Thread: Designing a diet in the blind

Wow. The responses are overwhelming!

Thanks guys.
Remind me to crash the party when you wussies are whining about you abs....

I would track your intake for a week just to see what the consistency is between the days and get an idea what you are eating.

there is nothing wrong with starting with a caloric intake based on weight or LBM. But again, you are still going to want to journal and determine what the hell you are eating and how consistent you are. Also, if you are eating really low calories right now, and that caloric intake based on weight/LBM is a bit higher, then you have some work to do.

Once you determine your calories, set your protein that you need to get each day. After that, figure out how many EFAs you are giong to take in and then the rest of your calories can be carbs or fats.

If you only have time for 3 meals a day and your schedule wont allow you to eat every 3-4 hours, then just run with three square meals. You kill yourself more by stressing over that stuff.

Tell me how you eat now. I'll assume you are going to either track or start from a non-fucked "Cals per LBM" kind of ballpark, and you've done your reading so you know how to set the minimums for protein and fat.

When do you work, when are you home, when do you train, and when are the times when you like to eat?

Roughly what do you eat now, and when? I might be able to offer you some meal suggestions from there.

Originally Posted by Built

Tell me how you eat now.

Sporadically, sometimes, whenever, never, or all at once at 3:00am.

I'll assume you are going to either track or start from a non-fucked "Cals per LBM" kind of ballpark, and you've done your reading so you know how to set the minimums for protein and fat.

That is the plan, although I need to re-read a lot of things to refresh my memory.

When do you work...[B]From 8:00am until 10 or 11:00pm, six days a week usually...although I've been trying to get out of here earlier in order to keep my sanity. Which I'm afraid is already lost.

when are you home... see above

when do you train... haven't been able to for the past few months...not real happy about it, but due to staff issues, I'm often trapped here.

and when are the times when you like to eat? Whenever I can find the time...usually @ 2:00pm, and possibly again later in the afternoon/ early evening.

Roughly what do you eat now, and when? I might be able to offer you some meal suggestions from there.

Time is more of an issue than menu. I have access to more food than many, since I own/operate a restaurant. I know, this makes no sense, but you have to understand that my work load is highest during the times when I should be eating something myself.

I apologize for the previous/whiney response....I was wiped out, and I'm getting disgusted with my current "state".

My goal was to sit down, log into fitday (or create a journal, or equiv.) and design a diet based on a caloric figure (based on template like the one you have posted in your blog) try the diet at that level and see what effect, if any, it has. In other words, a generic, repetitive meal plan that would be easy to track....even if the boredom kills me.

However, just like many people tend to do, I was being lazy and expecting someone to say, "here, do this". I should know better than to do such a thing here.

Hey, you're overwhelmed at work, and I've worked in the food service industry so I hear you, believe me!

Okay. You feel better on higher carbs or higher fats? Ever tried a lower-carb diet before?

Low carb seems to work better for me, although I've noticed that the effectiveness/results have not been as dramatic as time goes on. For example, the first time I tried the Atkins diet, I lost around 17 lbs in two weeks..crazy number, I know.
Each time I tried the diet again, I would lose a little less. At one point, I couldn't get into ketosis...Of course, I learned that this was not a big deal.

My biggest issue right now is creating a starting point using almost abstract numbers. My daily intake varies so drastically from one 'feeding' to the next that I'm not so sure the effort would be worth it. This is why I was considering a shot-in-the-dark plan to start with.

Just a very basic ....(this is just NOT the actual plan of course)
meal one-5oz. chicken breast
two egg whites
one whole egg
multi
10 fish oil caps...... etc.etc. repeat xthree,four,five, whatever times a day.
2000cals total

Just something to narrow down the caloric numbers. THEN, I would begin tweaking the ratios of fat & protein....carbs will always be third in line anyway.

Am I making any sense?

initial weightloss is fast on something like the Atkins diet because you are losing a boat load of water.