My daily diet: Can I get Opinions please?

A little run down.. I lost 100 pounds in 2006 (went from 300 to 200) and gained some and lost some in 2007 (weighed about 230 for 3-4 months, then got up to 265, then back down to 245) at the end of 2007 and up till april of 2008 I gained and went up to 285. 6 weeks ago I started this diet and 4-5 days a week in the gym and I have lost about 10 pounds, but I think that mostly I am losing body fat and gaining/retaining my muscle mass. I have lost some inches but mostly noticing definition and fat loss, not a lot of actual pounds gone. I want to cut and get down to about 225-235, however, I do not want to lose any muscle! Any help or thoughts would greatly be appreciated.

*note* my gains in weight were due to not working out and eating unhealthy, my losses in weight were when i was back in the gym and eating healthy again. You can tell my workout periods arent too consistent

What do any of you fighters think of this day to day diet plan? How effective do you think it will be combined with a 5 day a week workout regime with cardio, weights, mma training, etc?

Breakfast:
Bowl of Cereal/Granola w/ fresh cut fruit and Soy Milk
2 Hard Boiled Eggs w/o yoke
1 Protein Shake mixed w/ water

Mid-Morning Snack:
1 Cliff Bar

Lunch:
1/3 Pound of Low Sodium Turkey meat
1 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast Filet
2 Cups of Brocolli

Mid-Afternoon Snack:
1 Protein Shake mixed w/ water
Fresh Fruit

Pre workout Snack:
Fresh Fruit or Mixed Nuts

Post Workout:
1 Protein Shake mixed w/ water

Dinner:
Large Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
Or
Large Filet of Salmon
Or
Large Extra Lean Ground Turkey Burger w/o bun
2 Servings of Steamed Veggie
Brown Rice

 

Not too shabby, but I think you need a bit more in the way of carbs, unless you're trying to cut. I would add some kind of low GI, complex carbs to your lunch or afternoon snack, and some simple carbs during or right after your workout. I would also take out the protein shake at breakfast, you can easily eat some whole food sources like cottage cheese or yogurt; always remember that protein shakes are for convenience, not because they are inherently superior.

 

I edited my post with more info. Thanks!

 

More veggies. Like..every meal

 

My recommendations don't really change, given that info. I know everyone's crazy about lowering their carbs to lose weight, but if you don't replenish your muscles' glycogen stores, they very quickly start breaking down proteins for fuel, and you will lose muscle (and thus have a hard time losing weight). The work you do in the gym is going to lose you the weight, not going on a low carb diet. So don't eat anything with a high GI except during/after workouts, but make sure you're getting enough carbs to refuel.

 

Ok. What alterations do you recommend? Like what time and what should I eat? Replace something im eating already? Thoughts?

 

Maybe add some whole wheat/multigrain bread to your lunch (i.e., a sandwich), and drink gatorade or an alternative during any long conditioning workouts (not during lifts). Your goal is to enable yourself to work out as intensely as possible, thus burning the most fat, and having an adequate carbohydrate intake is essential for that. Your secondary goal is to not store any fat during the rest of the day, which is the reason for the low GI carbs. It's really best if you get a good understanding of the physiology involved, rather than just taking directions from a forum; that way you can make educated choices about what to eat in any situation, and minimize the losses you will have when you inevitably get lazy again.

 

Thank you very much. I will start today with the whole wheat/grain bread. I'll have 2 slices with my lunch today. what is a good carb to eat around mid afternoon? like 330ish, and before my workout. I know it is good to have carbs before your workout, obviously so you have enough energy, but I also hear that too many carbs and you will be burning only carbs and not calories or fat.

 

That's not exactly true. Your body will always be searching for carbohydrates to use during exercise, and if it doesn't find them it will generally start using protein, which you don't want. The proportion of energy that you burn from fat stores is pretty much constant, and only increases with greater fitness.

 

Personally I'd like you to replace that Cereal and granola with some oatmeal. Both cereal and granola are loaded with sugar (depends on what type of course), and I'd like to see some more protein in there too.
I think a better breakfast would be oatmeal, with sliced fruit (no need to be stingy with your fruit, the sugar here is much better than what you'd get in most cereals, etc), 6 eggwhites scrambled (little bit of hot sauce or something equally calorie free, but packed with taste). Digest that for a bit and then hit your shake.

Aside from the breakfast meal not being perfect in your plan, with as much training as you're doing, I think you're bound to see improvements.

Oh upon further review, I'd like to see you move brown rice to lunch and lose all those carbs around dinner. You're eating enough food, to get a full sensation, no need to pack in the carbs as well.

How tall are you by the way? Losing 10lbs in 6 weeks at your weight isn't very impressive, so either you're quite tall or there was some cheating going on.

 

What kind of soy milk? If it's flavored it seems like a huge waste when you could just drink regular low-fat milk and be getting a better nutritional profile. Unless you're lactose intolerant.

 

I am 6'2" and you know I was thinking the same thing actually. Ive had much larger weight drops before, but I think it is a result of of my high protein intake and eating a lot more then I did before when tryign to lose weight. I definately know that I have lost body fat. I need to get my BF % and check that as I go. I havent really cheated at all to be honest, I maybe treat myself once a week if that for a single meal, and im not talking Big Macs from Mcdonalds, i'll go out to a nice dinner adn have whatever I want. Thoughts?

Thank you very much, I am going to try your breakfast recommendations starting tomorrow. I already added in a few slices of whole wheat/grain bread today, one at lunch and one right now at my mid afternoon snack.

 

I have always been told Soy Milk in general is just healthier and better then regular milk.. its a light low fat soy milk, Silk Plain Light, 2 grams of fat. Thoughts?

 

By the way, what and how much training daily are you doing? I don't think we need a set by set break down, but often people think they're working far harder than they really are.

The diet, even without any of the tweaks I mentioned is definitely way more on point than most peoples.

 

I get in the gym about 4-5 times a week. I always do 20-30 minutes on the treadmill to start, medium jog the whole time and sprint the last 2 minutes. Each workout is broken into either; Chest/Tri's, Back/Bi's; Shoulders/Traps; & Legs. So basically 4 days a week weights, 4-5 Days a week cardio, and I try and do abs every other day. Im still sore after each workout at a moderate level so I think I am hitting the weights pretty hard. I get to the gym at 6 and leave around 8:30-9

 

hit the weights first then run

unless its a light warmup jog, but yours doesn't sound like that.

so weights first, then run

 

Why is that? I'll try it today. What does it do exactly?

 

I would disagree. It's very hard to put in a quality cardio effort after doing heavy weights, whereas I usually feel stronger after doing cardio if it's less than an hour.

 

well i guess it would depend on your goals (weight loss or running performance) im guessing you want weight loss

for most guys, they wanna build muscle first, burn fat with added ****bolism that the muscle brings (plus you look better)
why hinder your gains on building muscle by using up glycogen stores prior by running (yes i know that running is an aerobic exercise, therefore uses fat as its main source of energy)
however, glycogen does get used (it switches back and forth), as well as you are tired for your lifts meaning you aren't lifting to your max potential.

instead, burn all the glycogen out your system with a highly anaerobic exercise (like lifting)
and then force your body to burn a higher ratio of fat when running due to the fact that you have very little glucose left.

when running for weightloss and not performance, you dont need high glucose.

i think weights then run is a better combo for weightloss as opposed to running then weights

this isn't backed by science, but just my own thoughts. so take it with a grain of salt.

but know this, morning fasted cardio is the best fat burn exercise (cause you have depleted glucose stores while sleeping), but it also catabolizes some muscle.

but if you are a complete fatass, the give and take might be worth it.

 

Since most of the TS' focus seems to be on getting back into shape, while keeping muscle I agree with the above. If his goal was to perform at his peak running or in any other endurance capacity I'd probably say do the running first. The TS will get a much better muscular workout if he lifts first. The trick will be forcing himself to finish his cardio session after a brutal session with weights. I always found it tough to do my cardio after lifting. If you can break it up and do cardio in the morning on an empty stomach then later in the day hit weights after you've had plenty of your calories and nutrition, I'd say this would be optimal, and finish off with a small cardio session.