How is this diet?

podge018

For the past 3 weeks i've been sticking rigidly to this.

Breakfast 8am - Flahavans Quick Oats porridge

10.30am - 30g bag of Manhattan Popcorn

1pm - salad consisting of 1 slice of ham, lettuce, peppers, onion, sweetcorn, hard boiled egg (every 2nd or 3rd day), tea spoon of coleslaw

Apple, pear, mandarin throughout afternoon

7pm- dinner either chicken casserole full of veg, spag bol made with healthy living sauce, chicken stir fry and brown rice, Weightwatchers microwave meal if I havent the time

Dessert - Low fat yoghurt

Problem is I go to the gym at about 5pm for an hour and was thinking it might be better if I eat my main meal at lunch time and something smaller after the gym. Only thing is, I do be starving after getting home and need something solid, whilst I dont' be that hungry at lunchtime after the porridge and popcorn in the morning.

tribulus

What's your goal?

Regardless I would say in all of your meals except dinner you need to get more protein - meat, fish, even nuts would be good.

You also need to get some more healthy fats: olive oil, nuts, nut oils, avocados if you like them.

dudara

Are you using pre-made sauces to make the casserole, spaghetti or stir-fry?
These can be loaded with sugar and other stuff. it's worth investing the effort to make these yourself.

podge018

Apologies, my goals was to get down from near 16 stone, to about 14 stone. I'm down around 15-4 now feel great.

Protein - will more of this aid in losing weight?

Casserole mix is made using a packet of powder and water.
Like I said the spag bol uses a healty living sauce
No sauce on the stir fries.

Really my big question is about the timing, should my big meal be after the gym like I'm doing, or before?

neuro-praxis

Good protein sources (like lean chicken, lean beef, all fish and eggs) are low in calories and help you to hold onto your muscle while you are losing weight. It is important that all the weight you drop is fat loss and not fat and muscle loss.

So perhaps make your porridge at breakfast with skim milk for the protein in milk.

At lunch time have maybe 3 slices of good ham and your boiled egg along with a huge portion of salad. (If you aren't having any bread with lunch you will need something to properly satiate you.)

At dinner you are probably fine, but do get some oily fish (like salmon) into the diet as the oils in it will nourish you while dropping weight.

Have a portion of nuts once a day too, perhaps instead of one of the pieces of fruit. Have 10 almonds, or 15 pistachios or something similar.

Eat when you feel you need to! Gym buffs say that you should get some protein right after the gym if you are trying to build muscle (am I right here g'em? or is that a carb-replenish I'm thinking of?) but I would say that what you are doing in the gym will have the biggest effect rather than when you eat. Don't do cardio the whole time - do 30 mins high-intensity cardio and 30 mins heavy weights.

You'll be a slimjim in no time!

Cadrach

podge018 wrote: »

Apologies, my goals was to get down from near 16 stone, to about 14 stone. I'm down around 15-4 now feel great.

Protein - will more of this aid in losing weight?

It's all about the big picture. If you increase the proportion of protein in your diet relative to carbs, then yes, that will help you lose weight. Not because you're increasing protein, but because you're decreasing carbs. Eat a lot more lean meat, fish, chicken and it will make your diet healthier.

podge018 wrote: »

Really my big question is about the timing, should my big meal be after the gym like I'm doing, or before?

I've always eaten straight after the gym, not before.

podge018

Porridge already being made with skimmed milk - sorted there.

Im not going at the whole cardio and weights training. Im fat-burning as best as I know how. 1/3 intensity, prolonged. Im no expert but it appears to be paying dividends.

Cardio will come in the new year when I've lost weight and go back playing football.

g'em

neuro-praxis wrote: »

Eat when you feel you need to! Gym buffs say that you should get some protein right after the gym if you are trying to build muscle (am I right here g'em? or is that a carb-replenish I'm thinking of?) but I would say that what you are doing in the gym will have the biggest effect rather than when you eat.

If fat-loss is a priority, a moderate amount of protein soon after a workout (within an hour) will help spare muscles but burn fat and won't comprmise your weight-loss. If strength gains and weight maitenance/ growth are of more importance then a mix of carbs (ideally simple ones) and protein are better.

rubadub

podge018 wrote: »

Protein - will more of this aid in losing weight?

Casserole mix is made using a packet of powder and water.
Like I said the spag bol uses a healty living sauce

Protein acts as an appetite suppresant, so it can help weight loss in that way, i.e. reduce potential snacking.

Spag bol is usually just tomato based sauce, some have added fats like the loyd grossman one with bacon. But most are simply tomato and low in calories. Some "healthy living" sauces are simply watered down versions of the real one. They can cost more and have less actual ingredients, i.e. water takes up a high %.

You can just get 2 jars and compare the ingredients side by side. Some watered down sauces do not reveal the % contents, and use other tricks to hide what are the real proportions.

Now curry and chinese sauces are different, many have a lot of cream and fat and sugar. The healthy living versions of korma etc are truely better and will usually have less fat or sugar.

I picked up the tesco tomato healthy living range before and didnt think it was up to much. Just get a normal one and add more water, it is all they do.

Also some tesco "value" range is cheap because it has high water content. e.g. tesco have a 3 salad creams, tesco normal, healthy living, and "value". The "value" version is actually lower in fat & calories than the healthy living one, and about half the price.