Help My Diet

Nutrition
1

This is my first post on the forums and one of the biggest things I’ve been learning about here is nutrition. I had a pretty good lifting background thanks to a good high school football strength coach, I just wish I knew half of what I know now about nutrition and I would have added 50 pounds to my bench and 100 to my squat!

Anyway, I got lax (fat and worthless) in college and just got back into serious training about 4 months ago (about the time I discovered this site). After some nutritional experimentation, I think I came up with a pretty good routine. For the next few months I plan on being on a ‘semi-bulk’ program (if that’s even possible?). Essentially I want to slightly reduce body fat while adding as much muscle as I can (while still losing some fat). I guess you could say a good result would be to gain 5 pounds of muscle and the loss of 5 pounds of fat, so I’d maintain my weight but have a better BF%.

My BF is pretty high so I think this can be done, I’d estimate I’m in the 16-18% range so it’s not like I’m trying to do this @ 10%. Do you think this is a good strategy? Once spring comes I plan on going thru a few months of cutting where I focus on maintaining muscle but losing as much fat as possible, but until I can get outdoors and get some HIIT in I don’t really have much in the way of doing cardio so while it’s crappy out I want to BUILD muscle to PRESERVE later when I cut the fat…but not gain any fat now…then repeat next winter etc.

Most days I eat the same types of things, here is a typical day. Keep in mind that my office just closed last Friday so now that I’m unemployed I can really keep on top of things b/c I don’t have anything better to do!

  • 10AM: Wake-up, chug 1.5L of water including one scoop of Whey (Body Fortress if anyone has comments on that…pretty cheap @ Target and from what I read a good BCAA profile…26g protein (3.5 BCAA) per scoop w/ little carbs/etc.

  • 10:30: Two cups of Fiber One cereal (42g carbs, 13g fiber/cup) with 2 cups of 1% milk, multivitamin.

*11:30: Couple handfuls of almonds, scoop of whey

*12: Workout; Halfway thru workout eat one can of tuna (5 oz) or have scoop of whey in water

*1: Post-workout: 1 scoop of whey, 2 cups of various fruit (pineapple/blueberries)

*2: 100% Whole Wheat Bagel with 4 tablespoons of peanut butter, 3-4 cups of 1% milk

*5: Chicken & Broccoli meal (maybe 2-3 cups broccoli, 8 oz. chicken)

*8: Can of tuna or salmon, couple handfuls of almonds

*10: Adkins protein bar (10g fiber, 2g sugar, kind of high in fat but 18 g protein) and 2 cups 1% milk

Sleep

My schedule doesn’t always pan out like that, but it’s a pretty normal start. I get-up and chug down some water + whey to get the metabolism going, then eat some high fiber carbs/protein to start the day a little bit later. Then I eat some almonds for some energy for a workout and take another scoop of whey. I lift for about 60 minutes, with a 5 minute break halfway thru to eat some fish or have more whey. Right after I’m done I’ll chug down a scoop of whey and some fruit…simple carbs + whey right after is best, and fruit is the most healthy simple carb right? Then once I’ve let the whey get thru my system I eat a ‘replenishment’ meal that’s high in carbs, fat, and protein (the bagel/pb/milk combo). The rest of the day I keep my protein high and minimize carbs except from berries or broccoli.

I usually have 3-4 scoops of whey per day, which is approx 75g-100g protein. When I have them varies but I definitely have at least one post-workout and one in the AM. I try to take in at least a gallon of water a day, not including green tea/milk.

I’m 6’1" 225 w/ an ‘estimated’ BF of 16%-18%. I’d say I take in about 2,700-3,000 calories a day with protein of 180-240g (I try to get in at least 130-150g protein from non-whey sources, then however much protein I get from however many scoops I had that day).

Workout schedule is usually 2X week upper body, 2x week lower body with dumbells and bodyweight (push-ups/pull-ups). Unfortunately I don’t have a job anymore so I won’t be able to put money towards a gym and won’t be able to use heavy weights (i.e. squat/bench/deadlift), but I’m pretty confident that my current routine will put muscle on (just not as much as I would be if doing 4 rep max squats). I’m only able to knock out 20 push-ups when I’m fresh, so it’s not like I’m doing 4 sets of 60…though I know that I’ll need to start using heavy weight soon…

So what do you think? Any tips/etc. appreciated!

2

Wow…well, IMO(and I’m sure you will read/or someone else will tell you) is that you have to pick JUST ONE goal, and work towards that…It seems like you want to lose BF the most, so why not just put all the effort towards that?
You can still preserve muscle by doing what you said,(and maybe adding a small amount).

Oh, and I don’t think 4 tablespoons of PB is good after a workout. I think you can ditch the tuna/why meal during your workout. And a ‘couple,’ handfuls of almonds could be like 30g of fat or more! And you do that twice a day?!
I think the last meal(if you are hungry) would be better if it was cottage cheese or another shake…

Just little things I noticed!

3

That was one of my biggest questions, what is a good post-workout meal and what’s a good time for it. I know that it’s best to throw back some whey/fruit ASAP, but then what? High protein/carb meal again? Right after the shake, or wait 30 min? An hour?

I figured the bagel/pb/milk meal would be good b/c it was pretty calorie dense, but they were good fats/carbs and a good amount of protein.

As for the almonds, from what I’ve read the only thing you have to worry about them is how calorie-dense they are. So don’t eat 1,500 calories from just almonds, but having a couple handfuls here and there is a great mini-meal (especially later @ nite b/c no carbs).

I’m considering focusing more on losing BF% but wanted to see if anyone else had any input…?

4

I agree with the op. Pick a goal. From your post I’d say it would be bulking for about 4 weeks? Then to cut or start cutting now because most people underestimate their bf and you might need the extra time to strip the fat. This is just my opinion but I would prefer to cut with what I have and be lean for summer rather than have a higher bf with more muscle.

  1. I would go for a base macro for every meal other than peri workout.

  2. Add food with your first whey shake. I would say a tblspn of evoo or fish oil with some fruit.

  3. You can have veggies with every meal and add fat except when you are eating something with a decent amount of fat in it. tuna= add evoo to it.

  4. I would add grape juice to your whey pwo if you can’t afford Surge.

this should get you started
bill

5

Agree with Bill021 on everything he says. You asked about post workout (nutrient timing). immediatly post have the whey shake with fruit. raisins are optimal b/c of the alkaline. 1 hour later have a pro/high gi carb meal with zero fat/fiber. this would be egg whites/white rice or chicken/white potatoes or fish/white pasta. only time of day to be having high gi “white” carbs.

1 hour after that meal you can have an mrp or a meal with pro/low gi carbs. this would be whey/oats or chicken/yams or grass fed beef/brown rice. mix this strategy with Bill021’s tips and you’ll be money.