This is really bothering me. I have really no clue which approach to take. Do you know a good way to tell how if you should eat carbs besides eating them in the morning and rating how u feel? I eat them but dont feel that energized in the morning, it rly varies.
Below I will post my CURRENT diet which is about 3500 cals. It seems to be working but idk if its since my previous diet was so bad, it was between 2000-2500 cals.
Could that be part of the gains?
I was thinking to just kinda go half way on it and throw out the oatmeal in the morning and replace the brown rice with more chicken. Just kinda take some carbs out and add more fat or protein so my carbs would be at like 150g’s a day or so. Would that be a better choice, I know it wont be the best but would it be smarter?
P.S- if it matters I’m in no way a bodybuilder, I’m currently olympic lifting and starting out strong man.
Diet:
Meal 1- Breakfast (I can barely stomach breakfast so this is the best I can do)
2 whole eggs with 1 egg white
tbls EV olive oil.
Oatmeal bar or bananna
Snack-
1/4 cup Almonds
Whey with water
Snack- Sandwich
Turkey
Cheese
Whole Wheat bread
Meal 2- Lunch
BBQ chicken
sweet potato
fruit.
Meal 3- PWO
1 cup milk
1/2 cup oats
2 scoops whey
Meal 4-
1 can tuna
1 tbls mayo
2 tlbs relish
Whole wheat bread
[quote]Zagman wrote:
Age?
Height?
Weight?
Approx Body fat?
Immediate and Long term goals?
Some more information would be useful.
[/quote]
my bad,
Age-17
Height-5’11
Weight-215
Approx Body fat- 25%
Immediate and Long term goals- I’m currently olympic lifting and am starting strongman. So mainly strength gains.
[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:
withthose stats sounds like you should just focus on eating better and losing some bodyfat [/quote]
I agree. I don’t know that you need to do a strict diet and aim for rapid fat loss. But if you are really 25% bodyfat, you shouldn’t be actively eating at a surplus to add muscle with accompanying gains in bodyfat, minimal though they may be.
does anyone think I should cut out the oats, whole wheat bread and all that and just stick to fruits and veggies? I’m getting that from a Poliquin article.
That stuff is not necessarily bad for you. It all depends on your training and your overall goals. While the carbs will “smooth” you out, they can also be a nice source of energy. If you are 215lbs, you should be eating more than 2500 cals. I wouldn’t necessarily say you should “diet down” right now as much as getting your calorie count straight and making sure it is “clean”. After having a clean diet of 3500 cals, then reanalyze things.
what is an ‘oatmeal bar?’ sounds like a candy bar. if has sugar ditch it and stick to bananas. i also hope ‘fruit’ doesn’t come from a can, and that ‘bbq chicken’ isn’t something slathered in a high-fructose corn syrup sauce. there is a time and place for sugary stuff but you shouldn’t sprinkle it thru-out your day.
‘bulking’ at 25%bf (or even 20%) sounds like a pretty bad idea. As already suggested, I think you should clean up your diet first WITHOUT cutting calories (or even counting them at first IMO, just use common sense and don’t eat a whole jar of peanut butter)
leave in the whole wheat bread and oats (but make sure your bread has no sugar, rice syrup, corn syrup as ingredients and has a few grams of fiber per slice and ONLY whole wheat flour, not a blend of whole and refined). If your body composition doesn’t start to change while eating these carbs, then go ahead and take them out (it will probably depend on your activity level).
basically i think you should make incremental changes and not a huge overhaul. first change is clean up your food selection. then tweak the carbs a bit. after that, start tweaking your calories if necessary. when you are pretty lean (whether you diet down or just maintain weight and let body composition change, which is slower but easier psychologically IMO), you can worry about gaining weight then.
i missed your goals being strength oriented. definitely don’t cut calories if your main goals are strength related - but DO clean up your diet. from my experience in the last 6-9 months i can tell you definitively that cleaning up your diet will make you leaner, stronger and more muscular without any need to count calories.
I would say yes that you do need to cut carbs and increase your fat intake to keep up the calories to lose weight. That and I would avoid potatoes, pasta, rice, sugar, and bread like the plague.
[quote]Tagio wrote:
i missed your goals being strength oriented. definitely don’t cut calories if your main goals are strength related - but DO clean up your diet. from my experience in the last 6-9 months i can tell you definitively that cleaning up your diet will make you leaner, stronger and more muscular without any need to count calories.[/quote]
I’ve cleaned my diet up from my previous diet and counted cals. Though my previous diet had pretty low cals.
The bbq chicken is chicken I cook on the foreman grill and put bbq sauce on. The oatmeal bar was a Quaker breakfast bar but I’m gonna stick to the banana, and the fruit is from a whole fruit thats been cut up.
[quote]coloradosteve2 wrote:
I would say yes that you do need to cut carbs and increase your fat intake to keep up the calories to lose weight. That and I would avoid potatoes, pasta, rice, sugar, and bread like the plague.[/quote]
I’ve thought about maybe cutting out the brown rice and putting in another piece of chicken. stuff like that.
I rarely eat pasta, the rice I am eating is brown rice, so I might drop that. The sugar Ill keep a closer eye on and the bread is whole wheat, thats the only time I eat bread. As for potato the only kind I rly eat is sweet potatoes.
Also, if it matters, my supplements are-
Whey
Fish Oil
BCAA’s
[quote]moofs wrote:
coloradosteve2 wrote:
I would say yes that you do need to cut carbs and increase your fat intake to keep up the calories to lose weight. That and I would avoid potatoes, pasta, rice, sugar, and bread like the plague.
I’ve thought about maybe cutting out the brown rice and putting in another piece of chicken. stuff like that.
I rarely eat pasta, the rice I am eating is brown rice, so I might drop that. The sugar Ill keep a closer eye on and the bread is whole wheat, thats the only time I eat bread. As for potato the only kind I rly eat is sweet potatoes.
Also, if it matters, my supplements are-
Whey
Fish Oil
BCAA’s[/quote]
You can have steamed broccoli with Alfredo sauce.
You can have a salad with chicken, olive oil, and cheese.
[quote]coloradosteve2 wrote:
moofs wrote:
coloradosteve2 wrote:
I would say yes that you do need to cut carbs and increase your fat intake to keep up the calories to lose weight. That and I would avoid potatoes, pasta, rice, sugar, and bread like the plague.
I’ve thought about maybe cutting out the brown rice and putting in another piece of chicken. stuff like that.
I rarely eat pasta, the rice I am eating is brown rice, so I might drop that. The sugar Ill keep a closer eye on and the bread is whole wheat, thats the only time I eat bread. As for potato the only kind I rly eat is sweet potatoes.
Also, if it matters, my supplements are-
Whey
Fish Oil
BCAA’s
You can have steamed broccoli with Alfredo sauce.
You can have a salad with chicken, olive oil, and cheese.
but no rice (yuk), and no bread.
[/quote]
sounds good,
anyone know any good low carb protein snacks I can have between class? Right now I have a sandwich but being I’m eating bread, idk. Ideas? I dont want it to be a shake btw.
[quote]moofs wrote:
sounds good,
anyone know any good low carb protein snacks I can have between class? Right now I have a sandwich but being I’m eating bread, idk. Ideas? I dont want it to be a shake btw.[/quote]
You can eat a lettuce sandwich. Just put the meat/cheese, etc in a large piece of lettuce and roll it. Also, you can eat nuts, like pecan, cashew, walnuts, etc. Eat them raw, but don’t overdo it on quantity. Peanuts are not really a nut and there is some controversy around them, but they are a great source of arginine. You could make some of those peanut-butter filled celery sticks.
How about tins of sardine and/or anchovies?
Fish roe is one of the most nutritious things you can eat and, caviar aside, you can sometimes get it for free.