I dont want to diet, HELP!

[swick]

Hello everyone,

I am new to this board and new to weight training. I've been doing it for about 3 months on a consitant basis and am so far happy with the results.

Stats:

19 yrs old.
5'10" - 5'11" (somewhere around there)
173 lbs.
not sure on the body fat. But I dont think its much. I want to lose around 5-10 more lbs of FAT but dont want to lose any muscle.

Training:

sun & wed: back, shoulders, chest, abs, 30 min cardio
mon & thurs: arms, legs, a little abs, 30 min cardio


The only thing im NOT happy with is the little pudge of fat around my stomach that just wont go away and it pisses me off. So I figured I need to cut, but to cut you need to diet, right? I basically want the ABS in time for summer.

I will diet to some degree, but I really CANT go ALL OUT with it. I dont want to count every little calorie I take in a day and I really dont see how you all do it. I drink beer ocassionally and I go out to eat occassionally so its just not practical for me. It just seems a little ridiculous. I figured with my age and weight that working out on a consistant basis would make me cut enough. Nothing is consitant with my current diet but I really dont eat that much junk food or anything. Eggs in the morning with ham and toast, chinese later on in the day, banana and salad here and there. It varies from day to day.

I heard about the hIIt cardio training and I just started doing that tonight and I am impressed with how much it wore me out when I was done. Im also trying to take in as little sugar as possible. Im starting on protein powder and trying to spread my meals apart too.

Do you think I need to get on a complicated diet just to lose this pudge? Or do you think with the hIIt cardio and watching the sugar I can get rid of it and cut up? What about the carb cycle diet? I read about that and it said it was used to MAINTAIN your current status. I want to cut, not maintain. I also want to bulk at the same time so Im kinda confused on where to go...

Im not sure if just needs to take longer or what, but I dont think so because I havent seen much fat loss in the past month as I did in the first 2.

Sorry for all these questions. This board is awesome and I appreciate anything anyone has to tell me. I know you probably cant tell me much since im not on any kind of diet right now and you really have no idea what I eat, but any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks alot!

 

[atherjen]

ok choose one goal at a time.... bulk or cut.
and yes the carb cycling is used for cutting as well.
you need to lower your drinking(alcohol) and focus on diet first.
how about posting what you eat on a normal day.
ie.
meal 1
meal 2,
etc.
note the time, and how much you ate and when you train
we can add small tweaks from there.
and yes IMO HIIT cardio is the best form there is.

 

[swick]

I'll try to get as close as I can to my current eating habits.

Meal 1 - Bananna/ Glass of milk - 7: 30 AM (soon to add protein shake)

Meal 2 - 2 whole eggs, 2 toast w/ butter, 2 slices of ham. (this is pretty consistant), glass of orange juice, 10: 30 AM

Meal 3 - Bowl of cheerios w/ 2% milk, 3-4 PM

Meal 4 - Chinese buffet - brown rice, chicken, shrimp, brocolli (going to cut the soda from this) 7:00 PM

TRAINING TIME 8:00 - 11:00 PM

Meal 5 - salad or mabey some type of small snack with milk
(going to add a protein shake here also.)

There is an example of a day in my diet. It definately varies alot tho from day to day. Im going to try to make it more consistant tho with the 5 meals.

Im not sure if I should cut because im really not THAT muscular yet, but I want to look good for the summer so Im not really sure what I should do.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[atherjen]

Meal 1 - Bananna/ Glass of milk - 7: 30 AM (soon to add protein shake)

drop the banana, opt for berries or small apple(less sugar) and cut it to half the serving of milk. OR get in some oatmeal or fiber cereal. add in the protein shake for sure.. you could also add in some healthy fats as I see none in your diet.

Meal 2 - 2 whole eggs, 2 toast w/ butter, 2 slices of ham. (this is pretty consistant), glass of orange juice, 10: 30 AM

how about 1 whole egg and a few more egg whites. drop the butter/toast and add in oats, fiber cereal, brown rice or sweet potatoes. is the ham deli style?? also drop the juice, too high in sugars.

Meal 3 - Bowl of cheerios w/ 2% milk, 3-4 PM

ok this meal sucks. you need lean protein source(fish, poultry, cottage cheese, whey protein, lean beef..), some VEGGIES, healthy FATS

Meal 4 - Chinese buffet - brown rice, chicken, shrimp, brocolli (going to cut the soda from this) 7:00 PM.

is the brown rice steamed? nothing added? is it skinless chicken breast? no sauces on them is there? defintly cut out that soda too.

.Meal 5 - salad or mabey some type of small snack with milk (going to add a protein shake here also.)

this is post workout therefore you NEED carbs and protein. defintly get in that protein shake, drop the milk and salad and get in some carbs... brown rice, sweet potatoes, oats, etc. dont worry about the carbs late.. you just trained and your the nutrients will be efficiently utilized.

 

[swick]

Ok, if I follow a diet similar to what you suggested and dont cheat at all, what exactly will happen? Will my pudge disappear? Is this cutting? If not, will I need to cut anymore? How long will this take to see results on this diet?

Thanks

 

[Vieope]

Originally posted by swick
Do you think I need to get on a complicated diet just to lose this pudge?

Naaaahhhhh
Just eat healthy foods, that is all.

 

[atherjen]

Originally posted by swick
Ok, if I follow a diet similar to what you suggested and dont cheat at all, what exactly will happen? Will my pudge disappear? Is this cutting? If not, will I need to cut anymore? How long will this take to see results on this diet?

Thanks

well compared to your previous diet, making these healthier and wiser choices will yes lead to fat loss.as long as you are consistant with diet and training then changes can be made. it greatly depends on how much dedication you decide to put forth.
as for how long-depends. each person varys. but Im sure you will notice changes. you dont know unless you try!

 

[Nuclear Blast]

Too much dairy. Chinese is loaded with Sodium. The sodium will stall your weight loss. Cut out the O.J. (too much sugars). You really have to clean up the diet and be consistent with your eating times and you WILL notice results!

 

[jaim91]

Are you sure she'd be taking in enough calories/ macros/ micros if she followed the suggested diet plans. If she's training 3 hours per day, every day, then I think she might want to bump it up a bit.

 

[Spitfire]

Did you read the thread?^

 

[swick]

Im a dude by the way.

 

[swick]

Ok, this is what I ate today, how does this sound?

Meal 1 - Protein Shake (mixed with skim milk), 1 whole egg, 2 egg whites, 2 small peices of ham, Water (10:00 AM)

Meal 2 - Tuna sandwhich (whole wheat bread), Bottle of water (1:00 PM)

Meal 3 - Protein Shake, 3 Beef/Chicken Mexican Taquitos (4:00 PM) Water

Meal 4 - 4 Peices of Buffalo Chicken Tenders, a salad (8:00 PM) Water

Meal 5 - Baked Potato, Protein Shake (11:00 PM) Water

Help me tweak my diet. I think im pretty close. I didnt train today either, should I treat my days off any differently?

Another question: What's the bad part about pizza?

Thanks!

 

[Nuclear Blast]

Not sure what a Mexican taquito is but doesn't sound healty and Buffalo Chicken Tenders are definitely a NO NO. Most tenders are either fried or contain some type of fattening sauce with sugar. Pizza is made with white doe(bad), cheese(fattening)and sauce which usually contains sugars, etc. The toppings usually are equally as bad for you. The baked Potato at 11:00 PM is not good. You shouldn't be having carbs (especially a potato) at that time. The reason being is that your metabolism slows down and a potato has a high GI index. It will spike your insulin and be stored as fat. I'd rather see you eat the potato earlier in the day if you're going to eat one. Sweet potatoes would we a wiser and better choice! And for breakfast try eating 5-6 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal and maybe and apple or 1/2 a bannana.

 

[jaim91]

So swick...lol...didn't know. When you eat that late 11 pm, do you find it takes you a while to get to sleep because of the digestion process? Would it interfere with your schedule to eat dinner a little earlier, and then push that meal back a bit?

 

[atherjen]

Originally posted by swick
Ok, this is what I ate today, how does this sound?

Meal 1 - Protein Shake (mixed with skim milk), 1 whole egg, 2 egg whites, 2 small peices of ham, Water (10:00 AM)

Meal 2 - Tuna sandwhich (whole wheat bread), Bottle of water (1:00 PM)

Meal 3 - Protein Shake, 3 Beef/Chicken Mexican Taquitos (4:00 PM) Water

Meal 4 - 4 Peices of Buffalo Chicken Tenders, a salad (8:00 PM) Water

Meal 5 - Baked Potato, Protein Shake (11:00 PM) Water

Help me tweak my diet. I think im pretty close. I didnt train today either, should I treat my days off any differently?

Another question: What's the bad part about pizza?

Thanks!

how about cutting back on the protein a lil in meal 1(ditching the ham-its high in sodium anyways) and adding in some complex carbs like old fashioned oatmeal or bran cereal?

I would suggest droping the bread-add in some brown rice or sweet potato. you need some VEGGIES too!

what are Mexican Taquitos?? I dont like the sound of those. how about adding in some EFA's as I dont see any in your diet.
WHEN do you train? between what meals??

where do you get the buffalo tenders? those sound too processed and high in fats/sodium. how about adding in a lean protein source and some EFA's as well.

did you just finish training at 11pm?? if not drop the potato. add in some veggies and healthy fats.
the potato and shake would be fine post workout only.

pizza-high in saturated/trans fats, sodium, processed carbs and calories.

 

[jaim91]

Do you like fruit? It seems that you don't have any...

 

[swick]

ok, how does this sound? (times vary but intervals are the same, this is on a school day)

Meal 1 - Protein Shake, multivitamin, 8:00 AM

Class

Meal 2 - 3 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 2 peices of whole wheat toast, Water, 10:00 AM

Class

Meal 3 - Salad with about half a can of tuna mixed in. (bluecheese dressing?) Water, 12-1:00 PM

Meal 4 - Protein Shake + carb source (cereal, couple peices of bread) 4-5:00 PM

TRAIN 6:00 - 9:00 PM

Meal 5 - Protein shake, baked potato (would it be ok to add steak to this? Butter ok?) 9:30 PM

Sometimes I have a 6th meal of a few egg whites or a slab of steak.

Do you think this is closer to essential for muscle building and fat loss? Can I mix and match some of these things? I try to eat half a bannana in one of those meals also for fruits.

Also, do you think it will be neccessary for me to start counting calories just to get my abs showing? Im really trying to avoid that.

 

[atherjen]

Originally posted by swick
ok, how does this sound? (times vary but intervals are the same, this is on a school day)

Meal 1 - Protein Shake, multivitamin, 8:00 AM
how about adding in some healthy fats?? or some oatmeal?

Class

Meal 2 - 3 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 2 peices of whole wheat toast, Water, 10:00 AM
hmmmmm I would drop the bread. or else not have it every day. I think you need a lil more protein here too.

Class

Meal 3 - Salad with about half a can of tuna mixed in. (bluecheese dressing?) Water, 12-1:00 PM
no dressing unless it is low call. vinegrettes are great and hardly no added sugar.beware of sodium in those Fatfree types as well. add some EFA's here. how about putting some olive oil or flax or hempseed oil drizzled on your salad?

Meal 4 - Protein Shake + carb source (cereal, couple peices of bread) 4-5:00 PM
no bread or cereal..how about oats or sweet potato or rice or small peice of fruit?

TRAIN 6:00 - 9:00 PM

Meal 5 - Protein shake, baked potato (would it be ok to add steak to this? Butter ok?) 9:30 PM
why is your training SO long???? 3 hours?? just the shake and potato post workout. no steak, no butter.

Sometimes I have a 6th meal of a few egg whites or a slab of steak.
you dont seem like your geting enough protein, veggies or EFA's. I would add in the 6th meal of lean protein, lotsa of veggies and some healthy fats.

Do you think this is closer to essential for muscle building and fat loss? Can I mix and match some of these things? I try to eat half a bannana in one of those meals also for fruits.
with making a few more of the tweaks as I mentioned its defintly sufficeint to aid in fat loss goals. I would also cut out the banana. it is high sugar fruit. how about going for berries or apples/pears?

Also, do you think it will be neccessary for me to start counting calories just to get my abs showing? Im really trying to avoid that.
well if you are trying to avoid that and all the fuss, stick to clean eating as suggested and you should be fine. however when you begin to notice a slow and plateau it would be very wise to keep track a bit more closely

 

[swick]

well, I dont like oatmeal. Whats wrong with bread? What are some good EFA's? I cant have steak?

 

[atherjen]

bread is highly procressed, lack of nutrients.
how about fiber cereal? sweet potatos? brown or wild rice?
yes you can have steak - lean though. inside round, top sirloin, flank, etc.
EFA's - fatty fish and/or fish oil caps, hempseed oil, flax oil, Udos oil, olive oil, avocados, natural nut butters, nuts/seeds in moderation

 

[jaim91]

It's a great improvement from the first menu you posted. Kudos to you for your progess!

 

[swick]

Just another question:

It seems like Im taking in more calories overall with all these meals then I was before. Won't this cause a weight GAIN? (mabey im not tho, dunno)

Also, I was thinking mabey I should just go ahead and incorporate carb cycling with my improved diet just to see faster results. Like I mentioned, my main priority is to have my abs showing well by the summer time. What do you think? What are the disadvantages of doing this?

 

[jaim91]

You're not taking in too many calories if you are exercising to work them off. And it's not always about the calories, it's also about the protein, fat grams, carbs, fibre, etc. Those are more important. Obviously, if you have a lot more protein than you did before, you're going to have a lot more cals. Either way, I think, although your diet could use a little more fine tuning, it's pretty good.