critique my diet please

[DieselClown]

So for the past week, I've had the following, pretty consistently. I know there is definitely a problem with my carb intake, as I'm really tired and I feel like I don't have energy, but I felt I'd hit a plateau-so I wanted to try something new to throw my body off.


What do you guys think I should add? I'm a total noob with stuff like EFA but I know flax seed oil is good, and I know that I should get a multi-V.


Keep in mind I do a combination of HIIT and LIT 5 days/week, about 30-45 mins worth each session. I also lift 3 days a week.


I've lost an unhealthy 4 pounds already this WEEK alone.

breakfast - ON protein shake with half skim milk/half water/half a banana.

snack- 2-3 leaves of romaine lettuce with one grilled chicken breast, 2 spoons of corn, tomato, and 1 egg white.

Lunch - ON protein shake with one banana.

snack - one more protein shake.

Dinner - one whole Romaine salad with tomato, corn, 2 egg whites, and 1 grilled chicken breast.

one more protein shake before bed.

I consume roughly 100-115 grams of protein/day..and almost NO carbs, and probably way too few calories. Any advice?

[DieselClown]

also, i don't mind the hard work at the gym. I just want to know what a healthy cutting diet is like.

[rockdawg21]

More protein - not sure about your body fat, but 1g per pound of body weight is optimal. I'd guess 160 per day.
Carbs - have some more fibrous carbs, you'll find this helps lower cholesterol as well as maintaining a healthy digestive system.
Fats - where are they? Have a handfull of nuts or seeds at each meal and you'll be fine. They also contain decent amounts of fiber too.

At your size, mabye 2,300 a day to cut.

[DieselClown]

Thanks! It just sounds counterintuitive that I need to eat stuff that contain fats, so I'm hesitant. The bad thing is that I'm pretty much allergic to all nuts (except for peanuts and cashews). If I coat the chicken with olive oil before grilling, is it the same? As for carbs, I'm just afraid that I will eat too much, but I also know cutting them out completely can't be good for me.

How about I incorporate like 2 cups of brown rice into my diet each day. That's 90 grams of carbs, roughly 400 calories, 9-10 grams of protein and 8g of fiber. Is cereal like Fiber one ok to eat?

[DieselClown]

wow so I'm calculating what I've been eating everyday since Monday:

750-900 Calories/Day
134 grams of Protein
roughly 60 grams of Carbs


I can probably add another 30 grams of protein but at 25% bodyfat and 180 lbs, my lean bodymass is only 135lbs so it looks like the protein intake is sufficient, but can more hurt?

I think at this rate, adding the 2 cups of brown rice and maybe some more veggies will up my healthy caloric intake.

[snorkelman]

Originally Posted by DieselClown

wow so I'm calculating what I've been eating everyday since Monday:

750-900 Calories/Day
134 grams of Protein
roughly 60 grams of Carbs

That's your problem. Your overall calories are way too low. Google starvation mode and you will see that your eating has caused your body to actually slow down its metabolism

[DieselClown]

thanks snorkleman for the response. what are healthy calories that I can fill up? I think I can squeeze about 30 more grams of protein in there for a total of 175 grams of protein but I think that might be a bit too much. Do you guys think incorporating more whole grains are healthy for cutting even though they're mainly carbs?

[ZidaneValor]

Originally Posted by DieselClown

as I'm really tired and I feel like I don't have energy

breakfast - ON protein shake with half skim milk/half water/half a banana.

snack- 2-3 leaves of romaine lettuce with one grilled chicken breast, 2 spoons of corn, tomato, and 1 egg white.

Lunch - ON protein shake with one banana.

snack - one more protein shake.

Dinner - one whole Romaine salad with tomato, corn, 2 egg whites, and 1 grilled chicken breast.

one more protein shake before bed.

I consume roughly 100-115 grams of protein/day..and almost NO carbs, and probably way too few calories. Any advice?

1) Why the f--k are you counting lettuce leaves? It's f--king LETTUCE! An entire head of romaine lettuce (1.37 pounds) is 130 calories. (8g protein, 21g carbs, 2g fat)

2) How the hell do you manage to drink FOUR protein shakes, TWO chicken breasts, and only consume 130g of protein? I guess you are only including one scoop per shake, so up that to two.

3) The reason you have no energy is because you aren't eating enough.

Originally Posted by DieselClown

wow so I'm calculating what I've been eating everyday since Monday:

750-900 Calories/Day
134 grams of Protein
roughly 60 grams of Carbs


I can probably add another 30 grams of protein but at 25% bodyfat and 180 lbs, my lean bodymass is only 135lbs so it looks like the protein intake is sufficient, but can more hurt?

I think at this rate, adding the 2 cups of brown rice and maybe some more veggies will up my healthy caloric intake.

You need more sources of fat. Add some peanut butter to one of your shakes. Adding the brown rice is fine as well.

Originally Posted by DieselClown

thanks snorkleman for the response. what are healthy calories that I can fill up? I think I can squeeze about 30 more grams of protein in there for a total of 175 grams of protein but I think that might be a bit too much. Do you guys think incorporating more whole grains are healthy for cutting even though they're mainly carbs?

It's not. 175g protein is only 700 calories. Your kidneys will not explode unless you already have a preexisting kidney problem (and even then it's rare)

Add a scoop to each of your protein shakes, and add a 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice (150 calories per uncooked 1/2 cup) to each of your two solid meals.

[euclid]

Diesel - Snorkelman has provided great input already, so I'll just expand on what he has said.

Not enough calories is as bad as too many (in my opinion, worse, because you are losing muscle at an accelerated rate). Snorkelman's estimation of your caloric needs, including deficit are exactly what I would have recommended, but YMMV.

For example, myself, at 205 and 18-19% bf am taking in approximately 2600-2700 calories a day with a roughly 40/40/20 macro split. My diet is as clean as I can stand it and is consistent. I try to take in a good amount of of protein at each of my 6 meals (approx 40 grams per). I drink alot of skim milk and I supplement with whey during my morning/afternoon snacks. I also go through a lot of brown rice and oats. The longer I am on this diet, the less I worry about hitting my exact caloric numbers and instead focus on how my body feels My rule is that for every meal, I eat and then wait 30 minutes. If I am still hungry, I will eat more because while losing fat is my goal I associate bonafide hunger with energy/motivation loss.

Here are my protein sources: fish, chicken breast, lean pork, turkey, milk, eggs (white & yolk), cottage cheese, whey, and the rest are from carb based sources (breads, etc..)

[DieselClown]

thanks guys! I really don't know why I was scared of intaking too much protein..but I'll up the scoops to 2 at one or two shakes each day. As for counting lettuce leaves, LOL, i wasn't really counting..just trying to give an estimation of how much I ate since I just peal the leaves off, rinse and slice so that's how much I ate to feel full.

Do you guys know if OLIVE oil is considered an EFA? If so, I can easily add some olive oil to the chicken. I really REALLY hate peanut butter and am allergic to most nuts, so is consuming flax seed oil pills a good alternative? What are other healthy calorie boosters? I'll buy a tub of OATS as well this weekend and incorporate that into my diet. So I'd say roughly 2300 calories is sufficient for me to cut on assuming I do roughly 6-800 of calorie-burning exercise.

[euclid]

Originally Posted by DieselClown

thanks guys! I really don't know why I was scared of intaking too much protein..but I'll up the scoops to 2 at one or two shakes each day. As for counting lettuce leaves, LOL, i wasn't really counting..just trying to give an estimation of how much I ate since I just peal the leaves off, rinse and slice so that's how much I ate to feel full.

Do you guys know if OLIVE oil is considered an EFA? If so, I can easily add some olive oil to the chicken. I really REALLY hate peanut butter and am allergic to most nuts, so is consuming flax seed oil pills a good alternative? What are other healthy calorie boosters? I'll buy a tub of OATS as well this weekend and incorporate that into my diet. So I'd say roughly 2300 calories is sufficient for me to cut on assuming I do roughly 6-800 of calorie-burning exercise.

Olive oil is an EFA - definitely add it to chicken. But, I prefer to dip bread in mine. Flaxseed is also a good source of EFAs.

[DieselClown]

I just stepped on one of thoe BF calculating scales and it said that at 180 lbs:

25% bf
44% muscle
57% water
7% bone mass

If this is somewhat accurate, can I get away with a 2200-2300 calorie/day diet and burn about 800 calories daily? This would equal a roughly 1200 calorie/day deficit assuming I need about 2700-2800 calories daily. Is that really bad if I keep lifting heavy and intake so much protein?

[DieselClown]

Originally Posted by euclid

Olive oil is an EFA - definitely add it to chicken. But, I prefer to dip bread in mine. Flaxseed is also a good source of EFAs.

thanks! I'll incorporate those two things into my diet. What's a good percentage of EFA to intake?

[ZidaneValor]

Originally Posted by DieselClown

thanks guys! I really don't know why I was scared of intaking too much protein..but I'll up the scoops to 2 at one or two shakes each day. As for counting lettuce leaves, LOL, i wasn't really counting..just trying to give an estimation of how much I ate since I just peal the leaves off, rinse and slice so that's how much I ate to feel full.

Do you guys know if OLIVE oil is considered an EFA? If so, I can easily add some olive oil to the chicken. I really REALLY hate peanut butter and am allergic to most nuts, so is consuming flax seed oil pills a good alternative? What are other healthy calorie boosters? I'll buy a tub of OATS as well this weekend and incorporate that into my diet. So I'd say roughly 2300 calories is sufficient for me to cut on assuming I do roughly 6-800 of calorie-burning exercise.

Sorry, I thought you were actually counting lettuce leaves. The thought of that made my head explode.

This is probably the first time I've ever said this, but 2300 might be too much, at least initially since you've only been eating 900. Try 2100 first, and bump it up to 2300 if necessary.

Flax oil pills are good, but the problem is that I take 9 pills a day (3 pills 3 times), and that is only 9g of fat (although the important fats). Since you are allergic to peanuts (which is indeed a good excuse), I would try to get in another healthy fat somehow. Maybe a sirloin meal at dinner instead of chicken (sirloin where I live is $3.69/lb).

[ZidaneValor]

Originally Posted by DieselClown

I just stepped on one of thoe BF calculating scales and it said that at 180 lbs:

25% bf
44% muscle
57% water
7% bone mass

If this is somewhat accurate, can I get away with a 2200-2300 calorie/day diet and burn about 800 calories daily? This would equal a roughly 1200 calorie/day deficit assuming I need about 2700-2800 calories daily. Is that really bad if I keep lifting heavy and intake so much protein?

25 + 44 + 57 + 7 = 133

I'm just going to go ahead and say it's not accurate.

[DieselClown]

Originally Posted by ZidaneValor

25 + 44 + 57 + 7 = 133

I'm just going to go ahead and say it's not accurate.

lol I didn't even think to add those up. Also, I just checked again and it said bone mass is 7 lbs, not 7% but this still doesn't add up. stupid machine!

[DieselClown]

Originally Posted by ZidaneValor

Sorry, I thought you were actually counting lettuce leaves. The thought of that made my head explode.

This is probably the first time I've ever said this, but 2300 might be too much, at least initially since you've only been eating 900. Try 2100 first, and bump it up to 2300 if necessary.

Flax oil pills are good, but the problem is that I take 9 pills a day (3 pills 3 times), and that is only 9g of fat (although the important fats). Since you are allergic to peanuts (which is indeed a good excuse), I would try to get in another healthy fat somehow. Maybe a sirloin meal at dinner instead of chicken (sirloin where I live is $3.69/lb).

thanks again for the advice..I'll start today at 2100 and see how I do after a week. I'm actually not allergic to peanuts, but am to every other nut but I just hate peanuts. I'll try to throw in some peanut butter into a protein shake anyway. Any particular kind is healthier or the regular one? I know I can't get the low-fat version because I need the fat.

[ZidaneValor]

Originally Posted by DieselClown

thanks again for the advice..I'll start today at 2100 and see how I do after a week. I'm actually not allergic to peanuts, but am to every other nut but I just hate peanuts. I'll try to throw in some peanut butter into a protein shake anyway. Any particular kind is healthier or the regular one? I know I can't get the low-fat version because I need the fat.

People usually get "natural peanut butter." I'm lazy, so I just get JIF.