Thread: Help with my diet

Originally Posted by crazy8

Im about 5'11" and am about 177 pounds. I was 195 before i started working out only about a month ago.First question. Is this a healthy weight to be at?

Well - your weight falls in the 'healthy' weight for your height. Bu in terms of really being healthy, body weight means very little. It is your bodyfat % that counts. Many athletes are 'overweight' for their height, yet their BF% is very low.

If you can't get your BF% done professionally (calipers or something like www.getdunked.com ) then try www.mybodycomp.com it will give you a guestimate.

I want to build muscle.... I have been thinking of doing a diet of 1g protein / pound of body weight.

Your protein intake should, calorie intake, fat intake and carb intake will depend on your LEAN mass (how much is not fat), your activity and your goals.

1g per total pound is not a good way to calculate it - because if your BF% is really high, you will not need that much. Similarly, if your BF% is really low, you may need more.

I go by ~1.5g x LEAN mass of protein. So, say your BF% was 20% then at 177 pounds you would need about 210-220g of protein.

I am a "on the go" type person so supper ends up being my only REAL cooked meal...

Sometimes a little pre-preperation goes a long way. I am an 'on the go' person too - but I set aside ~2 hrs a week (sunday morning) to make protein bars/slices, boil up legumes/barley/rice, pre-grind some oats etc. That way I have them easily available when I need them.

Sure, occasionally eating out or eating bought meals is fine... But there are many fast and healthy alternatives you can do yourself.

For example - boil up a whole heap of eggs and keep them in the fridge. Or grill up a heap of chicken breasts and store them in some tupperware in the fridge. Bake 4 or 5 sweet potato for the same thing...

Also, homemade shakes are a fast and healthy meal. Skim milk/natural yoghurt, fruit, whey, PB and oats makes a healthy and tasty 'fast meal'.

Also I am thinking of doing high caloree foods to. If I remember right this is what is needed to get "mass" right? So what foods should I eat for my 4-5 meals I can eat a day to acheive my goal of building the muscle I want?

Regardless of if you are trying to add mass or lose weight the majority of your foods should be the same. It is mainly the quantity of foods that will change.

Sure, you need more calories when you are trying to gain muscle, and you can eat more 'energy dense' foods than when cutting - but it doesn't mean you go crazy with the food (not unless it is more than muscle you want to gain).

So your diet should still focus on as many natural unprocessed foods as possible. Jodi has an excellent sticky at the top of the forum ("guide to..." ) and if you read my post Here it will also outline many of the foods you should focus on (although this is from a cutting perspective they are still the same - it just means you eat more of the starchy stuff).

As far as foods in genral, I am wondering how some one can learn to read "Nutritional Information" that we find on almost all consumable products. I mean I know how to read but im more trying to understnad what it is that we want and dont want in our diets and how much of everything we do want, whats good whats bad, etc.

There is a good site on how to read labels here.

But your first point of call is things like:
calories per serve (and serving size)
carbs (including sugar, starch and fibre)
Protein
Fat (and if it is saturated or unsaturated)

As I said before, how much of each you need will vary for each individual.... Once you workout your daily requirement then you will know how much you are aiming for. And what you want from a given food will vary depending on what you want the food for!

In terms of 'what is good' and 'what is bad' - well look at the ingredients. As I said before, natural foods are better - so most of your packaged foods should have one or two ingredients (eg: Rolled oats should have - 100% rolled oats ). The less ingredients (and the less ingredients with long names with numbers after them) the better and if you stick to natural foods you'll run into less problems.

Originally Posted by Emma-Leigh

Well - your weight falls in the 'healthy' weight for your height. Bu in terms of really being healthy, body weight means very little. It is your bodyfat % that counts. Many athletes are 'overweight' for their height, yet their BF% is very low.

Well as far as BF% goes when i was checked last it was 10% but someone on here said it looked closer to 15% so those are the numbers I have. At the time it was checked I was 183 pounds. Since i have lost weight and am at about 177, I mathmaticly figured maybe now i am at 6%-12% assuming all the weight was fat and im also not sure how accurate that is.

Your protein intake should, calorie intake, fat intake and carb intake will depend on your LEAN mass (how much is not fat), your activity and your goals.

Well like above last i looked lean mass was about 156-183pounds depending which BF% is used

Also, homemade shakes are a fast and healthy meal. Skim milk/natural yoghurt, fruit, whey, PB and oats makes a healthy and tasty 'fast meal'.

Sounds good I will try this

Regardless of if you are trying to add mass or lose weight the majority of your foods should be the same. It is mainly the quantity of foods that will change.

Well I guess i am more wondering what foods are best as far as will give me alot of the ptotein and the high calories I will need.

Sure, you need more calories when you are trying to gain muscle, and you can eat more 'energy dense' foods than when cutting - but it doesn't mean you go crazy with the food (not unless it is more than muscle you want to gain).

So here you are saying that I do need more calories but when I cut that is when i should eat more 'energy dense' foods?Also what kind of foods fall in the 'energy dense' catagory?

As I said before, how much of each you need will vary for each individual.... Once you workout your daily requirement then you will know how much you are aiming for.

Ok what do you mean by this?how would i figure it out?

NOTE: I would like to thank you VERY much...this was alot of great help and info here. Also the food lable site...thats a very good read, helps me alot with my questions i had regarding it Thank You again

Sorry. Anyone have any answers to these questions above?thank you and keep up the great work

Sorry - I didn't see this.

Originally Posted by crazy8

Well as far as BF% goes when i was checked last it was 10% but someone on here said it looked closer to 15% so those are the numbers I have. At the time it was checked I was 183 pounds. Since i have lost weight and am at about 177, I mathmaticly figured maybe now i am at 6%-12% assuming all the weight was fat and im also not sure how accurate that is.

Losing 100% fat is a little optimistic...

But if you assume 12% and 177 then, at 5'11 your weight is fine.

In terms of what you need - Well, I don't think it is entirely necessary for most people to get really accurate in terms of 'exact' intake for everything (it can more often than not hinder gains rather than promote them)...

But if you REALLY want you can roughly calculate a 'guestimated' requirement:
177 and 12% = ~ 156 pounds lean mass.

So you could start with a rough 'maintainence' intake of: ~2800 cals
(based on considering you to be doing a reasonable level of training and having a moderate daily energy expenditure), with:
2g x lean mass carbs = 310-320g (~1260 cals)
0.4g x lean mass fats = 63g (~567 cals)
1.5g x lean mass protein = 235g (~940 cals)

TOTAL = 2767 cals

Sit at that rough calorie level for 2-3 weeks. If you lose weight, then it is below maintainence, if you stay the same then that is ~maintainence... If you gain weight then it is above maintainence.

If it IS your maintainence then to add muscle you want to start to increase this intake. Something like an increase of 10% cals at first - so add another 250-300 cals and bring it up to ~3100 cals/day.

If you lose weight - you will have to add more than this (start with adding 20% cals and see). If you gain weight then, if you gain at a reasonable pace - stick to it. If not, decrease cals slightly.

You are best to add calories from fats and carbs, not protein. This is because they are much better at providing your body with energy.

So, if it is maintainence and you increase to ~3100 cals then something like:
2.5g x lean mass carbs = 385g (1540 cals)
1.5g x lean mass protein = 235g (940 cals)
0.45g x lean mass fats = 70g (630 cals)
TOTAL = 3110

Well I guess i am more wondering what foods are best as far as will give me alot of the ptotein and the high calories I will need.

Did you read the link?

You need more than just 'protein' to add mass - you need a balanced diet with adequate carbs, fats and protein.

So here you are saying that I do need more calories but when I cut that is when i should eat more 'energy dense' foods?Also what kind of foods fall in the 'energy dense' catagory?

?? Ok - now you have lost me!

The link I sent you was for a cutting diet - but the foods remain the same, it just means you need to eat more of the higher energy foods.

So you need more of the whole grains, the whole eggs or lean red meats, the nuts/healthy fats and less of the things like too many vegetables, fish or lower calorie foods.

These will help you 'get calories' without getting overly full.

If you type out a rough 'diet' I can give you more specific advice.

Ok what do you mean by this?how would i figure it out?

Well - the above 'rough guide' is an average for most active individuals so you could try that, see if it works, and 'tweak' as needded.

WOW..thanx alot for all of that...this gives me a good base to start from....i dont know what to say..so much info and it was free and very well written....Thank u again emma...i can say it enough

Well here is my curent "diet".Its not realy much but i think it is a good starting point and a huge change from all the "crap" i was eating before.Before i dint care realy what it was as long as it was good...not realy good for me..but good tasting so here is what i have done so far.Keep inmind i work 10 hours a day and i get 2, 15 minute breaks at 9am and 230pm then i get a 30 minute break at 1130.after work (5pm) i go directly to gym to work out.So here is my intake for the day till i get home after gym to eat supper.

600 breakfast- 1/2-1 cup of oatmeal, glass of milk and maybe a banana
900 15 minute break- munch on some grapes,apple, or some kind of fruit
1130 lunch- turky sammich with cheese and lettuce on whole grain bread, about 14 baby carrots w/ranch dressing, and a milk
230 15 minute break- I will have whatever i have left.might be more fruit or carrots or somekind of snack like pretels or somehting w/o sugar or even granola bars.
500 Off work heading to gym- I will drink 46g protein shake made with either 2% milk (skim takes some getting used to) or pineaple orange juice.I also take creatine at the same time.

After work out when i eat supper its usually turky or some kind of white meat w/ baked beans or a caned vegitable.

like i said...I know its not the best and does need improvement but its 100 times better then before.Also i KNOW another thing i need in my diet (or so i have been told) is egg protein.

NOTE:My sammich consists of 12 whole grain bread 2peices of turkey (this is turky that looks like balogna) 1-2 slices of cheese, some lettuce and marical whip

Thank again for ALL of your help emma and who ever else may be helpingme from here out.

Anymore info on this one..anyone..thank you

Originally Posted by crazy8

Anymore info on this one..anyone..thank you

I gave you a lot of information on what you need to do in terms of setting up a good diet - and you have not really taken most of the suggestions up with the diet you posted....

Sure - It is not 'horrible' but you could still improve it. Go back and read over the suggestions I have made and also read that post I linked you to again.

See if you can make any changes that would improve it further.