CT,
I have a few questions about my diet, but first let me tell you how I got here. I am 179 cm tall and until about a 1 1/2 year I used to weight around 90 kg (I think I almost reached 100 kg at my worst). I did not exercise and ate a lot of junk food.
Early in 2008 (circa feb/march) I slowly started changing my diet and loosing weight. By sept/oct my weight dropped to about 75 kg, I think. Things were working nicely, no added sugars, eating small portions more frequently, more whole foods etc.
Since I still had quite a bit of fat left, I tried to stick to the diet. But things started to go wrong – I guess I kept eating less and less without realizing. A couple months later I was under 70 kg without loosing much fat.
So there I was, from morbidly obese to skinny fat. I decided it was time to take things more seriously and hit the gym. I had tried doing some cardio and weight lifting before, but I had no motivation and gave up quickly. This time it would be different. By november I joined the gym and did an evaluation test. The result was a bit shocking, but it was interesting to compare it to my previous attempt at working out.
(2006 - 2008)
Weight … 88,50 - 65,60 kg
Height … 178,50 - 179,50 cm
BF … 27,38 - 13,23 %
At the time I thought my weight was close to 70 kg, so I was a bit surprised.
For the first month or so I did weights 3 times a week, then 5 days a week.
Right now I’m doing a 3 day split (3 sets, 10 reps). I don’t do cardio, except for a quick warm up sometimes. I just can’t stand the treadmill. Recently I tried to run outdoor, and it’s much better, although it’s hard to find time to do it.
After joining the gym I also started to eat more, but tried to keep it clean. I added some carbs (basically brown rice and whole bread) and tried to eat more protein. Gained some weight, and went up to about 72 kg.
A few weeks ago I hurt my shoulder and had to go easy on the training. Since my eating was getting a bit sloppy, I decided it was time to cut a bit and try to loose some fat.
Yesterday I came across the Nutrition for Newbies articles and decided to take the advice and start a food log at FitDay. It’s something I’ve tried briefly before, but didn’t go far.
My calorie intake ended up being way lower than I expected, and I’m not sure it’s correct. I used the “custom food” feature for most of it, adding the information from the label.
This is basically what I’ve been eating for the past few weeks, except I usually don’t drink milk the meals are spread more evenly throughout the day. Occasionally I’ll have a cheat meal or a few beers.
Last time I checked, I was down to 67,6 kg (from 71-72 kg). I certainly did loose some fat and didn’t notice any loss in lean mass.
FOOD LOG
12:00
Cooked brown rice (about 3-4 tablespoons, I guessed 80 grams)
88 cal, 0.7g fat, 18.2g carb, 2g prot
Boiled Broccoli (300 g)
69 cal, 0g fat , 7.2g carb, 8g prot
Turkey Breast (2 pieces / 200 g)
200 cal, 2.2g fat, 2.6g carb, 42g prot
15:30 Post Workout
Wheat/oat bran cereal (3/4 cup, 40 g)
91 cal, 1.7g fat, 13g carb, 6.1g prot
Yogurt fat-free (185 g)
79 cal, 0.6g fat, 11g carb, 7.7g prot
Egg Albumin Powder (2 tbsp, 30 g)
111 cal, 2g fat, 0g carb, 24g prot
18:00
Salad (totals 150g, a mix of lettuce, watercress, radish and carrot), 5 Egg Whites (boiled) and Extra Virgin Olive Oil (1 tbsp)
145 cal, 12.5g fat, 9g carb, 19g prot (the salad is a bit of a guess, though)
19:30
7 Grains Sugarfree Sliced Bread (50g)
112 cal, 1.5g fat, 14g carb, 10.4g prot
Frescal 0% Fat (130g)
99 cal, 0g fat, 5.5g carb, 19.5g prot
Smoked Turkey Breast (45g)
40 cal, 0.6g fat, 0g carb, 8.2g prot
Skim Milk (200 ml) and chocolate (1 tbsp)
109 cal, 1g fat, 16.8g carb, 6.4g prot
20:00
Wheat/oat bran cereal (3/4 cup, 40 g)
91 cal, 1.7g fat, 13g carb, 6.1g prot
Yogurt fat-free (185 g)
79 cal, 0.6g fat, 11g carb, 7.7g prot
01:15
Skim Milk (400 ml)
154 cal, 2g fat, 20g carb, 11.6g prot
Egg Albumin Powder (2 tbsp, 30 g)
111 cal, 2g fat, 0g carb, 24g prot
Total
1,664 Calories
29.3g Fat (16%)
141.6 Carbs (34%)
203.2 Protein (50%)
I just need some feedback, because the sum seens too low for me. For example, the nutrition facts on the broccoli package say 69 calories, but according to FitDay the same serving of cooked broccoli has 162 calories. I’m confused, which one is right? I buy the broccoli froozen and just boil it, perhaps FitDay assumes it’s cooked some other way? What about the brown rice, am I guessing too little for 3 tbsp?
And most important, should I stick to this diet? My goal is to loose fat, I’d like to get my abs showing and loose a bit of fat I still carry on my chest. I just can’t afford to loose any muscle.
My BMR alone is ~1700 calories. Based on today’s food log, it don’t think I’m eating more than 1500-1600.
Other than spending 1 hour at the gym, I don’t do much exercise. Yeah, I walk around a bit but nothing really physically demanding. So I’ll consider my “activity” factor 1,4. That gets me to 2380 calories. For fat loss, my calorie intake should be up to 20% under my DEE, which is ~1900. Am I risking too much? Should I add a few calories?
I’m sure a lot of people think I should be bulking, but my short-term goal is to get my BF% down so I can be confortable with my body.
I plan to keep eating clean and lifting for the rest of my life, so I’ll have plenty of time to slowly add muscle.
Thanks!
