Opinions on diet

Macha

Hi guys,

I've sorta plateaued(sp?) out at 12 stone for the past year really . My target is 10.5 (I'm 5'9"). I'm getting to the gym 3 times a week & cycle about 20km/week as well. But I think diet is where I'm losing out so I would appreciate any opinions. I try to make meals smaller towards the end of the day & restrict carbs to early on or post-workout.

This would be a typical day:

Breakfast
2/3cup porridge
tbsp ground flaxseed
3tsp fructose
1/2cup soyamilk

Mid-morning snack
1 apple
150g organic yoghurt
mixed seeds

Lunch
Omelette w/ loadsa veg
or
turkey salad wrap if I'm out of the house

Afternon snack
Piece of fruit & protein shake (Nectar)

Dinner
Could be chicken w/ pasta if PWO or lentil stew or tofu stirfry or loads things.

Any ideas where I'm going wrong??

ApeXaviour

Hey
are you a boy or a girl? I'm male, 5'9 too and 11.5 stone, I certainly don't want to lose any more "weight" (though, of course I could always stand to be slightly leaner)

taconnol wrote: »

3tsp fructose

Is this really necessary?


I take it you just wrote this up as a general idea. Do a one day accurate account of your eating habits and I'd say you'll probably find it a bit different than the above. Most people don't figure in the winegums or biscuits someone in the office offered them, that can of coke they got on their way home etc.

In the gym, do you lift the heavy things? If not, might be an idea, whether male or female.

Macha

ApeXaviour wrote: »

Hey
are you a boy or a girl? I'm male, 5'9 too and 11.5 stone, I certainly don't want to lose any more "weight" (though, of course I could always stand to be slightly leaner)

Is this really necessary?

I take it you just wrote this up as a general idea. Do a one day accurate account of your eating habits and I'd say you'll probably find it a bit different than the above. Most people don't figure in the winegums or biscuits someone in the office offered them, that can of coke they got on their way home etc.

In the gym, do you lift the heavy things? If not, might be an idea, male or female.

Female...I used to be 11 stone - and I'm getting pretty frustrated at this stage.

Yes you're right. I'll reduce the fructose & aim to cut it out. I just find porridge a bit yuk without it.

I do lift heavy, but I'm bulky on my lower body so I try not to do slightly lower weights (eg Good mornings w/ 12kg dumbbells & lunges w/ 6kg dumbells). Upperbody I would do 8kg dbs shoulder press, 12kg dbs chestpress, etc) Then 1 HIIT sessions & one LIT cardio session/week + the cycling.

You're right I will try to keep track of what i actually eat.

cozmik

Have you tried the Atkins diet?

ApeXaviour

IMO there are better alternatives for carbohydrate restriction.

Protein power lifeplan (should be retitled "Eating Really Really Healthy", best basic nutrition book I've ever read), zone diet, or paleo diet if you want to complicate things.

Removing sugar and replacing rice/pasta/bread/grains with green vegetables/nuts if you don't.

Macha

Sorry but I don't really believe in the Atkins diet. Also, I don't eat a lot of meat & fish so it's a no go.

I do, however, believe in reducing my carb intake when I'm not exercising or late in the day.

I'll post up what I've eaten today, later on or tommorrow. No doubt I will be shamed at the difference between the diet that I wrote up this morning!

Thanks for book recommendation - tho I don't think it was written for people with low meat & fish intake in mind..

ali.c

Hey,

On the porridge side of things have you tried adding seasme seeds I find they add a bit of sweetness or even some sliced bananna or something rather than the frustoce by itself....

Also on your mid-morning snack you could also try reducing the yogurt but mixing in some protein powder it would change the macro profile of the meal a bit.

On the training thing maybe you could try mixing it up a bit for a while like doing some metcon training just to give your body a change of stimilus.

Personally cutting out wheat and reducing dairy drops my weight faster than anything else. I dont eat low-carb per say but it would be pretty moderate. The thing that i can see from your diet is that it is very carb heavy, not suggesting they should be cut out altogether but maybe look at increasing the protein a bit and reducing the carbs.

Macha

ali.c wrote: »

Hey,

On the porridge side of things have you tried adding seasme seeds I find they add a bit of sweetness or even some sliced bananna or something rather than the frustoce by itself....

Also on your mid-morning snack you could also try reducing the yogurt but mixing in some protein powder it would change the macro profile of the meal a bit.

On the training thing maybe you could try mixing it up a bit for a while like doing some metcon training just to give your body a change of stimilus.

Personally cutting out wheat and reducing dairy drops my weight faster than anything else. I dont eat low-carb per say but it would be pretty moderate. The thing that i can see from your diet is that it is very carb heavy, not suggesting they should be cut out altogether but maybe look at increasing the protein a bit and reducing the carbs.

Yo ali.c,

You really think my diet is carb heavy?? I mean apart from porridge in morning & PWO?? Wrap or M&S salad are best options when around town, no?

I shall try throwing in some protein powder with yoghurt & sliced banana (extra carbs?). Its a bit hard to increase protein w/out soy coming out my ears as I don't eat a lot of meat/fish.

What is metcon training? metabolic conditioning??

ali.c

taconnol wrote: »

Yo ali.c,

You really think my diet is carb heavy?? I mean apart from porridge in morning & PWO?? Wrap or M&S salad are best options when around town, no?

Well in as much as all your meals have a decent portion of carbs in them. Have you tried P&F and P&C meals combinations?

What is metcon training? metabolic conditioning??

I think so, sorta like the crossfit circuits etc!!

Macha

Doh! Totally forgot to do this. Ok I'll put what I ate today:

Breakfast
2/3 cup porridge
1 tbsp ground flaxseed
2 tsp fructose (i'm getting there!)
soy milk

Snack
Nectar protein drink (zero carb) - thanks 4 advice ali.
natural yoghurt
apple
mixed seeds

Lunch - Just after workout
2 eggs
1 slice bread
small bit of butter
handful of nuts

Snack
Another handful of nuts

Dinner
Dinner will be chickpea & leek soup w/ protein shake on the side
Maybe bit of natural yoghurt for dessert?

Howzat?

rubadub

Have you calculated your calorie intake?

2/3 of one of my cups would be 2-3 times the "recommended portion" on my odlums porridge.

Is there any reason your goal is 10.5stone? are there any other targets, like body fat% or certain waist, hip size etc.

I also plateaued at 12stone for around 18months, but I was getting thinner all that time, and since you are lifting you could well be doing the same.

Macha

Those 'recommended portions' are totally out of whack. Plus what if you're 5'0'' or 6'0", male, female? They don't take that into consideration. But I'll try to bring it down to 1/2 cup. Would 1500cals/day be about right?

10.5 is my goal because I was at 11stone & I almost fitted into my favourite jeans..I'm definitely not getting thinner as now I don't fit into those jeans at all.

celestial

What was your diet and exercise like when you were 11 stone Taconnol?

Macha

celestial wrote: »

What was your diet and exercise like when you were 11 stone Taconnol?

That's the annoying part - I actually ate more carbs back then than I do now. I stuck to around 1800 cals/day

I would do 3 weights sessions a week for about 60mins, then do HIIT training on the bike afterwards twice a week and LIT once (when it was leg day).

celestial

taconnol wrote: »

That's the annoying part - I actually ate more carbs back then than I do now. I stuck to around 1800 cals/day

I would do 3 weights sessions a week for about 60mins, then do HIIT training on the bike afterwards twice a week and LIT once (when it was leg day).

Hard to know why you've stalled then- do you eat any junk food? What is your alcohol intake like? How intense is your exercise.

I would say that if you haven't been losing fat over the past year it's time to maybe shake things up a bit - vary workout intensity, lift heavier weights, etc. Hard to pinpoint as I said and I'm kinda in the same boat myself - have defo lost a fair bit of fat since last June but since Jan of this year I feel I've stalled a little. I'm gonna up the exercise intensity starting from today.

Macha

Hi Celestial, I think you're right.

The HIIT training I used to do was 30 seconds work, 1 minute rest on the upright bike, 12 times and I was nothing but a dripping mass of sweat, wobbly legs & a big red face when I was finished.