Thread: food help

Nutrition is huge. Do some research in the sticky's. Also what I did was I did a search on this site for people who were posting diets for bulking and I read what everyone else said about them. This helped me form a framework for my diet. There is also an excellent sticky on what to eat for cabrs, protein, vegetables, etc.

Read the stickies like 4 times, download the shopping list, come up with a meal plan then post back here with it. Go shopping, put your Chefs hat on and start cooking. Stay glued here to the diet section for two reasons. 1. To keep clean eating on your mind and 2. To learn as much as possible. Good luck man.

i have quickly put this together what do you think

MEAL 1:
3 egg whites
Glass of milk
1 piece of fruit

MEAL 2:
2 chicken breast
1 bowl of pasta or rice
1 pint of water
2 Fish oil capsules

MEAL 3:
2 Tins of Tuna
1 piece of fruit
1 pint of water

MEAL 4:
chicken omelette made with:
6 eggs
1 chicken breast
A glass of orange juice

MEAL 5:
(before bed)
2 cups of cereal with milk
1 pint of milk 0r a glass of fresh orange

ok, so you got a start. It seems like you have a lot of protein in your diet with the chicken and tuna and stuff, but 9 eggs a day? To bodybuild, you're going to want to have a high calorie intake so try to add another meal in there. The first thing I noticed about you meal plan was that there was zero vegetables. That is not good. They have great things like fiber in them. Along with vegetables, I think you would want to add a lot of carbs to give you the energy you need while training. The last thing you want is for your body to resort to protein for an energy source.
-Keep reading on diets that others have posted and take a good look at those stickies.

Just some basic stuff before one of the experts rips it apart =P

Going to need to post your bodyweight, age, and goals

Meal 1 - Needs healthy fat, possibly more protein and carbs too. From the description it sounds like this meal is way too small.

Meal 2 - Maybe TOO much protein, and how much is in a bowl of rice?

Meal 3 - Again, protein might be high, and you need more fat. Also be careful with tuna, too much canned tuna can be bad for you with mercury poisoning

Meal 4 - If those are whole eggs, way too much fat. Drop the juice, eat an actual piece of fruit or oats or something.

Meal 5 - Redo it. Drop all those carbs out of it and make it mainly protein and fat. Carbs can disrupt the sleep cycle and spike energy at a time when you are going to want to go to sleep soon.

Definately need to post some macros for anyone to review it though. "Tins" and "Bowls" is way too vague to give any idea as to the content.

Firstly how tall are you and how much do you weigh? I'm assuming your goals are to bulk?

Originally Posted by slay

MEAL 1:
3 egg whites
Glass of milk
1 piece of fruit

~ Up the protein slightly. If your only having 5 meals a day then I'd aim for about 40G of protein in each meal.
~ The milk is fine, just make sure it's 1% or Skim . Perferably though, Fat free no sugar added Plain yogurt with live active bacteria cultures listed under the ingredients would be best.
~ The fruit is good
~ This meal needs some sort of healthy fat added to it. So be in some Egg yolks, some nuts, nut butters, olive oil, etc.
~ You also need some Carb sources here. So things such as Oatmeal, Oat bran, Sprouted grain based breads, etc.

Originally Posted by slay

MEAL 2:
2 chicken breast
1 bowl of pasta or rice
1 pint of water
2 Fish oil capsules

~ If your having rice, make sure it's Long grain brown rice. Remember the difference between white and brown rice is that in white rice they've removed the outter hull of the rice grain. So you're losing lots of fiber and vitamins/minerals when they do this.
If you're having pasta ... it's alright .. not the best. It has very little fiber, vitamins or minerals, and it's very carb/calorie dense. So just be careful with it, it's not something to base your carbohydrate sources around, but you can certainly eat it here and there if you really like the stuff. (Just make sure it's whole wheat)
~ I would add another piece of fruit here
~ Once again you need some form of a healthy fat.
~ Get some green fibrous veggies in here
~ If you wanted, some more dairy here wouldn't hurt either (especially if it was that yogurt I described earlier)

Originally Posted by slay

MEAL 3:
2 Tins of Tuna
1 piece of fruit
1 pint of water

~ Two tins of Tuna = WAY TOO MUCH PROTEIN! That's 60G, so cut it down to 1.5 tins of tuna AT THE VERY MOST
~ The fruit is good
~ Once again add some healthy fats
~ Get some Green Veggies in here as well
~ You need some carbs.

Originally Posted by slay

MEAL 4:
chicken omelette made with:
6 eggs
1 chicken breast
A glass of orange juice

~ Are you using 6 egg yolks as well? If so that's Fat overload, and you certainly don't need that much. Also how large is that chicken breast? This meal may be overkill on the protein again.
~ Omelette? So I'm assuming you got vegetables in this meal? If not add them.
~ Ditch the Orange Juice. In fact if you're drinking any juice in your diet drop that, and eat the real fruit instead. By drinking the juice, your not eating the skin which hold alot of fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. But with that being said you don't really need the fruit in this meal, you got plenty in the others.

Originally Posted by slay

MEAL 5:
(before bed)
2 cups of cereal with milk
1 pint of milk 0r a glass of fresh orange

Okay no offense but this meal is really bad .. you want it to be primarily a slow digesting Protein (as your about to fast for 8 hours, so you want somethings that's going to help keep blood amino acid levels elevated for a extended period of time.) and some Healthy fats, with possibly some Fiber and a tiny amount of fruit (berries) in it (especially if you workout first thing in the am).
~ So switch the protein to preferably Some 1% Cottage Cheese, this would be ideal but if you can't stomach cottage cheese, some red meat is a nice sub.
~ Get some fat in here, so nuts, nut butters, olive oil etc.
~ You can add some green veggies here if you'd like. The extra fiber will help delay gastric emptying even further (which is your goal in this meal).
~ Then if you want you can include a tiny amount of berries here, around 100G worth. (this is about 1/2 - 3/4 a cups worth). The fructose will help maintain liver glycogen and body glucose overnight while you fast without haven't a significant impact on insulin levels.

Also what are you having Before and after your workouts? This is very important, pre/post workout nutrition are two of the most important meals of the day.

Oh also you don't need to be drinking your water with your meal . You can drink your water whenever and whereever throughout the course of the day. 4-5L is a good level to aim for. In fact some might even argue drinking that water with your meals is a 'bad' thing as some believe it washes away digestive enzymes and makes it harder for your body to digest the food you've just eaten. (I'm not sure on how accurate this is, I've never really researched it for myself.)

BUT with all that being said, if your just starting out a plan this strict and detailed is unrealistic! You may be able to follow it for a day or two, but then more than likely you'll get fed up, and return to your old habits. Too much all at once isn't good.
So start with making SIMPLE REALISTIC CHANGES FIRST. So for example start by working on eating smaller, more frequent meals instead of the whole 3 big meal a day things. Cut out fruit juices and only eat the actual fruit. Focus on incorporting a protein source in each meal. Focus on trying to make meals BALANCED (meaning theres a protein, carb and fat in them). Focus on incorportaing more green vegetables in your meals. Start drinking more water.
Etc. Start out light and simple, remember this isn't a "diet" it's a lifestyle change.

Anyways hope all that helps, and good luck with your fitness goals!