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Idk if you can get this were you live but I can for about 2/3 of the amazon price and its easy, low cal and adds a lot of flavor.

I love adding teriyaki flavor to my meats, here is a super simple sauce recipe I use with monk fruit extract (erythritol) in place of sugar so you get a lot of flavor compared to the calories it adds. I make this so often I just eyeball it and record how much I use so I can calculate the macros per portion of cooked final product. Here it is, this for 1 batch which for me is about 2-3 lbs minced meat. 2/3 Cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup rice vinegar. 2-3 tsp minced ginger. 1-2 tbsp minced garlic. 1-2 tbsp sugar or brown sugar (or other sweetener, just adjust to your tastes as many artificial sweeteners taste a lot stronger then sugar imo). I recommend cooking your meat first to 80% done or more. Remove from pan, drain fat and then add sauce to pan and reduce volume by about a quarter or more. If you like a thicker sauce that clings to the meat (and I often do) add some corn starch (1tbsp) to a little water and add that to your sauce while reducing it. Add your meat back and finish cooking. You can use powdered garlic and ginger over fresh, its a lot cheaper and easier, just be sure to add a little water to let them re-hydrate before mixing in with everything else. In my experience this little step makes a big difference with the garlic. I love spice (heat) and you can add as much red pepper flake as you can tolerate to this recipe for spicy teriyaki.

Sriracha sauce is always good, really any hot sauce as long as its not got a lot of sugar.

Gochujong is a Korean red pepper sauce and is hands down one of my favorite.

Most salsas are low cal and add a lot of flavor and moisture to food, especially a pico de gallo.

A good balsamic reduction can add a ton of flavor to veggies, fruits and proteins. Its super easy and relatively cheap to make, just get a good balsamic vinegar that you like and simmer it down in a sauce pan until its about half its original volume. Bonus tip: Roast veggies (for this my favorites are brussels sprouts or broccoli), a little crumbled bacon with the fat drained off (roast the veggies with the bacon fat IFFYM), crumbled creamy goat cheese (buy it in the tubes and freeze for 30 mins to make crumbling easy, saves a lot of money vs buying it already crumbled) and drizzle with balsamic reduction.

This kind of a sauce kind of not, but I love it: add a fried or poached egg to any salad or just to minced meat/carb/veggie bowl. Good protein from the egg white and the yolk is an instant rich and delicious sauce.

These aren't sauces but they are go-tos for me when I want to add flavor to a dish: caramelized onions (just cook 'em down, no need to add sugar but you can), pickled carrots and pickled beats (I can often gets these pre-made in bulk for a great price).

Sliced grapes, strawberries and apple can do a lot for salad and create a lot of pleasing textures and flavors with small amounts of various nuts (toast nuts to add flavor as well).

Maybe you should read some books on this subject instead of relying on bro science. Modern bodybuilding encyclopedia gets into this, Natural bodybuilding guide gets into this, as well as many other books. I have quite the library, and these are some of the only points multiple science based books agree on.

Also, the Navy seal physical fitness guide they hand out to new recruits to teach them proper training methods in their down time covers this. They have those guys rotating rep counts every few month to go up as high as 50+ reps for muscular endurance without getting too heavy. Book was written by a group of military doctors who train people for a living. Ill trust that book over your opinion.

https://www.amazon.com/U-S-Navy-Guide-Fitness-Nutrition/dp/1607963884/ref=sr_1_2?crid=5OIFMYIIL8TF&keywords=navy+seal+physical+fitness+guide&qid=1555698337&s=gateway&sprefix=navy+seal+physic%2Caps%2C127&sr=8-2

"Developed for Navy SEAL trainees to help them meet the rigorous demands of the Naval Special Warfare (NSW) community, this comprehensive guide covers all the basics of physical well being as well as advice for the specific challenges encountered in extreme conditions and mission-related activities. Topics covered include calculating energy expenditure; definitions, functions, and daily allowances of carbohydrates, fats, and protein; nutritional considerations for endurance and strength training activities; active recovery from injury; cardio-respiratory conditioning; appropriate gear for running and swimming for fitness; exercising in extreme and adverse weather; and more. Compiled by physicians and physiologists chosen for their knowledge of the NSW and SEAL community, this manual is a unique resource for anyone wanting to improve his or her health, strength, and endurance."

Do you really think these doctors are just guessing when they tell them to change rep counts to match desired results. Would you really trust a Reddit sub or mens bodybuilding magazine over what doctors are telling the most elite group of men in the world to do? Men who's lives rely on their training.

I have also used targeted lifting to cut fat from places I want fat gone from. Like high rep oblique crunches.

I'll also add, my gf of many years earned her doctorate at Cornell in molecular biology and studied nutritional biochemistry. She used to laugh at what a joke it is for people to split hairs on training and nutrition when they are no where near the elite level. Until you plateau a few times after years of training, many things people harp on that pros do are a waste of time and money for the average lifter.

If you can make it fit your macros everyday and flexible diet your way there good for you but it sounds like you weren't able to do that with 8 years of training.

A plan helps, it's how I was able to diet from 220+ back down to a ripped 180.

If not go ahead with your 30 bananas a day but a simpler way would just to drink Dextrose Shakes which would be better for muscle gains since fructose is mainly metabolized in the liver instead of the rest of your body.

https://www.amazon.com/NOW-Sports-Dextrose-Powder-10-Pound/dp/B002JNM8YM/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1538534765&sr=8-3&keywords=dextrose&th=1

For me, I split this into two categories--those in the pre-PED era in the United States (1959 and earlier) and those in the modern era (1960+).

For the pre-PED era: Clancy Ross

For the PED era: Skip LaCour


I particularly like Skip for his mass, symmetry and conditioning. It's hard to compete as a lifetime natural at about 220lbs. Skip only entered drug-tested shows his entire career and finished with 5 Natural Mr. Universe titles.

I do appreciate all the other mentions from various folks here.


Craig

Author of Bodybuilding: From Heavy Duty to SuperSlow

The Muscle and Strength Pyramid books are great. If they're interested in health, they'll probably want both the nutrition and training volumes.

Yes, I use Completegest, as it's one of the few that have phytase in it. Full-spectrum; great stuff!

Bodybuilding: The Complete Contest Preparation Handbook just came out and looks amazing.

Layne Norton's The Complete Contest Prep Guide is a good one, too.

I've used NOW Sports Carbo Gain and noticed in the Amazon reviews people saying they used it post-chemo to get their weight up.

NOW Foods Carbo Gain, 8 Pounds https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013OUNRM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ODTHxbHH9FNJ7

Cancer sucks. Wishing you the best.

The 3 main testing agencies NSF, Informed Choice, and Informed Sport all have a search feature. I'll post links when I get to work. I work with collegiate and pro athletes and the brands we usually recommend are EAS and Cytosport (Muscle Milk) as most of theirs are tested.

edit: you can search by brand or type of supplement. note that each flavor has to get tested so a lot of companies not all flavors of their protein powder are tested
Search NSF
Search Informed Choice
Search Informed Sport

I usually go with EAS 100% Whey for protein, you can get 5-15% off with subscribe and save and I frequently see a 20% off clip on coupon with it so is usually cheaper than MyProtein unless you catch a sale there. For BCAAs I usually go with EAS again (all EAS products are NSF) though I got some from MyProtein last time since it was cheaper at the time (only the iBCAA version is tested).

This is a good starting point: The Complete Guide To Setting Up Your Diet

Calorie requirements are going to vary depending on the individual so calculations should simply to be used as starting points and adjusted as needed to hit your target weight loss/gain. If you have gained more fat than wanted it may be a good idea to cut until your down to 10-12% BF before beginning a gaining phase as well. Some rationale as to why is here.

> And whats is a basic way to keep track of them?

Myfitnesspal (iOS/Android/Web) is the most convenient and widely used method to track intake. Just make sure yoou are cross checking foods with the actual nutrition labels to ensure accuracy as most foods are mainly by users and may have errors as a result.

Some other resources if what you're eating doesn't have a label and you're unsure of the accuracy of MFP.

1. Google - Seriously, just google banana nutrition and you'll get USDA sourced nutrition info, for example.
   
2. Nutritiondata.self.com
   
   For accuracy, buy a kitchen scale. It's far more accurate than volume measurements and fairly inexpensive. The model linked is the one I use but there are tons of options.

Yes I have dumbbells. https://www.amazon.com/CAP-Barbell-40-pound-Adjustable-Dumbbell/dp/B000VCDXNS/ref=sr_1_4?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1466800475&sr=1-4&keywords=cap+dumbbell

Two sets of these.

Dymatize ISO 100 Whey Protein Powder with 25g of Hydrolyzed 100% Whey Isolate, Gluten Free, Fast Digesting, Gourmet Chocolate, 5 Pound https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002N6F2UW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_5xpIDbGM3FKC7


$65 bucks for 5lb dynamtize with 2 day shipping. Don’t buy directly from their site...

You should read Superforcasting. They specifically talk about people who make percent guesses down to the decimal point like this lol.

If you want to learn about the other 99 cognitive biases people are unwittingly carrying around (perhaps you, too), check out Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow.

have you tried taking lactase?

I use a 48oz nalgene.

https://www.amazon.com/Nalgene-48-Ounce-Tritan-Mouth-Bottle/dp/B004H8BIKW/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=48oz+nalgene&qid=1564692952&s=gateway&sr=8-3