My diet, stats and goals

[Treebeard]

Greetings all. I am 31 years old, 6'0, 243lb. Waist is 39 inches.

Ok, you can stop snickering! I would like to lose the fat and put on some muscle. I have recently gone back into the gym (4 weeks ago) and I have been running for 30 minutes at 11am (my lunch hour, I cannot cardio in the morning). Before that I had not exercised at all for about 2 years, hence the weight gain (my weight when I was in the Marines was 195, which I consider my correct weight)

Please evaluate my diet that I received from a coworker who was a personal trainer. At least that's what he said, and he is in pretty good shape.

Breakfast: Soy protein shake with a banana, handful of almonds, flax oil, olive oil, skim milk and plain fat free yogurt

Mid morning: Apple

Lunch: (after 30 mins running) Turkey breast on whole wheat toast /w light mayo and pickles, handful of raw carrots

Afternoon snack: banana

4pm: gym for weight lifting

After workout: 1/2 wheat bagel with peanut butter

Dinner: Chicken breast, spinach and greenleaf salad with olive oil and vinegar.

That's it. Should I add more protein? Again, I wish to lose weight and gain muscle. Thanks for any help.

 

[Hoffmeister]

Yes, I think you need more protein.

Guessing at portion sizes here, but it looks like about 2000 calories, and about 100 grams of protein.

I definitely wouldn't start any lower than 10 cal/lbs, or about 2450 calories. And it should probably be a little higher to begin with. I'd also try to get about 200 grams of protein.

I'd suggest adding a protein shake after workout, and move the bagel/pb to one of the snacks. I'd also add some cottage cheese, or some other source of protein, with the other snack.

Personally, I'd also ditch the Soy protein for whey or casein. There still seems to be too many questions around soy.

Oh yeah, and if I see any Entwives, I'll be sure to let you know.

 

[Treebeard]

OK, more protein

Thanks for the reply. I will up the calories and the protein, and look into dumping soy for whey.

What about meal placement? Should I eat fruit like that for snacks, or get a protein bar or something?

 

[diamonddiceclay]

go on a low carb diet to cut fat and keep muscle

 

[Hoffmeister]

I don't know what you have available (fridge at work, microwave, etc.)

Basically, look at snacks as "mini-meals", and try to get some protein in each.

You can look at my site for what a typical day of meals is for me, if you need some suggestions. You can also get those mini-tuna snack packs.

The general idea is to get enough protein, because any diet under maintenance will be "catabolic". As a returning "newbie", you may be able to add muscle for awhile while losing weight, but you definitely need the protein.

Your fat intake looks OK.

Fruit is fine in my opinion, as long as you don't go overboard. One or two pieces a day isn't going to hurt.

I'd also suggest you look at some of the information regarding refeeds. Where you are at, I think the suggestion would be 1 day about every 2 weeks. As you lose weight, they should become more frequent.

The basics just aren't that difficult or complex. Set your calories at about 10-12 times bodyweight. Get about 1g protein/lbs. Get about 20-25% of your calories from good fats (flax, nuts, etc). Try to keep your carbs in the lower GI level (brown rice, veggies, oatmeal, sweet potatoes).

 

[latinhire]

"DEVIL DOG" !!!!!

In im the same boat brother...it hard to get back into Grunt physique huh...

I would say cut the frustose (fruits), kick up the cardio with your carb intake 45 minutes to an hour before the workout...kick the bagel outta there and supplement with whole grains instead and add an ECA stack, i prefer Xenadrine...\\

"Do or Die Brother" YUUUUUUTTTTTTT!!!

 

[Treebeard]

Thanks for the reply. I may cut down on the fruit, but I don't want to go too low on the carbs. I had tried a low carb diet previously and it made me feel terrible.

Also I can't do any stimulants, as I have SVT, basically an atrial tachycardia. Nothing major, but Ephedrine is a definite no-no.

The bagel is a whole wheat bagel, so at least it's not white flour. I think I will revise the diet to put the bagel and pb at my mid morning meal, then for the afternoon meal have the fruit and some cottage cheese to add protein as hoffmeister suggested. Then a protein shake after the workout.

I also ditched the Soy and bought a big ass conatiner of whey, which has 45gm protein per 2 scoops. I am using that in my breakfast shake and also my after workout. So that's 90gm right there, the rest of my diet should cover the next 110gm

Semper Fi bro! I miss that grunt shape I was in...

(mountain climbers now, move, left, right, left, right, faster...)

 

[Phemomena]

eat more food!!!, i eat about as much as you and i'm a 5'3'' 113lb female

get the good carbs in there veggies such as asparagus, sweet potatoes, red potatoes, oatmeal, romain lettuce, brown rice etc...

also more protein.. eat some lean red meat (great for muscle recovery), tuna, eggwhites etc...

also i'd loose the yogurt (too much sugar, even in the plain...) and the pickles (sodium galore, plus i'm biased towards hating those nasty things )

i'd replace the bread with some carbs listed above...

basically more food, more protein should help you out a bit.. you have to eat to keep your energy up so you can get to the gym and lift (heavy weights to add muscle)...

also, keep the fruit to the am... fruit is great for you, but the sugars will not help replace muscle glyceron, only that of liver and other organs, which seldom deplete later in the day... (hope that made sense?)

 

[Treebeard]

I am glad you mentioned that fruit will not replace glyceron, as that was why I was eating at that time. I will move it to the morning.

Thanks all for helping out a newbie! I'll keep you updated on my progress.

 

[Tha One CrumCake]

u weigh about 250lbs.... listen ... u wanna lose fat and maintain muscle?

EAT THIS...

protein 350grams
Carbs 175 grams
Fat 60 grams - unsaturated sources

Meal one - 2 scoops whey protein/ 1 banana/ 8oz nonfatmilk
Meal two - 2 chicken sandwhiches (grilled) , in 1/2 pita bread,light dressing
Meal three- 2 cans of tuna/ 1 tablespoons mayo/ veggies/etc.
Meal four - 3 scoops whey protein/ 1 banana/ 8oz nonfatmilk
Meal Five - 10oz Fish/Lean Steak/Chicken/Turkey
Meal six - 3 scoops whey protein/1 tablespoon Flax oil

Good luck.
Planning out your meals is key.