Thread: Questions and concerns about my diet

Hi Matt!
a few suggestion that I might make
first off for you height and weight, you are not eating ENOUGH. you are going to risk throwing your body into starvation mode.
you need 11-12x bodyweight for calories. 1800 is too low for someone as yourself. this could be why your weight is jumping up and down.
-I would suggest cutting out the bread, its far too procressed. substiute it for brown or wild rice or sweet potatoes(yumm) or more old fashioned oatmeal.
-its good to see that you are getting in fiberous veggies, lay them to you! you can never eat too many!
-as for the sodium- try rinsing your tuna under water for a minute to help rid of the excess.
-as for post workout.. NO fiberous veggies.. and you MUST have carbs. again stick with the ones that I mentioned above. along with that a protein shake(just whey protein) would be great.
-Im not seeing any healthy fats in your diet. these are a must for numerous reasons. (check stickies at the top of the forum). Id suggest getting some fish oil caps and adding in at least another tbls. of healthy fats such as olive oil, hemp oil, flax oil, natural peanut butter, nuts/seeds(in moderation).
- as for sweetening your oatmeal-you could add some splenda and cinnamon/vanilla extract or a few berries or some even add whey protein to their oats.
-how much water are you drinking/day?
-how far before bed is your last meal - as you dont have to worry about not eating before bed. having lean protein, healthy fats and fiberous veggies is perfect.

-I would suggest HIIT cardio 3x week. and stick to lifting heavy and intense. from there you can tweak as needed.

Originally posted by mpotok
a can of albratrose

You eat Seagull

Just buggin ya

lol.. whoops ya I eat seagull.... they taste like chicken... mmmm chicken... It was close enough.. to the right word.. hmmm

I drink about 1.5 to 2 gallons of water a day

my last meal always kills me.. i need to be in bed by 1 am i am usally easting it at 1130 to 12 ish and I find it hard to sleep... so I usally dont fall asleep till 2 am ish and wake up at 10 or 11 instead of 9 like I need to (very often happens) and weekends I jsut dont set my alarm in bed by 3 am ish up at 12. kinda disturbing me thinks.... hehe bad sleeping patterns

I was thinking the 1 meybe 2 serving of fish aday would meet my needs for healthy fat.. but I also recently read here needs to be spread out over the day as well... somehting liek 15 g of healthy fat.. ?? and yes I have read the healthy fat forum..

also what sodium levels should I stay around in mg.. I am gettign strict on it.. I have always been able to tell if I take to much sodium in and since I started to get stricter on my diet, to me it feels I am getting to much.. just would like a taget number.. the same goes for sugars..

I do like bread.. i usually dont exceed a few slices a day.. those other carbs I absolutly love as well so it wont be to much of a big deal for me to switch up.. I will start to do that when my current resources go dry.

as for my calorie intake.. 1800 is tough for me as it is (I know BMR is diffrent from person to person and situation to situation I try to get a rough estimate of mine I have found websites that range from 2400 to 2800 for me)... eating 5 or 6 times a day i am not hungry half the day to be honest.. but I eat anyways... i am guessing if I take more complex carbs in instead of bread and some more healthy fats I could jump 1800 calories to over 2 K quickly.. without changing to much in my diet.. but then my carb count will go up a little.. but I am guessing 40/40/20 is still optimum over my 50/30/20.. but I guess I need to find out what works best for me.. although I agree and will try it definatly

also how bad of a effect on your body and metabolism is it if you are constatly changing your calorie intake day to day.. does it shock your body in postive or negative way.. or both...

what is recomend for how many carbs/protien post and pre workout.. i have notice depending on food I eat how my energy levels are before my workout and for the many hours after but havnt pinpointed yet what works for me...

anyways thx alot jen ya have helped many people in this forum and now me. I appricate it greatly. I am a extreamly quick learner and I threw this all together awfully fast just by reading post for a few weeks here. I am starting to understand how some of these foods I eat effect my day and workout from actually toying with my diet. Pretty amazing I think. I will switch things on your suggestions and see how it effects me in general with my goals and daily routines.

you eat seagull? those dirty p00pers?
but then again I eat ruffled grouse(partridge). and my sister in Texas say they eat dove! poor pretty birds! LOL

-thats defintly enough water

-hmmm try something light before bed then. nothing too filling that will prevent you from not sleeping. about an hour prior is good. how about a can of tuna with some olive oil added in. thats easy on the tummy. or cottage cheese with natural peanut butter added. what do you do before bed too.. that will effect your sleep. try and stay relaxed and in a quiet setting. also you could look into a nightime tea(at the grocery stores) to help calm and make you sleepy.

-1 or 2 servings of fatty fish/day isnt reccomended for the reason that fish can be contaminated with PCB's, toxins and mercury which are harmful to your health. by simply adding in 2 tablespoons of healthy fats you are set. I prefer to not mix my fat and carb meals. meaning that my last 2 meals are usually just lean protein, fiberous veggies and healthy fats. unless yo train in the evening, then just add othertimes in the day.

-its reccomended to stay under 2400mg of sodium each day. by simply rinsing tuna/cottage cheese under water you can eliminate half of their content if you dont purchase the low sodium. also try and stay away from canned vegetables, fresh produce is much better for you(and defintly less sodium)

-once your bread runs out, dont buy more then. and switch to the more cleaner sources as I mentioned before(glad you like them!)

- by adding in more healthy fats and increase a lil bit in the complex carbs it will help to bring your calorie intake up some, which I highly reccomend that you do. and you are right, you will have to see what ratio works for you, everyone is different and you can tweak as you feel needed.

- by varying your calorie intake each day are keep your metabolism stoked and not adjusting to one setpoint. this is also wise decision when dieting. Even maintaining though, I consume more calories on training days, vs. rest days.

-preworkout you should go with lean protein and complex carbs. I would suggest 1-1.5 hrs prior.
post workout (immediatly following training) aim for 0.4g protein/kg bodyweight. carbs will depend on your goals. 0.7-0.8g/kg bodyweight is a good ratio. again, no fats in this meal either.

Best of luck!! hope that helped some

thx alot jen thx for the help...

I went out today and bought alot of good stuff.. got some efa's and some complex carbs.. actually cooking my rice for the next few days atm. I am going to give it a week or so to get use to the preparation and toteing of the food, and upping both my carbs and calories.
I got my carbs up to almsot 40 %( from previous 25 to 30 % before) today, and boy do I feel a diffrence in my workout and energy. I think I am goign to keep it around 40 % for awhile or meybe do some cycleing liek 2 on 1 off.. etc. (i read alot of info on this on this site and others).
I am soooo use to always being hungry, but the last 2 weeks with 5 to 6 meals a day I am alsmost never hungry now.. pretty crazy for me not to be hungry. Thinkign about 2200 calories in clean food sounds like alot to me, but will try to get up there by the end of the week from 1800 ish. My daily meal plan for the week is between 2000 and 2200 ish atm. See how that works and take it form there.

I appricate your help jen and thx.
Matt