Please Critique, Any help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks!

[Mr_Fixit]

Hello,



I’m relatively new here, but have been lurking around to get the feel of the board. I see that there are many
members here with a great wealth of knowledge about eating healthy. I am currently trying to eat healthy,
you see I’m 18, and weight about 215- 220 pounds. Two years ago I was taking martial arts and weigh about
185. Unfortunately, I stopped doing martial arts and gained about 30 pounds of fat within the last two years.
I have become a coach potato and am the laziest person ever to be born. I eat pure junk food and most of my
food comes from fast food. I don’t eat much healthy food and once I finish eating my fast food, it usually makes
me tired and I go to sleep. I need to change my life and become a healthier person, so I would appreciate if you
guys can critique the nutritional plan I made.


Age

18



Height

5’8’’



BMR

2278 Low Activity



Body Fat %

Unknown, but I have a lot fat around midsection



Beverages

2% Milk

100% Juice (made with fruit extractor)

Crystal Light

Gatorade w/ whey isolate

Protein Shake w/ whey isolate

Water (at least one gallon per day)



Nutrition Plan

Run for 20-30 min at 6:00 AM



Meal 1 (7:00 am)

3 whole eggs scrambled
-1 cup of oatmeal prepared with water: stir in one teaspoon of all-fruit jam or artificial sweetener

Snack 1 (10:00 am)
Dannon's carb control yogurt (70 calories)



Meal 2 (1:00 pm)
1/2 cup cooked brown basmati rice
-5oz. chicken or fish prepared without fat
-2 cups of steamed non starchy veggies


Snack 2 (4:00 pm)
Workout shake w/ whey protein

Workout weight training 5-6 PM

Meal 3 (7:00 pm)
5oz. fish prepared without fat.
-1 salad.
-2 cups of steamed non starchy veggies


Snack 3 (10:00 pm)
Cottage cheese (sodium free) with blue berries and grounded flax seeds



Okay fellas, I’m trying to lose weight here so rip this diet up if you feel I’m eating way too much or too little. I read
that in order to lose weight I have to deduct 500 calories from my BMR, which to me it seems like I’m eating too
little calories, 1778 a day. I haven’t really counted calories on this diet, but I’m sure anything right now is better
than my current diet. What would be better a pre or post work out shake, and should I take it 2 hours before or
after working out? Should I drink a Gatorade with whey isolate or a shake after working out? Also, does anybody
have any good shake recipes? Should I been eating more whey isolate other than making my pre or post workout
shake? Sorry for asking all these questions at one time and I hope you can bare with me. Thanks!

 

[Giantz11]

Your on the right track and I comend you for that. I was pretty much in the same situation as you not too long ago. Used to be a D-1 athlete in college then came my 5th year where I was no longer eligible, took the entire year off got fat lazy and disgusting. Anyways here are some things I'd change:

Make your running 45 min, 60-75% max heart rate.

If you are going to eat a Pro/Carb meal after running, wait at least 45 min. If you want to eat sooner just eat a Pro/fat meal. Try not to eat whole eggs and oats, seperate fats from carbs as much as possible.

I'd nix all the 100% fruit juice, nothing but sugar!

You absolutely need to having some carbs Post Work Out. Gatorade would be fine if you want to utilize simple carbs you can use gatorade, I'd just use Dextrose instead. You can also utilize oats etc...Up to you! You also need another meal after that that consists of Pro/Carb (Low GI good carbs, i.e. Oats, Yams, Rice etc...). Make sure your macros fit your daily requirements however.

Have an eating plan for training days as well as non-training days.


Here's a quick sample of a training day:

5:30am ECA Stack
6:00am Cardio
7:30am Eggs, Egg Whites, Cheese
10:00am Whey/ Flax Shake
12:00pm ECA
12:30 Lean Meat w/ Good Fat & Veggies
3:00pm Whey/Flax,Natty PB etc...
5:00pm Apple
5:30 Workout
6:30 PWO Shake
8:30 PPWO Meal

Try and take it from here! This is just an example by the way, it very similar to what I have been using and I've been dropping BF nicely and keeping all my muscle. Good Luck!

 

[Mr_Fixit]

Your on the right track and I comend you for that. I was pretty much in the same situation as you not too long ago. Used to be a D-1 athlete in college then came my 5th year where I was no longer eligible, took the entire year off got fat lazy and disgusting. Anyways here are some things I'd change:

Make your running 45 min, 60-75% max heart rate.

If you are going to eat a Pro/Carb meal after running, wait at least 45 min. If you want to eat sooner just eat a Pro/fat meal. Try not to eat whole eggs and oats, seperate fats from carbs as much as possible.

I'd nix all the 100% fruit juice, nothing but sugar!

You absolutely need to having some carbs Post Work Out. Gatorade would be fine if you want to utilize simple carbs you can use gatorade, I'd just use Dextrose instead. You can also utilize oats etc...Up to you! You also need another meal after that that consists of Pro/Carb (Low GI good carbs, i.e. Oats, Yams, Rice etc...). Make sure your macros fit your daily requirements however.

Have an eating plan for training days as well as non-training days.


Here's a quick sample of a training day:

5:30am ECA Stack
6:00am Cardio
7:30am Eggs, Egg Whites, Cheese
10:00am Whey/ Flax Shake
12:00pm ECA
12:30 Lean Meat w/ Good Fat & Veggies
3:00pm Whey/Flax,Natty PB etc...
5:00pm Apple
5:30 Workout
6:30 PWO Shake
8:30 PPWO Meal

Try and take it from here! This is just an example by the way, it very similar to what I have been using and I've been dropping BF nicely and keeping all my muscle. Good Luck!

Thanks, this information is very useful. I appreciate it, anybody else have anything they can add? Oh yeah, how much cottage cheese should I be eating at night, I dont want to eat too much.

 

[Giantz11]

Oh yeah, how much cottage cheese should I be eating at night

Thats something you have to work into your daily calorie requirements. I would only eat the cottage w/ flax (Pro/Fat) before bed on a non-training day. Otherwise you'll have carbs present and thats a no no!

 

[Magickk]

What would be better a pre or post work out shake, and should I take it 2 hours before or after working out?

First of all, like Giantz11 said, you've got a very good start and a pretty solid plan laid out there. As far as the shake goes, if you want you can take one before, but make sure it's a while before (like 2 hours). And if you take one post-workout, take is ASAP, like, within the first 15 minutes after your workout so your muscle soak up all that protein that they're cravin. Also, I would suggest regulating your calories slowly. if you've been eating garbage and "mostly fast food" all the time, chances are good you're at 5000+ cals / day. If I were you, I'd start out at maintenance, then drop down 100 calories / day as time goes on, until you get to the caloric intake you desire. This is an awesome tool that should help you get an idea of how much of what you're going to be needing.
http://michaelandkendra.com/BMRCALC/bmrcalc.htm
It's generally recommended to do 55/35/10 protein/carbs/fat ratio when you're losing fat. So I would try that and see where it puts you!
Good luck!

 

[Mr_Fixit]

Confused?

Hey Magickk,

The website your recommended is great. However, I have a few
questions if you don't mind answering. I just weigh myself and
found out I weigh about 214lb, now using this information I found
out that my BMR w/ little to no exercise is 2586. Now, here comes
the confusing part for me if I want to lose 1lb pound per week it says
I must only consume 2068 calories, if I want to lose 2lbs per week
I must only consume 1568 calories, and if i want to lose 3lbs per week
I must only consume 1068 calories. It states that the recommended
calorie range for cutting fat at my current weight is between 2140 to
2568. If I don't do any exercise at all right now, and I start working out
everyday, it is obviously that I will have to eat more to have the energy
to workout. How many calories do you think would be sutable for me to
lose about 2lbs-3lbs per week and have still have enough energy to work
out? Eating only 1068 calories a day to lose 3lbs a week seems a bit
too low, and dangerous, don't you thing so? I dont want to over eat
but at the same time under eat which can put me me in serious risk.
Please if you can answer this question I would be in debt with you.
Thanks and take care.

 

[kwantam]

Patience is the key.

Start exercising and eating cleanly, aim for 2500 cals a day, and gauge your progress after a couple weeks. Based on that progress, modify your caloric intake. Re-assess every couple weeks, taking into account that as you lose weight you should probably cut out a few more cals.

-kwantam

 

[dsl]

nevermind--that's what i get for not reading all the posts

 

[Magickk]

Hey Magickk,

The website your recommended is great. However, I have a few
questions if you don't mind answering. I just weigh myself and
found out I weigh about 214lb, now using this information I found
out that my BMR w/ little to no exercise is 2586. Now, here comes
the confusing part for me if I want to lose 1lb pound per week it says
I must only consume 2068 calories, if I want to lose 2lbs per week
I must only consume 1568 calories, and if i want to lose 3lbs per week
I must only consume 1068 calories. It states that the recommended
calorie range for cutting fat at my current weight is between 2140 to
2568. If I don't do any exercise at all right now, and I start working out
everyday, it is obviously that I will have to eat more to have the energy
to workout. How many calories do you think would be sutable for me to
lose about 2lbs-3lbs per week and have still have enough energy to work
out? Eating only 1068 calories a day to lose 3lbs a week seems a bit
too low, and dangerous, don't you thing so? I dont want to over eat
but at the same time under eat which can put me me in serious risk.
Please if you can answer this question I would be in debt with you.
Thanks and take care.

Well, I'm by no means a nutritional expert, so take this how you may. I played with the tool, and if you'll notice something, the "recommended caloric intake for cutting fat at your current weight" NEVER changes; it's based on the weight you enter in step 1. However, the "lose 1 lb / wk, lose 2 lb / wk, lose 3 lb / wk" boxes change based on the calorie requirement you get based on your activity level. My guess is, you input your lifestyle as basically "sedate", and given this lifestyle, yes, consuming 1100 calories at your weight wouldn't be that harsh, keep in mind this is assuming you're doing no exercise and being a couch potatoe! And like I said in my previous post, I would recommend easing into it by tapering your cals down gradually.

If you're going to be working out everyday, you need to input the calorie requirement equivalent to a very active lifestyle. This is because you're going to be burning a lot of calories if you're working out 6-7 days per week. This should give you a higher # in the cals department. I'm guess the "lose 3 lbs/wk" will be just in the lower portion of the "recommended calorie range for cutting fat" if you select this lifestyle rather than couch potatoe! Hope this helps ya some...

 

[Anarchy939]

First of all, like Giantz11 said, you've got a very good start and a pretty solid plan laid out there. As far as the shake goes, if you want you can take one before, but make sure it's a while before (like 2 hours). And if you take one post-workout, take is ASAP, like, within the first 15 minutes after your workout so your muscle soak up all that protein that they're cravin. Also, I would suggest regulating your calories slowly. if you've been eating garbage and "mostly fast food" all the time, chances are good you're at 5000+ cals / day. If I were you, I'd start out at maintenance, then drop down 100 calories / day as time goes on, until you get to the caloric intake you desire. This is an awesome tool that should help you get an idea of how much of what you're going to be needing.
http://michaelandkendra.com/BMRCALC/bmrcalc.htm
It's generally recommended to do 55/35/10 protein/carbs/fat ratio when you're losing fat. So I would try that and see where it puts you!
Good luck!

....one question, that would it be more accurate to enter your LBM as opposed to your overall body mass? I checked out the bulking link at it says I should aim for 3600 cals to add 1/2lb/week at a lightly active level.. hmm.

 

[dsl]

that formula uses your actual bodyweight

 

[exnihilo]

In your case I'd suggest just hiring a trainer. I can say that Bobo has produced results for people trying to lose weight and become fit - If you were in a different situation I'd critique your diet and give exercise suggestions but you are much better served just having someone take the reigns for you I think, someone that will get you results and really drill into you the behaviors you need to engage in to be fit and healthy...

 

[Mr_Fixit]

Yeah

In your case I'd suggest just hiring a trainer. I can say that Bobo has produced results for people trying to lose weight and become fit - If you were in a different situation I'd critique your diet and give exercise suggestions but you are much better served just having someone take the reigns for you I think, someone that will get you results and really drill into you the behaviors you need to engage in to be fit and healthy...

Yeah, I'm going to try to lose the weight myself, I know once I change my diet and start working out I'm going to see changes in my physique. I want to hire bobo in the future to get cut, but until know I will try to lose the weight with the knowledge I learned on this board. I do think you give out great advice from what I read and would appreciate if you commented on my diet. Thanks and take care!

 

[Scottyo]

You've gotten some solid advice here. Although the remarks on having carbs and fats in the same meal as a no-no can be ignored. What I would do to modify your existing plan is to drop the 1 cup of oatmeal post cardio. Have 3 eggs and maybe a few extra egg whites or some ff cheese or ff cottage cheese.

Then add the oatmeal to the post workout meal with the fish. With an overall change of diet and exercise, you're going to see noticeable results whatever you do as long as you have a fairly reasonable plan. That said, get used to eating a healthy diet now and after a few weeks you could even cut the cardio down (with the intention of adding it back in again maybe a month later when the fatloss stalls a bit). Also, you ddint mention your workout routine...which is extremely important as well.
Finally, if you think your bf is pretty high up there....I would go low carb on your OFF days. And if the workouts start getting intense and you need a little more, do not be scared to add a little gatorade to your preworkout shake...although an hour before is a little long, perhaps 30-15 mins would be better.