Critique My Diet: Is it Clean?

Diet and Nutrition
1

Hi guys and gals,

I’ve been lurking here for pretty much the past week, and this seems like an interesting and informative forum. Now, onto topic…

I basically started my diet last week after years of non training, and to say the least I think I’m pretty much a fatty right about now. I’m 5’7 @ 185lbs. I have no idea what my bf% was but I know when I was training in HS, I was the same height and 175-180 @ 10%(pinch test). I’m 23 now, and need to lose the weight. My goal is to basically drop 30 lbs of FAT, I think I already have a some what decent frame to work off of, I just don’t want to lose too much muscle.

My diet consists of:

Morning: Usually 4-6 egg whites or 3 omega 3 eggs.

Mid morning snack: Protein shake(50g protein, 4g fat, 4g carbs)

Lunch: 6-8oz turkey, chicken or lean meat, small side salad(no dressing)

Mid Day snack: Shake or Protein bar(20g protein, 19g carbs w/ no sugar, 4g fat)
^ this is the pre workout snack

Dinner: 6-8oz of chicken, steak, or pork, 2 cups mixed veggies.

I go to the gym everyday after work and before dinner. I do around 60-80 min of heavy weight training and 35-40min of elliptical @ high intensity.

My supplements are as follows:

3 caps fish oil morning
1 multi

30min before workout
5g creatine
During cardio
4 servings Xtend

Post workout
1 serving extend
or
protein shake.

Now, is my diet really that “clean”? what do you guys recommend. I have read a lot of the diets on here already and try and stick as close to them as possible. I usually feel full, but sometimes I feel like im not eating enough veggies. What do you guys think?

Thanks,
Marc

2

Well… I am currently getting overloaded with information from reading too much about nutrition, so I’m not in a good state to give advice.

However, there are many on here that advocate some carbs in the morning (along w/ protein) to help stave off cortisol, and that they can even help with losing fat.

Also, I think you should add some more veggies, dark green salads especially, baby spinach f. example, rocks! These salads have almost no calories, for example the bag of rucola I ate today, has in 100g, 2.6g protein, 2.4g carbs (probably fiber?!), and 0.3 fat (they say omega-3 has it’s origins in leafy vegetables…).

Also, I have no clue what this eXtend drink is…?

The only real time of the day I would suggest anyone have a protein shake, would be post workout, and some carbs at the same time, that has at least for me, helped a lot with recovery.

Other than these small comments, I think your macronutrient breakdowns are ok, and you just need to remember, that to begin with, just the fact that you’re switching to a healthier macronutrient ratio, and doing exercise, will give you results. Keep reading, keep exercising, and tweak your diet/program along the way :slight_smile:

3

Hey, there, xphile, and welcome to T-Nation! I see it’s your first post. (grin)

Yes, your diet is pretty darn good. It’s a start, meaning that as you weigh and/or measure every week, you’ll adjust your plan ever so slightly if you aren’t making steady progress towards your goals.

The changes and/or additions I’d like to see you make to your plan are:

  • The inclusion of a small amount of starchy carbs in your PWO meal. Starchy carbs are defined as sweet potatoes, yams, whole wheat pasta, amaranth, quinoa, barley, brown rice, or oatmeal.

  • The separation of cardio and resistance training. Try to do your cardio and resistance training on separate/different days. Try to get in and out of the gym in 1 hour.

  • A piece of fruit in your first three meals of the day

  • A serving of beans (1/2 cup) every day at the meal you are hungriest

  • Unlimited amounts of fibrous green veggies; hold the sauce

  • The inclusion of GOOD fat! For you that would be 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil (you can use it for cooking if you like) and 1.5 tablespoons of flaxseed oil (do not cook with flaxseed oil; make sure it’s refrigerated and has a current “Use by” date on it).

Start with that and weigh in once a week. If you have any other questions or aren’t making steady progress towards your goals, stop back in and we’ll help you tweak/adjust your plan a bit.

4

Some great Info above Read that stuff and put it to use.

Id also suggest maybe not sticking to that 30lb loss but aim more for body comp. Dropping fat and add some LBM that may mean you have Minimal weight lose at time but lose inches, FAT muscle is dense a given LB of muscle takes up less space less volume than, fat. Try and guage progress more on the looks, and inches etc then weight

Best of luck

Phill

5

thanks for the quick replies guys.

Terry: I guess that I kinda wanna stay on the lower carb side, so is adding in fruit really a requirement.

My body type is pretty much identical to this guys
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=964560

in the first pic, I let myself go :frowning: oh, Im pretty much not as tall as him either. heh

He has had a very impressive transformation and I hope to end up like he has.

Also, do you think that my cardio is too much? I would like to drop this weight as quick as possible, hence the reason I do cardio 5 days a week along with my heavy weight training.

Thanks,
Marc

6

Good questions, Marc!

Well, I have to admit that I care as much about vibrant good health and energy levels and brain chemistry as I do about appearance (i.e., scale weight loss).

Let’s talk about carbs and the part they play in your achieving your goals – or maybe they’re my goals because I want all the other things that go with weight loss!

  • Fibrous green veggie carbs. They’re high in fiber, low in calories. They’ll fill you up. Fibrous green veggie carbs have a whole host of health benefits. They don’t spike insulin and kick you out of fat burning mode. You can eat green veggie carbs at every meal. You can literally eat all you want. If you’re physically active, you’ll eat a BUNCH! If you’re sedentary the next day, you’ll eat very little. Fibrous green veggie carbs cannot be overeaten. They are self-limiting in nature.

  • PWO starchy carbs. These are carbs that will spike insulin to a far greater degree than the fibrous green veggie carbs, but they are consumed in measured amounts in the meal immediately following your workout (i.e., resistance training only, not cardio). Along with spiking insulin and stimulating protein synthesis (the reason we workout, right? (grin)), starchy carbs will refill muscle glycogen.

  • Fruit. Fruit is high in fructose, a type of sugar that is processed in the liver. So fruit will refill liver glycogen stores, but doesn’t do a very good job of refilling muscle glycogen. It is added into the diet in measured amounts (80-100 calories per serving) the first three meals of the day. This is when you are most active and need to be most/more alert. One of fructose’s benefits is that it doesn’t spike insulin.

Beans. When I’m designing a diet, I actually make a serving of beans a REQUIREMENT. They’re high in fiber and have so many health benefits, I could go on for the next hour, singing their praises. A serving is not large, only 1/2 cup to 1 cup. Beans will provide you with steady, sustained-release energy levels.

Flavor carbs. I don’t count these. They’re allowed and even recommended/encouraged. We’re talking vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, onions, horseradish, ginger, spices, mustard, soy sauce, etc. Flavor carbs are high in flavor and only provide a negligible number of calories.

With that said, I have nothing against the low-carb approach. If that’s what you’re looking for, you might want to check out the Annabolic Diet or the Velocity Diet here on the site. Bottom line? There’s no one right way to lose weight and one size does not fit all! find what’s right for you.

7

Oops, I forgot to answer the question about cardio.

There are two types of cardio I like for someone who is trying to lose weight.

  • Semi-/Quasi-fasted state cardio. Wake up, have a cup of coffee and 20g of whey protein, and go for a 45-minute to 1 hour walk. Walk does not use up your stores of muscle glycogen. Instead its saved for resistance training. That’s a good thing. You’ll have stronger workouts.

  • HIIT which stands for High Intensity Interval Training. HIIT is a real fat stripper. It’s short (if not sweet), and it does a nice job of speeding up your metabolism – up to 142% more than steady state cardio in the hour following cardio and for up to 48 hours (to a lesser degree than that 142%) after.

The biggest bang you’ll get for the buck is if you separate the two. As motivated as I know you are, the trick is to do all of what is necessary and not one iota more. Focus on making LIFESTYLE changes, rather than an all-out, super-intense diet that really is so all-out that it can’t be sustained except for short periods of time.

The faster you get your results, the more likely you are not to hold onto them. Fast results usually come at a metabolic price.

8

awesome response terry.

So do you think that I should say, do a 30-45min job in the morning and then HIIT later on in the day at the gym? Would that be too much. or one day HIIT and the other a 2 mile consistent speed jog/run?

Also, the reason I don’t wanna add too much carbs into my diet early is because I do engineering, so I’m usually stranded at a desk 90% of the time :-/

Once again, thanks for all your help.

9

xphile, the large majority of your results are going to come from your diet. Women are famous for thinking that if they can do enough running (cardio), they’ll lose weight. The guy version of that is getting to the gym and lifting lots of heavy weight. Even though cardio and resistance training are part of the equation, in and of themselves, they’re not going to get you the results you’re wanting.

My recommendation is to direct that drive and desire into CONSISTENCY more than mega/extreme efforts. Focus on establishing new habits, patterns and routines. Focus on establishing a new LIFESTYLE. I promise you that if you’re following a structured plan, that plan can be adjusted and tweaked along the way so that you continue to make steady progress towards your goal.

Re doing both or one or the other, dieting is a stressor. So is energy expenditure (cardio and resistance training). There’s nothing wrong with a little stress. But over time it can catch up with you. Why don’t you listen to your body. If you feel like walking one morning more than doing HIIT, do it. If the next time you’re due for a cardio session you’re pressed for time and want to get it done in 20 minutes, do HIIT instead.

On any day, if you have the opportunity to get out with friends and do something active and fun, do it! Life isn’t about working and working out and doing cardio and dieting. It’s about having vibrant good health and energy and great brain chemistry (mood) and strength to go along with a body that you’re proud of.

My recommendation? (grin) Either or, not both. And make sure you’re doing your cardio and resistance training on different days if at all possible. It sounds odd, I know, but sometimes less is more.

Let us know how it goes. I look forward to hearing about your results!!!