My diet - please critique

[Mavrick]

I started working out a month and a half ago, and I'm seeing huge gains in strength and in mass. I work 2 muscle groups each day, but skipping the weekends. I weigh 155 lbs, and I think I'm getting enough protein.

The following is my meal plan:

Breakfast:
5 boiled egg whites (approximately 35g of protein)
Oatmeal and grits
3 half peaches

Lunch
1 meat (fish, baked chicken, tuna sandwich, or turkey sandwich)
2 vegetables (usually lima, kidney, or butter beans a greens or carrots)

After workout protein shake: 2 cups (50g) + high protein 2% milk

Dinner:
Either 2 turkey sandwiches (wheat) or something similar to lunch.

When I work out I go as heavy as possible with 3x10s on each workout, and I do no cardio. I'm trying to bulk up. I want to get the most out of my workouts and meal plan, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[wolf116]

You have much to learn, read the H&F vault. Posts by EFFORT and Warboss Alex are a great place to start.

 

[Mavrick]

You have much to learn, read the H&F vault. Posts by EFFORT and Warboss Alex are a great place to start.

Thanks, man. I started looking through there and already I see I'm not eating enough.

 

[DannykDJ]

You should aim for about at least 1.5g of protein for each pound of bodyweight right now. So you should be getting at least 233g protein each day and around 3000 calories each day. The problem with this diet is your not eating enough.

Lets break the diet down.

Breakfast:
This is pretty decent I don't see any problems with this as it is similar to what I used to do when I started out.

5 hard boiled eggs
350 calories 35g protein 45g fat 0g carbs
Oatmeal (I'm assuming 1 cup)
300 calories 10g protein 6g fat 54g carbs
3 half peaches
262 calories 3g protein 0 fat 25g carbs

Total breakfast
912 calories 48g protein 51g fat 79g carbs


Lunch
For Lunch I would add either a cup of brown rice or an 8oz sweet potato.

8oz boneless skinless chicken
220 calories 48g protein 3g fat 0g carbs
1 cup brown rice
216 calories 5g protein 2g fat 45g carbs
Vegetables
varies alot depending on each one

Total Lunch
~500 calories 53g protein 5g fat 45g carbs


Post workout shake:
I recommend adding 1 cup oats to this. Put it all in a blender so the oats mix in.

2 scoops whey + 2% milk+ 1 cup oats
740 calories 66g protein


Dinner:
This isn't a very structured one and needs to be scraped. Copy your lunch meal for this one.


I strongly recommend you add two more protein shakes. If you added just one extra shake in your estimated daily values are around 3000 calories and ~255g protein. Don't worry about the fat or carbs I just listed them so you would know. I would just recommend another protein shake with milk and oats before you go to bed. Try to fit it in so it's about 2 hours after the last meal. I would also add another shake in before breakfast. If you have to set an alarm and wake up 2 hours earlier drink it then go back to bed.

To get the most out of your meal plan it has to be very structured. You don't have to eat the same things everyday, but you must plan ahead because it's easy to slack off and get fast food or other junk out of convenience. Diet is the most important part of growing. You can bust your ass in the gym, but if you don't feed your body it won't grow at all.

Also post your workout routine up.

 

[AgentRice]

u need to add 2 more snacks into ur day..

you need to keep boosting your metabolism during the day.

and just watch your sodium intake..

you have a good idea and your on the right track

 

[Mavrick]

Excellent!

I appreciate it.

 

[AgentRice]

and drink ice cold water as well.. speeds up ur metabolism

 

[Mavrick]

I would also add another shake in before breakfast. If you have to set an alarm and wake up 2 hours earlier drink it then go back to bed.

My understanding is that when the body is low in glucose, it will use anything to get it. That means that it will convert my expensive shake into glucose (i.e. energy). So, should I really wake up early to drink a whey protein shake? Is that really wise? Since it is a supplement, shouldn't I take it with some food so that it will be used for what it's meant to be used for?

 

[Mavrick]

I'll just add oatmeal in the morning with my shake.

 

[WesCottII]

My understanding is that when the body is low in glucose, it will use anything to get it. That means that it will convert my expensive shake into glucose (i.e. energy). So, should I really wake up early to drink a whey protein shake? Is that really wise? Since it is a supplement, shouldn't I take it with some food so that it will be used for what it's meant to be used for?

Not quite. The body will only recruit protein as an energy source after it has run out of Carbs and lipids.

Carbs are always used first, then lipids, protein for only the last 2% or something small.

There's no need to wake up early, and the first meal of the day should be carb based, like your oatmeal to set you up, and a shake at the same time to keep the body anabolic. Eating about every three hours helps the metabolism turn over quicker (which is what you want)

You don't have to take supplements with food per se, it's better to get the base diet sorted before going onto supplements.

 

[Mavrick]

Not quite. The body will only recruit protein as an energy source after it has run out of Carbs and lipids.

Carbs are always used first, then lipids, protein for only the last 2% or something small.

There's no need to wake up early, and the first meal of the day should be carb based, like your oatmeal to set you up, and a shake at the same time to keep the body anabolic. Eating about every three hours helps the metabolism turn over quicker (which is what you want)

You don't have to take supplements with food per se, it's better to get the base diet sorted before going onto supplements.

My thinking is that I've probably used up all my carbs and what not over the night, and when I drink a shake in the morning, my body uses some of it as glucose. So, I think it would be better to eat oatmeal, so the whey will be used correctly. I would like to better understand it all.

 

[WesCottII]

I doubt it. Carbs are stored, and when you're sleeping you burn little energy, unless you're bumping the headboard

When athletes carb load, they have to not eat carbs for 3 days to get rid of all the carbs in the body right? You're not going to purge all the carbs overnight. And in anycase, the body would then turn to the fat in you for energy. Only when these two options are delepted does the body turn to protein (which is what your shake is).

Yes, eat the oatmeal as your main meal (breakfast), and have your shake on the side. But don't worry it takes a very long time before your body will use protein as an energy source.

 

[Mavrick]

Revised diet:

Breakfast:
-1 + 2/3 cup of whey protein
-oatmeal

Brunch:
-5 egg whites
-1 + 1/2 peaches

Lunch:
-1 tuna sandwich
-portion of carb (fruit, yogurt, potato, or brown rice)
-vegetable

Mid day snack:
-Protien bar or shake
-banana

After workout (within 30 minutes):
-Protein shake

Dinner:
-Meat
-Vegetable
-Fruit

 

[Quiksilver]

Spend 15 minutes and run the numbers on that mate. Read the back of the packages and find out grams of protein, carbs, fat in each. Its tedious but you only have to do it once, and it really gives you new perspective on what you're actually eating.

Revised diet:

Breakfast:
-1 + 2/3 cup of whey protein
-oatmeal

good, a little light for breakfast though? biggest meal of the day should be breakfast. Stack as many carbs/fat/protein from the day as you can here.

Brunch:
-5 egg whites Whole eggs man, don't waste the yolk
-1 + 1/2 peaches

Lunch:
-1 tuna sandwich don't forget the bread is a carb
-portion of carb (fruit, yogurt, potato, or brown rice)
-vegetable

good

Mid day snack:
-Protien bar or shake make it a shake, protein bars are a waste of money
-banana

good

After workout (within 30 minutes):
-Protein shake

Where are the carbs? You want your body to use carbs for energy postworkout, so you muscles can use the protein.

Dinner:
-Meat
-Vegetable
-Fruit this should be postworkout

I'd bump the fruit into the After workout meal, it'll get more use there. Carbs at night = fat gain.

It's an alright diet, I would try to stack most--if not all--of your carb intake at Breakfast and Post workout. Alternatives might be a small portion of carbs at lunch to keep you going, or a small portion preworkout for performance during.

We can make it more complicated(fat cutoffs, etc) but this should be good for now. Remember to run the numbers on this. I suspect you're going to want to bump up your fat intake and lower your carb intake in the future to keep the bodyfat down and muscle gains up.

Generally it should look like this as far as calorie intake, notice most food stacked at the beginning of the day, tapering off towards bedtime. Logic behind this is your metabolism starts to slow as the day goes on, so less of the food is utilized later in the day. at high levels most athletes have carb cutoffs and fat cutoffs, so most is stacked in the morning and midday:

meal 1(breakfast) - 25% -- protein + carbs

meal 2(brunch) - 25% -- protein + fat

meal 3(lunch) - 20% -- protein + fat

meal 4(mid-afternoon/preworkout) - 10% -- protein + fat or carbs

meal 5(post-workout) - 15% -- protein + carbs

meal 6(dinner/pre-bed) - 5% -- protein only

 

[Mavrick]

make it a shake, protein bars are a waste of money

Seriously? If you drink 16oz of water with the bar, it should have the same affect as a shake. At least I thought.