Diet advice

[Xar666]

Hi, I have been a long time lurker and am now looking for advice. I am a 5'10 180 pound male. My BF is about 31%. I am pretty lean throughout my upper body but all my life I have had a belly and love handles. I am currently following the Body-For-Life workout but I have a few problems with the Diet the book suggests. It does not have you calculate any numbers. It only has you eat portions of foods. I have been eating 5 meals a day every 2 to 3 hours. My main goal is to be in decent shape and lean out my midsection. Nothing crazy, maybe like 11-13 BF%
Check it out:

Meal One:
Myoplex Shake

Meal Two:
Chicken breast
1/2 cup brown rice

Meal Three:
Chicken Breast
1/2 cup brown rice
10 oz. Broccoli

Meal Four:
Chicken breast
1/2 cup brown rice
10 oz. Broccoli

Meal Five:
Myoplex Shake

Here are my daily numbers:

Cals: 1552
Pro: 214
Carb: 138
Fat: 31

I have a free day on Sunday: (Per the Body-For-Life book)

Any thoughts on this?

I have tried straight keto but could not stick with it.

Maybe a CKD would be better? Mr. X?

Thanks in advance,

Xar666

 

[Xar666]

I also forgot I drink 128oz. water per day.

Thanks,

Xar666

 

[HumanShell]

I'll tell you one thing Mr.X will tell you, and that's that you need to up your calories. You're currently eating at about 8.62 calories per pound of body weight, which is too low. I also think that he will tell you that you need to eat a more diverse diet. You're missing out on many different nutrients, and I feel that you will not be able to stick to that diet for long. Chicken gets old, and it gets old fast (especially if you're eating it 3x per day.) I'm currently at about 200#'s, with somewhere in between 20-25% BF. Here is my current eating plan, maybe you could take some cues from it.

Meal #1 - 7am-2 baggies of plain oatmeal mixed with 1+1/3 cup fat free skim milk, and one scoop of protein. Drink 2/3 cup of milk.
48p-66c-6f

Meal #2 - 10am-turkey sandwich consisting of 2 slices whole grain wheat bread, 1tbsp mayo, lettuce or spinache, tomato, 6oz turkey; 1 cup green beans; 1/2 cup cottage cheese.
56p-38c-9f

Meal #3 - 1pm-1 cup brown rice; 8oz turkey; brocoli; 1tbsp flaxseed oil
49p-33c-17f(14f from flaxseed)

Meal #4 - 4pm-1 cup of fat free plain yogurt; 3oz baby carrots; 1 can of tuna
45p-28c-1f

Meal #5 - 7pm-scoop of protein mixed with water
22p-2c-2f

Meal #6 - 10pm(or right before bed if I go to sleep earlier)-can of tuna
32p-0c-1f

I'm going to start adding in some blueberries to my oatmeal in the mornings, and I also eat quite a few of these "grape tomato" things during the day. I get a bowl of assorted fruit during the day, which I can't really find the nutritional value of. I also drink 6g of fiber in some water with meals 3-5x daily (for a total of in between 30-60g fiber per day). I drink about 5 liters of water each day, and take my multivitamin after my 1pm meal, since I read/heard you should take it after a fatty meal so it will absorb better. Before bed, I take 1g Esterfied Vitamin C. EOD or so, I add in an extra 400iu of Natural Vitamin E.

Protein = 252g about 50%
Carbs = 167g about 33%
Fat = 36g about 17%

For a calorie total of a little more than 2000 per day, probably somewhere closer to 2150. I don't like to take in many carbs after 4pm, just what works best for me.




If you're using the regular Myoplex shakes, they should provide you with 42g protein, 24g carbs, 2g fat, I think. That's if they're mixed with water. If I were using them with my diet, I would shuffle around a couple meals, to replace what are currently meals 3 and 4. I'd make it where a shake (with 1tbsp flaxseed oil) was my first meal of the day, and probably my 4th.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Mr.X]

Dear Xar666,

I have to agree with HumanShell. Your calories are too low and you need to add EFA's (essential-fatty-acids) to your diet.
This is the diet plan given to you by HumanShell, I have made some minor changes, see below:

Meal #1 - 7am-2 baggies of plain oatmeal mixed with 1+1/3 cup fat free skim milk, and one scoop of protein. Drink 2/3 cup of milk.
48p-66c-6f
Mr.X->cut out the ff-milk, add 1 tbsp. of flaxseed oil

Meal #2 - 10am-turkey sandwich consisting of 2 slices whole grain wheat bread, 1tbsp mayo, lettuce or spinache, tomato, 6oz turkey; 1 cup green beans; 1/2 cup cottage cheese.
56p-38c-9f
mr.x->cut out 1tbsp. of mayo--replace with 1tbsp. fat-free mayo
mr.x->add 1 tbsp. of all natural peanut butter

Meal #3 - 1pm-1 cup brown rice; 8oz turkey; brocoli; 1tbsp flaxseed oil
49p-33c-17f(14f from flaxseed)

Meal #4 - 4pm-1 cup of fat free plain yogurt; 3oz baby carrots; 1 can of tuna
45p-28c-1f
mr.x->cut out yogurt and carrots, add a plain gree salad
->add 4oz. of sweet potato or yam
(3oz. sweet potato= ~20 carbs, 82 calories)

Meal #5 - 7pm-scoop of protein mixed with water
22p-2c-2f
->add 1tbsp. grapeseed oil (if you can't find grapeseed, add flaxseed)

Meal #6 - 10pm(or right before bed if I go to sleep earlier)-can of tuna
32p-0c-1f

I think for now, a little more calories will do wonders for your diet.
Example of EFA's: flaxseed, grapeseed, sunflowerseed, olive, sesamese seed, peanut..oils

Mr.X

 

[Xar666]

Thanks for the advice guys. I was eating such low calories because I thought you calculated your maintenance total as 10cals per pound of bodyweight and then subtract 500 from that to lose weight. I see that this must be incorrect. How many calories should I be taking in to lose?

Thanks,

Xar666

 

[Mr.X]

BMR=weight x 12
Try to follow something that is BMR-5%, depending on your look. You can raise and lower calories, in order to see better results.

Mr.X

 

[Mic]

Your calories are too low to lose weight. 5 meals a day is right for someone who wants to be fit and healthy. I don't know what you're doing for cardio but you should be walking 3 or 4 times a week before breakfast as well as 3 or 4 times at night after weights.

You should step your calories to achieve maximum results. Something like this:
Mon; 2500 cals
Tues; 2000 cals
Wed; 1500 cals
Thurs; 2500 cals
Fri; 2000 cals
Sat; 1500 cals
Sun; Pig out.

Protein and fat intake should remain constant at about 300g and 50g respectively, while varying your carb intake from say 150g on Mon to 100g on tues then 75g on wed, then repeat then pig out.

These aren't exact numbers, but you get the idea i hope.

Later
Mic

 

[Onenameleft]

I don't really have anything to add here except that there's no magic number that will always give you your BMR. Some people say 10Xweight in lbs for a sedentary person. Now, no one is that sedentary, so that's why the number goes up to 12.. The truth is that your BMR depends on a lot of things and the only way to really figure out what it is, is to count your calories over the course of a couple of weeks and see how your weight changed. If your working out, then it's your AMR that you're finding.. If you stay exactly the same weight, then you're eating at it exactly.. If you lose, then you're below it.. If you gain, you're above it. A general rule is that a lb of is 3500 calories, so if you lost a lb in a week, then you were 500 cal/day under your AMR for that week on the average. Starting at 12 is the best way to go, but you have to watch your weight and count the calories to figure out what your MR really is. I do agree with MR. X, that the best place to start is 12Xweight, but if you count on that to always be right, then you might have problems.. Everyone's different and you have to figure out your metabolic rate if you want to be successful. Good luck.

 

[evilution79]

Mic said that his calories are too low to lose weight. im curious to know how he is eating too little calories to lose weight? I understand that if u starve yourself, you will lose muscle. But 1800 calories sounds sufficient because he is below maintenance which is necessary to lose the fat. 2200 calories seems a little too high to lose the fat. Someone enlighten me.

 

[Hoffmeister]

First, I agree completely with Onename. You have to track your OWN calorie intake and progress to determine what level is best for you.

But everyone needs a starting point, and I agree with him and Mr X that 12xBW is as good a place as any.

As far as I know, technically BMR (basal metabolic rate) is the calories expended if you did nothing but sit on the couch all day.

Lyle McDonald posted a fairly good explanation here:

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=b...f&rnum=6&ic=1&[email protected]

To get your actual metabolic rate, you need to add 30%-70%, depending on your activity level. This would be your estimated "maintenance" calories.

More general guides are 10-12xBW for cutting, 14-16xBW for maintenance, and 18-20xBW for mass gain.

In any case, I don't think I'd ever go below 10xBW. The original poster was at 1550 at 180 lbs, which is too low.

Also, these are all assuming no drugs. I have no experience with drugs, other than E/C, so these numbers may very well change depending on what you may be using. Without drugs, losing 1-2 lbs of fat per week seems to be best; anything more seems to be cutting into lean mass too much.