Nutrition

MagicMarker

My apologies if this is in the wrong forum. I just think it's more suited to the fitness forum as it'll be replied to by people who are in/have been in the same position. But feel free to move if necessary.

I've started back in the gym for a couple of weeks now, everything's going really well. But have been keeping a rough food log on fitday.com, it turns out I'm not eating enough and my P:C:F ratio is way off!

For instance, today I had....

8am: Porridge (approx 60g of oats), mixed with a regular sized banana & approx 200ml of low fat milk (1.5% fat).
11am: Apple & large banana
1pm: small tub of chicken and lettuce/cucumber - This is from a salad bar and not what I usually eat. Normally it's a chicken salad consisting of 2 chicken breasts, lettuce, cucumber, celery, carrots etc.
4pm: apple (really need to work on afternoon snack, all this fruit is not helping me, but due to my work fruit is the easiest thing to eat, I welcome all suggestions here, maybe some nuts? )
7pm: Scrambled (4 medium) eggs & 2 slices of wholewheat toast

Soon enough I'll have a couple of spoonfuls of peanut butter... Mmmm:)

Anyway, all this is only worth about 1800 calories, give or take a 200 (very rough calculation!!), with a ration of about 40:25:35 of Carbs: Pro:Fats.

Now, I'm currently approx 153kg, so I'm not even close to getting a gram of protein per lb bodyweight, the above being only 110g of protein. So, how do I improve? And how the hell am I supposed to cram in an extra 200g of protein? I'm a big guy but even I don't think I could manage that!

Any advice from those more experienced would be great.

Thanks.

amacachi

Since you're looking to lose a lot of weight I don't think you need 2 grams of protein per kilo of body weight. It usually goes more for lean body weight.

Also 1800 calories seems very low for someone your weight, even if you are obviously trying to lose weight.

celestial

It's approx 1 - 1.5 per gramme of bodyweight.

You don't have a solid dinner/lunch in there at all? - neither a small tub of chicken with salad or eggs with bread do a dinner make.

Are you trying to lose fat? You're not eating anywhere near enough.

MagicMarker

Yep losing fat is the aim of the game.

The small tub for lunch was a first because I didn't have anything prepared. Normally it's 2 chicken breasts and a crap load of salad.

As for dinner, I dunno, scrambled eggs and toast seems okay, if I don't have that I usually have chicken or turkey steaks.

What would you suggest?

brianthebard

I'd make breakfast as big a meal as you can; have the four eggs and porridge and some fruit. Then I'd have a shake at 11am with the fruit, and a handful of brazil nuts. Two chicken fillets and some salad seems grand. Then for a second snack, more nuts are you suggested, or some peanut butter on wholemeal soda bread? Then yeah a decent, low carb dinner at 7 is probably required and another shake with milk for evenings. Thing about the gram of protein per pound is afaik its supposed to be per pound of lean body weight-you don't absolutely have to take in 300+ grams of protein. You could do with increasing protein a good bit though, and some healthy fats. A spoon of e.v. olive oil in the nighttime shake and maybe a walnut or e.v. olive oil dressing on the salad. Some tinned salmon or tuna would be a good way of getting protein in your diet too, any tinned fish really.

MagicMarker

Jaysis that's a lot of food!! I'm willing to give it a go but would probably struggle with so much, or at least what looks like a lot in black & white.

We're talking about fat loss yeah?

celestial

To be fair you're prob comin at it from the wrong angle - it's not the protein content that you should be concerned about - eat the right foods at the right time and that'll take care of itself. People can be obsessed with protein on this forum - if you are eating right you are fine and you definitely don't need to worry about not getting enough! For that reason forget the shakes and focus on real food.

Stay off the junk, eat clean, don't go hungry and train hard. Simple as that mate.

floggg

Sorry to hijack the thread, but i'm also trying to lose weight, and my diet isn't too far off the OP's. Little worried bout the suggestion that he was not eating enough. however, i'm down to about 73 kilos/11.5 stone, so i guess i would have lesser requirements.

My typical diet on weekdays is:

Breakfast - 8am - porridge with dried fruit and honey. Protein shake
Lunch - 12.30am - salad with three slices of turkey and/or ham
Snack - 2.30pm - handful of nuts, maybe some fruit (dried or fresh)
Pre-training - brown bread snadwich with turkey and ham, tomoatoes, lettuce
Post -training - If doing weights, not cardio) Protein shakes
9pm - dinner - usually a very small bit of pasta/rice/potatoes with meat and veg.

I know i shouldn't be having carbs in the evening meal, but (a) a small bit isneeded post training, isnt it, and (b) i take turns cooking with my flatmates, and their big on their carbs. if i'm cooking, i;ll try do low carb, but if its their turn, not a hope.

Is this ok?

Mickk

MagicMarker wrote: »

Jaysis that's a lot of food!! I'm willing to give it a go but would probably struggle with so much, or at least what looks like a lot in black & white.

We're talking about fat loss yeah?

If I were you I wouldn't worry too much about getting loads of protein, 110g per day is ok for a while especially when the goals for now are just weight loss. Also if you would struggle with the amount of food in the post above, in the nicest possible way how the hell did you get to 153kg! If you have put on weight on ~1800 kcal a day then I would ask your doc for some blood tests, could be a thyroid problem or something.

MagicMarker

Good point Mickk, but my diet before hand was truly awful. I spent last year in Canada and practically lived off fast food, I came home after about 35lbs heavier. When I got home, I didn't eat consistently, never had breakfast, had a crap lunch and crap dinner with crap in between and 2+ takeaways a week, in the weeks preceding my compete turn around I was even getting into the habit of grabbing a chocolate bar (or 2) and a can of coke every morning for breakfast.

I'm 25 now, I've slowly gained the weight since I was about 18, probably about 60lbs or so. I'd hate to think what I'd weigh when I'm 30 if I don't start doing something about it now.

I'm eating (almost) completely clean now, allowing myself one cheat meal a week and in the gym 4 times a week. 2 weeks in now and I've lost a few lbs, but more importantly I really feel good. I've tried and failed in the past to shift the weight but I have to say this time is different, I guess being physically repulsed by yourself is a good kick up the ass!

Mickk

MagicMarker wrote: »

Good point Mickk, but my diet before hand was truly awful. I spent last year in Canada and practically lived off fast food, I came home after about 35lbs heavier. When I got home, I didn't eat consistently, never had breakfast, had a crap lunch and crap dinner with crap in between and 2+ takeaways a week, in the weeks preceding my compete turn around I was even getting into the habit of grabbing a chocolate bar (or 2) and a can of coke every morning for breakfast.

I'm 25 now, I've slowly gained the weight since I was about 18, probably about 60lbs or so. I'd hate to think what I'd weigh when I'm 30 if I don't start doing something about it now.

I'm eating (almost) completely clean now, allowing myself one cheat meal a week and in the gym 4 times a week. 2 weeks in now and I've lost a few lbs, but more importantly I really feel good. I've tried and failed in the past to shift the weight but I have to say this time is different, I guess being physically repulsed by yourself is a good kick up the ass!

It sounds like you are on the right track so, if you feel good on 1800 kcals a day then I would stick to that and see how much weight you can lose. I would guess that you do have a good amount of muscle under the fat, carrying around that much weight should have built it up over the years. The 1g of protein per pound is extreme for people who are looking to put on as much muscle as possible. Also I wouldn't worry too much about the fruit, the quantities you are taking are fine, an apple only has about 20g of carbs and 5 of them are fibre (just 80 kcals in total). Good luck

MagicMarker

Cheers, I should probably mention I'm 6'4, 153kg would be a lot worse if I were of average height.