[quote]rt10 wrote:
Thank you for the input. Here is the diet I followed for about 8 weeks.
meal 1
1/2 cup oats, apple, whole wheat toast with peanut butter
meal 2
protein shake
meal 3
chicken breast and rice, apple
meal 4
typically a protein shake following workout
meal 5
chicken breast, and vegetable-usually brocolli
meal 6
either eat egg whites or nothing before bed
drank a gallon of water a day
had a couple of handfuls of almonds throughout day
I follow this diet fairly close, i wasnt perfect with it, but way better than what i was eating.
The problem was, I dropped weight, 224 to 210 which was the goal, but lost a lot of strength and just felt a lot smaller.[/quote]
That just means you weren’t eating enough calories. You can continue eating the same types of foods you were eating, but eat MORE of them. Aside from that, the diet you posted contains hardly any calories anyways. If you severely undereat, you’re going to lose muscle. On the flipside, if you severely overeat while trying to gain muscle, your fatgains will outpace your muscle gains.
[quote]
I just need to find a good balance in my eating habits. The diet you suggested may be what I need but it seems comparable to my other diet, and I just didnt get the results I was looking for. But thanks so much for your input.[/quote]
Its not just about eating general types of healthy foods…you MUST take in the appropriate amount of calories for the goals you are trying to achieve. It sounds as if you are attempting to maintain your muscular size and strength while leaning down a bit further.
There are numerous approaches to this in terms of diet composition, and consequently you’ll find many ways to skin a cat. One of the keys to doing this is to maintain your training intensity with heavy lifting sessions while eating a slight caloric deficit. If you cut calories too low, as it appears you did earlier, you will lose more strength and size than you want. You should be at least able to maintain your strength. You might not maintain all of it, but most of it should stay with you.
From the diet you posted it looks to me as if in addition to more total food, you definitely need more protein and fat. Personally, I am a fan of the low carb approach, which means you’ll need to keep your carbs at 30 grams or less per day, while increasing your fat and protein. Fat should provide anywhere from 45-65% of your calories, and protein should make up the remaining 50-30%.
As far as total calories go, this can vary, but you can plug in your numbers into this equation to find a decent estimate of your Basal Metabolic Rate.
BMR = 66 + (13.7 x weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) �?? (6.8 x age)
Multiplying this number by 1.4-1.6 should give you a decent starting point in regards for your MAINTENANCE calories.
Subtracting 250-500 from your maintenance calories should give you number to hit for fat loss.
Now, you don’t have to follow the numbers outlined here, you could simply strive to ingest some more protein and healthy fats into your diet. However, I’m guessing you aren’t in tune with your diet and body enough to simply “wing it” when it comes to your nutrition, so having some set numbers to hit, and keeping a log book, will allow you to assess your results and adjust accordingly.
With that said, its hard to make an exact diet without knowing your numbers. Give us some more numbers to fill in the above equation and we can provide an example menu.