My eating pattern

TheYardStick

So I'm an 18 year old male, my height is around 5'8.5" and I weigh 147lbs. I'm looking to lose a little bit of weight before eventually bulking up a bit. For the past while (3 months), I've severely altered my diet. Before my change I weighed about 159lbs, so I've been getting decent enough results. I eat very similarly everyday, but it's starting to get a little dull. I generally eat between the hours of 1 p.m and 5 p.m, because for whatever reason it helps keep me focused and away from junk food etc. I skip breakfast, as I've never felt that it does anything for me.

Today I ate - Lunch: 3 slices of Farmhouse Brown soda bread + 1 tin of Tuna, Dinner: 2 grilled chicken breast fillets w/ vegetables (broccoli, mushrooms, baby corn) + 1 tablespoon McDonnells Curry Sauce, Snack: 2 green apples.

That's me done for the day, though some days I might have a protein shake depending if I do much strenuous exercise. People have told me that I don't eat enough, I disagree however as I'm rarely left feeling hungry.

So, is this a good diet plan? Will I continue to lose weight eating around this much? Is it enough to also put up muscle?

SLDeviant

Where's breakfast? You should be eating consistently throughout the day and the one meal you really can't afford to miss is breakfast.

TheYardStick

SLDeviant wrote: »

Where's breakfast? You should be eating consistently throughout the day and the one meal you really can't afford to miss is breakfast.

Well, technically my "breakfast" is around lunchtime (1 o' clock). I've never been a big fan of eating in the morning, food tends not to agree with me for a while after waking up and health-wise I don't believe it's all it's cracked up to be, but maybe I'm wrong on that.

If I was to take up eating a traditional breakfast, what's something good and healthy I could have? An egg perhaps?

TimeToShine

That's roughly 1200 calories give or take...it's technically not enough food but if your energy levels are ok then it shouldn't be a problem

SLDeviant

I'm the same way in the morning, I can't really stomach anything solid. So I take a smoothie with me on the commute. You can throw all kinds of goodness in there, I go with oj, oats, flaxseed, peanut butter, whey protein and some ice which makes it pretty much my biggest meal of the day. Especially when your switch to bulking I would not skip breakfast, in fact I'd start taking more meals a day to fit in all the calories.

RidleyRider

If you can't eat during the morning, why not try intermittent fasting? Ferike makes a pretty awesome job of it! Go into his log and look at his progress pictures from April to present.

It's basically you set a fasting period, 18/6, 16/8 etc.. For you, you could start eating at 1pm and continue eating up till 9pm if on a 16 hour fast or 7pm if on a 18 hour fast.

That said, if you want to bulk up you're going to have to get those calories in! If you can stomach peanut butter, it's your best friend!

TheYardStick

I've actually been considering intermittent fasting for a little while now, for that very reason! I think I'll start 18/6, maybe next week.

When you guys say peanut butter, you're talking about the all natural stuff, right? Not the kind you'd get in a supermarket?

RidleyRider

TheYardStick wrote: »

I've actually been considering intermittent fasting for a little while now, for that very reason! I think I'll start 18/6, maybe next week.

When you guys say peanut butter, you're talking about the all natural stuff, right? Not the kind you'd get in a supermarket?

Start tomorrow or you'll never start.

Ordinary peanut butter.

TheYardStick

RidleyRider wrote: »

Start tomorrow or you'll never start.

Ordinary peanut butter.

Alright then, if you insist

runawaybishop

SLDeviant wrote: »

Where's breakfast? You should be eating consistently throughout the day and the one meal you really can't afford to miss is breakfast.

Lots of contradicting studies about this - some state that you can happily skip breakfast with many beneficial results (especially if you work out beforehand).

SLDeviant

runawaybishop wrote: »

Lots of contradicting studies about this - some state that you can happily skip breakfast with many beneficial results (especially if you work out beforehand).

I'm biased by personal experience. I'm very sensitive to blood sugar levels, if I skip breakfast I crash hard followed by a migraine if I don't eat by 11 am. I understand that doesn't generalise to anyone else but it colours my take on the topic.

FTA69

Intermittent fasting my arse. At 10.5 stone and 5'9" you're very thin OP, to be honest I'd forget about "losing weight and then bulking up". What's the point of that may I ask? Skipping breakfast is a bad plan at the best of times, if you can't stomach food early in the morning then make yourself a smoothie out of milk, whey, oats, fruit etc and drink that. If you're planning on bulking up then you need to do resistance exercises e.g. free weights and dramatically increase your food intake. You ideally want to be eating around 5 times a day and include a mix of protein, healthy carbs and good fats with each meal.

That's the simplest way of putting it. Unless you're planning to compete as a light-welterweight boxer I'd forget about losing any more weight or you'll look like a waif. The last thing you need to be doing is "fasting" for 18 hours at a time.

runawaybishop

TheYardStick wrote: »

People have told me that I don't eat enough, I disagree however as I'm rarely left feeling hungry.

So, is this a good diet plan? Will I continue to lose weight eating around this much? Is it enough to also put up muscle?

It looks like you eat too little and not enough protein - but that depends on portion size really.

FTA69 wrote: »

Intermittent fasting my arse. At 10.5 stone and 5'9" you're very thin OP, to be honest I'd forget about "losing weight and then bulking up". What's the point of that may I ask? Skipping breakfast is a bad plan at the best of times, if you can't stomach food early in the morning then make yourself a smoothie out of milk, whey, oats, fruit etc and drink that. If you're planning on bulking up then you need to do resistance exercises e.g. free weights and dramatically increase your food intake. You ideally want to be eating around 5 times a day and include a mix of protein, healthy carbs and good fats with each meal.

That's the simplest way of putting it. Unless you're planning to compete as a light-welterweight boxer I'd forget about losing any more weight or you'll look like a waif. The last thing you need to be doing is "fasting" for 18 hours at a time.

I don't know that 5 meals has significant advantages over 3 (assuming same total calories) or that skipping breakfast is really detrimental. I would agree with you that cutting at that weight seems pointless, really should be bulking up.

FTA69

Well if you're trying to increase muscle mass you're better off eating a number of small meals throughout the day to have a continuous protein intake and to increase satiety. You may well be able to bulk up by skipping breakfast and scoffing two massive meals a day but it's probably not the best strategy.

runawaybishop

FTA69 wrote: »

Well if you're trying to increase muscle mass you're better off eating a number of small meals throughout the day to have a continuous protein intake and to increase satiety. You may well be able to bulk up by skipping breakfast and scoffing two massive meals a day but it's probably not the best strategy.

There was a lot of talk about how 6 meals a day increased metabolism and so was more effective but that's not without criticism or conflicting studies (such as digestive health effects and the release of growth hormone). The gist of it was 3 meals is grand, don't worry about having 6 a day as its a pain in the arse.

TheYardStick

FTA69 wrote: »

Intermittent fasting my arse. At 10.5 stone and 5'9" you're very thin OP, to be honest I'd forget about "losing weight and then bulking up". What's the point of that may I ask?

Despite what my weight and height suggest, I'd consider myself quite a bit off from "very thin" to be honest. I still have a bit of a belly I could stand to lose, and I'd rather lose the weight and paint from a blank canvas, rather than build the muscle underneath the fat.

RidleyRider

TheYardStick wrote: »

Despite what my weight and height suggest, I'd consider myself quite a bit off from "very thin" to be honest. I still have a bit of a belly I could stand to lose, and I'd rather lose the weight and paint from a blank canvas, rather than build the muscle underneath the fat.

At your weight as horrible as it may sound, you have little to no muscle. Bulk first, get to your desired weight and a weight that looks good on you. If you went up to 80kg and then cut back to 75kg or something along that lines you'd look well and healthy. Lift heavy, eat big, sleep tight and you're well on your way to an awesome physique.

Although you seem to be stuck in your ways of cutting first and then bulking.

FTA69

TheYardStick wrote: »

Despite what my weight and height suggest, I'd consider myself quite a bit off from "very thin" to be honest. I still have a bit of a belly I could stand to lose, and I'd rather lose the weight and paint from a blank canvas, rather than build the muscle underneath the fat.

That cycle works the other way around mostly i.e. bulk and then cut. Also if you're looking to have less body fat then building muscle is the way to do that as it will change your body composition dramatically.