Diet help.critique needed.

[jr1788]

So after many months of procrastinating and spending money on other things, I have finally joined a gym and am starting a normal training routine. I basically want to lose as much BF as possible, as quickly as possible, but not be more fucked up when it's over than when I started.
Current Stats:
19 years of age
6'2"
285 lbs.
48" chest, 44" waist somewhere around there
Don't know BF%(definitely high as fuck though)

I do 30-45 min. of cardio every morning on an empty stomach. keep my heart rate at around 135-155 the whole time.
I then do some lifting 3-4 times a week. Back, chest, legs one day. Arms, shoulders, abs the next. and cycle it. and try doing about 15-30 minutes of cardio after lifting. keep my hr at about 150-160 the whole time. I do this about 2 hours or so before bed.

So far I've been feeling good, I actually have ALOT more energy now than I did before. I stopped smoking about a month ago, so that may contribute to the extra energy. I have also started eating 5-6 smaller meals a day, opposed to the 2 big meals I was eating before. Only problem is I am getting bored with the meal options. I have been doing the low carb thing for the last 3 days, and it's killing me. Basically it breaks down like this for the day.

Meal 1: 8:00 AM
2 egg whites, 1 whole egg scrambled
2 oe 3 Slices of turkey
1 liter of water

Meal 2: 11:00 AM
3 oz. tuna w/ mustard, onion
1/2 liter of water

Meal 3:1:30 PM
6 oz. chicken breast w/ thai peanut dressing or Frank's red hot sauce
1 liter water

Meal 4:4:00 PM
2 hard boiled egg whites
1/2 liter water

Meal 5: 7:00 PM
7 oz. chicken or fish
1/2 cup of some type of veggie
1/2 liter of water

I try to drink about 2 more liters of water throughout the day so i can be at about 1 gallon or more, I also drink about 4 or 5 glasses of Arizona Diet Green Tea all day. 0 carbs, 0 calories, 0 sugar, 0 fat. and it tastes just as good, or better than the original.

I need help developing a diet plan, I really dont wanna get bored and quit a week or 2 down the line. Any new meal plans, supplement advice, anything is appreciated. Critique it as needed, I know it is flawed. Mind you, this is alot better than I was before which was basically, one big ass meal in the morning, and one huge meal at night. and had loads of carbs.

 

[partagus]

This is what I have done and it is working for me. I do cardio five times a week and I lift four times a week. I run the treadmill for one mile to warm up on lifting days, and one mile after lifting. On the other days, I do two miles on the treadmill and then do an ab and push up workout.

As far as diet goes, like you, when I first started out, I tried to avoid all carbs. Sure you'll lose weight, but you'll also feel like crap while you're doing it and then get bored and stop dieting.

Don't look at it as a diet, look at it as a lifestyle change. Also, carbs are not bad, you can eat carbs and still lose weight. Your body needs complex carbs, not simple ones. Here is a sample of what I eat in a day and I am losing weight:

Meal #1
1 egg, 3 egg whites scrambled together with turkey (Variation #1-is I will cook some turkey baccon and scramble two hole eggs and eat a 1/2 cup of cooked oats. Variation #2-is 1-egg, 3-egg white omlette with whatever veggies and meat I havein the fridge, and sometimes I will even add a slice or two of fat free cheese. Variation #3-Two whole eggs cooked over easy with two small (6-8 oz) steaks and one slice of sugar free toast)

Meal #2
3/4 to 1 cup of cottege cheese with blueberries (Variation one chicken breast or some turkey wrapped in a low carb tortilla with some veggies, lettuce, tomato and some olive oil and vinigar)

Meal #3
A handful of almonds and a low carb protein bar or protein shake (Variation #1-is 1 hole cooked chicken breast)

Meal #4
Meat (Chicken, turkey, steak or tuna) and veggies (Some times I might even add in a serving of sweet potatos or some brown rice)

Meal #5
Low carb protein bar or a can of tuna (in a wrap or on sugar free low carb bread) Variation is some celery sticks dipped in ANPB

Meal #6 (Post workout meal)
A protein shake with fruit

This is what I eat in a typical day. I have two big meals (Meals #1 and #4) and the rest are small. This is what works for me and my work/home schedule. Here is a great web-site to use when you are starting out. It helps you keep track of all your calories and what percentages you are eating.

http://fitday.com/WebFit/Index.html

I hope this helps. If you want some ideas on some recipes or anything, let me know. Good luck bro and STICK TO IT!

By the way, I have lost around 40 pounds since February, I have added muscle, and lowered my body fat percentage.

 

[jr1788]

thanks for the post and advice bro. So far I haven't swaggered off and eaten a whole pizza or anything bad like that. I added some carbs to my day yesterday, a banana and some skim milk PWO, and an apple mid day. I thought the low carb option was the best one, but after some researching and lurking on the forum, i decided to opt against it. I just wanna lose the gut and feel better about my physique. I have the motivation it is just the options to eat that I am concerned about. I'm strapped for cash right now, but I'm gonna buy some whey isolate and jump on an ECAY stack like in the next week or 2. But so far, 2 weeks in and everything is looking good. I actually lost 4 lbs in 2 weeks so I'm happy. But I am trying to minimize the amount of muscle lost compared to fat loss. I am hoping to hit about 240-250 by August 11. Does it seem reasonable or not??

 

[partagus]

thanks for the post and advice bro. So far I haven't swaggered off and eaten a whole pizza or anything bad like that. I added some carbs to my day yesterday, a banana and some skim milk PWO, and an apple mid day. I thought the low carb option was the best one, but after some researching and lurking on the forum, i decided to opt against it. I just wanna lose the gut and feel better about my physique. I have the motivation it is just the options to eat that I am concerned about. I'm strapped for cash right now, but I'm gonna buy some whey isolate and jump on an ECAY stack like in the next week or 2. But so far, 2 weeks in and everything is looking good. I actually lost 4 lbs in 2 weeks so I'm happy. But I am trying to minimize the amount of muscle lost compared to fat loss. I am hoping to hit about 240-250 by August 11. Does it seem reasonable or not??

You have approximately 3 months to lose 40 pounds. You have approximately 12 weeks, so if you lost 3.5 ounds a week, for 12 weeks, you would hit your goal. Is it possible? Absolutely. I got your pm and I will respond to it later. I just got home from working a 12 hour overnight shift so I am wiped out.

 

[jr1788]

okay so its been about a month and half and I still have about a month and a half before I want to hit my goal weight of about 240-245. so far i dropped from 287 lbs. on May 7th to 265 lbs and 31% BF on Monday. Trying to keep it up and have been doing some early morning cardio 4-6 times a week and weights about 2 hours before sleep about 4-5 times a week. Tuna is still boring as hell but got some great chicken recipes from partagus. Everything looks better on my side and I definitely feel better.

 

[Sim882]

I had a look at your earlier diet, and I think it was way too low carb. At 31%bf, you need a diet you can stick to for a long time - the low carb diets are best suited for people 6-12% bf trying to improve for competition, because they are only healthy for short periods.

My bf is normally 8-10%, once tried a low carb diet for a week, and found myself unable to compete properly at tennis (and fantasing about gatorade whilst playing)

I hope you added some more oats, sweet potatoes, + some more fats. If you find tuna as boring as fuck (I don't - just add spice/garlic to it and your veggies) try salmon, which tastes better and has the EFA's your diet appears to lack. Or at flaxseed oil to your tuna salads, which tastes good to me in conjunction to spice/garlic. You can also make some pumkin soup (don't buy it - make it) and use it as a flavoursome dressing (1 cup of pumkin has 40 calories, so a cup of soup would be even less given water content). This is a low cal way of making food taste better for me, plus pumpkin is really nutritious. I'm normally add 1/2 cup of home made soup to make things taste better