Diet Help

[Thundergut]

Hey all, looking to refine my diet some and I need some help.

I'm 6'0", 295lbs. Not sure of BF%, but I went to a nutritionist and figured I need about 3400 cals/day to maintain current weight. From the various charts and whatnot on the EFboards, it looks like I need about 2500 cals/day to cut what I'd like to.

Supplements consist of:
Multivitamin
Omega Complex (Fish Oil, Flax Oil, Safflower Oil, Borage Oil mix)
Optimum Whey Gold Standard (http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/opt/whey.html)
...and I have an order for T-rex coming that I hope to get soon.


Here's a usual daily menu:

Breakfast (6:30 - 7am)
Bowl of Cheerios w/ skim milk (300 cal, 3g fat, 55g carb, 14g protein)
or
Bowl of Rolled / Steel Cut Oats (after Cheerio's are gone, DAMN YOU SAM'S CLUB!) with cinnamon, splenda and a banana (thanks Bunny!)

Not a huge fan of eggs, so I try to steer clear of them if possible. Might give egg-whites a shot if I get tired of oats.


Mid-Morning (8:30 - 9am)
1 1/4 cup Baby Spinach Leaves (40 cal, 10g carb, 2g protein)
3 slices of Smoked Turkey (90 cal, 1.5g fat, ~2g carb, 15g protein)
4 tbsp Just2Good Peppercorn Ranch (100 cal, 4g fat, 14 carb (4 sug))


Lunch (11am)
6-8oz Baked Chicken Breast w/ curry powder and ex. v. olive oil (not sure offhand)
1/3 cup Steamed Broccoli (not sure offhand)
1/2 Red Potato (50 cal, 13g carb (1.5 sug), 2g protein)

I know I should probably be using a whole potato here, and some more broccoli, but I want to see how this smaller amount lasts me.


Mid-Afternoon (1:30 - 2pm)
6-8oz Baked Chicken Breast w/ curry powder and ex. v. olive oil (not sure offhand)
1/3 cup Steamed Broccoli (not sure offhand)
1/2 Red Potato (50 cal, 13g carb (1.5 sug), 2g protein)

Same as above. I should probably switch the Lunch and Mid-Morning meals.


Pre Workout (?)
Any suggestions for a quick, easy pre-workout solution? Solid or liquid doesn't matter, as long as it's not too heavy and won't reflux on me.


PWO Shake (5:30 - 6pm)
20oz Water
1 lg Banana (not sure offhand)
1 tsp Ground Flaxseed
2.5 scoops Whey (50 cal, 2.5g fat, 7.5g carb (2.5 sug), 60g protein)

Dinner (7pm)
6-8oz Salmon (1tsp Olive Oil, sprinkle of garlic salt and pepper)
1/2 - 1c Broccoli or Green Beans (not sure offhand)
1 medium Red Potato (100 cal, 26g carb (3 sug), 4g protein)

Pre-Bed (9pm) Depending on hunger...
Handful of Almonds

or...
PB & Jelly Sandwich!
Smart Balance Omega Peanut Butter (200 cal, 17g fat, 6g carb, 7g protein)
Raspberry Jam (50 cal, 13g carb (13 sug))
2 Slices of Arnold 100% Whole Grain Bread (90 cal, 1g fat, 18g carb (3 sug), 4g protein)




I know I need to drink more water throughout the day, as I'm usually drinking about 3-5L periodically, and I'm limiting my soda (Coke Zero) to 2-4 per day...coming from a childhood where a 24-pack in a day-ish wasn't unusual.

I can modify my quantities of meals to increase or decrease calorie, fat, and carb requirements. So thats not too big of a deal.

What I'm curious about is...

Do you think these choices are good? Do you have any suggestions for other foods or meals, or replacements?

Any info is welcome and appreciated.

 

[SgtSlaughter]

Supplements consist of:
Multivitamin
Omega Complex (Fish Oil, Flax Oil, Safflower Oil, Borage Oil mix)
Optimum Whey Gold Standard (http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/opt/whey.html)
...and I have an order for T-rex coming that I hope to get soon.

Here's a usual daily menu:

Breakfast (6:30 - 7am)
Bowl of Cheerios w/ skim milk (300 cal, 3g fat, 55g carb, 14g protein)
or
Bowl of Rolled / Steel Cut Oats (after Cheerio's are gone, DAMN YOU SAM'S CLUB!) with cinnamon, splenda and a banana (thanks Bunny!)

Not a huge fan of eggs, so I try to steer clear of them if possible. Might give egg-whites a shot if I get tired of oats.
"Bowl" ... sounds huge. 1 cup of rolled or steel cut oats would suffice, throw some berries in there...cinnimon and splenda and it's great.
I NEED eggs in my 1st meal with my oats for protein... if u can't eat them, drink a protein powder in some water with the oats

Mid-Morning (8:30 - 9am)
1 1/4 cup Baby Spinach Leaves (40 cal, 10g carb, 2g protein)
3 slices of Smoked Turkey (90 cal, 1.5g fat, ~2g carb, 15g protein)
4 tbsp Just2Good Peppercorn Ranch (100 cal, 4g fat, 14 carb (4 sug))
Eat more greens... eat a whole bag if you want.

Lunch (11am)
6-8oz Baked Chicken Breast w/ curry powder and ex. v. olive oil (not sure offhand)
1/3 cup Steamed Broccoli (not sure offhand)
1/2 Red Potato (50 cal, 13g carb (1.5 sug), 2g protein)
I know I should probably be using a whole potato here, and some more broccoli, but I want to see how this smaller amount lasts me.
You are CORRECT


Mid-Afternoon (1:30 - 2pm)
6-8oz Baked Chicken Breast w/ curry powder and ex. v. olive oil (not sure offhand)
1/3 cup Steamed Broccoli (not sure offhand)
1/2 Red Potato (50 cal, 13g carb (1.5 sug), 2g protein)
Same as above. I should probably switch the Lunch and Mid-Morning meals.


Pre Workout (?)
Any suggestions for a quick, easy pre-workout solution? Solid or liquid doesn't matter, as long as it's not too heavy and won't reflux on me.

Pre workout... you should eat a whole potato in the previous meal for carbs to fuel your workout. During workout shake {DWOS} is great, i use one and then have my post work out meal 1.5 hours or so after my shake that I sipped on throughout my whole workout.

Try to space meals for 2-3 hours apart no matter what... if you can eat whole foods in the gym, do it.

PWO Shake (5:30 - 6pm)
20oz Water
1 lg Banana (not sure offhand)
1 tsp Ground Flaxseed
2.5 scoops Whey (50 cal, 2.5g fat, 7.5g carb (2.5 sug), 60g protein)

Dinner (7pm)
6-8oz Salmon (1tsp Olive Oil, sprinkle of garlic salt and pepper)
1/2 - 1c Broccoli or Green Beans (not sure offhand)
1 medium Red Potato (100 cal, 26g carb (3 sug), 4g protein)

Pre-Bed (9pm) Depending on hunger...
Handful of Almonds

or...
PB & Jelly Sandwich!
Smart Balance Omega Peanut Butter (200 cal, 17g fat, 6g carb, 7g protein)
Raspberry Jam (50 cal, 13g carb (13 sug))
2 Slices of Arnold 100% Whole Grain Bread (90 cal, 1g fat, 18g carb (3 sug), 4g protein)

Protein and Fat before bed... i try to avoid carbs because they make me stay up longer activating the brain, ect.


I know I need to drink more water throughout the day, as I'm usually drinking about 3-5L periodically, and I'm limiting my soda (Coke Zero) to 2-4 per day...coming from a childhood where a 24-pack in a day-ish wasn't unusual.

Work you way up to 1.5 gallons a day of PLAIN H20.

I can modify my quantities of meals to increase or decrease calorie, fat, and carb requirements. So thats not too big of a deal.

What I'm curious about is...

Do you think these choices are good? Do you have any suggestions for other foods or meals, or replacements?
Any info is welcome and appreciated.

Reference Blue Text. What's the macronutrient breakdown of the sample meals that you've typed?

 

[*Bunny*]

I concur with the Sarge
... what's the macro's?

 

[Thundergut]

For Macronutrients I have listed the cals, fats, carbs (sugars), and proteins. Do you want to know the sodium, magnesium, potassium, calcium, manganese, iron, copper, zinc, etc...?

The only items I don't know macro's offhand for are the chicken breast, broccoli and oats.

Rough estimates (from CalorieKing):

Chicken Breast: 284 cal, 6.2g fat, 0 carb, 53.4g protein
Broccoli: 31 cal, 0.3g fat, 6g carb (1.5 sug, 2.4 fib), 2.6g protein
Oats (steel cut irish, McCann's): 1/2 cup serving - 300 cal, 4g fat, 26g carb, 4g protein

As for "bowl" it's just a small tupperware bowl. 1c of oats fills it about half-3/4 when 'deflated' after cooking. In the nuker it almost overfills. "Bowl" isn't huge.

I'll double the spinach in the salad, today was my first one and it wasn't enough. I think more spinach would do the trick.

As for the broccoli and potatoes, after cooking and slicing/portioning them I realized it wouldn't be enough. I will definitely be upping the amounts. Possibly 1 chicken breast, 1c broccoli and 1 potato (whole).

Cheerio's are starting to piss me off. Much like the old Sugar Smacks of yore, after eating them your piss smells exactly like them (or at least mine does). I don't think I'll be eating them anymore after this week. My roommie may be able to keep them out of my face.

I'll definitely be putting a bit of protein powder into my oats. Would you suggest a whole 24g scoop, or maybe a half-scoop per serving of oats? I've got some mixed berries I'll throw in, that does sound good now that you mention it...

Sometimes I swap out the banana for a cup of mixed berries in my PWO shake, mostly depends on how I feel. If i'm feeling tight it's definitely a banana, I used to wake up with calf cramps in high school after a hard day of practice, so I got used to eating a little extra potassium.

I get off work at 4pm and I'm home by 4:30, in the gym by 5. I need something I can pack down between 3:30 - 4:30pm that won't weigh me down. Preferrably something I can munch on while driving home. Any suggestions?

Oh, and yeah...my evening times are a bit off now that I think about it.

PWO Shake is 6-6:30
Dinner is between 7-8pm
Pre-Bed is more like 10-11pm

Could bump up Mid-afternoon to 1-1:30pm and make PreWorkout to 3:30-ish.

What is the thought on brown rice or whole wheat pasta, and swapping them out for my potato with the chicken, or maybe some brown rice with my salmon? Sound ok?

 

[SgtSlaughter]

Powder in Oats is great... put in as much as you can stand (1-1.5 cups I'd say), because it will get really soupy due to needing more water to mix together.

Muching foods: Nuts of all types... unsalted/organic, ect... as natural as you can get without other "stuff" added.

Basmati style Brown Rice... i'm going to make a HUGE pot of it to eat throughout the week tonight

RE: Macros...

FITDAY ... plug in there, and it's a great tool to track foods, total macros for the day... Everything

When we mention macros... we mean for the day/total intake. Because at the end of the day that's all that matters.

Calories In < Calories Out = Weight Loss
Calories In > Calories Out = Weight Gain

 

[Thundergut]

Ok...

I'm eating lunch @ 11am.
Mid-afternoon at 1-1:30pm.

I work out at about 4:30
PWO around 6pm
Dinner around 7pm


I've got a little gap in there. Foods are the same as above pretty much, times adjusted a bit. Would a MRP shake do the trick? If so, any recommendations?