My Basic Diet. PLEASE give me your suggestions.

[Rammer]

Guys

Im 5"7 about 170 and trying to get in shape.

Ive begun to work out with weights, and try to do some cardio at least once a week.

I am 25 years old, and have always worked out on and off, but always stopped for some reason or another. The longest I went was for 6 months in High school and saw good results. So now Im starting over again. I know the basics, so hows this for an average daily meal plan. Yesterday I had:

Meal 1:
Protein smoothie with whey protein, choc milk, PB, strawberries.

Meal 2:
Can of tuna with lemon juice and 3 slices whole wheat. no mayo or anything like that

Meal 3:
Steamed chicken breast pieces with teriyaki sauce, brocolli and whole wheat pasta

Meal 4:
Scrambled eggs with a little cheese and whole wheat bread

Meal 5:
Steamed chicken breast pieces with teriyaki sauce, brocolli and whole wheat pasta

This is a general idea of what I eat. Obviously I mix in other things....and sometimes I make a smoothie instead of one of those meals, but not often. I also make sure to snack on other things. Cantaloupe, watermelon, nuts and raisins every day, cherries, bananas, apples, water, diet sodas, etc.

I will have a cheat meal every few days - but nothing too bad. Something like a baja fresh bean and cheese burrito. I do not eat other FF like Mcdonals, BK, etc. I do not eat meat out of the house.

Um, I obviously want to drop my body fat % and turn the fat I have into muscle. I can see that I have a good frame to develop.

Sometimes I work out really late at night. Like I am going to go to work out now at midnight. I will probably have a postworkout shake, and then some chicken an hour later and go to bed. Is this really bad? I know its prob not best to eat simple carbs so soon before bed.

My PWO shake is gatorade powder and whey protein. 60 grams sugar and 40 grams protein. I drink it in the parking lot right after the gym.

Thanks

[Rammer]

bump

[garret]

cutting or bulking?

[RipStone]

First of all, you cant turn fat into muscle. They are two different body tissues. You can lose fat though and you can build muscle, but they dont convert into each other.

For your diet, most of your foods look clean and all, but do you measure how much pasta and chicken you are having? If not you should so you know how many calories you have, etc I would drop the cheese and chocolate milk...those arent real good foods. Also, you can have cheat meals but limit them to 1 cheat meal a week.

Finally, I recommned you go to fitday.com so you can find out how many calories you eat per day. See how many cals it takes for you to build muscles(gain weight). Aim to gain 1lb a week.

[DerekJ]

From a general observation, you seriously need more carbs. Read the sticky regarding pre and post workout carbs/proteins.
I eat roughly 160 carbs on non lifting days and ~250 on lifting.

I'm about the same BW as you(cutting from 179.. down to 168 ATM)
And i'm losing weight eating ~1900-2100 calories on running days and 2500 on lifting. (1-1.5 lbs a week)
Depending on your metabolism you should eat more or less, depending on your relative bodytype and muscle mass.

[DerekJ]

nm.. on the carbs thing.. i just saw the brocolli and ommited all the whole wheat pasta... neways.. your diet looks solid.. you can still gage yourself against my caloric intake as we're roughly the same weight.

[DerekJ]

also, if you're 5'7 170 and relatively lean already.. w/out working out much, you have some killer genetics.

I'm hardcore dedicated.. and i can't for the life of me break 180 lbs.

I'm sure w/ a solid routine, sound diet and dedication.. you'll be 200lbs ripped w/in 1-2 years.