calculators' from a few websites and found that i burn between 1200-2200/day swimming. this is only 4 days a week and two days a week its about 600-1100. im starting to worry a little. i probably take in max 1500/day during the week. (although on the weekends i eat plenty). in general ive felt weaker lately, my muscles have diminished slightly (although with same workout schedule), and im completely exhausted by the time i get home at night.

anyone know any high calorie foods that are really, really easy and cheap? i need stuff that i can just throw in my bag in the morning without any effort(im sooooo lazy) and it has to last me all day...all my meals are eaten away from home.
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    No chance of getting dinner when you get back? No cooked meals? Shit this ain't gonna be easy....

    Ok:

    Pasta salad, with LOTS of tuna in it, so you get lots of protein and lots of carbs.

    Potato salad - the same

    Chicken sandwiches

    MRP Drinks - although they are expensive and you need to eat other stuff aswell.

    Soups - I hear Alessandro makes some damn fine Chicken soup :D
    with jalapeno peppers :D

    Big fat baguettes filled with fillings :D

    Stick some semi skimmed milk in a thermos flask with 2 ice cubes to keep it cool, and drink that with your lunch.


    Surely you must be able to get a good cooked meal somewhere?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i guess i could do meals at home. its just im so damn lazy and really tired when i get home. all i wanna do is plant my ass on the couch.

    what are baguettes? ive never made potato/pasta salad, any suggestions?

    i do fast food a couple times a week and go out to a restaurant sometimes.

    but as for cooking my own meals, i can do eggs, pasta, ground beef, thats about it. actually, i can do soup. my mum used to make this bigass pot of soup every sunday when i was growing up and itd last all week. maybe ill try that. need to get a big pot.

    i do try to drink a lot of milk and recently ive been buying deli meat (pretty much the only protein i get), although i only eat a couple of slices a day. shits so expensive.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Lizzafins
    i do try to drink a lot of milk and recently ive been buying deli meat (pretty much the only protein i get), although i only eat a couple of slices a day. shits so expensive.

    That's all the protein you get?

    Jesus, that ain't much......

    Baguettes are basicaly French bread stick things, make a whole one into a big ass sandwich :D

    Potato salad, you boil the potatoes like normal, cook the pasta like normal. Then leave them to cool. Once they've cooled, chop up the potatoes (leave pasta as it is :p) and mix in with mayonaise (optional, but tasty mmm....) LOTS of chopped veg, and tuna etc.

    You should cook yourself a meal in the evening, it doesn't take long, and I find cooking relaxing anyway, put on some music in the kitchen and cook away!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    thanks alistair. i just got paid...i think ill be hitting up the grocery store tonight and see if i come out with more than my usual juice, cereal, bread, blahblah. im going to put some real efforts into not burning down the kitchen. (ive had some very scary close calls in the past...mainly from trying to cook while inebriated)

    i heard last night on tv that women who eat cereal on a regular basis (the main staple of my diet that id like to change) weigh on average 8 lbs less than other women? id actually like to weigh more right now, but its something ill keep in mind for after i have kids and get fat.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Useful article for you:

    skint gourmet

    Like Alistair said potatoes and pasta are your best bet, as they are cheap, easy to cook and will help get your energy levels back.

    Plus throwing some mushrooms in your pasta sauce and grating some cheese on top will soon whack your protein levels back up.

    Take care of yourself (and ask your relatives/ mates for a couple of recipes or invest in a simple budget cookery book like grub on a grant)

    Susie :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    thanks. ill check it out.

    ewww. mushrooms. dont like them.

    quite a site-me in the produce section last night at the grocery store. my mum would be so proud. i used to tell her 'i dont do green stuff.' so i made a project out of it last night. took me an hour and a half to make potato salad, but it did eventually get done...although i cut myself twice so close together that theres a chunk missing from my thumb. :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    LOL

    I don't like mushrooms either - 'orrible stuff :p

    You'll get faster at making salads as you practice more.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Lizzafins

    If you look carefully at those website calorie counters, you'll notice that they calculate for average paces of 50 yards a min or so. Is there ever a point when you average 50 yds a min for a whole practice, or is it more like 75-80?

    These are designed to find the caloric needs for recreational swimmers, not competitive swimmers. When I swam, the rule of thumb I was taught by my USS coach and my YMCA coach was 900 calories per hour.

    Guessing from the yardage you put down in your earlier post, I bet you spend 3 hours a day or more in the pool. Adjusting for the difference in size between you and me, I would guess you would need over 2000 calories a day to maintain yourself.

    Plus don't forget, your have your basal metabolic needs (the energy you spend just walking around, breathing , etc), this depends on size, age and sex, but a good guess would be a little less than 2000 calories a day.

    My advice: Eat lots of pasta. LOTS of pasta. Its very cheap, and if you eat it a few hours before practice, it will have turned to sugar by the time you get in the pool so you'll just burn it right off. I used to eat a bowl of spaghetti every fifth period class in high school.

    And for God's sake eat some protein. Your muscles won't be able to repair themselves if you don't have any amino acids to rebuild muscle with, that's what protein gives you. You should at the very least eat 50 grams a day. That's about 8-10 ounces of meat, surely you can do that?

    If you don't do this, you will be holding yourself back. Your cardiovascular fitness will be great, but you won't have the muscle mass to take advantage of it.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ahh, and because Alistair reminded me....

    The chicken soup recipe:

    1 pound chicken breasts, diced
    1 can chicken broth
    egg noodles if you like
    2 bunches green onions
    1/4 teaspoon red pepper
    assorted vegtables, carrots and celery work well

    Add all ingredients to pot, cover and cook 45 minutes, stir occasionally so chicken doesn't stick to bottom of pot and make a mess

    I'm forgetting something...will post when I remem
    ber
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    on the websites i looked at, the most info it gave was for 'swimming-recreational'. so i figured it would be an underestimate of what i burn because i swim long and hard. but then i confused myself and thought that maybe i burn less because my body is more efficient(i learned some about this in a class at uni). now im totally confused.

    900 calories an hour? im surprised im still alive. i eat my last food of the day around 7pm and then i dont eat again till after morning workout (lately 5000-6500m in 2hrs). the past couple of weeks ive been trying to have a granola bar, fruit, etc on the way. had a banana this morning and it seemed to make a difference.

    8-10oz of meat a day...that doesnt seem like much. but to my wallet. ouch.

    alessandro: alistair said something about jalapeños. maybe thats it?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Yes your body is much more efficient, but don't forget you will be swimming a LOT harder than a recreational swimmer, they tend to just potter around the pool :p

    As for the cost of protein, when you go to the supermarket you can often get cheaper chicken breasts if they go out of date within a couple of days etc, look around for deals.....
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Lizzafins
    on the websites i looked at, the most info it gave was for 'swimming-recreational'. so i figured it would be an underestimate of what i burn because i swim long and hard. but then i confused myself and thought that maybe i burn less because my body is more efficient(i learned some about this in a class at uni). now im totally confused.

    900 calories an hour? im surprised im still alive. i eat my last food of the day around 7pm and then i dont eat again till after morning workout (lately 5000-6500m in 2hrs). the past couple of weeks ive been trying to have a granola bar, fruit, etc on the way. had a banana this morning and it seemed to make a difference.

    8-10oz of meat a day...that doesnt seem like much. but to my wallet. ouch.

    alessandro: alistair said something about jalapeños. maybe thats it?

    First of all, are you a distance swimmer, or a sprint swimmer?

    Sprint sets can burn more than 900 calories an hour, its more like 1000. It also depends on your stroke, freestyle and fly burn more than back or breast.

    Your body is more efficient than the average swimmer, for example doing a 100 yards at a 1:20 pace probably wouldn't raise your heart rate at all, while to the average swimmer it would be killing them. But remember, your coach pushes you until you heart is racing at times, doesn't he/she? Metabolism is highly dependant on heart rate, if your heart is beating fast, then your metabolism is running fast.

    You are almost certainly in serious calorie debt. Just eat something, I used to eat Kentucky Fried Chicken a lot just so I would have the calories. If you can do it healthier than that it would be better, of course

    If you buy frozen chicken breasts and thaw them they are cheaper than if you get the fresh ones in the supermarket. Pasta is the swimmers best friend too. Eat lost of it.

    I can't believe that your coaches have never talked about nutrition, someone should speak to them. Its not healthy for you guys not to be eating right.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    im sprint free/IM, but we train long stuff in the summer season. to give you an idea, the 'sprinters' main set last night was...
    200bk on 3:00
    4x200fr on 2:45
    200bk
    3x200fr
    200bk
    2x200fr
    200bk
    200fr

    and this morning it was
    8x100pull 1:30
    4x200pull 2:50
    2x400pull 5:45
    800pull-dont remember the time, but i know i didnt come close to it :(

    i shudder when i hear what the distance swimmers do. they really amaze me.

    we generally do 2000-3000m warmups and a small set after the main one and 200-400m warmdowns.

    you better believe my heart is racing during some or our sets. we use heartrate monitors sometimes...mines been up to 150 at times(whereas resting, it ranges from 45-60). today we did 8x50 on 1:00 kick w/fins...35m fast under, 15m easy on top. i felt like my chest was going to explode by the time id hit the 35m mark each time.

    our coaches definitely talk to us. we had a two hour meeting before practice on nutrition alone the other day. although they didnt really emphasize caloric intake, they did talk a lot about eating healthy and making sure there is something in our bodies before and after working out.

    i didnt do very well with my food today. so far, ive had a banana, milk, and two granola bars. i will be eating a good dinner though. i made my own 'hamburger helper' last night (tons of beef and cheese mixed in with a whole package of pasta). i was so proud of myself, but i forgot to take it with me this morning. :rolleyes:
Sign In or Register to comment.