Hello all. My name is Andre and im from west chester, pa, near philadelphia. I've been working out for a bit, but have been as successful as I'd like. Since I've been working out I've gained about 20 lbs. so I am now 180. I'm 6'2. Good thing is where I work there is alot of healthy foods. My main goal is to increase muscle so protein good. I eat 4-5 meals a day. Not enough I know, but recently I've been working in some small meals when I'm not busy. Basically my day consists of:
Meal 1-3 egg's (3 whites, 1 yolk)
Meal 2-Cereal (whatever has the highest in protein at work, normally special k)
Meal 3-Ham and cheese sandwich(wheat bread, lettuce and yellow mustard) (or bagel melt)
Meal 4-Pepperoni and cheese bagel melt-http://www.wawa.com/foodchoices/nutr...cList=&traits=
Meal 5-(Post workout) Protein shake(56g of protein, 290 calories) 3 eggs (no yolk)
Sometimes I eat more depending on when I go the gym and what time it is. I do eat protein bars, I've been doing one a day, but lately I've been doing 2. I eat the Met-RX Brownie bar (32g of protein) once or twice. I'm not sure if I should be eating the bagel melt since its very greasy. I included the link on it to show the specs of it to see what people think. I eat it once or twice a day also. Throughout the day I eat peanut butter also and a yogurt. I drink as much water as possible too. So total protein for me is roughly 200 or so, if I can pull it off. Is this the way to go or am I doing this wrong?
Protein shake- 56 / 56
Eggs- 18 / 74
Bagel melt- 35 / 109
Protein bar- 32 / 141
Yogurt- 8 / 149
PB- 8 / 157
Special K- 8 / 165
(With 2 bagel melts and 2 protein bars) 232

Exercises include:
Bicep curls (machine and free weights)
Tricep extension(machine)
Dead lift
Chest exercises(not sure what the machine is called)
Lat pulldown
Push-ups
Shoulder shrugs
Decline Bench press
and 2-3 other machines that I'm not sure what the name is. I'm on my feet all the time so I feel there's no need for me to do my legs, I'm probably wrong though. And another thing, should I be taking creatine? Sorry for all the questions, but I'd really like to make an improvement. Thanks everyone.

If you have $30 or so, pick up "New Rules of Lifting." There's a lot of people seeing good results on it for fat loss, hypertrophy and strength and I know of one guy, 57 yrs old, close to deadlifting 400lbs from doing NROL's strength programs.

Stop giving him useless advice.

You have a serious flaw in your diet. You need to drastically increase calories. You also seem to be focusing too much on protein. Protein by itself is like Curly without Larry and Moe; it's just not going to work.

1. Carbohydrates, protein, AND fats.

Make your meals the day before if it's too little time, or whenever you're totally free (Sundays). You won't see any of your results if you don't seriously tweak your diet.

Don't worry about workouts right now, work on your diet. Look to eat in the 3,000 - 4,000 caloric range; 2,200+ caloric increase is needed (you're getting 854 right now- that's some anorexic ****).

Well the bagel melt has 739 calories a piece. That's 1478. And probably with everything else its about 2400 or so. I was eating double cheeseburgers from mcdonalds then i gained more weight than anything so i changed it up a bit.

Yeah and ditch fast food. Increase calories (healthy ones)

What would you reccomend?

Uh....

Carbs= breads, milk, bananas, etc.
Protein = red meats (in moderation), white meats, fish, milk, seeds, etc.
Fats = seeds, cheese, milk. (sunflower, almonds, peanuts, etc.) *stay away from trans fats/saturates in moderation (20g~ daily).

Easy there little man. It's not useless advice and certainly more than you give. You can't qualify the numbers you're quoting without knowing more. Four thousand calories a day for his height and weight will likely put on a lot of fat.

You can't say breads without qualifying that. Most breads are not good.

Seeds are an incomplete protien source.

Same goes for the brain.

I suggest you hit the books.

As for Scorch, you're regimen is terrible. I'll reiterate. Get a good book. One that has nutrition information and workouts.

Scrawny to Brawny
New Rules of Lifting

These two come highly recommended by many people.

4,000 calories too much for a guy who stands 6'2"?


Actually, yes you can. Whole grain breads are good. Go with that.


So? I'm sure he won't be eating seeds every damned meal. That's why I so eloquently also happened to type;

I guess it wasn't so eloquent since SOMEONE we all know happened to miss the entire list. My bad.

Lawl.

....riiiight.

And not once did you mention vegetables. Vegetable should be a part of every feeding. Nor did you mention a feeding ever 2-3 hours, that's 6-8 feedings a day for you Nobody.

....

..as you can see I didn't feel he had a problem in that area, otherwise I would have stated otherwise.

...vege...wha? Hence how I just stated basic sources of carbs, protein, and fats off the top of my head. I didn't write what he MUST eat. He asked for examples.

Funny how your superior intellect is reflected in your posts.

okay PLEASE guys! Lets focus our energy on helping the dude here.

As for my advice, atleast read this:
http://www.fitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17439

are you doing alot of isolation or are you focusing on compound movements?

I suppose more compound. I don't work out every group, more so all upper body when I go.

that needs to change. what does your current workout look like?