Critique my Diet Please

deny1crusade

Over the past few months I've been trying to dispose of some nuisance fat, particularly that deposited around the thigh/behind/waist/belly region and finding it almost impossible. I've employed a strict diet and while it has made me lose 3kg over the past 3 months, and coupled with cardiovascular exercise, I still haven't managed to shift a significant amount of weight such that the fat goes in the problem areas. Here would be my typical diet on a day per day basis:

Breakfast - 1 Weetabix with 100mL of Milk

Lunch - 1 Egg

Dinner - Usually a very large pile of green vegetables, 1 small potato, and a lean unprocessed meat, mostly fresh fish, chicken or turkey...usually a nice portion of this meat source too.

Supper - Tuna Sandwich, not white bread though, avoid it; with cup of tea.

Usually, I'd have 1 snack throughout the day, usually either 1 biscuit or a small (25g) packet of crisps. Plus 5-6 glasses of water per day.

MFP usually places my calorie count at around 900-1,100 per day and I'm trying to key them in as accurate as possible. I understand the minimum should be around 1,200 but I'm assuming error with MFP, so I think I get the minimum and I rarely feel hungry.

Current Statistics:
Weight: 82kg
Height: 180cm
Waist: ~35 inch

Any advice on this situation is greatly appreciated - I'm aware I cannot spot reduce fat but I'm trying to mass reduce my weight such that eventually the hard-to-remove fat eventually finds some way of shifting.

the groutch

that's a terrible diet, it's near starvation and is unsustainable even in the short-medium term. you will end up losing muscle rather than fat.

your BMR, the minimum calories you can burn in a day is about 1850, add in 30% for moderate activity, that's 2400 calories to keep your weight steady.
so you should aim for 1900-2000 for steady weight loss.

a single egg isnt a lunch, have something proper there.
and don't be afraid of having a certain amount of fat in your diet, your body needs a certain amount of "good fats" to function properly

deny1crusade

the groutch wrote: »

that's a terrible diet, it's near starvation and is unsustainable even in the short-medium term. you will end up losing muscle rather than fat.

your BMR, the minimum calories you can burn in a day is about 1850, add in 30% for moderate activity, that's 2400 calories to keep your weight steady.
so you should aim for 1900-2000 for steady weight loss.

a single egg isnt a lunch, have something proper there.
and don't be afraid of having a certain amount of fat in your diet, your body needs a certain amount of "good fats" to function properly

I was expecting a nice critique but wasn't expecting 'terrible diet' merely because I thought all the foods I chose are relatively good for you while avoiding too many of the bad stuffs out there. But I can certainly see where you're coming from, no doubt about that.

Would it be recommended that I increase my caloric intake to gain muscle first, and then somehow lose fat? I'm not exactly sure how to achieve this if it's possible but I saw it mentioned in another thread. I don't want to lose weight and end up really skinny on top and still large belly/thigh/behind...I need to figure out a way to lose this fat and make me look more proportional.

Thanks for the advice, it's heeded.

the groutch

deny1crusade wrote: »

I was expecting a nice critique but wasn't expecting 'terrible diet' merely because I thought all the foods I chose are relatively good for you while avoiding too many of the bad stuffs out there. But I can certainly see where you're coming from, no doubt about that.

Would it be recommended that I increase my caloric intake to gain muscle first, and then somehow lose fat? I'm not exactly sure how to achieve this if it's possible but I saw it mentioned in another thread. I don't want to lose weight and end up really skinny on top and still large belly/thigh/behind...I need to figure out a way to lose this fat and make me look more proportional.

yeah, maybe a bit too blunt, they are good foods, just not enough of them.

without going into too much detail about macros ie. how many calories you get from protein/carbohydrates/fat, one thing I'd say is to lose fat try to keep the amount of calories you get from carbohydrates under 40% (in a 2000 calorie diet that'd be 200g), as your body has to burn those calories before burning off any significant amount of fat.

a site like this can guide you with that sort of thing.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/nutrition-facts-calories/self-nutrition-data

deny1crusade

the groutch wrote: »

yeah, maybe a bit too blunt, they are good foods, just not enough of them.

without going into too much detail about macros ie. how many calories you get from protein/carbohydrates/fat, one thing I'd say is to lose fat try to keep the amount of calories you get from carbohydrates under 40% (in a 2000 calorie diet that'd be 200g), as your body has to burn those calories before burning off any significant amount of fat.

a site like this can guide you with that sort of thing.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/nutrition-facts-calories/self-nutrition-data

Thanks for that, I just checked my total Carb intake for today and so far it amounts to 95, and says my daily goal is 245, so I guess I'm doing that part right?

Moshimoshi

I honestly don't understand how you haven't lost more weight. Can anyone explain it? This is less than I eat and I'm 40kgs and don't exercise.

SunnyDub1

deny1crusade wrote: »

Breakfast - 1 Weetabix with 100mL of Milk - Have eggs or oats instead

Lunch - 1 Egg - :eek: you must be starving- Make and egg salad or chicken/fish salad

Dinner - Usually a very large pile of green vegetables, 1 small potato (try having sweet Potato instead) , and a lean unprocessed meat, mostly fresh fish, chicken or turkey...usually a nice portion of this meat source too.

Supper - Tuna Sandwich, not white bread though, avoid it; with cup of tea. - why have a supper?eat 3 square healthy meals a day 2-3 snacks and avoid eating late in the evening especially if you're eating carb heavy food like bread. Have a light snack in the evening if you're feeling hungry.

Usually, I'd have 1 snack throughout the day, usually either 1 biscuit or a small (25g) packet of crisps. Plus 5-6 glasses of water per day. -
No to biscuits and no to crisps. Try having some fruit or yogurt instead.

I don't know how you have energy or how you are not starving on the that diet. You should have a look at the stickies for a better indication on what you should be eating.

MFP give most people the same calorie goal which is a load of crap IMO. Work out your macros.
Maybe aim for 40/30/30 protein/carbs/fats.
I generally only use MFP to calculate my own p/c/f and kcals target.

Moshimoshi wrote: »

I honestly don't understand how you haven't lost more weight. Can anyone explain it? This is less than I eat and I'm 40kgs and don't exercise.

Because she is starving herself and not eating enough calories therefore her metabolism has slowed down. A lower metabolism results in a decrease in the amount of calories burned. If the amount of calories burned equals the amount of calories eaten, your weight will remain the same.

deny1crusade

SunnyDub1 wrote: »

I don't know how you have energy or how you are not starving on the that diet. You should have a look at the stickies for a better indication on what you should be eating.

Because she is starving herself and not eating enough calories therefore her metabolism has slowed down. A lower metabolism results in a decrease in the amount of calories burned. If the amount of calories burned equals the amount of calories eaten, your weight will remain the same.

I'm actually a 'he', but besides that, I don't really think it can be described as 'starvation' because I never really feel that hungry throughout the day. I have a large dinner which helps, contributing about 500 calories to my daily intake.

As well as being concerned about the nutrition aspect, I was wondering could anyone shed any light on mechanisms I can employ that involve muscle building and fat loss, or if such a thing is possible?

Appreciate all comments and advice relating to this. I'll adjust my diet such that I eat another 400 calories per day.

Caliden

deny1crusade wrote: »

I'm actually a 'he', but besides that, I don't really think it can be described as 'starvation' because I never really feel that hungry throughout the day. I have a large dinner which helps, contributing about 500 calories to my daily intake.

As well as being concerned about the nutrition aspect, I was wondering could anyone shed any light on mechanisms I can employ that involve muscle building and fat loss, or if such a thing is possible?

Appreciate all comments and advice relating to this. I'll adjust my diet such that I eat another 400 calories per day.

Normally it's one or the other (build muscle vs. lose fat) as it's very hard to balance both so it's quicker to focus on one and then move on to the other.

I'd increase your calories slightly as suggested.
You mentioned exercise, what exactly and are you doing and how often?

deny1crusade

Caliden wrote: »

Normally it's one or the other (build muscle vs. lose fat) as it's very hard to balance both so it's quicker to focus on one and then move on to the other.

I'd increase your calories slightly as suggested.
You mentioned exercise, what exactly and are you doing and how often?

I do approximately 30 minutes of Cardio 3x week and do Strength 4x week, albeit finding the strength training tougher than I imagined. I'm still a noob to all this to be honest.

Caliden

You need to add a rest day there. Very basic thing that people forget about and it does make a difference.

SunnyDub1

deny1crusade wrote: »

I'm actually a 'he', but besides that, I don't really think it can be described as 'starvation' because I never really feel that hungry throughout the day. I have a large dinner which helps, contributing about 500 calories to my daily intake.

As well as being concerned about the nutrition aspect, I was wondering could anyone shed any light on mechanisms I can employ that involve muscle building and fat loss, or if such a thing is possible?

Appreciate all comments and advice relating to this. I'll adjust my diet such that I eat another 400 calories per day.

But as I mentioned above you are not gonna lose weight by eating very few calories. It doesn't work like that. Any calories you are eating are just been stored as fat cause you are eating too little, whether you're hungry or not you need to eat more calories. That's why it's been suggested for you to work out your macros.

There no such thing as a mechanism that builds muscle.
Concentrate on your diet first for fat loss , work out your macros then look into strenght training to build musscle.

deny1crusade

SunnyDub1 wrote: »

But as I mentioned above you are not gonna lose weight by eating very few calories. It doesn't work like that. Any calories you are eating are just been stored as fat cause you are eating too little, whether you're hungry or not you need to eat more calories. That's why it's been suggested for you to work out your macros.

There no such thing as a mechanism that builds muscle.
Concentrate on your diet first for fat loss , work out your macros then look into strenght training to build musscle.

I see, well so far I've increased my lunch from 100 calories to 355 calories, doubling up on the egg and having a full glass of milk.

How do I work our Macro's? Apologies again, noob to all this!

BraziliaNZ

SunnyDub1 wrote: »

But as I mentioned above you are not gonna lose weight by eating very few calories. It doesn't work like that. Any calories you are eating are just been stored as fat cause you are eating too little, whether you're hungry or not you need to eat more calories. That's why it's been suggested for you to work out your macros.

There no such thing as a mechanism that builds muscle.
Concentrate on your diet first for fat loss , work out your macros then look into strenght training to build musscle.

Depending on her size, the calorie intake looks not too bad for me for weight loss purposes, she's still got about 1200kcal in there which would be around right for a girl trying to lose weight, I think. I lost about 9kg once and I was about 90kg to start with, taking in about 1800kcal a day, and I didn't lose any strength in the gym regarding the weights I was able to lift.

My main gripe with it OP is that it's spread out pretty bad, nothing all day and then dinner, and "supper", I don't even know what that is.

Spread your food out better throughout the day, i.e. breakfast and lunch etc for starters, then read up on nutrition and see how you can get more bang for your buck when you're not eating much.

deny1crusade

Caliden wrote: »

You need to add a rest day there. Very basic thing that people forget about and it does make a difference.

Is it unusual if you don't feel pain after a strength workout? I only started this about a 6 weeks ago and while the first week I felt quite a lot of pain, ever since that, very little.

I'm very weak to be honest, having to start off at 2.5kg on my first day and tried to do 3x sets of 15 reps for dumbbell exercises. Recently, I've been doing 10kg dumbbells (I know, weak for a guy ) and struggled to finish the 3x sets of 15 and had to reduce it to 3x sets of 8, even after completing that, I'm feeling no pain today, only felt strain when doing it. I'm pretty sure I'm doing it properly too for all the exercises as I do feel the strain and have youtubed the correct way to do things. Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there.

deny1crusade

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Depending on her size, the calorie intake looks not too bad for me for weight loss purposes, she's still got about 1200kcal in there which would be around right for a girl trying to lose weight, I think. I lost about 9kg once and I was about 90kg to start with, taking in about 1800kcal a day, and I didn't lose any strength in the gym regarding the weights I was able to lift.

My main gripe with it OP is that it's spread out pretty bad, nothing all day and then dinner, and "supper", I don't even know what that is.

Spread your food out better throughout the day, i.e. breakfast and lunch etc for starters, then read up on nutrition and see how you can get more bang for your buck when you're not eating much.

This is the 2nd time I've had to clarify that I'm not a 'she', where are people getting this from?

Apart from that, thanks for the advice, taken on board.

BraziliaNZ

deny1crusade wrote: »

This is the 2nd time I've had to clarify that I'm not a 'she', where are people getting this from?

Apart from that, thanks for the advice, taken on board.

Everyone else is banging on like you're a woman. You single?

SunnyDub1

deny1crusade wrote: »

I see, well so far I've increased my lunch from 100 calories to 355 calories, doubling up on the egg and having a full glass of milk.

How do I work our Macro's? Apologies again, noob to all this!

Please just take time out to read this and I can grantee you won't have any further questions - > http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055157091

and here -> http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=50956807&postcount=4

After reading all that work out your Macros - > http://www.freedieting.com/tools/nutrient_calculator.htm

Moshimoshi

SunnyDub1 wrote: »

Because she is starving herself and not eating enough calories therefore her metabolism has slowed down. A lower metabolism results in a decrease in the amount of calories burned. If the amount of calories burned equals the amount of calories eaten, your weight will remain the same.

Thanks for the answer. I didn't mean my post to sound demotivating to the OP, I just realized it could have been read that way. My apologies!

deny1crusade

By the way, so far, according to MFP, I've ingested 1,400 calories, but it really feels like more!

This includes:

Breakfast:
1 Weetabix with 100mL of Milk (Full-Fat)

Lunch:
2 Large Eggs with 250mL of Milk

Dinner:
Large portion of Broccoli, Peas and Sweetcorn, Small Potato and Unprocessed Turkey Breast

Evening Snack:
Tuna Sandwich (Wholemeal Bread); 250mL of Milk; 3 Slices of Denny Ham; an Apple

I feel quite stuffed at the moment despite MFP placing all of this at 1,400 calories. I'd really struggle to get this up to 2,000 as recommended here and already starting to worry this will make me put back on weight.

Is this an improvement? Am I over relying on milk which while being a nice protein source, giving 8g per glass, it also comes with 12g of Carbs according to MFP.

I want to get leaner all round and lose the fat around my waist/behind/thigh/belly region, but need to couple this with a diet which is effective for both. Thus, can anyone please recommend some regime whereby I can achieve both of these objectives? Thanks again for the replies guys!

the groutch

milk isnt as good a protein source as you think, it's only 3.5%

best source is chicken/turkey at 25-30%, most nuts are in around 20-25% too.

BlueIsland

deny1crusade wrote: »

By the way, so far, according to MFP, I've ingested 1,400 calories, but it really feels like more!

This includes:

Breakfast:
1 Weetabix with 100mL of Milk (Full-Fat)

Lunch:
2 Large Eggs with 250mL of Milk

Dinner:
Large portion of Broccoli, Peas and Sweetcorn, Small Potato and Unprocessed Turkey Breast

Evening Snack:
Tuna Sandwich (Wholemeal Bread); 250mL of Milk; 3 Slices of Denny Ham; an Apple

I feel quite stuffed at the moment despite MFP placing all of this at 1,400 calories. I'd really struggle to get this up to 2,000 as recommended here and already starting to worry this will make me put back on weight.

Is this an improvement? Am I over relying on milk which while being a nice protein source, giving 8g per glass, it also comes with 12g of Carbs according to MFP.

I want to get leaner all round and lose the fat around my waist/behind/thigh/belly region, but need to couple this with a diet which is effective for both. Thus, can anyone please recommend some regime whereby I can achieve both of these objectives? Thanks again for the replies guys!

You get leaner all around and lose fat with a clean diet. You have been told straight up you are not eating enough and are heading for a downfall. There is no REGIME to spot reduce fat from specific areas. Multiply your bodyweight in LBS x 12 for a sustainable steady weight loss.

deny1crusade

BlueIsland wrote: »

You get leaner all around and lose fat with a clean diet. You have been told straight up you are not eating enough and are heading for a downfall. There is no REGIME to spot reduce fat from specific areas. Multiply your bodyweight in LBS x 12 for a sustainable steady weight loss.

I've already acknowledged this by eating more from yesterday, a sum total of nearly 400-500 extra.

I've also acknowledged it's not possible to spot reduce fat.

Thanks for the comment though.

Chronic Button

The thing about getting healthy is that we sometimes have to change our ideas as much as our practices. Also it is not just the quantity of food that needs to change, but the quality.

If your metabolic rate has slowed, which would explain the lack of weight loss, in my experience the thing that will get it back up and running is to eat to your calorie needs for a while (maintenance level), and eat high quality, full-fat, natural wholefoods.

Then after a couple of months, start eating 250 less cals per day than you need, and you will lose half a pound per week. Slow, steady, satiated. With your exercise levels, you will likely lose more than that.

I would also take rest days between intensive exercise to allow your body to recover.

Eating wholefoods means

• lean fish and meat,
• eggs,
• full fat dairy,
• mounds of vegetables and fruit,
• nuts,
• good quality oils,
• brown rice, quinoa,
• all herbs and spices,
• only small amounts occasionally of spuds, pasta, bread and processed foods.

I used to yo-yo diet and eat far less than I needed, followed by pigging out. I used to put on weight incredibly easily. I'd come home after a wedding and find I'd put on half a stone. I attribute this to eating low fat, processed crap and swinging between eating way too little and way too much.

My metabolism is now much improved and I do not seem to gain weight after a day of feasting like a wedding, and I am losing weight at a slow and steady pace. I am feeling stable and happy in weight loss. Hope this helps.

BlueIsland

deny1crusade wrote: »

I've already acknowledged this by eating more from yesterday, a sum total of nearly 400-500 extra.

I've also acknowledged it's not possible to spot reduce fat.

Thanks for the comment though.

Your follow up comments though, despite acknowledging, ask the same questions again. Up your calories to 2000. Eat 1g protein for every pound BW. Drink lots of water. Give it time.

Rubber_Soul

SunnyDub1 wrote: »

Any calories you are eating are just been stored as fat cause you are eating too little

Sorry to go a bit OT, but I thought this whole notion of a starvation mode was incorrect? I get that the body will down-regulate activity, but to literally store every calorie as fat just sounds like B.S. Can anyone clarify?

Brother24

What you need to do is make out a list of what you eat every day, i guarantee you will find you eat little snacks between meals, and thus over the course of the day builds up and increases your calorie count severely. Make sure to eat something sweet after each meal as this sends a message to the brain that the meal is finished, and so you wont be craving for snacks later

deny1crusade

Chronic Button wrote: »

The thing about getting healthy is that we sometimes have to change our ideas as much as our practices. Also it is not just the quantity of food that needs to change, but the quality.

My metabolism is now much improved and I do not seem to gain weight after a day of feasting like a wedding, and I am losing weight at a slow and steady pace. I am feeling stable and happy in weight loss. Hope this helps.

Definitely, always worth thinking about. Thanks for the comment.

BlueIsland wrote: »

Your follow up comments though, despite acknowledging, ask the same questions again. Up your calories to 2000. Eat 1g protein for every pound BW. Drink lots of water. Give it time.

No, I was acknowledging that I should eat more, just that I wasn't sure how this would fit into an exercise regime whereby I could become somewhat leaner. However, now I realise this was a silly question and shouldn't have asked it.

Brother24 wrote: »

What you need to do is make out a list of what you eat every day, i guarantee you will find you eat little snacks between meals, and thus over the course of the day builds up and increases your calorie count severely. Make sure to eat something sweet after each meal as this sends a message to the brain that the meal is finished, and so you wont be craving for snacks later

Sounds like a good idea, thanks for the comment.

Caliden

StarshipPooper wrote: »

Sorry to go a bit OT, but I thought this whole notion of a starvation mode was incorrect? I get that the body will down-regulate activity, but to literally store every calorie as fat just sounds like B.S. Can anyone clarify?

It is: http://fitnessblackbook.com/main/starvation-mode-why-you-probably-never-need-to-worry-about-it/
http://www.adonisindex.com/how-to-get-into-starvation-mode/

nice_guy80

cut out the weetabix and milk

add eggs for breakie
and some porridge

deny1crusade

nice_guy80 wrote: »

cut out the weetabix and milk

add eggs for breakie
and some porridge

Done :-)

As an update, I'm now registering at 80.5kg even though the belly/waste region has not reduced significantly, so I guess I must keep going down.