Thread: Need help with diet

There is no need to build up your "meal frequency" slowly....if you take the same amount of calories you're eating now and split them into 6 meals instead of 3, you are only going to help to increase your metabolism. Remember though, that you need to eat smaller meals when you're eating more frequently...don't just add more of the same meals or you will gain w8.

You need first to post your current diet w/ as much info as possible (i.e. meal times, serving sizes, etc). I don't wanna hear you don't "have a diet" either....you eat, that's a diet...let us know what you're eating so we can ease you into the cutting plan properly.

Don't forget to post how much water you're drinking. And I'd suggest a post in the training forum regarding your split/program so others can make suggestions on improvement in that aspect.

Welcome to IM and congrats on getting started!

Lets see, I guess my diet looks something like this

Breakfast: around 7:30 to 8:30

chickfila egg and cheese biscuit or king size bag of M&M's and a
20 oz sunkist
usually no breakfast on Sat. and. Sun

Lunch: around 11:00

I will typically eat a lean cuisine(Ex: chiken in peanut sauce) or a uncle ben's rice bowl(Ex: spicy beef and broccili) for 3 out of 5 weekdays. I will eat out at a chinese reastaurant buffet
mexican the rest of the days. I usually get one big plate full of food like fried crab meat and shrimp in tomato sauce. If I eat mexican then all I eat is a chicken burrito and all the chips I can get.
On weekends I will eat something small on Sat. like a pizza hot pocket or a barbecue sandwich.
On Sunday I go to my parents where I usually get about 3 pieces of fried chicken, 3 rolls, mashed potatoes and then I eat some dessert like peach cobbler or cake. This is my biggest meal of the week by far.

Snack 2:00 to 3:00

a bag of candy and a 12 oz. coke sometimes nothing at all if I am busy at work

Dinner: around 5:30

I may eat a hot pocket or a uncle ben's rice bowl. If I don't eat that then I am eating a hamburger , soup in a can,or have ordered pizza and eating about 5 to 6 slices. I may only eat pizza one night every two weeks.

On Friday and Sunday nights I eat out at any kind of restuarant around 7:30
I will typically get chicken fajita's.

I typically drink between 20 to 32 oz of coke on the weekdays and a little more on weekends. I do drink around 64 oz. of water on the weekdays where I might drink none on the weekends. A year ago I didn't eat breakfast and I ate very little food. I got to where I was only eating maybe a cheeseburger a day for lunch and a pack of crackers for dinner. After a while I got to where I didn't even have to think about it I got extremely full if I ate anymore than that and I wound up losing 30 pounds from 250 to 220. I have gradually started eating more and am now eating the amount of food that I wrote above and had not started gaining weight until now( the holidays were not kind because I ate everything in site so I couldn't even began to estimate what all I had).

Anyway, I hope that was the kind of info you needed. It is hard to say what I might eat on a given day but what is written above is a pretty good rule of thumb for me.

so when are you planing on starting the cut diet?

Yes...that helps a lot.

Ok...your first step, before you can start worrying about calories and whatnot, is to change your food choices.

I've posted the shopping list below....you need to look at it....there is no fast food, prepared food, pizza, or any other type of "ready-made" food. I would like to see you begin making wiser food choices. You can use the male cutting plan as a guideline...you need to get in the habit of eating more frequently, and healthier.

Don't skip breakfast...or any other meal...even on the weekend. it is important to feed your body proper foods regularly. And if you're going to drink pop...make it diet! At the very least.

Why don't you start a journal? ...so we can watch your improvements and make suggestions daily?

Shopping list!

sugar-free low carb protein powder
lean beef
chicken breast
turkey breast
fresh fish
canned tuna
canned salmon
eggs
creamed cottage cheese**
hard cheese **
sweet potatoes
yams
long grain brown rice
old fashioned oats
steel cut oats
eggplant
squash
romaine lettuce
spinach
asparagus
avocado
broccoli
brussels sprouts
cabbage
cauliflower
cucumbers
celery
peppers (any color)
mushrooms
string beans
zucchini
apples
bananas**
fresh or frozen (w/o syrup) berries
peaches
grapefruit
heavy whipping cream (35% ....NOT whipped cream the dessert topping)
olive oil
safflower oil
flax seed oil
walnut oil
almonds
walnuts
natural sugar-free peanut butter

** Not all foods on this list should be used at all times...the banana for instance should only be used during a carb up and/or a bulk.