Opinions on my diet, ways to improve?

[DillonK9100]

So I had posted a thread with my horrible routine and had it corrected! So I figured this was the place the throw out my diet and also have that corrected. Almost every day is the same with the acception of Fridays and Saturday's being random cause I'm usually out with friends.

I am 18 standing at 5'11 170 lbs
Every day I get 2200-2500 calories

My diet is in the morning I have 2 peices of toast that are Winnipeg rye bread, peanut butter and honey for the toppings. Sometimes about a cup of milk and then I work out. Cardio or weight lifting depending on the day. This is followed by protein powder and milk if it is a weight day.

Then my lunch is at about 5 pm cause I work evenings so that's the middle of my day. I work at subway so I eat a 6 inch on whole weat. Usually a chicken sub with a good portion of meat. Sauce is only mustard and right now avocado since its limited time and nice and spicy. I avoid the fatty sauces. Just water to drink.

Then at night I have either a steak sub from work that I'll take home after my shift. No veggies on this one though because I can't toast them and I dislike them otherwise (yeah ridiculous and picky I know) but otherwise I will make myself a quasedilla at home. One tortilla shell folded in half with chicken cheese and salsa fried inside. Sour cream tops it and I have a glass of chocolate milk with this. This is at 1045-11 pm. As I'm home at 1030 at the earliest. I go to bed around 2 am so I do have time to properly digest my food! Also I sleep till 1130 am. So I am getting rest!

I will be changing to regular times for dinner and lunch in February when i begin college. Incase that is any type of issue!

Friday night I drink. Every Friday night. Not going to lie, most Saturdays too. Atleast half of them. I know it's terrible but I'm a country guy who has done this with friends since we were just hitting grade 11. And before that we did this atleast once a month since grade 9-10. So I don't see this changing soon. Although I could cut out Saturday's.

Saturday is my guilty pleasure of maybe grabbing Wendy's after a movie and then going to a party later so I'm going to try to get rid of Wendy's because I know that's terrible.

Basically id like to have my regular days addressed as I'm well aware my Friday and Saturday's are crap because of the drinking. Thanks guys!

[Praetorian]

Well at least you are consistent...i mean you are sticking to the horrible aspect. Your diet in a word is garbage. Garbage in garbage out...and combined with the two days of boozing I would be surprised if you made any gains at all.

I would suggest doing some serious research....there is much information on this site...check out the nutrition forum a great place to start.

P

[LonelyBedouin]

Basically your diet is shit, and I have no idea what your asking us to do. I wont nor do I think anyone else will make you a plan. We will help you improve upon one. But as of right now I see your meals as...

Sometime in the morning: 2 slices toast, pb and honey

5pm: 6 inch chicken sub on whole wheat (I assume you work at subway and this is from there)

11pm: another sub just steak I assume its 6 inch, a tortilla with a random amount of chicken/cheese/sour cream and chocolate milk

What do you see wrong with that meal plan? Again I have no idea what your asking, are you bulking or cutting? Either way I dont even think thats 2200 calories unless the tortilla has a shit load of chicken and cheese on it

[LonelyBedouin]

Well at least you are consistent...i mean you are sticking to the horrible aspect. Your diet in a word is garbage. Garbage in garbage out...and combined with the two days of boozing I would be surprised if you made any gains at all.

I would suggest doing some serious research....there is much information on this site...check out the nutrition forum a great place to start.

P

Damn you P, beat me to it by a min :P lol cause I was nice enough to type out his shitty meal plan

[DillonK9100]

Great, I'll get on that... Thanks for something remotely constructive Praetorian.

So I have found a meal plan that to me is realistic and not disgusting. I have some questions about it.

Example Daily Diet

Meal 1
Cereal and Skimmed milk Or Toast / Bagels and eggs Or Porridge with skimmed milk
Protein drink or protein bar
Fruit or vegetable juice
Water

Meal 2 (snack)
Protein drink with Milk Or
Protein bar and Water

Meal 3
Meat or eggs with bread or potato or salad
Water

Meal 4
Meat based meal i.e. chili con carni, steak and vegetables, fish pasta bake
Water or juice

Meal 5 (supper)
Protein drink in water or milk

So my problem with this is that the protein drinks are going to get pretty damn expensive for someone saving for college and who has a min wage job. Could i substitute those with something else? And meal 4 would for me be at work, so I suppose a chicken salad would work right? My other question is, is it okay to throw kraft peanut butter and some honey on my toast in the morning? I mean, its a natural sweetener with peanut butter right? If I'm wrong let me know. Hopefully this meal plan is better and more realistic to gaining muscle mass. I am also a a chubbier guy. Its in my family to carry our weight in our upper body. If this effects this diet let me know. Hope this is a good one cause I feel i could make this work with my current living situation and money issue if I can substitute a the protein drink. Thanks guys...

[LonelyBedouin]

Again how muc of everything are you eating? Your diet is still shit. I hate to be so negative but it is what it is.

You say that whey is expensive yet 3 of 5 meals are whey or protein bars(which are filled with crap)

But you say it's expensive. Solution sub in three protein sources. And don't tell me you can't name three.

A chicken salad is fine. Pb fine and honey sure in moderation.

Remake your meal plan with how much how many calories each item is. You can use fit day to find all that

[natenator]

Well at least you are consistent...i mean you are sticking to the horrible aspect.

P

ROFL. Pure awesomeness

[natenator]

not that this is the be all, end all but give this a try: http://www.canadabodybuilding.com/forumdisplay.php?7-Bodybuilding-Nutrition-amp-Diet and be CONSISTENT with it.

It's a hell of a lot better than the piece of crap you're trying to pull together

If you can't hack this for at least a week then give up and play ping pong instead

[DillonK9100]

Alright.

Admins can close this thread now to make space on forum.

Thanks.

[LonelyBedouin]

Alright.

Admins can close this thread now to make space on forum.

Thanks.

That's te attitude of someone wanting to change. Nobody is going to do this for you. If you don't want to do yourself and let us critique a meal plan then there are plenty of coaches here that can for a fee

[DillonK9100]

Well I can't really afford a coach. So that's out of the question. And yeah im going off the food that's provided to me. I don't have enough money to shop for myself. So I can't necessarily buy the stuff for myself off nates list there. Today for breakfast I took his egg idea with oatmeal but since I ran out of oatmeal I threw it on toast for a bit of carbs before cardio. I'm gonna work at this one step at a time with what I'm provided. Between saving for college and spending on equipment for lifting I simply don't have much left over per paycheck. As I mentioned I work at a subway. Which isn't full time and only minimum wage. I don't have an attitude of a quitter I just got tired of 3 people saying, crap check out the forum. The only person who ended on a happy note that would even slightly encourage anyone was Praetorian. I'll look into guides and make due with what I can. Maybe in 4 years when I've finished college I'll be able to afford this stuff myself and I can start being more serious. For now I would just like some muscle and a toned body. So I'll manage I'm sure.

[Delt King]

The given advice seems harsh but the reality is you'll need to change your mode of operation in order to get results. The food/diet aspect of this lifestyle is by far the most difficult thing to get a handle of. It all depends on how bad you want those results. If it were easy you'd see all kinds of Jacked guys.

Don't be pissed about being critiqued...its not personal.

this is what you need to do for starters...
1-eat protein every three hours from morning to night.
2-eliminate sugars
3-train consistent.

start with that for 3 weeks then implement the next step of a plan... etc
maybe small changes compounded on top of each other will make it easier to implement.

[DillonK9100]

Trust me, I'm not pissed I just don't see the helpful part of negative comments like "take up ping pong" but its cool. And alright. Ill start with that then, Small meals three hours elimate sugars. Sounds easy enough. Thanks.

I guess the new game plan is 4 eggs in the morning only one yolk and a piece or two of toast.

Work out

Meal 2 Whey shake with milk and a 1/4 banana only on lifting days. Is that okay to do only on lifting days? I feel like it isnt needed in the form of a shake on cardio days. I mean the point of powder is to break down faster to repair muscles and get the protein to them quickly after the strain right?

Meal 3 will be just before work and itll be some Lean chicken about 5oz and a carb, either bread to make it a sandwich or some rice to make it stirfry, I guess whatever I can pull out of the pantry at the time

meal 4 Most likely a chicken salad or chicken sandwich at work with some avacado sauce and mustard. then the usual stuff olives and all that healthy garbage I avoided till i was 16.

and finally my last meal which will probably be a lean chicken quasedilla about 5 oz of chicken and some cheese with a whole grain tortilla shell. Unless of course this is also carbage then i guess ill take out the cheese and make it more of a wrap.

Okay is this enough detail, is this a better start. Also is something like this going to show results in muscle and trim out the fatty area of my stomach and chest? That's the only place I carry fat and its extremely frustrating at times.

[LonelyBedouin]

That's better but again since you haven't read a single one of my posts. We have no idea if that's going to make you fat or loose weight As the amounts aren't there.

Do us a favor and use fit day, input what you just said what's included in that meal plan. You will know how many calories your eating in a day, we know how much chicken your eating which is good.

As far as carb sources I know myself and others aren't a huge fan of bread, if your on a budget brown rice is a good carb source, sweet potatoes, enziekel bread (its expensive though)

But it's hard lean out in certain areas yes they will shrink, but your not just going to loose all the weight in your gut

[natenator]

if you can afford to drink 6-8 times per month but can't afford to eat properly then the problem isn't money: its mindset

[DillonK9100]

That's better but again since you haven't read a single one of my posts. We have no idea if that's going to make you fat or loose weight As the amounts aren't there.

Do us a favor and use fit day, input what you just said what's included in that meal plan. You will know how many calories your eating in a day, we know how much chicken your eating which is good.

As far as carb sources I know myself and others aren't a huge fan of bread, if your on a budget brown rice is a good carb source, sweet potatoes, enziekel bread (its expensive though)

But it's hard lean out in certain areas yes they will shrink, but your not just going to loose all the weight in your gut

Alright well for what i can offer, I am basing my diet on Nate 5 meal plan, I work out 3 times a week. And throw cardio in on the other 3 allowing saturdays for rest. So I am hoping my gut will get the **** out cause its the only part of me you could consider fat really, its not even that bad, if you look at my ribcage its the same width and the ribcage just a tiny bit wider after I have eaten, so I am hoping my ab work out can tone this out and fix that. I don't want to be a body builder just look good. And as for calories I am aiming for 2200-2500 for the time being I'll up it when I feel I am not making anymore progress. I lost 30 pounds on a 2000 calorie a day routine with no physical activity at all last year in 2 months so I feel 2200-2500 will be good to cut out the amount of fat I have and bring in muscle at the same time. But I'm a beginner with no idea so that's why I am here. I have read all 3 of the top sticky posts and have Nate's list of good foods. I'll be using that as much as i possibly can right now. I was thinking of simply adding some milk to drink in a couple meals if I am staying the exact same. Or would it be better to lower calories to cut more fat? I'm wondering if I should cut more fat or if I am at the point where my body is going to say the only way it is going away is if you work it out. In which case I do bench presses dumbbell flyes along with leg raises and weighted crunches for my chest/abdominal area.

And as for Nates remark about mindset, I'll be cutting it down to once a week and not drinking as much as normal. Which where I am from is remarkable... I'm sure your going to read that and say it's stupid but to me it's a bit of a sacrifice. Especially since I used to drink 3-5 times a week on average shortly after turning 18. But working out became the replacement for my drinking. And wanting to look good for myself became my drunk. So for mindset, I'd like to think I have a pretty good one. I just have to trim out the fat on my lifestyle.. Or rather in my case, just plain change the whole damn lot.

I plan on using the gym they have at my college 5 days a week when I begin attending in febuary then when I work as a plumber I'll find one close to the work place or close to home which ever I approve of more and will hopefully begin boxing. I have a plan, I have a mindset. I'm on this forum to get a decent path to start. Thanks for your patience. That's why it says "Twirp" under my user name right?

[scottlove]

I used to like to whoop it up on Saturday nights but found a good cure for this.....I made Sunday my heavy leg day and there were many times when I was contemplating getting polluted and then the thought of doing legs, hungover, the next morning, pretty much put the brakes on that.

[LonelyBedouin]

I'm done trying to help. All I asked 4 times was to post the amounts of food your eating, so we know how much your taking in . I don't care your aiming for whatever. You could be aiming for that but eating much less or much more.

[DillonK9100]

I wish I could give you oz and all that garbage right now but I logged today's meals. I'll be having one more in an hour so I included it as it is planned. I used ifitness on my phone. Luckily it had a lot of subway which is a big portion of my meals. Well 2/5 atleast. And this is what I ended up with for ratio on carbs protein and fat.
Protein 180g
Carbs 150
Fat 67g

Which comes to a 45/38/17 ratio. I feel that's a good ratio

I am aware I am only at 1900 calories today but I'm missing a meal do to having to sleep early tonight. I also had to take care of my houses new puppy today and lost my time for cardio. Which I know was stupid and I won't be doing that again. Based on the percentage and assuming the meal I am missing tonight would fill it to a 40/40/20 split as suggested in Nates diet thread. Does this give you the info you need to tell me if I will gain more muscle and trim out the fatty areas? Along with my regular excersizes and of course with the extra 3-400 calories I would have from my final meal? Also my weight training days will have a protein shake with 34g whey and a cup on milk coming to about an extra 300 calories. If you can tell me anything from that I appreciate it. If not. My appologies for wasting time.

[LonelyBedouin]

So right now I would suggest dropping 10 lbs. Then start from there with a lean mass phase.

I think your fine at 1900 calories, but maybe someone can chirp in. Add in some cardio daily, and go from there. Assess progress after a week and re adjust.

Id say change the foods your eating to things less processed (but apparently thats not a option).

Like DK said protein in every meal, every 2 hours. 6 meals a day.

[DillonK9100]

Come february I'll be dropping the process crap. So I read it's good to avoid cardio on days you have lifted weights. That being said you suggest daily cardio so let's say I do cardio 3 hours after lifting weights ony weight days. Will this be effect any muscle gain or will I simply not gain very much muscle during the weight loss phase? I have only been doing a balanced weight training gain for 2 weeks.my previous one was horrid so it was pretty much none valid.

[fmrdh]

If you are strapped for cash, tuna and eggs (boiled) are usually pretty cheap and are portable. If you hold fat around your midsection, lower your carb intake.

The red river college gym is pretty good, I trained there when I was in college about 4 years ago.

[DillonK9100]

If you are strapped for cash, tuna and eggs (boiled) are usually pretty cheap and are portable. If you hold fat around your midsection, lower your carb intake.

The red river college gym is pretty good, I trained there when I was in college about 4 years ago.

That's good to know. I forgot to check it out on my high school tour of it.

Well my goal is to be 160 lbs by January 1st. Reasonable right? Then kick off the new year with trying to build muscle. Thanks for the help from everyone.

[Fasted Development]

It's not that complicated, if you're tracking your calories and hitting your macros (approximately 50% protein, 30% carbs, 20% fats), it'll be a good start. You can eat what you like within the parameter (obviously you'll be able to consume more in quantity with healthier, low cal food).
After a while you can fine tune the details to make it better