Improve my diet for Strength training?

runswithascript

I am on week 10 of Stronglifts 5 x 5 and currently squat 97.5KG, deadlift 100KG, overhead press 35KG (deloaded at 32.5KG and switched to 1KG incrementals), deadlift 100KG, bench press 55KG, and pendlay row 47.5KG (deloaded and switched to 1KG incremental weight increases from failing 55KG 3 times). I'm 35, 5' 11"/181cm, and weigh ~80KG.

My 5 meals mainly consist of Lidl bought items:

1: Donut peach, slice of melon, and a clementine. 100g of lidl oats (are all oats created equal?!), tsp cacao powder, walnuts, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and a tsp of milled chia seeds. 4 poached eggs on two slices of MacCambridge toast, small bit of real butter, smoked salmon, fresh basil and lemon juice.

2. Homemade barely blended shake (no protein powder) made of 200ml low fat protein milk, 200g of 0% fat natural yogurt (these first two provide 30g of protein), a banana to sweeten the cacao powder, tbps of milled chia seeds, some walnuts, and tsp of peanutbutter.

3. Baked large chicken breast (170g - 200g) between two slices of MacCambridge bread, gouda, light mayo and mustard.

4. Dinner varies, but always either a large chicken breast with some veg, 75g of pasta/rice, or a steak with homemade sweet potato fries. I have a wholewheat pizza every two weeks or so and add extra chorizo to make sure there is at least 30g of protein.

5. Tin of spring water tuna with some light mayo, sweetcorn, small amount of grated emmental, and a glass of milk.

I had a non Stronglifts related wrist injury that resurfaced and stopped me strength training when I was lifting a bit more than this with Stronglifts a year ago, and I can see I weighed more like 84KG, and was doing the odd bit of cardio on Saturday which I have cut out this time.

Perhaps I could add an extra egg and an avocado to breakfast?

I think I was also adding 50/100g of oats to the shake though it can be quite heavy, but maybe I need it?

Should I bulk up the tuna with some pasta or something else that will digest easier during the night?

Alf Veedersane

What exactly is it that you want? Extra calories? Better use of calories? Etc etc

Have you input your daily intake into MyFitnessPal to get a handle on calories, macros?

Mellor

Looks fine, knowing your weight goals, calories, macros.
Your focus now should probably be training to get the numbers up. Diet is not the deciding factor at a 100kg deadlift

runswithascript

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

What exactly is it that you want? Extra calories? Better use of calories? Etc etc

If there are changes that can be made that will decrease the chance of three failures in a row I would like to make them. I thought perhaps I was not eating enough, or not enough carbs. I know other factors like getting a good night sleep also matter.

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Have you input your daily intake into MyFitnessPal to get a handle on calories, macros?

No, but I have been meaning to, and will.

Mellor wrote: »

Looks fine, knowing your weight goals, calories, macros.
Your focus now should probably be training to get the numbers up. Diet is not the deciding factor at a 100kg deadlift

So that is happening, I was just concerned about the three failures in a row on the overhead press (in fairness I had a wrist injury, still not 100% but physio said okay to start weights again carefully) and the pendlay row. I have now surpassed where I failed on the former though since switching to the 1KG incrementals.

The other evening after posting it was coming up to 9pm, I had had 4 meals and was starving. I did not think tuna with some mayo and sweetcorn was going to cut it, so I added 75g of wholegrain pasta and some creme fraiche, last night added grated cheddar to same. Also added an extra egg to breakfast, yesterday switched from gouda to cheddar for my sandwich, and I will add 50g of oats to my post workout homemade shake today.

- I will keep going with these changes for now, but I am going to enter everything into MyFitnessPal. I know from when I looked at it briefly in the past, it's very good at suggesting different ingredients from different supermarkets, but how strict are you guys with the measurements, I mean, I have a digital scales, should I be weighing every ingredient in each meal, the 4 raspberries in my porridge etc....

Alf Veedersane

You're 10 weeks into SL. It's entirely possible that you're just failing on OHP because that's just where your max is.

The thing about SL is that when you miss, the advice is to drop back by a percentage and go back up doing the same reps and sets. But I don't know how that is supposed to get you any stronger by the time you return to where you missed the couple of times previously. I'd be inclined to drop back 15-20% and do more volume so maybe an extra set. That way you're not just building back up to the plateau by doing the exact same work you did the first time around. You're doing more work.

I don't think it's the nutrition that's the major sticking point at this point. It's not unimportant but tweaks won't make the main difference.

If you're still ok on squat, bench and deadlift, don't be afraid to drop weight on the others and drive more work at them.

Mellor

I don’t think you failed because of your diet.
Probably form issues, or increasing after a questionable completed 5 rep set.

I’ve never had a comfortable 3x5 and missed the following week. But I’m had grindy 1x5s followed by a miss. I probably should have been repeating instead of increasing