Gotta learn the hard way

When I started looking for advice on how to go about lifting weights I saw a lot of things that didn't make any sense to me.  One of them was the way that people who lifted weights just sat around for most of the time in they spent in the gym.  I couldn't quite figure out why that would be, because I figured that if I was spending time in the gym I ought to spend all of the time doing something.

Initially my routine was to do a set, jump on the elliptical machine for 1 minute, then do another set.  I just kept myself constantly working.  Efficiency!  Fitting in extra cardio!  I wondered if the reason other people didn't do this was just because in most gyms the cardio equipment isn't right beside the weight equipment, or that there are lots of people competing for equipment so you can't just run back and forth between machines monopolizing everything.

Now I think I actually understand.  When I started out I wasn't lifting much weight so when my muscles were worn out I still hadn't actually burned through that much energy.  My cardiovascular system wasn't being particularly taxed even though my arms were sore, so I could easily do some extra cardio between sets.  Now though my weights are a lot higher and I am struggling because I really need actual rest between sets and can't just 'rest' on the elliptical.

So it seems that all those people who were sitting around actually knew what they were doing.  Who would have thought?

I also had the problem that while I was trimming away the tiny amount of fat my body had, I wasn't really bulking up much.  Of course that was because I was working out for an hour a day but hadn't changed my eating habits at all.  No matter how much weight I throw around it isn't going to get me big unless I put all the food into me.

My solution was to eat my normal amount of food every day and just add on 6 eggs.  I like eggs a lot and they are healthy, cheap protein so that was an easy choice to make.  The trouble I have been having is that my eating and lifting is messing with my schedule.  I need to pack in extra meals but I can't do it right before working out or I feel absolutely gross.  I keep running into the situation where I realize I have 3 hours and in that 3 hours I need to eat two big meals and do the whole work out / shower / cool down routine and that just doesn't have an obvious optimal route.

I need to redesign my life around always finding time to eat a lot and have 90 minutes to spare that doesn't come right after eating.  I really thought it would be the pain or exhaustion that would be the tough part of bulking up, not the raw logistics of fitting the stuff into my schedule.