Critique my diet (I'm I eating to little?)

True_Blue

Hey,
I was wondering if you kind people would take a look at my current diet and offer a little advice.

I’ve been training the past 7 weeks, 5 days a week.
I work out one muscle group a day and do 20 mins cardio after it.

example would be monday mornings, i work out my chest and cardio afters.

My main goal is to lose the belly, I’ve seen great results the past few weeks, my arms and upper body is toned more, the stomach as receded a little and if I suck it in and tense up I can see the upper part of my abs, under my chest.

I’m just finding it imposable to rid myself of the gut. It’s crazy cause in the mornings it’s a lot smaller, it grows by the hour.. Haha

Anyway diet is as follows..

Monday -Friday
9:30am
Bowl of porridge
Two rivata crackers
Natural yogurt

11am
Banana

12pm
Orange

1pm
Brown roll with Salami, turkey, plain chicken, grated cheese
Oxtail soup

4pm
Apple

6-7pm
Breast of chicken (plain)
With scrambled egg or brown rice
Oxtail soup

If I need a snack after this it’s normally just a rivata cracker with a little natural yogurt spread across it.

Weekends are similar but I normally have scrambled eggs on brown baps for lunch.

I'm i eating the wrong food or to little/much?

WolfForager

That diet is making my stomach rumble lol. I'm not a nutrition expert but i suppose that diets ok if your not feeling hungry yourself between meals, if you are i seriously advise you to eat a bit more.

But i've turned into a fat ******* since i joined the gym, eating a full chicken for dinner and about 3 brown rolls stuffed with ham from 11am to 6 lol.

If your looking to bulk up your shoulders/arms too you should get some more protein into your diet.

True_Blue

You think? My main good is to lose weight tho.
I don't really feel hungry all that often.

I should add i drink about 30-40 glasses of water troughtout the day also. (I loves me water)

Maybe a protain sharke for breakfast and dinner also?

EileenG

30-40 glasses of water? You're kidding me. It's possible to drink too much water, you know.

If you are not hungry, then you are not eating too much. I don't know anyone who can lose weight by forcefeeding themselves. If your body wants more food, it will let you know.

You do have a lot of carbs in your diet, and it appears to be very low in fat. Try replacing some of the fruit with nuts, and some of the bread or rice with a huge portion of green veg. Unless the oxtail soup is homemade, I'd drop that. Packet stuff is full of dubious ingredients with no decent nutrition. Try eating some oily fish instead of all that chicken.

miss no stars

the first thing I notice about that is the amount of meat.... it seems to be evenly balanced almost with carbs :S

g'em

miss no stars wrote: »

the first thing I notice about that is the amount of meat.... it seems to be evenly balanced almost with carbs :S

The OP eats meat at lunch and dinner, there's nothing unusual about that! If anything they could eat more meat or specifically more lean protein. As has been pointed out the diet could use more protein, ideally at every meal.

If you base all your meals around protein, include some good fats (nuts/ seeds and their oils, avocadoes, oily fish) and add carbs where needed - first thing in the morning and pre/ post workout - you really can't go wrong.

Also more veg, less fruit.

yop

Less fruit? Is there too much fruit in that diet?
What would you recommend instead of the fruit?

I am roughly the same as the OP, I have an apple or orange or banana at both 11am and 4pm, with salad for lunch almost every day, consiting of lettuce, either chicken/salmon/ham/tuna and 4 plum tomatoes, 6 slices of cucumber and a little grated cheese. No sauces.
An activia yougurt about 2pm.

Even with this and a healthy dinner I cannot shift weight!

g'em

yop wrote: »

Less fruit? Is there too much fruit in that diet?
What would you recommend instead of the fruit?

Can. Worms. Exploded open.

Fruit is not a bad thing to have in the diet, but for most people two pieces a day is more than enough. The problem lies when people eat more fruit than vegetables.

Fruit sugar is still sugar, and eaten in excess can and will be turned into fat.

Take care of your protein first.

Then make sure you're getting plenty of vegetables every day.

Then take care of your good fats.

Then look at the fruit/ wholemeal carb situation.

yop wrote:

I am roughly the same as the OP, I have an apple or orange or banana at both 11am and 4pm, with salad for lunch almost every day, consiting of lettuce, either chicken/salmon/ham/tuna and 4 plum tomatoes, 6 slices of cucumber and a little grated cheese. No sauces.
An activia yougurt about 2pm.

While that diet is healthy per se, it's obviously not doing what you want it to do i.e. help you lose fat. You need some more good fats (instead of fruit for a snack try a handful of unsalted nuts or seeds), try substituting eggs or another protein rich breakfast for your first meal of the day and get protein into each meal you eat (a chicken breast, some cottage cheese, a tin of tuna, some milk).

If you follow the guidelines in this post you'll find yourself with a very balanced, fat-loss friendly diet that's almost certainly guaranteed to work (thank you John Berardi )

conceited

Your diet could be structured alot better.That being said the food you eat is pretty good.
My advice to you is.

7:30 am
2 raw veg
1 protein shake+water

300kcal meal

11:30am
2 raw veg
1 protein shake+water

300kcal meal

3:30pm
2 raw veg and or fruit
1 protein shake+water

300kcal meal

6:30pm
2 raw veg and or fruit
1 protein shake+water

300kcal meal

Drink atleast 3 litres of very cold water a day .

About the carbs eat as many as you like.The lads fail to mention you will feel like **** if you cut the carbs.

Do medium to high intesity cardio 4 days a week if possible, after your breakfast.

Yop what type of exercise do you do and what is your diet like?

g'em

conceited wrote: »

About the carbs eat as many as you like.The lads fail to mention you will feel like **** if you cut the carbs.

If you cut carbs completely then yes, you'll feel pretty crappy for a couple of days while your body readjusts to keto, but once it's settled in a lot of people function perfectly well, if not better, carb free. It's very much a personal thing though and while I can go keto for short bursts of a few weeks at a time, it's not long-term sustainable for me.

Reducing carbs from every meal to 2-3 meals out of 6 a day though will probably make you feel less bloaty, more alert and energised and less sluggish.

celestial

conceited wrote: »

Your diet could be structured alot better.That being said the food you eat is pretty good.
My advice to you is.

7:30 am
2 raw veg
1 protein shake+water

300kcal meal

11:30am
2 raw veg
1 protein shake+water

300kcal meal

3:30pm
2 raw veg and or fruit
1 protein shake+water

300kcal meal

6:30pm
2 raw veg and or fruit
1 protein shake+water

300kcal meal

Drink atleast 3 litres of very cold water a day .

About the carbs eat as many as you like.The lads fail to mention you will feel like **** if you cut the carbs.

Do medium to high intesity cardio 4 days a week if possible, after your breakfast.

Yop what type of exercise do you do and what is your diet like?

As g'em mentions above it really depends on how much you cut them by and which carbs. The only carbs I have had since last Saturday are a small yoghurt, an apple, 4 ryvitas, some vegetables - (plus the apple and yoghurt were pre-workout) and I feel grand at the minute.

Also - protein shakes four times a day? I don't think so. Get your protein from whole food sources. Use shakes as supplements and imo they are best kept for serious weight trainers - for fat loss you're just talking extra kcals.

conceited

Reducing carbs from every meal to 2-3 meals out of 6 a day though will probably make you feel less bloaty, more alert and energised and less sluggish.

Thats alot more practical for him.

Also - protein shakes four times a day? I don't think so. Get your protein from whole food sources. Use shakes as supplements and imo they are best kept for serious weight trainers - for fat loss you're just talking extra kcals.

I disagree with you.
He's obviously going to be getting protein from food sources.What do you mean by exatra kcals exactly? Are kcals bad now or something?

Let me break it down for you.

4*300= 1200
+ 8 raw veg = avg 320
+ 4 protein servings = avg 320

Total = 1840kcal

celestial

conceited wrote: »

Thats alot more practical for him.



I disagree with you.
He's obviously going to be getting protein from food sources.What do you mean by exatra kcals exactly? Are kcals bad now or something?

Let me break it down for you.

4*300= 1200
+ 8 raw veg = avg 320
+ 4 protein servings = avg 320

Total = 1840kcal

You must have overlooked the part where I said 'whole food sources'. You are recommending liquids instead of food!! (protein shakes four times a day where whole food sources like fresh lean chicken, tuna etc would be a far, far better use of calories).

conceited

You must have overlooked the part where I said 'whole food sources'. You are recommending liquids instead of food!! (protein shakes four times a day where whole food sources like fresh lean chicken, tuna etc would be a far, far better use of calories).

Do you think having 4 protein shakes and 2 raw veg before his meal is bad or is it the protein thats bad?

Relevant

conceited wrote: »

Your diet could be structured alot better.That being said the food you eat is pretty good.
My advice to you is.

7:30 am
2 raw veg
1 protein shake+water

300kcal meal

11:30am
2 raw veg
1 protein shake+water

300kcal meal

3:30pm
2 raw veg and or fruit
1 protein shake+water

300kcal meal

6:30pm
2 raw veg and or fruit
1 protein shake+water

300kcal meal

Drink atleast 3 litres of very cold water a day .

About the carbs eat as many as you like.The lads fail to mention you will feel like **** if you cut the carbs.

Do medium to high intesity cardio 4 days a week if possible, after your breakfast.

Yop what type of exercise do you do and what is your diet like?

Just to clarify, are you suggesting that the op eats 4 meals consisting of 2 fruit or veg and a shake, as many carbs as they like and 3 litres of very cold water?

Surely the point of a supplement is as an extra to your diet, not as a substitute for food.

g'em

Relevant wrote: »

Surely the point of a supplement is as an extra to your diet, not as a substitute for food.

Bingo.

conceited no-ones' saying shakes are bad, but drinking four of them a day is excessive. Wholefoods are more satiating and satisfying and less processed than shakes are, and for the majority of people the only time when a shake is preferred over wholefoods is post workout when you want protein in you fast.

conceited

Just to clarify, are you suggesting that the op eats 4 meals consisting of 2 fruit or veg and a shake, as many carbs as they like and 3 litres of very cold water?

Surely the point of a supplement is as an extra to your diet, not as a substitute for food.

Just to reiterate my point.
He eats 2 raw veg.
He then has 1 protein shake.
He then eats a 300 kcal meal.
He does this 4 times a day, hopefully thats clear now?

Bingo.
conceited no-ones' saying shakes are bad, but drinking four of them a day is excessive. Wholefoods are more satiating and satisfying and less processed than shakes are, and for the majority of people the only time when a shake is preferred over wholefoods is post workout when you want protein in you fast.

It's on average 70 odd grams of protein.
He's still eating 4 meals a day. 1 or 2 will contain protein which is not from milk.

g'em

conceited wrote: »

It's on average 70 odd grams of protein.
He's still eating 4 meals a day. 1 or 2 will contain protein which is not from milk.

But why the need for the shakes at all?

A shake with 70g of protein is a two scoop shake (a little more than that in reality), which taken four times a day will make for a very expensive diet!

I can see where your coming from in that protein shakes are a reliable and efficient source of protein, but I'd still say that's a little excessive. Besides, a 300 cal wholefood meal will be mighty small...

conceited

But why the need for the shakes at all?
A shake with 70g of protein is a two scoop shake (a little more than that in reality), which taken four times a day will make for a very expensive diet!

4*1serving =?

Relevant

conceited wrote: »

Just to reiterate my point.
He eats 2 raw veg.
He then has 1 protein shake.
He then eats a 300 kcal meal.
He does this 4 times a day, hopefully thats clear now?

So in your opinion what should these 300kcal meals consist of?

g'em

conceited wrote: »

4*1serving =?

*headdesk*

infinity?

infinity minus two?

Help me to help you, please.

Are you saying that 70g of protein is spread throughout the day? As in 4 shakes each with 17.5g protein?

If so....










....stop making it so complicated.

conceited

So in your opinion what should these 300kcal meals consist of?

bran flakes, chicken breast, rice, beans, cheese, eggs, tuna, steak, potatoes, etc etc etc etc.

g'em

g'em wrote: »

....stop making it so complicated.

Sorry, that came off as very abrasive of me, that wasn't my intention.

I'd still say that sticking to one shake when it's needed and eating lots of whole foods throughout the day would be an easily achievable plan for anyone.

conceited

....stop making it so complicated.

Do you normally have a 70gram protein shake?

Sorry, that came off as very abrasive of me, that wasn't my intention.

No problem.

Relevant

conceited wrote: »

bran flakes, chicken breast, rice, beans, cheese, eggs, tuna, steak, potatoes, etc etc etc etc.

Why didn't you say that in the first place instead of trying to make yourself sound clever!

And to continue on my previous point.... why the need for so many protein supplements on top of the tuna, chicken breast, steak, cheese, eggs "etc etc etc etc etc"

conceited

Why didn't you say that in the first place instead of trying to make yourself sound clever!

And to continue on my previous point.... why the need for so many protein supplements on top of the tuna, chicken breast, steak, cheese, eggs "etc etc etc etc etc"

Excuse me?
You asked a question, I answered it.
How am i sounding clever by answering your question?

g'em

conceited wrote: »

Do you normally have a 70gram protein shake?

Depending on the training I'm doing and the circumstances, but sometimes I would, yes, and I think there's a fair few people who would take in a couple of scoops after training. That's why I automatically drew that conclusion!

conceited

Depending on the training I'm doing and the circumstances, but sometimes I would, yes, and I think there's a fair few people who would take in a couple of scoops after training. That's why I automatically drew that conclusion!

Well isn't that a waste of money?

g'em

conceited wrote: »

Well isn't that a waste of money?

No, it's the time that my body needs protein most, so it's the time I'm going to give it whey, and plenty of it. I'd rather drink an excess of protein post-workout than undereat and see diminishes in my gains and longer recovery times.

(This thread switched from "discussion" to "pedantic waffling" a few posts back at this stage...)

conceited

No, it's the time that my body needs protein most, so it's the time I'm going to give it whey, and plenty of it. I'd rather drink an excess of protein post-workout than undereat and see diminishes in my gains and longer recovery times.

Your body would take about 10 grams in an hour or so right?
So it would take you 7 hours to take in the protein right?
It would want to be some mighty slow protein ..

(This thread switched from "discussion" to "pedantic waffling" a few posts back at this stage...)

I wonder how?

g'em

conceited wrote: »

Your body would take about 10 grams in an hour or so right?

Depending on your source, your body can absorb between 8-10g of amino acids per hour, yes. But gastrointestinal transit time for viscous liquids varies between 1 to 3 hours. Not all the protein will arrive at the small intestine at the same time, and over the course of a couple of hours you could easily absorb a significant proportion of the shake. It's still an excess, I agree, but you have yet to give me a reason why drinking shakes four times a day alongside tiny portions of wholefoods is better than eating decent whole food meals.

It would want to be some mighty slow protein ..

If it was casein, that would certainly be the case, a serving will generally take 6-7 hours to get absorbed no problem.

I wonder how?

One of the many unanswered questions in the universe I guess.

conceited

Depending on your source, your body can absorb between 8-10g of amino acids per hour, yes. But gastrointestinal transit time for viscous liquids varies between 1 to 3 hours. Not all the protein will arrive at the small intestine at the same time, and over the course of a couple of hours you could easily absorb a significant proportion of the shake. It's still an excess, I agree, but you have yet to give me a reason why drinking shakes four times a day alongside tiny portions of wholefoods is better than eating decent whole food meals.

I'd have to google to understand it in that depth.:)

One of the many unanswered questions in the universe I guess

If you just agreed with my diet 40 posts back we would be alright.Then the sheep would tag along with you.:D

g'em

conceited wrote: »

Then the sheep would tag along with you.:D

Is that really necessary? The smiley doesn't make it any less... well, crap.

True_Blue

wow, I wasn't expecting 3 pages worth of replies here, thanks alot guys.
This group has been very kind to me since i started my training.

I'm glad my diet isn't that bad.

I've started to add little things into my diet like cashew nuts between meals and more greens on my lunch roll.

I'm slowly but surly improving my diet step by step, I know i must up my protein/veg intake. I've also started drinking green tea twice a day.

I do have a question about protein shakes.

As i've stated my main goal was to lose weight, i have lost about a stone in the 7 weeks i've been training 14 and a half down to 13 last time i checked.

I still have a belly (?) Well not as bad as it was..

I do now wanna start building my muscle mass and increase my size, i was told a protein shake mixed with water after training and before bed would help me. (and not add fat)

I just don't want to do that if it increses my body fat again, protein shake before bed sounds strange to me?!
I was always told food before bed is bad for you.

Another thing is i train in the morning, weights and cardio before eating anything.. i do this because i figured it was better because i wanted to lose weight and burn the belly.

Should i eat something before training?
This may help me lift heavier, but will it get in the way of burning body fat?

Once again, I'm VERY greatful for all the advice i've being getting, i wouldn't have been able to lose the weight i've already lost without you guys pointing me in the right direction everytime.

Thank you so much.

g'em

True_Blue wrote: »

As i've stated my main goal was to lose weight, i have lost about a stone in the 7 weeks i've been training 14 and a half down to 13 last time i checked.

Well done, although if you're 13 stone you're definitely undereating. If you cut calories too much it'll hinder, not help, fat loss (you're body will simply see a drastic drop in food and will go to extra lengths to maintain your 'padding' and reserve energy stores).

I still have a belly (?) Well not as bad as it was..

Don't worry, it's generally the hardest place to shift the last bit of wobble.

I do now wanna start building my muscle mass and increase my size, i was told a protein shake mixed with water after training and before bed would help me. (and not add fat)

If you take in extra protein but don't need it, it'll be excreted/ turned to fat. If you're training hard and need the calories, the protein will help your body restore and repair torn muscle tissue.

What I mean is, drinking a shake before bed won't do anything magical on its own. But if you're training hard enough to need it, then a shake before bed is a good thing - it supplies your body with nutrition to help it repair itself overnight. Eating before bed isn't a bad thing at all, it's only crap when the calories you eat are in excess of your needs throughout the day.

Another thing is i train in the morning, weights and cardio before eating anything.. i do this because i figured it was better because i wanted to lose weight and burn the belly.

Cardio can be done on an empty belly - whether or not this is optimal for fat loss is highly disputed.

Weight training however should never be done on a compeltely empty tummy - you'll lack energy, you won't lift to your maximal potential (and therefore won't see good gains in an appreciable amount of time) and you may hinder recouperation. If you need to train in the a.m. at least have a small meal beforehad, even a shake would do fine. It won't, in the slightest, hinder progress. Building muscle only aids fat loss.