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I have gone through the thread "I am underweight. How do I gain weight and muscle?". I have a few other questions regarding protein supplements and organization of cooking.

  1. How can I organize my meals for a morning workout. ( 7.30am to 8.30am). Should I have something before I hit the gym or just pre-workout shake ?. (If pre workout please suggest what to buy - my objective is to gain weight and I have no knowledge of what protein to buy).
  2. Is pre-workout protein different from post workout.
  3. Should I have any other protein shakes apart from pre and post workout supplements (like whey). I don't eat MEAT so I have to depend on protein supplements.

PS: Also it will be really great if someone post up reputed online stores to purchase protein so that it can directly ship to my home. It can help a lot of student who can ship stuffs to their school mail box. Its easier to carry it to gym.

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    What does your diet currently look like? Protein supplements should supplement your diet, not be the basis of it. Also, with a healthy diet not eating meat doesn't immediately mean you aren't getting enough protein from natural sources.
    – user2861
    Commented Jul 8, 2013 at 2:08
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    My diet consists of mainly Indian dishes. More carbs and fats than proteins. I have rice (brown/white) and curry of vegetables and sometime boiled eggs or scrambled eggs. I eat 3/day.
    – vulkkan
    Commented Jul 8, 2013 at 2:13
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    Before you start looking into supplaments, I'd start tracking your diet. Indian food is usually quite high in protein because of the lentils, chick peas and rice. That plus eggs should have you meeting your basic protein needs of 200g/day.
    – user2861
    Commented Jul 8, 2013 at 2:29
  • Pre- and post-workout shakes are supplements, and its hard to supplement if you don't know what you are missing.
    – user2861
    Commented Jul 8, 2013 at 2:30
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    @LegoStormtroopr It's pretty difficult to meet 200g/day protein on chickpeas (et. al.). Take chickpeas -- you'd have to eat over 13 cups, which is like 3500 calories, and the carb ratios are really high. And even if you ate only 7 cups of chick peas you'd still need to eat 17 eggs in a day to hit 200g of protein. It's much easier just to eat a couple of chicken breasts or steaks in the day.
    – Daniel
    Commented Jul 10, 2013 at 17:25

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I, for one, am of the opinion that any strength based activity (powerlifting, bodybuilding, weightlifting, strongman, etc) should not be done on an empty stomach, unless you're specifically cutting weight. So in your case a sturdy breakfast is important. Because I'm an American I will suggest something familiar to me, which is a bunch of eggs and a bunch of toast.

Aside from the all-important pre-workout meal, the timing of your meals is largely unimportant. There are people that will tell you that there is a "window" post-workout where you have to consume something, however for your average gym goer this will not make a huge difference. The important thing is that you are eating the right amount of food. For "hardgainers" the common issue with gaining weight is their overestimation of the amount of food they're eating.

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