[Grangey.]

Hi all,

So im finally back in a proper gym routine and now starting to hit it hard and am now working with free wieghts etc which ive never done before.

I adjusted my diet about 2 months or so ago before starting the gym and havnt changed it much since so just wanted to get your thoughts on it.

My targets are both significant fat loss (id estimate ive got at least 25-30% bodyfat) and building muscle.

I currently operate a 80/20 rule each week (should this be month?)- 80% healthy, 20% not as healthy. EG during the working week I will stick to the following diet and weekends will likely go outside of this and may have something like half a pizza express pizza with something, a chicken kebab, or make a slightly more unhealthy twist on what i have in the week eg burritos, fajitas etc.

So anyway its perticularly my weekly intake id be greatful to get your views on- all i eat basically is chicken and beef currently-

in an average 5 day week I will go through about 3-4 chicken breasts and about 350g on mince meat accompanied with tesco frozen veg (brocoli, baby carrots, peas, sweatcorn, and some peppers) so an example of this in practice would be;

Breakfast- none. I have a protien shake each morning instead- but i should probably have breakfast.

Monday: Lunch- Jacket Potato
Dinner: Spag bol/chilli con carne- most mince and brown pasta cooked at once to provide lunches for the week and the evenings dinner.
Another protien shake.

Tues: Lunch: Left over Spag bol/ ChilliCC reheated (smaller portion than I would have in an evening- say about the coverage of a fist and a half).
Dinner: 1 Chicken Breast and Veg OR white rice (trying to move to brown)
Another protien shake.

Wed: Lunch Left over Spag bol/ ChilliCC reheated
Dinner: 1 Chicken Breast and Veg OR white rice (trying to move to brown)
Another protien shake.

Thursday: Lunch: 1 Chicken Breast and rice and small amount of veg
Dinner: Portion mince beef with ChilliCC or Spag bol sauce with either rice or pasta (whichever ive not been having in the week).
Another protien shake.

Friday: Lunch: Leftover again
Dinner: Chicken breast and rice or Veg.
Another protien shake.

Weekends like I say will vary but I will still try to keep it pretty healthy and low in fat although this does depend.

I take a multivitamin every morning and also an Omega 3+5 capsule.


What im basically wondering is whether Im feeding my body correctly to meet my goals? People have already commented that they can see ive lost weight- but in the longer term as I do really want to get properly in shape (ie low enough body fat to see abs etc) Im wondering if Im not giving it the right nutrition?

Im obvioulsy taking the protien shakes to assist with muscle growth and recovery so Im basically wondering if what Im doing is fine as my body will be getting the nutrition and balance it needs or whether theres something I could improve upon?

Its an easy diet to live with so its not that im finding myself starving or anything, and I believe I should be well under the 2500 calories a day (id estimate im probably eating 1200 calories a day + the protien shakes). But Im just wondering if this will get me the results I need or whether theres something I could do better?

Thanks
Grangey

[GBDG1]

It's hard to say without knowing any details of ingredients/portion sizes. I could make a chilli that was 400 cals or one that was 1,500.

In principle it looks fine, i'd say you need to eat more food, and definitely more protein.

[Grangey.]

Originally Posted by GBDG1

It's hard to say without knowing any details of ingredients/portion sizes. I could make a chilli that was 400 cals or one that was 1,500.

Il do a picture diary this week so you can judge for yourself

[Grangey.]

So here was this evenings dinner- chicken breast was bigger than normal- thanks mr butcher!

[GBDG1]

Doesn't look like you're eating enough to be honest. I'd say the minimum sensible calories would be 1,800, if not more if you're working out. You'll lose weight on less, but weight isn't the point, the purpose is to lose fat and gain muscle.

In terms of foodstuff, looks fine. Not super strict, which might be an issue as your goals become more difficult/closer, but worry about that more when you stop making progress.

[Sharpy76]

You mention that you have chicken kebab's. Would that be the shish or doner variety?

I love a chicken shish and as far as i know, they are healthy as long as you stay away from any of the sauces. There may be oil in the marinade but i would've thought most of that will be grilled off by the time is been cooked?

I usually have mine with no sauce and lots of salad, i don't eat the pitta bread either.

[Desmo]

On a first look, I'd say you're probably not really eating enough. What is your current weight?

No breakfast and then just lunch and dinner doesn't sound like a great deal. There's plenty of room in there for a few healthy snacks to bump up the numbers. Have you tried using My Fitness Pal to track your actual daily intake? You'd be surprised how far out you can be on guestimates.

There's nothing wrong with having a few protein shakes a day, but nuts, cottage cheese, quark, tuna, etc. will all be more beneficial as they'll have other nutrients, vitamins and oils in them. Use the protein shake to top up if you're food isn't doing the job. I have a couple of shakes a day myself so I'm not saying you shouldn't, but mine are on top of pretty much all I list above along with a decent amount of meat.

With regards to your weekends, unfortunately it's going to slow your process a lot. I have the same problem, I'm 100% on diet weekdays but then I relax too much at the weekend (but then I'm not trying to lose fat at the moment so not a huge issue for me). Can you change it to a cheat meal? A decent bit of junk food and desert on a Saturday night? A pub lunch on a Sunday? Going free-for-all for a whole weekend will probably rack up far more calories than you're realising.

[Grangey.]

Sorry guys Iv killed my laptop so can't respond properly yet but thank you for your input so far

Heres a lunch example so you have an idea of portion size- please excuse the smeary plate!

[Sharpy76]

Thats either a small dinner plate or you have giant sized cutlery

[Grangey.]

Same size plate and cutlery as yesterday's picture lol just the thick black rim of the plate and how close the picture is taken does make it look weird lol

[Sharpy76]

Lol, I didn't realise the black was part of the plate, my bad!

It's making me hungry looking at it though.

[Grangey.]

Right so im back to a keyboard so can respond properly!

Originally Posted by Sharpy76

You mention that you have chicken kebab's. Would that be the shish or doner variety?

Shish for sure (the chicken chunks right?), yeah I too know these arent that bad and this is what I mean when I say I become a little more relaxed at weekends. ie a takeaway is technically bad- but I go for a shish chicken kebab to feed the convinent food bug- but also that doesnt steer far off course of healthy eating if that makes sense?

I have in the past slipped up and gone for probably one of the worst sauces to have with it-garlic mayo! but ive since bought very low fat mayo and so add abit of this to it instead.

Originally Posted by Desmo

On a first look, I'd say you're probably not really eating enough. What is your current weight?

Thats why I thought id start the thread as I thought this may be the case too- Last I checked (about 3 weeks ago) was 14.5 stone- and Im approximatley 6'2

Originally Posted by Desmo

No breakfast and then just lunch and dinner doesn't sound like a great deal. There's plenty of room in there for a few healthy snacks to bump up the numbers. Have you tried using My Fitness Pal to track your actual daily intake? You'd be surprised how far out you can be on guestimates.

I did try it some time ago, and whilst it worked well before I started this diet for all the prepacked food, it never really worked for me tracking what I was eating due to the specific quantify/weights of food that I have- ie I dont weigh the portion size of pasta I've had for lunches this week- so I wouldnt know how much to record- and same with the mince with chilli con carne mix added... not to mention veg! I just dont think it really works with what I consume.

And its not like im cheating, literally today all I will have is the protein shake I had this morning, pasta and mince as pictured before for lunch, and a chicken breast (maybe 2 tonight in fairness) and veg for dinner.

Originally Posted by Desmo

There's nothing wrong with having a few protein shakes a day, but nuts, cottage cheese, quark, tuna, etc. will all be more beneficial as they'll have other nutrients, vitamins and oils in them. Use the protein shake to top up if you're food isn't doing the job. I have a couple of shakes a day myself so I'm not saying you shouldn't, but mine are on top of pretty much all I list above along with a decent amount of meat.

I understand completely- the problem ive had is that I get carried away when snaking- ie I cant just have a few peanuts- il end up having the hole bag- which has stupid amounts of fats etc in. Tuna I will have once a fortnight with lunch (so tuna with fat free mayo and salad) for a lunch but dont know how I would incorperate this into a snack?

The only other thing ive tried is beef jerky which seems to work OK but im not convinced that its a snack I would fancy every day.

Originally Posted by Desmo

With regards to your weekends, unfortunately it's going to slow your process a lot. I have the same problem, I'm 100% on diet weekdays but then I relax too much at the weekend (but then I'm not trying to lose fat at the moment so not a huge issue for me). Can you change it to a cheat meal? A decent bit of junk food and desert on a Saturday night? A pub lunch on a Sunday? Going free-for-all for a whole weekend will probably rack up far more calories than you're realising.

Sorry I think I maybe didnt make this quite as clear, when I say 20% I dont mean a free for all every weekend in the way you suggest. I dont eat with my gf in the week so at weekends we eat together which changes what I eat slightly- what I mean by this is that I will still be contious of what Im eating but im slightly more relaxed on it. So for example once a month we will have a takeaway- and for that I have a chicken kebab as mentioned above, another weekend we may get as an example 1 large pizza express pizza from tesco to share- which nutritionally contains (per 1/2) 517 calories, 13.2% fat (20% of daily), 68.6g carbs (23%) and 26.4g of protien apparently. For lunch on that day I may have a small chicken breast and salad for example- so I would still be WELL within my daily intake limits. and likewise the same sort of idea on otherweekends- I will have meals that although arent "pure" in the way chicken and veg is- should still be not so bad nutritionally speaking and well within my daily intakes... that make sense?

[Steven]

Your diet is very complex carbohydrate heavy. Understand the logic but unrealistic imo to remove simple sugars completely. Then again you say you been perservering for few months...

Breakfast sets you up for the day. Removing balance can lead to cramming later in the day to compensate for the deficit. But we are all different and if you think you are fine in your current pattern...

Calorie counting is not the be all and end all. There are over 100 calories in a snack sized haribo bag. Versus a couple apples or even bread. The sweets will never be filling and will turn to fat if not burned off

I also think the previous member is understating your calorie intake based on the photos. Couple hundred calories in just 100g rice or pasta. Another couple hundred in a single chicken breast. So x3 meals + the protein shake(s), you are well at 2000 calls per day, if not more. That's not inc veg and other subsidence. My unscientific opinion is that you are probably eating more than you think, but that is fine so long as you remain active as your body needs it anyway

I still eat like a student, although only have meat once per month / two months. Balance it out with running circa 40km+ per week

[GBDG1]

Originally Posted by Steven

Your diet is very complex carbohydrate heavy.
I also think the previous member is understating your calorie intake based on the photos. Couple hundred calories in just 100g rice or pasta. Another couple hundred in a single chicken breast. So x3 meals + the protein shake(s), you are well at 2000 calls per day, if not more. That's not inc veg and other subsidence. My unscientific opinion is that you are probably eating more than you think, but that is fine so long as you remain active as your body needs it anyway

You can see by portion sizes that the op is eating at most 600 calories (but usually a lot less from pics and descriptions) in 2x meals. The best case scenario there would be 1,200 calories. Protein shakes are very low calorie, at around 150, so he'd be needing 5 of those to get to 2k calories. He's also stated that he is losing weight. The key issue here is eating too little to achieve goals.