fitday.com screenshot...critique.

MadChild

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Up until now I had never counted calories, not one. One reason being I am alergic to numbers. Finally I got my ass into gear and logged on to fitday.com

So critique my diet, tell me what to throw out and what to add. It's my first day of actually putting the numbers together so I didn't know what to expect.

I'm sorry for you Fred Flintstone types with dialup, I smushed the graphics together and I'm just to lazy to type it out.

I'm 6 feet, 192lbs. 20 years old. I'd say around 8-10% bf judging from what I look like since I last measured with calipers...but I can't be sure.

I'm looking to lower my body fat, but certainly not to contest level, just enough so I can start clean bulking in September...if that makes sense.

 
 

motleybreu

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well 8-10%bf...how much lower do you want? lol

your supposed to be maintaining about 2850 calories per day..if you were cutting, say about 2280..your breakdown is pretty good though..44-36-20 is not bad, not bad at all...you'll get some help, just gimme a day or so, the others'll help you out;)
 

MadChild

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I had an inkling that my cals were too low. What about my protein? Could I afford to go without 20g of protein from chicken slices? They're too damn expensive.

As far as calorific expenditure is concerned, I sit on the computer at work from about 10-3:30pm every day plus a 90 minute bus ride to and from work. The only physical activity that gets my heart rate up is 15 minutes of HIIT (which I started today, and I'll be doing 3 times a week), the 15 minutes biking to and from the gym as well as my work out.

As far as body fat % is concerned I want to get to where I can clearly see my abs. I'm not worried about the numbers. The top few are visible, but I guess I want to feel confident that I'm starting with a lean frame before going into bulking.

In the past when I've cut I've ended up losing large pundages of muscle as well as strength.
 

LunaHotel

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Well MadChild if the top few are "visible" but not "clearly" then you are very probably above 12%... Unless you don't train your abs?
 

MadChild

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Then I could very well be over 10%. It's hard to guesstimate body fat %. But, I am contemplating spending 10 bucks plus tax to get a body fat composition test using an electric thing-a-majig at the gym in Ottawa.

Anyway, thanks for the constructive criticism, can you help me out with my diet?
 

LunaHotel

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It's hard to tell just like that. The %'s of F, P and C all look good. The cal's seem VERY low to me... Are you always at 2000cals?

To give you an idea, I'm 5'11" and 210. I eat 3500 cals to maintain... So 2000 for a 192 lbs guy seems anorexic to me... Plus, you're 20 and I'm 35 : your metabolism would -All Other Things Being Equal- be faster than mine...

How many meals a day do you take? I would think that if you eat 5-6 times a day, you can take in 2500 cals and lose more fat.

One last thing you might want to try is a 30-minute bike ride early in the morning before breakfast. Some people advise taking whey in water prior to doing this, but that is not absolutely necessary.

If you absolutely want to average such a low calorie count, you might want to try calorie-cycling, whereby you will AVERAGE a given amount of cals, but you will eat, say 2 days somewhat lower cals than your target and the 3rd day, more. That keeps the metabolism going faster, because you must keep in mind that maintaining a large caloric deficit WILL SLOW DOWN YOUR METABOLISM. This is TO BE AVOIDED.
 

MadChild

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I didn't know I was eating so few calories until I logged on to fitday. When Im on a maintainence diet, without counting calories mind you, I eat more. I spread my meals out in the day.

For example:

Breakfast: Oatmeal & protein shake

Meal 2: Pita with chicken slices

meal 3: canned soup

meal 4: half a protein shake and then the rest 30 min later

meal 5: a can of tuna or chicken breast

Meal 6: pre work out: oatmeal

Post/during work out: protein shake

Post work out: Oatmeal, and chicken breast or tuna.

then I'll have a table spoon of peanut butter if I'm getting hungry before bed. I know I should have casein before bed but I'll end up waking up at least twice in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.

I  usually consume meals 2-4 at work in a relatively close time proximity to each other.

Where should I get my extra calories from? To me, oatmeal seems to be the most logical answer. after I fishish my jar of peanut butter I'll buy some extra virgin olive oil instead.

 Oh yeah, just to add, I've been "maintaining" for quite a while. At the peak of my bulking I was at 210lbs. I got down to 190 at the beginning of may and then got back to 195 until recently. Unfortunately, I do not have access to a scale here in Ottawa, the place I'm staying doesn't have one, my gym doesn't have one! and the gym at work is closed for renovations.
 

motleybreu

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canned soup is high in sodium
oatmeal before workout isn't as wise a choice as say an apple or energy drink
you also should have some dextrose immediately after workout with the protein shake.
 

LunaHotel

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It's obvious to me that since you are NOT burning more fat than you put on with such a LOW calorie intake, some action is required. It is simply abnormal for a young person to consume very small amount of calories and NOT lose fat. Either your metabolism has slowed down, or you are locking away your fat through insulin.

What I would do if *I* were you, is eat lots of green veggies instead of all that starch. Starch has a high glycemic index, which makes you release more insulin. Once insulin has been released, it's a good while until your adipocytes (fat cells) start releasing the fatty acids into your bloodstream for energy - and THAT is precisely what you are trying to maximize.

Starch, just like maltodextrin, is very useful when you want to make really SURE that your muscle cells are fully carb-loaded all the time... In other words, while training for size/strength. But look at all the pros' pre-contest diets ... No starch!

Plus, green veggies have micronutrients, which the starch doesn't have... Well, oatmeal has SOME micronutrient content, but compare that to spinach, red bell peppers, broccoli, asparagus and you'll see what I mean... Consult fitday and just compare, for a given calorie value, the micronutrient content of these foods.

The idea is that food isn't ONLY calories. Your body will very much behave as underfed if it has enough calories, but not enough nutrients. That is what makes some people always hungry. The severely obese often have that same problem : their bodies are always starving (for nutrients) but they are hugely overfed (calories). These people can't tell that "FOOD IS FOOD" isn't true, and they swallow krispy kremes by the truckload and wonder why their bodies don't say "Aaaaah, that's good. I'm replete now."

Maybe someday someone will do a study about micronutrient/calorie intake and leptin (or some other indicator of "fed state") and correlate all that with the ability to lose/gain bodyfat. Until then, this will have to do...

My 0.03 $ ;)
 

MadChild

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Originally posted by motleybreu
canned soup is high in sodium
oatmeal before workout isn't as wise a choice as say an apple or energy drink
you also should have some dextrose immediately after workout with the protein shake.
I do have dextrose immediately following my work out. I posted a question about sodium a while back but I didn't get a difinitive answer as to why I should avoid it. I know it's bad, but I don't really know why, I just drink a lot of water to counteract any ill effects.
 

MadChild

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Originally posted by LunaHotel
It's obvious to me that since you are NOT burning more fat than you put on with such a LOW calorie intake, some action is required. It is simply abnormal for a young person to consume very small amount of calories and NOT lose fat. Either your metabolism has slowed down, or you are locking away your fat through insulin.

What I would do if *I* were you, is eat lots of green veggies instead of all that starch. Starch has a high glycemic index, which makes you release more insulin. Once insulin has been released, it's a good while until your adipocytes (fat cells) start releasing the fatty acids into your bloodstream for energy - and THAT is precisely what you are trying to maximize.

Starch, just like maltodextrin, is very useful when you want to make really SURE that your muscle cells are fully carb-loaded all the time... In other words, while training for size/strength. But look at all the pros' pre-contest diets ... No starch!

Plus, green veggies have micronutrients, which the starch doesn't have... Well, oatmeal has SOME micronutrient content, but compare that to spinach, red bell peppers, broccoli, asparagus and you'll see what I mean... Consult fitday and just compare, for a given calorie value, the micronutrient content of these foods.

The idea is that food isn't ONLY calories. Your body will very much behave as underfed if it has enough calories, but not enough nutrients. That is what makes some people always hungry. The severely obese often have that same problem : their bodies are always starving (for nutrients) but they are hugely overfed (calories). These people can't tell that "FOOD IS FOOD" isn't true, and they swallow krispy kremes by the truckload and wonder why their bodies don't say "Aaaaah, that's good. I'm replete now."

Maybe someday someone will do a study about micronutrient/calorie intake and leptin (or some other indicator of "fed state") and correlate all that with the ability to lose/gain bodyfat. Until then, this will have to do...

My 0.03 $ ;)
That's helpful. I take a "super" multi vitamin plus extra vitamin C every morning and I take a B complex, zinc and magnesium before bed. I know that pills and supplements aren't as good as real food.

Admittedly, I've been really bad regarding fresh fruits and vegetables. One of the reasons is that I'm living away from home (for the first time) for the summer and so I get lazy making meals and buying food. I go home in August so I'll conveniently have fruits and veggies in the fridge to add to my diet as needed.

Also, the quick oats are something like 65 on the GI. After this bag I'm going to buy regular oats with fibre that are lower on the index.

Keep in mind I haven't even been on this diet for a week so I won't be able to see results for a while.

 
 

LunaHotel

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Ah, well. then that changes things some... But really, the veggies are EXTREMELY important.

Sodium is "bad" because it makes you hold water OUTSIDE of your tissue... Namely, it reduces your blood volume, and the amount of water in EVERYTHING including muscles, the brain, your organs, to put it... In between your skin and muscle. Yep. Sodium also raises your blood pressure, which may very well be a direct effect of having "thicker" blood from getting all the water removed from it.

Potassium, OTOH, does the reverse. taking the water into your organs and tissue. Optimally you would have both sodium and potassium every day and every meal, because with zero sodium/potassium you can't hold water, neither INSIDE nor OUTSIDE of your organs... Including blood, skin, brain, heart, kidneys, liver, etc. If that sounds bad, well, it is simply because it IS. Of course, it is nearly impossible to eat food without either Potassium or Sodium in it regularly enough that you would experience this.

"Table Salt" is NaCl, which is Sodium Chloride. There is ONLY sodium in there, no potassium. Bad. Too much of it ruins the heart, the blood vessels, the joints and with time, even more.

The solution here is to balance the amount of sodium with the amount of potassium that you take in. Using sea salt instead of table salt will do wonders, as sea salt is well-balanced, being about 55% potassium and 45% sodium by weight ( not counting the Cl - d0h )

There is no need to go overboard in monitoring your sodium/potassium balance, just make sure you have some of both. If you use a lot of canned/prepared foods, you might want to use a no-sodium salt substitute, Potassium Chloride, which will counteract the effects of too much sodium.

Pizza, junk food in general, is FILLED with sodium. Green veggies have both sodium and potassium in them, usually more of the latter, another reason why it's a good idea to keep them handy. ;)
 

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