Gimme your thoughts on this post-surgery / rehab diet

[KillahBee]

Situation synopsis:
Just had back surgery 1 week ago (microdiscectomy). 2 weeks recovery then I can start PT and the long road back to health. For the past 12 months or so I have been pretty inactive. No gym and very minimal exercise due to the injury. Also slipped heavily on the diet. Probably around 14 or 15% BF (estimation) and around 180ish pounds.

While I don't know what my PT will consist of, it's probably fair to assume that for a month or 2 I will be slowly working my way back into cardio (walking, light walking to begin with), will be doing lots of BW core work and (hopefully) getting back into very light weight training.

I need a nutritional program that will aid my body in its recovery and provide me the fuesl to strengthen my back and muscles. While I ideally want to lose some of the extra BF%, I don't want a strict cutting diet right now as it's not the time for that. I am bored of the same old food but also need to make sure it's not too high maintenance.

Here's what I thought up for training days:

Pre-w/o:
2 eggs (I work out 1st thing in the morning, no way around that)
Post w/o:
Protein shake w/ dextrose (should I hold off on the dextrose til I get back into weight training?)
Meal 1:
Whole wheat organic pasta with organic chicken and some basil olive oil dressing
Meal 2:
Tuna w/ flax oil
Meal 3:
99% fat free turkey burger made with some onions/peppers, etc
Meal 4:
Non-fat cottage cheese with diced apples and walnuts
Meal 5 (pre-bed):
ANPB and flax pills (should I throw in a protein shake here?)

Macros overall look like 45P/34C/21F. Calories are right around my BMR
Supps = multivit, ALA, Zinc (good for the skin)

I like the choice of foods, as its different than anything I have done for a while.

Please don't bother getting "too" crazy with the advice - I was so anal with macros and micros for a long time that I eventually burned out and stopped caring so much. I need to find that balance.Appreciate the insight and feedback. Here's to a healthy recovery for me!

 

[fortunatesun]

What you have looks good ( I was getting hungry off reading your post) but this stuff is somewhat specialized. You'd do well to ask the doc to hook you up to a consultation with a good sports nutritionist. I realize this stuff adds up but in for the penny, in for the pound.
If it were me I'd throw in some anti-oxidents to ward of evil spirits, even just some vitamin C, and no caffeine or alcohol. I'd also begin upping your macro values, tho you're right about the dextrose, a couple weeks before you actually start back on cardio to pre-condition yourself for the extra workload. Your BF shouldn't increase signifigantly as you're eating clean anyway.

 

[sawastea]

Dave, here are my suggestions:

Pre-w/o:
2 eggs (I work out 1st thing in the morning, no way around that) I would limit the fat intake right here. Egg yolks are fine, in general, but I would try to augment more 'whites' in here. Shoot for 10 egg whites if possible, and try to get some oatmeal in here as well. It has a relatively low GI, thus minimizing any 'spikes.' Pre-WO, I prefer whey, but egg whites are fine.

Post w/o:
Protein shake w/ dextrose (should I hold off on the dextrose til I get back into weight training?) Dextrose is fine, but I'm more of an oatmeal type of guy. If you're into the sugars, look into Politinose (sp). Avant Labs has a product called Super Carb. Try to get two scoops of WPI/WPC with at least 40g CHO's

Meal 1:
Whole wheat organic pasta with organic chicken and some basil olive oil dressing
If possible, try to keep fats out of this meal. Pasta and a lean protein are AWESOME. If you can hold off on the oil until later in the day, it may help out.

Meal 2:
Tuna w/ flax oil
Great

Meal 3:
99% fat free turkey burger made with some onions/peppers, etc
Have you looked into some other types of EFA's, such as fish oil for it's EPA/DHA?

Meal 4:
Non-fat cottage cheese with diced apples and walnuts
Good

Meal 5 (pre-bed):
ANPB and flax pills (should I throw in a protein shake here?)
If you can throw in some whole protein in here, it would be ideal. If you cannot, then a casein shake will suffice. You're looking at an ~8 hour fast, so preventing catabolism is important.

 

[KillahBee]

Thanks brother. Questions/comments below in red:

Dave, here are my suggestions:

Pre-w/o:
2 eggs (I work out 1st thing in the morning, no way around that) I would limit the fat intake right here. Egg yolks are fine, in general, but I would try to augment more 'whites' in here. Shoot for 10 egg whites if possible, and try to get some oatmeal in here as well. It has a relatively low GI, thus minimizing any 'spikes.' Pre-WO, I prefer whey, but egg whites are fine. I can certainly do a shake here - would you suggest it to replace the whites? So, just the shake alone? problem with oatmeal is that I basically wake up and then go to lift. not much time to digest..

Post w/o:
Protein shake w/ dextrose (should I hold off on the dextrose til I get back into weight training?) Dextrose is fine, but I'm more of an oatmeal type of guy. If you're into the sugars, look into Politinose (sp). Avant Labs has a product called Super Carb. Try to get two scoops of WPI/WPC with at least 40g CHO's

Meal 1:
Whole wheat organic pasta with organic chicken and some basil olive oil dressing
If possible, try to keep fats out of this meal. Pasta and a lean protein are AWESOME. If you can hold off on the oil until later in the day, it may help out. I put the oil in here cause I needed something to put over the pasta so it isn't plain/dry. Any suggestions?

Meal 2:
Tuna w/ flax oil
Great

Meal 3:
99% fat free turkey burger made with some onions/peppers, etc
Have you looked into some other types of EFA's, such as fish oil for it's EPA/DHA? That's one thing I've been deficient on. Would you suggest throwing in some capsules with this meal?

Meal 4:
Non-fat cottage cheese with diced apples and walnuts
Good

Meal 5 (pre-bed):
ANPB and flax pills (should I throw in a protein shake here?)
If you can throw in some whole protein in here, it would be ideal. If you cannot, then a casein shake will suffice. You're looking at an ~8 hour fast, so preventing catabolism is important. Shouldn't be a problem

THANKS, Sawas!!!

 

[sawastea]

1) How about adding honey? There are added benefits to honey for endurance. You can always add maltodextrin/dextrose (or supercarb) as well. You can make it at night and in the morning, add water and voila.

2) Well, olive oil is pretty darn good. I personally like to limit my fats in and around my workout, unless I'm on keto. Have you tried salsa? Don't dog it if you haven't tried it on your food. The 'spices' tend to raise your metabolism levels as well.

3) If you add 3g EPA/DHA daily, it would be great. If a standard capsul holds 180/120, then it would takle 10 caps to equal 3g. I personally buy super concentrated fish oil at kilosports, and take 6 caps daily. This won't be necessary if you add more fish to your diet, such as salmon, halibut, etc.

Good luck maing.

 

[KillahBee]

1) So a protein shake with honey pre-wo? interesting....

2) Dude, I'm Italian. salsa may taste like the heavens but I cannot put it on my pasta. My grandmother would die...again

3) Awesome.

Thanks man, I appreciate the time.

 

[digimon7068]

When I lean out each year (I start around the middle of January with a target date of around June 15th). . .the most important things for me are cardio (preferably in the AM, on an empty stomach, and don't eat for an hour afterward. . .really hypes the fat burn. . .I also double the amount of cardio that I do, compared to the rest of the year. . .also, I got shitty knees so I stick to the elliptical, rower, bike and heavy bag. . .no damn running) and diet (increase protien intake, increase fat intake, decrease carb intake. . .the fat helps me maintain my energy and is less likely, for me, to turn into body fat than carbs are). . .I'm a busy dude so I try to keep it simple. . .here's a pic of me in August at around 210 to 212. . .up a few pounds from my leanest point which was 206 on July 4th. . .BTW, I'll be 42 in a few days.

 

[superqt4u2nv]

Switch meal 2 and 4 also instead of the olive oil make some dam gravy for the pasta nothing wrong with a little tomatoe with your patsa but yeah I would avoid fats and carbs togther. Although I have an extreme weekness for pesto

 

[digimon7068]

I would avoid fats and carbs togther.

I agree. . .if I'm heavy on one. . .I'm real light on the other. However, since I eclipsed 35 (I'll be 42 in a couple of days), I've found it's easier to lean out by restricting my carb intake, rather than my fat intake. . .I tend to retain more muscle on a carb-restricted diet than I do on a fat-restricted diet. At any rate, even at my most serious, I still give myself a cheat day (or two ) each week.

 

[KillahBee]

Switch meal 2 and 4 also instead of the olive oil make some dam gravy for the pasta nothing wrong with a little tomatoe with your patsa but yeah I would avoid fats and carbs togther. Although I have an extreme weekness for pesto

fair enough on the switch - to get the fats away from the training time, I assume?

I can't out friggin gravy on it, that shit is no good for you! what the hell am I supposed to use!!!!!!!