A diet that is finally working for me (I have low self control)

[Aliendroid]

I’ve had a lot of difficulty finding a diet or cutting routine that works well for me. I always end up with huge cravings and I’ll binge. Recently I've been trying something that is working for me. My nutrition is this:

Wake up and take protein shake immediately (about 150 kcal)

Breakfast about 30min-1hr later (about 600 kcal), this is when I eat carbs.

Another protein shake between Breakfast and lunch (150 kcal)

At lunch I eat a large salad with zesty Italian dressing (I dump the oil from the bottle) and a lean meat like chicken or fish, sometimes I eat a mix of ground beef and lamb (500 kcal)

Between lunch and dinner another protein shake (150 kcal)

Dinner is another large salad with some lean meat (500 kcal)

Right before bed I eat another protein shake (150 kcal)

Total comes to 2200 kcal per day. My maintenance is about 2800.
I don’t actually count calories every day, I counted once and then after that I just go by how it feels but I’ve been taking off about 2 lbs (1kg) per week and I'm still advancing in strength at the gym, but my cardio workouts are suffering.

The large salads seem to kill my cravings. I feel no sugar or carb cravings and when I start feeling hungry it’s almost always when it’s time for the next meal.
In the salad I try to mix in as large a variety of veggies as I can: lettuce, spinach, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots, peppers, sprouts, but no cheese.


This is going to be the way I eat for life now, so when I start bulking I'll eat salads still but I'll add carbs and I'll be willing to eat a hamburger with bread with the salad. The way I see it is if you are not willing to make it a life long habbit, there's no point to dieting.

[chikoo91]

Looks Good. If it works for you have at it. Just make sure once a week or so to carb up to refill your glycogen stores--this is something you many want to read up on (carb cycling).

[Aliendroid]

Looks Good. If it works for you have at it. Just make sure once a week or so to carb up to refill your glycogen stores--this is something you many want to read up on (carb cycling).

I might try out carbing up once per week. I've been having problems with being very tired after workouts to the point where I nap for an hour or 2 post workout and I wasn't even able to do cardio on most days so I'm eating an extra 300 calories on lifting days and I burn at least 600 on the treadmill, and on cardio only days I eat 600 extra calories in carbs only, split 200 the night before and 400 the morning before the workout and I make sure to burn 1200 calories on the treadmill. This seems to be helping me with my post workout exhaustion and theoretically because I wasn't able to do cardio before and now I am, I should be losing fat more quickly.

[hristostoyanov]

Very nice. The large amount of vegetables is a good choice to satisfied your hunger. Your diet is pretty good if you are asking me. My daily menu is almost the same. So you are eating carbohydrates only at breakfast? Can you tell me what you normally eat for breakfast?

[Aliendroid]

Very nice. The large amount of vegetables is a good choice to satisfied your hunger. Your diet is pretty good if you are asking me. My daily menu is almost the same. So you are eating carbohydrates only at breakfast? Can you tell me what you normally eat for breakfast?

I don't eat only carbs for breakfast, I just try to get a large amount though. When I add extra calories for my workout I try to make those calories all carbs. For example on a weight lifting day I eat my 600 calorie breakfast with plenty of carbs, some protein and I avoid fat if possible, then I add to it two biscuits that are almost only carbs that add up to the 300 extra carbs for lifting days. It's also best to eat the extra carbs 3 or more hours before the workout.

For breakfast I'll have biscuits or chimichangas or pancake with two scrambled eggs. Sometimes I like to mix ground lamb and lean ground beef to replace sausage and eat it with bread or biscuits. I try to get plenty of carbs for breakfast but not only carbs. I avoid sausage because there’s too much fat.

[cmurray]

looks good brah. The key to dieting/cutting is to eat stuff you like. So with this, it looks like you are able to eat what you want for the most part.