Quick check on my diet please

Hi everyone!

I'm new to this forum, but definately not new to fitness. I would just like to get a little feedback on my current diet to see how I'm doing.
I've been tweaking it bit by bit over the past few months. A few months ago I was training for a figure competiton, but had to pull out because of health reasons. My trainer had me on a 1450 cals/day 'off season' diet, which to me didn't seem to be enough! I have slowly upped my cals, and at the moment eat between 1650-1850 cals/day depending on the day.
I lift weights 5 days/week, and do cardio anywhere from 20mins - 45 mins a few times a week. (intense - mod pace depending on how long I go for)
Stats: 5'9, female, 138-140 lbs, bf% - unknown
goals: not to loose anymore weight, but would like to firm up a bit more & get some definition.
I am not (and don't plan on) training for a competition, just rather general fitness.

Diet on a typical day:

meal 1: 3/4 (dry) oats; 6 egg whites; 1tbs flax

meal 2: 1 apple; (have recently added 1tbs natty PB); pro shake

meal 3: 4-5oz chicken breast; 1/2-3/4 cup brown rice; raw veggies

meal 4: 3.5-4oz lean ground beef; raw veggies; & will either have 1oz of almonds or 1/2 cup brn rice; (This is my hardest meal here - not sure what to eat?!) OR I'll have 2-3 small homemade 'protien muffins' here (egg whites, oatmeal & cinnamon)

WORKOUT

meal 5: Just started adding this - my trainer did not have me on a PWO meal; So I'm having a pro shake here right now... no carbs (which I know I should have!) but not exactly sure what to have here?!

meal 6: some lean protien (chicken, tuna, egg whites, the occasional lean hambuger); and LOTS of veggies/salad.

I struggle with the EFA'S because I've never used them before, so help there would be appreciated.
I also take mulit vits, vit C & E, and drink 1-1.5 gallons water/day.
I don't eat much junk/sugar (I do have the occasional cheat day) & for condiments I use a little ketchup here and there & FF salad dressing.

How am I doing? Any suggestions?
Thank you!
Andrea

looks pretty decent. Are your calories calculated to what you need daily, etc. and are you looking to gain, lose, or maintain?

Hi Milwood - thanks for the reply!

My calories right now aren't 'calculated' for any specific purpose, but like I said, I am working on tweaking it now so I can reach my goals. I have figured my maintance cals to be 2000 cals (?? yet, still not sure if that's correct - that is the # I got from using the 'Micheal & Kendra BMRCals' calculator, from this forum). Seems a bit high to me

My goal is to lose a little bit of bf and get more definition - but I don't want an 'extreme' diet or to get totally ripped or anything.

Does that help?


Thanks!

yeah, cals might be high at 2000 unless you are looking to gain (for your size/wt) I think. Then again, with the regular cardio, you burn 'em pretty well. And I won't argue with the calculator, but sometimes "real world" numbers play out differently. People metabolize differently, too. Good luck, and keep us posted. Your diet looks clean!

dreamer144 said:

My trainer had me on a 1450 cals/day 'off season' diet, which to me didn't seem to be enough!

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You are right - 1450 cals is not enough for the off season for someone of your height!

I have slowly upped my cals, and at the moment eat between 1650-1850 cals/day depending on the day.
I lift weights 5 days/week, and do cardio anywhere from 20mins - 45 mins a few times a week. (intense - mod pace depending on how long I go for)
Stats: 5'9, female, 138-140 lbs, bf% - unknown

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Your calories at the moment look a lot better - I would say you want to be somewhere around 1700-2000 cals to start with. Then check yourself after a few weeks to see if you have gained/lost and tweak accordingly.

But can you 'guestimate' your BF%? This will give you more of an idea about how much you need.

I struggle with the EFA'S because I've never used them before, so help there would be appreciated.

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Fish oil capsules (NOT flax). Take 6g a day (6 x 1g capsules).

I also take mulit vits, vit C & E, and drink 1-1.5 gallons water/day.
I don't eat much junk/sugar (I do have the occasional cheat day) & for condiments I use a little ketchup here and there & FF salad dressing.

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I would also suggest a calcium supplement (citrate and hydroxyapitate).
And I personally stay away from FF dressings - you are better off making your own. Either FF (using things like lemon juice, salt-reduced soy, apple cider vinegar, black pepper etc) or make it a healthy fat (olive oil, bulsamic vinegar).

Diet looks pretty solid. A few suggestions

meal 1: 3/4 (dry) oats; 6 egg whites; 1tbs flax

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Great.

meal 2: 1 apple; (have recently added 1tbs natty PB); pro shake

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Looks good too.

meal 3: 4-5oz chicken breast; 1/2-3/4 cup brown rice; raw veggies

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Excellent, but add some fats here. So you could add some fish oil capsules or some olive oil (salad dressing).

meal 4: 3.5-4oz lean ground beef; raw veggies; & will either have 1oz of almonds or 1/2 cup brn rice; (This is my hardest meal here - not sure what to eat?!) OR I'll have 2-3 small homemade 'protien muffins' here (egg whites, oatmeal & cinnamon)

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You certainly want carbs in this meal - it is pre-workout. I would make sure you get the oats or the brown rice.

meal 5: Just started adding this - my trainer did not have me on a PWO meal; So I'm having a pro shake here right now... no carbs (which I know I should have!) but not exactly sure what to have here?!

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You are correct - you want a PWO shake. Whey protein + carbs.

For carbs I always suggest things such as some high glucose fruit (eg: banana), skim dairy (milk) and thinly rolled oats that have been ground into a powder... You can also try something like grape juice (unsweetened).

I feel these give you the best of both worlds (good insulin release, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, water, glucose, proteins, and both an initial and sustained energy release).

Other people suggest high GI supplements (eg: dextrose powder or a combination of maltodextrose and dextrose powder) with the whey to get a good insulin spike and replenish glycogen.

What you want to do depends on your preferences.

But make sure you get a decent dose of carbs here because you do not have them in your next meal.

meal 6: some lean protien (chicken, tuna, egg whites, the occasional lean hambuger); and LOTS of veggies/salad.

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Good. BUT you certainly want to add some fats here - it is your last meal of the day. So add fish oils, olive oil or walnuts.

Emma-Leigh...thank you SO much! Your suggestions are very helpful!! As far as 'guestimating' my BF%, gee, I don't have any idea! I know it's not too high, as I have a fair bit of muscle and pretty good muscle tone...hmm a BIG guess would be somewhere between 17-19% (???), but again, I have no clue.

As far as EFA's go, I'll start using Fish Oils. I have been reading a lot on the forum, and seems as though everyone uses these. Question though, will these help you feel full? I know fat takes longer to digest, therefore keeping hunger down (which I REALLY need), but since the oil is in the form of caps, I imagine it takes longer for the body to break these down and therefore not quite as effective as say, natty PB or olive oil?? Thoughts on this?

I will tweak my diet a little more according to your suggestions. Looks great! Thanks again!!
Andrea

dreamer144 said:

Emma-Leigh...thank you SO much! Your suggestions are very helpful!!

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Welcome!

As far as 'guestimating' my BF%, gee, I don't have any idea! I know it's not too high, as I have a fair bit of muscle and pretty good muscle tone...hmm a BIG guess would be somewhere between 17-19% (???), but again, I have no clue.

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That is not "too high", especially for off season....

But, if that estimate is try then it means is that you have ~115 pounds of lean mass on you at the moment... It also means that your BF% is not too high if you wanted to try to add more lean mass (you really don't want to start trying to outright 'add mass' at anything above about 22% when female - because you end up gaining more fat than is ideal).

Anyway - it sets up how you want your diet to run.

Basically, you have to EAT for the lean mass that you WANT to have... So if you want another 5 pounds lean mass, then set up a diet where you eat like you have 120 pounds lean mass (warning - be SENSIBLE in your goals - if you want another 30 pounds lean mass then don't eat like that just yet! Not unless you want a good deal of flubber to appear on your butt! But make small lean mass goals - about 5 pounds is a pretty good target for a female).

As far as EFA's go, I'll start using Fish Oils. I have been reading a lot on the forum, and seems as though everyone uses these. Question though, will these help you feel full? I know fat takes longer to digest, therefore keeping hunger down (which I REALLY need), but since the oil is in the form of caps, I imagine it takes longer for the body to break these down and therefore not quite as effective as say, natty PB or olive oil?? Thoughts on this?

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Technically speaking. No - They will they make you fuller (nor slow digestion appreciably)... Not only is the usual dose not large enough to cause a huge effect, but they will usually sit in your stomach (as you are correct in saying that they take time to dissolve) whilst the rest of the food moves through....This is especially if combined with a liquid meal (eg: shake).

But fats don't usually increase satiety in the immediate period after eating (so they will not stop you eating). They are more of a 'long term'/over the entire day controller of food intake (they act 'between meal')... When you include 5-15g of fats in a meal (except immediately pre-workout and in your PWO shake) it basically delays absorption and 'trickles' you the food - which help to stabilise blood glucose/insulin and this stops one of the bodies major 'feed me' signals.

So fish oils should be considered more as a 'health' thing.... Stick to natty PB (or, better yet, walnuts or linseeds) and olive oil for the satiety/absorption issues.


Also - If you are looking for something that fills you up as you are eating then you need to be thinking along the lines of protein and fibre (both soluble and insoluble).

Protein has the highest satiety rating of the three macronutrients (which is one of the reasons why it is so helpful in weight loss). While your insoluble fibre (think more along the lines of brans and cellulose) will bulk out your gut and act as a filler.... The soluble fibre (for these think fruits, legumes etc) will then act centrally (in your brain) to trigger satiety.

Water is also a really big trigger for appetite - but at 1.5 gallons you are probably getting enough!

Hi again Emma-Leigh!

Okay, so I've tweaked my diet a bit more and here's what I've come up with:

meal 1: 3/4 oats; 6 egg whites; tbs flax
meal 2: apple; tbsp natty PB; pro shake
meal 3: 4oz chicken; 1/2cup rice; tbs flax; veggies
meal 4: 3.5oz lean ground beef; 1/2cup rice; veggies
WORKOUT
meal 5: PWO shake & carbs (for now I will have rice cakes as my carbs, as my protien is an isolate and has no carbs in it)
meal 6: 4oz of lean protien; tbs flax; veggies
(I will use flax seed as my main fat source until I get some fish oils)

How's that look?

Also, you mentioned about aiming to put on lean mass... now, just to clear up exactly what this means...I don't really want to put on any more 'weight' (not saying putting on muscle wouldn't be nice), but my MAIN goal right now it to lose a bit more body fat, so will this diet be suffice for that? Portions okay for this goal?
Will aiming to eat for 5lbs of lean mass allow me to drop body fat?

Thanks muchly!!
Andrea

dreamer144 said:

Hi again Emma-Leigh!

Okay, so I've tweaked my diet a bit more and here's what I've come up with:

meal 1: 3/4 oats; 6 egg whites; tbs flax
meal 2: apple; tbsp natty PB; pro shake
meal 3: 4oz chicken; 1/2cup rice; tbs flax; veggies
meal 4: 3.5oz lean ground beef; 1/2cup rice; veggies
WORKOUT
meal 5: PWO shake & carbs (for now I will have rice cakes as my carbs, as my protien is an isolate and has no carbs in it)
meal 6: 4oz of lean protien; tbs flax; veggies
(I will use flax seed as my main fat source until I get some fish oils)

How's that look?

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Looks fine - although I would probably swap some of the flax to olive oil. Too much omega-6 (especially in the face of low omega-3) is not good for you.

PWO - You should still stick with an isolate, and just add your carbs to it (don't get a pre-mixed powder). Rice cakes are fine for this at the moment too.

Also, you mentioned about aiming to put on lean mass... now, just to clear up exactly what this means...I don't really want to put on any more 'weight' (not saying putting on muscle wouldn't be nice), but my MAIN goal right now it to lose a bit more body fat, so will this diet be suffice for that? Portions okay for this goal?

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Lean mass and total weight are different. You can gain muscle mass and lose fat mass at the same time - meaning your total weight doesn't move much at all but your BF% will decrease and you will get more definition as a result.

When I said 'gain 5 pounds', I used it as an example as to how you should eat. If you don't want more lean mass then eat for 115 pounds. You don't have to do what I suggested.... You could also eat to add 3 pounds of lean mass if you wanted...

But, I suggested that you wanted to add lean mass because, if you do not want to lose weight but you want to lose fat, then you are going to have to replace it with something! So, logically, this means you need to add some lean mass.

If your BF% is roughly where you say it is (high teens), then you can achieve this with a clean diet (sitting just around or just above maintainence calories) and sufficient training.... But once you get too low in BF% (under about 15% for females) it is VERY hard to add lean mass without increasing your total weight - your body will not really let you do it... Similarly, as I said before, if your BF% is too high (>~22%) you will likely add more fat than what is ideal.

As for your portions - They look sound to me. But I can not tell you exactly how much you will need.. So, as I suggested before, take your measurements now (weight, BF%, girth measurements) and then, after 2-4 weeks, measure again. If you are not satisfied then tweak your diet accordingly.