Yet another diet critique thread

[harbinator]

I know my diet is messed up but I have lost 60lbs on it in the past 8 months and had strength gains and muscle mass put on at the gym. I was 310lb 6'5 35% bf now 255-260lb 23%.

6:15am

Whey Shake (200c 0f 2c 49p)
4 egg beaters (120c 0f 4c 24p)
Chicken Breast (130c 7f 0c 17p)

8:30am

Proteinplus Powerbar (290c 5f 17c 24p)

11:00am

I usually eat out lunch at work, usually grilled chicken breast sandwich, or a oven roasted chicken breast sub from subway or a chinese buffet where I get vegetables, sushi and salmon.

Guesstimate (650c, 10f 40c 40p)

3:00pm

Can of tuna (150c 0f 0c 35p)

6:30pm

This meal changes depending on what I have in the fridge and what Im feeling like, usually chicken breast + 2-3 cup of 2% cottage cheese. Sometimes some lean bbq I have with no sauce.

Guesstimate (400c 15f 18c 53p)

9:00pm

Whey protein shake (200c 0f 2c 49p)

I use fitday.com to calculate my daily calories etc... and Ive entered most of these foods custom of course there are a few I have to guess on b/c I can't measure and eat every meal exactly how I want everyday. Fitday is coming up with a total of:

2140 calories 37f 111c 299p

My diet has really not been working as well since I added in the 2 whey shakes and started taking flax oil pills 1200mgx2 a day. I know this shouldn't have a significant impact but I was losing 2lb a week for the past 5 or so months where as lately Ive been at 255-260 for a few weeks now. I know I should be able to eat 2500c and lose, but even at 2140 its not coming off.

I also do 45 min of moderate cardio 4-5 times a week, the machines avg me burning about 500-600 calories each session. I also weight train 4-5 days a week for 30-45 min which is about another 150c burned. I realize I may just be putting on muscle b/c I am getting stronger and feeling more muscle mass but it just concerns me the last few weeks I haven't been dropping the weight. Any input would be appreciated.

TIA

 

[harbinator]

Anyone?

 

[lrg&inCHARGE]

I'm not sure how your burning 500-600 calories at moderate cardio for 45 mins. I don't think that's right, I'm guessing more around 300.

I'm thinking your not losing weight because one you've lost alot of body fat already and now your at a point where the loss is going to slow down a bit and two your gaining some muscle mass, but I'm sure if you cut things down you'll start losing weight again. You gotta remember the scale isn't perfect, if your losing bf% while staying the same weight that's a good thing.

Eating your body weight X 10 = calories/day should most definatly set you up for weight loss. Fit Day isn't exact science for everything either, it's just something to help you work out a diet plan and schedual. I think you should take out most of your regular carbs other than pre/post workouts and substitute them for complex and low GI carbs. Get rid of your power bar in the morning and eat a bowl of oatmeal instead and eat more green vegetables. If your eating at a buffet you have no idea what they're putting in their food unless your eating raw vegies and straight salmon sashimi, it's not a good thing to chow down on 12 peices of california rolls and eat stir fried vegetables from a buffet. You should stay away from rice and bread, if your going to eat rice make sure it's brown and not past early evening, and bread you can find multigrain bread with high high fibre and make with flaxseeds and such. You should keep taking flax seed oil, or change it to something with omega 3,6,9 essential fatty acids. You should also take your supplements like your usual multivitamens but you should also be taking alpha-lipoic-acid before any meals with carbs in it. Using some kind of thermogenic supplement will help burn away the fat also.. you should look at the board sponsers for ALA supplements and thermogenics prolly the easiest place for u to find good ones.

If you can wake up early enough to do a 25 minute run on an empty stomach that will work great, might lose some muscle as well here. I think you should have a high intensity medium weight workout for 45-60 mins and then 20 mins of medium intensity cardio post workout. On OFF days you should do 45 minutes of High intensity cardio. I'm not sure if you are really concerned about losing muscle with your fat because doing this much cardio will cause you to lose muscle/strength at the same time but i gauruntee you will lose weight.

And there's also other "supplements" but I suggest you keep goin doin what your doing and just tighten things up, cuz 60 pounds lost and 12%bf is not easy to do.

I'm not a nutritionalist or personal trainer so there prolly is some things wrong here and there that people should correct me on.. this is just what I've come up with for myself and seems to be workin, hope it helps you out a bit.

 

[pintoca]

Quite a good post from lrg&inCHARGE here...

I agree with him, in the sense that your body probably is "used to the diet"... in other words, adapted to it.

This happened to me also in the past, and lowering your cals will might help for a week or two, before stopping again. As ridiculous as it may sound, it may be time for you to switch things up a bit and eat more.

I increased calories for 2 weeks, with a whole set of new macros. Instead of doing the 45P, 30C, 25F I was normally doing, I changed to a 50C, 30P, 20F with all those carbs (about 300grams/day) coming from brown rice and whole wheat bread... I also gave my body a break with the cardio during those 2 weeks (only once or twice a week). WOW, did this make a difference.

First thing you will notice is that you can lift A LOT MORE WEIGHT, with all those carbs in you... the feeling is amazing. Make sure you do try and increase your weights during this break.

Second: DON'T PANIC!!! You will gain a lot of water weight (remember that each gram of carbs will hold 3 grams of water) so will see your weight go up, but it will come crashing down once you change the diet again. (I once lost 14 lbs in 3 days... pure water)

So, my recommendation: You have worked REALLY HARD man, props to you: Take a mini-bulk break for 2 weeks to shake things up. It is step back before 2 forward. Aim for 2500 cals to start with (again, 50C, 30P, 20F), if you feel like you can use the extra energy, up them to the 2800 cals... but DON'T OVERDO IT, you have been on a low calories diet for a while, increasing them too high, too fast wont be a good idea.

reduce your cardio during these 2 weeks, and aim for HIGH intensity lifting, (you can try and switch to the 5x5 routine... that leaves me sore all the time)

After the 2 weeks are over, switch to a 2000 cals CLEAN diet.

By clean I mean, and according to your possibilities: Keeping out the bars and shakes (except the PWO )

My 2000 cals diet is so simple is hurt (it is also boring).

7:00 350ml skimmed milk (0,3%), 50 grs Oats, 1 tbsp flax oil (or 45grs flaxmeal)
10:00 1 chicken breast, 1 slice whole wheat Müsli bread
13:00 1 tuna can
16:00 1 chicken breast
19:00 1 chicken breast, 2 tbsp flax oil
23:00 PWO shake (50 grs whey, 25grs dextrose, 25 grs maltodextrin)

that is it... notice my carbs are all in the morning (to wake me up) and PWO... Protein through the day and a whole lot of water in between (2 gallons). Boring as hell, but effective and easy. Those are 2000 cals with a 45P, 25C, 30F ratio. I also rotate carbs/cals... once a week I throw in there 3 cups of brown rice, which bring the carbs to 300 grs.

 

[harbinator]

I'm not sure how your burning 500-600 calories at moderate cardio for 45 mins. I don't think that's right, I'm guessing more around 300.

I'm thinking your not losing weight because one you've lost alot of body fat already and now your at a point where the loss is going to slow down a bit and two your gaining some muscle mass, but I'm sure if you cut things down you'll start losing weight again. You gotta remember the scale isn't perfect, if your losing bf% while staying the same weight that's a good thing.

Eating your body weight X 10 = calories/day should most definatly set you up for weight loss. Fit Day isn't exact science for everything either, it's just something to help you work out a diet plan and schedual. I think you should take out most of your regular carbs other than pre/post workouts and substitute them for complex and low GI carbs. Get rid of your power bar in the morning and eat a bowl of oatmeal instead and eat more green vegetables. If your eating at a buffet you have no idea what they're putting in their food unless your eating raw vegies and straight salmon sashimi, it's not a good thing to chow down on 12 peices of california rolls and eat stir fried vegetables from a buffet. You should stay away from rice and bread, if your going to eat rice make sure it's brown and not past early evening, and bread you can find multigrain bread with high high fibre and make with flaxseeds and such. You should keep taking flax seed oil, or change it to something with omega 3,6,9 essential fatty acids. You should also take your supplements like your usual multivitamens but you should also be taking alpha-lipoic-acid before any meals with carbs in it. Using some kind of thermogenic supplement will help burn away the fat also.. you should look at the board sponsers for ALA supplements and thermogenics prolly the easiest place for u to find good ones.

If you can wake up early enough to do a 25 minute run on an empty stomach that will work great, might lose some muscle as well here. I think you should have a high intensity medium weight workout for 45-60 mins and then 20 mins of medium intensity cardio post workout. On OFF days you should do 45 minutes of High intensity cardio. I'm not sure if you are really concerned about losing muscle with your fat because doing this much cardio will cause you to lose muscle/strength at the same time but i gauruntee you will lose weight.

And there's also other "supplements" but I suggest you keep goin doin what your doing and just tighten things up, cuz 60 pounds lost and 12%bf is not easy to do.

I'm not a nutritionalist or personal trainer so there prolly is some things wrong here and there that people should correct me on.. this is just what I've come up with for myself and seems to be workin, hope it helps you out a bit.

I dunno maybe my definition of moderate is wrong I usually keep my heart rate in the 130-145 range for the entire duration, is this about right for me, 24 year old male.

Im just going to cut the shakes out again for a while and see if the weight starts to drop again, 200g protein should be enough right now anyway.

Hmm come to think if it I did quit smoking about 2 weeks ago too (I never smoked much but quitting cold turkey now). I wonder if the old gaining weight after quitting is true.

 

[lrg&inCHARGE]

They say you gain the weight after quitting smoking because it's an appetite suppressant so naturally you'll be more hungry after quitting. High intensity cardio for me (26) is keeping my heart rate at about 170-175 and moderate is 150-155. Weight training and doing this much cardio will definatley be catabolic, and you will lose some muscle and strength but if cutting down bf is your goal then that's what you should concentrate on. I would cut out the power bars but the protein shake might work out well as a snack or small meal alternative, especially later in the day when you want to cut the carbs out.