Bah. Stupid calories.

Paichka · 01-09-2007, 08:35 PM

Okay so I need help...how would you spruce this up?

WORKOUT 1
8am Meal 1: 4oz yogurt & 1 cup smart start
10am Meal 2: 1 oz almonds & 1 cup honeydew melon
1pm Meal 3: 3oz chicken, 1 cup salad, 4oz ff cottage cheese (used as dressing)
5pm Meal 4: Apple + 1tbs PB (preworkout)
WORKOUT 2
8pm PWO: 1/2 cup yogurt
9pm Meal 5: 6oz chicken, 1 cup mixed vegetables
10pm Meal 6: 3oz tuna

Nutrition
Daily Total: 1342
%F: 27 (40g)
%C: 40 (135g)
%P: 32 (106g)

This is fairly typical of my schedule. Sometimes for Meal 1 I have two packets of Oatmeal (works out to be 320 cals), but the rest of it is spot on what I eat daily. I was surprised when it worked out to so low, so that's why I added the late tuna meal to the proceedings.

My problem is that I leave my house at 5:30 in the mornings and don't get home until 8pm or so -- so I have to be able to bring everything with me to the office.

I suppose I could turn my 8pm PWO meal into a shake -- I'm not sure how well it'll keep all day in my office though. I want to stay away from bars, I hear they're full of sugar and processed business -- it's just so confusing. I am intelligent, I have a Bachelor of Sciences from an accredited university...I should not be flailing about with my nutrition like it's rocket surgery.

If it matters, my goals are to see my abs, and bench press my bodyweight. (This is sneaky on my part, as if I lose weight, goal 2 is that much easier.)

Thoughts?
Help!
Appreciate it. :-)

Sunny

kledbetter · 01-09-2007, 08:59 PM

Your PWO meal seems a little small in my opinion, I think there just has to be more there. I think a shake would be better.

Also I don't know if fat is a great thing to have pre-workout. I think pre-workout I would apple +3oz chicken (it could be canned if you can't keep it cold).

Otherwise pretty good. As you've prolly read around here, cereal is not the most favored food, but I think its okay if the diet is working for you.

Good luck!

emunah · 01-10-2007, 07:16 AM

What are your stats? Realize that seeing your abs is partially genetic, and you won't be able to bench your weight while dieting. It is VERY hard to gain strength while at a deficit, and the bench press is VERY susceptible to decreased caloric intake.

Paichka · 01-10-2007, 08:39 AM

Emunah -- don't tell me that! What a bummer. Well we'll have to see -- after this I'll be headed back to Iraq again, so I'm going to have to change up my diet/exercise plan again around April (coincidently, as soon as I'm done with Kevin-The-Trainer). My stats are:

Height: 5'8.5
Weight: 156
BF%: around 22% (I'll get measured today)

Max Bench: 135 (95-100 for reps)
Goal: 156
2-mile run: 14 minutes
Goal: sub 13

Just to shed more insight on my goals here -- I am NOT trying to get superskinny. I would just like to shed some of this bodyfat and get as lean as I (healthily) can before the "bulk" period that Iraq represents. I also understand that my goals are at loggerheads with one-another...put on muscle, your run time suffers and vice versa. We're going for a happy medium here.

Paichka · 01-10-2007, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kledbetter@gmail.com

Your PWO meal seems a little small in my opinion, I think there just has to be more there. I think a shake would be better.

Also I don't know if fat is a great thing to have pre-workout. I think pre-workout I would apple +3oz chicken (it could be canned if you can't keep it cold).

Otherwise pretty good. As you've prolly read around here, cereal is not the most favored food, but I think its okay if the diet is working for you.

Good luck!

Chicken is doable pre-workout. I can bring baggies of the stuff to work. It's the PWO thing I'm concerned with -- either I can drink one of the RTDs they sell at my gym or I can wait 15 minutes until I can get home and eat something. Usually dinner is my PWO meal. I don't think that's ideal though, I've read that some people advocate drinking a shake during lifting.

emunah · 01-10-2007, 08:52 AM

Ok. Given your stats you need to up your cals.

Protein should be a minimum of 150. Fats around 80. That alone is 1320, and given your training your carb intake should also probably be at least 150. Making a total of 1900. Which is a much more reasonable intake for your weight (around 12x/bw for leaning out).

Add proteins to meals 1,2,4, and 6. Your PWO really needs to be cleaned up. Here you definitely need some protein and another carb source. Yogurt is ok, but you want a forum of glucose not lactose. You actually don't have any real good carb sources...most of yours are fruit and dairy which are FINE but not ideal for fitness. Oats, potatos, rice, etc. Your preworkout really should also be a form of protein and carb (PB is not a protein, its a fat).

Other fat sources: monounsaturated fats (olives, avocado, and their oils). Fish oils. Nuts, nut butters, etc.

My thoughts.

Paichka · 01-10-2007, 09:10 AM

Okay protein to meals 1, 2, 4 and 6...

How does this look?

Meal 1: Oatmeal and protein powder
Meal 2: Chicken + Almonds
Meal 3: Chicken + Veggies + Brown Rice
Meal 4: Tuna + Banana
Meal 5: ??????
Meal 6: Chicken + Veggies

Meal 5 is my PWO meal. I have two options here -- I can either eat something at the gym, or I can wait until I get home (15 minutes or so) to have something. If I wait until I get home I can make a shake, otherwise I'm stuck with an RTD or bar. What do you think?

emunah · 01-10-2007, 10:04 AM

I'd throw in some fish oil somewhere.

You can wait.

fmr_trackstar · 01-10-2007, 10:44 AM

I do think your PWO can wait. But I have been told from my track days that carbs should be consumed w/i 15min of a cardio workout. I know since you are in the military you prolly do a lot more distance than most ppl here. I dont know what your current cardio workouts are, but given your goals I assume you are doing some distance workouts.

In a nutshell I suggest something like a gatorade or someother simiar ( carbs w/ higher GI) on the drive home and eat when you get home. Like I said before this is assuming you do a lot of cardio workouts though. Let me know if you need any help getting your times down for running, I could take a look at your cardio workouts.

PS : Thanks Paichka for subscribing.

emunah · 01-10-2007, 11:47 AM

True. I was referring only to the lifting not the endurance.

kledbetter · 01-10-2007, 12:08 PM

you can wait the 15 mins till you get home.

Paichka · 01-10-2007, 01:39 PM

Hrm.

Okay, I can wait and have a shake when I get home.

Glad to have a consensus.

Here's how my workouts go:

6:30am-7:30am M-F: Army Workouts

MWF 2-4 mile runs
Tu Calisthenics
Th Combatives -- basically amounts to an off day, since I don't wrestle

6pm: Cardio (Tu, Wed, Thur)
7pm: Weights

I know that isn't ideal, but I like the classes, they aren't hard, and I can't really wait until after weights, as that would have me at the gym past 9pm. If it gets to be too much, I'll reevaluate.

emunah · 01-10-2007, 02:24 PM

I think it will be too much.

twinnett · 01-10-2007, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emunah

I think it will be too much.

What she said

Paichka · 01-10-2007, 06:53 PM

I don't know if it's too much -- the morning Army workouts are really, REALLY easy. I mean, we're talking 2 miles over 20 minutes. I barely break a sweat. We never do sprints or anything that challenges anyone with the basics of cardiovascular fitness. If I was busting my butt in the mornings, I wouldn't feel it necessary to do a cardio class in the evenings, but I'm not.

Of course, I haven't actually done my trainer's workouts yet. I took a look at them today and whoooooo boy.

My problem is, I don't want to overtrain, but I have NO control over what I do in the mornings, and the workouts are pathetic. If I depend on that for my cardio, I'll have muscles but I'll be out of breath trying to run a half mile.

Pfft. Why can't I just do everything I want?

emunah · 01-10-2007, 07:09 PM

Ah. That changes things. I imagined something much more hard-core.

As I said, I'm not a fan of what your trainer outlined. But give it a whirl. And ask why she designed the program that way.

Paichka · 01-10-2007, 07:35 PM

Emunah -- what I put in my journal, you mean?

The reason my workouts are designed that way is for the Savannah Strength & Endurance challenge. 3 mile run, max chinups, max pullups, bench press 60% of my bodyweight and military press 40% of my bodyweight. April 28th.

kelliewrx · 01-10-2007, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emunah

(around 12x/bw for leaning out).

Does that mean you should lower your calories as you lose weight? I've always wondered that, although my guess would be no.

Leigh P. · 01-10-2007, 11:07 PM

It depends on your activity and muscle to fat ratio. If you are leaning out after a bulking period you are pretty much going to keep the same level of calories (though i recommend bouncing them in general.) If you are trying to lose a good amount of fat then yes as time goes on you may need to lower your calories some. That is of course if you are losing fat properly in the first place. If you have taken it to extremes you may need to up your calories. So not in short...it depends

emunah · 01-11-2007, 08:10 AM

Had you confused with someone else. Never mind.

Paichka · 01-11-2007, 09:21 AM

No problem. Lots of threads on this board.

bronzemodel · 01-13-2007, 12:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emunah

....It is VERY hard to gain strength while at a deficit, and the bench press is VERY susceptible to decreased caloric intake.

Does this still hold true if you are acheiving your daily deficit through increased cardio rather than decreased caloric intake?

emunah · 01-13-2007, 11:20 AM

Yes. A deficit is a deficit.

Paichka · 01-16-2007, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fmr_trackstar

I do think your PWO can wait. But I have been told from my track days that carbs should be consumed w/i 15min of a cardio workout. I know since you are in the military you prolly do a lot more distance than most ppl here. I dont know what your current cardio workouts are, but given your goals I assume you are doing some distance workouts.

In a nutshell I suggest something like a gatorade or someother simiar ( carbs w/ higher GI) on the drive home and eat when you get home. Like I said before this is assuming you do a lot of cardio workouts though. Let me know if you need any help getting your times down for running, I could take a look at your cardio workouts.

PS : Thanks Paichka for subscribing.

How did I miss this? Thanks for the offer! I will post my cardio workouts in my journal, if you can help me out, that would be splendiforous!

bronzemodel · 01-16-2007, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emunah

It is VERY hard to gain strength while at a deficit, and the bench press is VERY susceptible to decreased caloric intake.

ok, one more thing I am confused about, I understand now that it is very hard to gain strength while one is in a deficit(regardless of means), but should you still be able to lift what you usually do? You just can't expect to be able to add weight to your load, right?

emunah · 01-17-2007, 08:48 AM

Well, you CAN, it depends on your training. If you are a newbie you could be able to gain strength while on a deficit. But newbies can get away with retarded training and still make good gains.

The more advanced you are, the less you are able to advance while on a deficit. but even advanced trainees can see some strength improvement, mainly through neural recruitment rather than muscle gain.