Thread: first time poster/long time poor diet

your grocery list looks pretty solid. although, what the heck do you mean you hate chicken breasts? get a foreman grill or something and they're awesome, a staple for bodybuilders. as far as shopping goes keep it simple: eggs, milk, chicken, beef, tuna, oatmeal, potatoes, rice, natural peanut butter, etc.

get a good protein powder for after you workout, nitrotech isn't bad, but you probably paid too much.

First of all Welcome!

At first, some of these issues may seem foreign, but after a few months, you will start catching on quite easily, and it will become second nature.

Ok.. first of all, your grocery list looks very solid actually. I dont know if your looking to add mass, to lean up, or just stay the way you are and eat healthier, but a good rule of thumb is multiply your weight in lbs by 1.2 and youll get your maintence. You can increase maintence by say 500 or 600 per day if your looking for mass, or you can keep your maintenence the same or drop a few cals if you want to cut.

Keep protein at about 1 gram per pound of bodyweight a day. For you that is about 175 grams of prortein a day, and make sure you take in some form of protein (whey preferably) before and after training. You can buy cheap whey protein at www.allthewhey.com or www.bulknutrition.com.

Any thing else , feel free to ask

As far as the eggs go- buy one carton of whole eggs and a couple things of the egg whites. It just makes life easier !!

Directions for eggs:

Spray pan with Pam, mix together 1 cup egg whites and 1 whole egg, pour in pan, cook until done. You can add in any veggies you want. I usually put in mushrooms, broccoli/spinach, and some FF mozz. cheese or cottage cheese.

Chicken:

Buy boneless skinless chicken breast (comes in big bag). Let thaw out, spray pan with Pam, set on medium, let cook on both sides until it's not pink in the middle- season to taste, weigh on food scale (can get at Wal-Mart for lie three bucks), place in little baggies so you know what a serving is (usually 4-6 oz.) when you grab it. I leave about 2 or 3 in the fridge and put the rest in the freezer, then grab them as I need them. You can also bake you chicken, just throw it in a baking pan- set oven to 350 and bake for about 30-45 minutes, just keep checking it.

You can buy canned chicken too, it's usually buy the canned tuna. Works great in salads, just open, drain and eat. Same for tuna, or you can get the tuna in the pouch's and you don't have to drain it.

You can have lean meats such as Sirloin. A lot of times grocery stores have Sirloin on sale, if you ask them they'll ground it up into hamburger meat for you.

Make sure you get real Oatmeal and not the packets. It's super easy to make in the microwave. If you get a chocolate flavored protein powder something you may want to try is:

1/2 cup oatmeal, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 cup water, microwave for 3 minutes, and 1 tbs. peanut butter and 1/2 cup cottage cheese. This will keep you full until lunch!!

Another good EASY thing to do with cottage cheese is:
1/2 cup Fiber One Cereal (all grocery stores usually have this)
1/2 cup LF Cottage Cheese
Sugar Free Syrup
Just mix together and eat.


So, this is what you grocery list should look more like:
eggs
egg whites
tuna
chicken breast
canned chicken
oatmeal
brown rice
apples
sweet potato
whole grain bread
lean beef
low fat cottage cheese
fiber one cereal
Sugar Free Syrup
Pam
Sugar Free Jello
Sugar Free Pops
Protein Powder
Natural Peanut Butter
Veggies- ALL kinds!!

Good Luck

thanks for the responses. I'm going to leave work in an hour and go grocery shopping. so i dont have much time right now to post

as far as EFA, fish oil, how does one eat this. just pour it on something you are already eating? and how much should one "eat" at a time. Hopefully will have time later tonite to make a better post, and a first draft proposed eating schedule for tomorrow.

thanks again

Most people buy their fish oil in capsules. 5-20 G depending upon your goals and how much bodyfat you carry.

i suspected capsules, but fish oil in solid form seemed a bit..fishy

Can this be purchased at a typical grocery store?

Thanks 4 the reply

GNC or another health food store should have it.

thanks guys, had success finding everything i expected to find

As far as tuna, i'm not sure if i went with the "right" one. they seemed pretty much the same so i went with the low sodium one.
"Starkist Low Sodium CHunk white albacore tuna in water"

You got the right one! If you get tired of tuna, they also sell chicken breast in a bag. It's yummy. Should be on the same isle as the canned/bagged tuna.

Some basics, i'm looking to add mass. i'm not sure about my body fat %.... (5-10 175lbs)

alright so this is what i have to work with, i have the protein in ()

1/2 cup cottage cheese (13g)
1/4 cup tuna (14g)
1 egg (6g)
4 oz ground sirloin (23g)
4 oz chicken breast (23 g)
1/2 cup fiber one (2g)
1/2 cup oatmeal (5g) is ground cinnamon okay to put on this?
1/4 cup long grain rice (4g)
protein shake (20g)
apples
broccoli
strawberries
fat free jello/popsicles.
i'm still working on the fish oil.....

Now how do i go about making a meal plan? Most likely protein shake before and after the workout, but what about the others. just mix and match to have balanced protein or is there more of a theory behind this? Days im lifting (4) i plan to wake up at 7am and lift around 8-8:30.

You got the right one! If you get tired of tuna, they also sell chicken breast in a bag. It's yummy. Should be on the same isle as the canned/bagged tuna

exellent

Originally posted by OmarJackson
your grocery list looks pretty solid. although, what the heck do you mean you hate chicken breasts? get a foreman grill or something and they're awesome, a staple for bodybuilders. as far as shopping goes keep it simple: eggs, milk, chicken, beef, tuna, oatmeal, potatoes, rice, natural peanut butter, etc.

get a good protein powder for after you workout, nitrotech isn't bad, but you probably paid too much.

yeah serious how can you hate chicken breast, i mean chicken taste like everything, just mix and match spices to get the flavour that you really like

Originally posted by OmarJackson
your grocery list looks pretty solid. although, what the heck do you mean you hate chicken breasts? get a foreman grill or something and they're awesome, a staple for bodybuilders. as far as shopping goes keep it simple: eggs, milk, chicken, beef, tuna, oatmeal, potatoes, rice, natural peanut butter, etc.

get a good protein powder for after you workout, nitrotech isn't bad, but you probably paid too much.

yeah serious how can you hate chicken breast, i mean chicken taste like everything, just mix and match spices to get the flavour that you really like

make sure you get some solid carbs both pre and post workout with those protein shakes, with your other meals just make sure you get a little bit of lean protein, some veggies, and depending on your metabolism and weight that you want to attain some complex carbs, it'll take you a couple weeks to nail down something that works pretty well for you, to make it easier track what you eat at fitday.com

i'm having a problem coming up with enough calories in my meal plan. and about 18g protein short as well, suggestions would b nice.


meal one: 1/2 cup fiber one cerieal with 4 strawberries

meal two: 1 shole egg, 4 egg white, 1 slice WW bread

meal three: 6 oz sirloin ground beef, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, apple

Meal four: Protein shake, 1/4 cup rice

lift (not gonna happen till later today( somewhere btween 8-9 pm)

Meal five: protein shake, 1/4 cup tuna, apple

have yet to get efa's.

according to fitday, i will be getting 157 g protein, 149 g carb, 52 g fat. total calories only 1645, while an estimated expenditure of calories is 2600 calories. so obviously this isn't gonna get it done.

add a 6th meal with 18 g protein i suppose, but am i overlooking something that i am 1000 calories short here???
thanks

regarding chicken breast, i always felt it just tasted too dry and prefer thighs

i just added 3 cups of skim milk which i can't go w/o. that adds another 270 cal and 27 g protein 39 g carb

Originally posted by Profit
i'm having a problem coming up with enough calories in my meal plan. and about 18g protein short as well, suggestions would b nice.


meal one: 1/2 cup fiber one cerieal with 4 strawberries

Add in 1/2 cup cottage cheese, just mix it all together!!

meal two: 1 whole egg, 4 egg white, 1 slice WW bread

meal three: 6 oz sirloin ground beef, 1/2 cup cottage cheese,
apple

Add in some veggies here

Meal four: Protein shake, 1/4 cup rice

have a 1/2 cup brown rice

lift (not gonna happen till later today( somewhere btween 8-9 pm)


Meal five: protein shake, 1/4 cup tuna, apple

Have 1 whole can tuna here, 1 slice wheat bread and add 1 tablespoon of peanut butter to your apple to help get you some good fat in your diet.


have yet to get efa's.

according to fitday, i will be getting 157 g protein, 149 g carb, 52 g fat. total calories only 1645, while an estimated expenditure of calories is 2600 calories. so obviously this isn't gonna get it done.

add a 6th meal with 18 g protein i suppose, but am i overlooking something that i am 1000 calories short here???
thanks

regarding chicken breast, i always felt it just tasted too dry and prefer thighs

i just added 3 cups of skim milk which i can't go w/o. that adds another 270 cal and 27 g protein 39 g carb

Add in Meal 6: 1 cup egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1/4 cup FF cheese

As far as the cinnamon- you can add it. It's good mixed in with the cottage cheese and fiber one. Did you get the Carb Countdown Milk. It has more protein than regular skim milk.

ncgirl21, thanks for the help!!

calories are now up to 2400.

Protein/carb/fat (%) in grams
243 g / 195/ 73
43%/ 29 / 29

Protein is def enough i'm thinking, 243 grams prot/175 lbs=1.4
total calories are still low

Carb countdown milk, no i dont have that. does it taste the same?

Brown rice, do you put anything on it?

What about placing the tuna between 2 pieces of ww bread to add some calories? (although will add 38 carbs)

for meal 5, cut out the protein shake right?

thanks again!