I am looking for some guidance with diet.
Moderators: cassiegose, Boss Man
I am looking for some guidance with diet.
Hey, first off I just wanted to let whoever is reading this know that I am new to this and have done so much reading online that I can not differentiate what is fact and what is fake. story is long because well, it was more of a journey than a walk down the park. Last year a month before summer ended I was 300 pounds and I began journey to weightless. Over trials and errors and a lot of fasting and hardcore reducing caloric intake, I reached a weight of 179 pounds. A month ago however, I was at a loss with diet and what I was doing as far as exercising and eating. I was running and walk 4 miles every day while only eating one meal ranging from 1k cals and below. new years resolution is to gain mass and lose body fat at the same time so I thought I should just keep doing what I'm doing. Anyway, one day within that month I broke down emotionally, the temptations of eating not enough compared to always wanting to stuff face was too much for me and I ended up eating a whole family sized bag of doritos. I could not handle what I had done and I went to the park and immediately ran 5 miles straight. I went back home feeling some what better about myself however knowing the chemical contents within that bag of chips was enough to make me want to go back to the park for seconds and well I did. I went to the park and amongst other things I locked car keys in car. I was at a point where I could not take it anymore and I just called mom and I broke down to her. She came to me at the park and told me I was mal nourished. Everything I was feeling as far as emotions was due to me not eating enough. All I sought was guidance to better diet. She told me of this friend she had a local gym that I started going to who was a body builder back in his days, and well he's a nutritionist too and offers his services to those in need. So I gave him a call and we met and he consulted me and for the first time I had a path to what I was lead to believe was right. He used own myfitnesspal and gave me a caloric intake and a certain macro ratio each day to go by. Currently, I am 1500 calories or just a little under like 1360 eating 40 percent carbs and 40 percent proteins with 20 percent fats. Protein is 150 grams as well as carbs and fats is somewhere below 90 or 70 not sure. Unfortunately, the feeling of relief was not long lasted because I could feel like I was hitting a wall and a what I thought to be was a plateau. At the beginning of going to the gym I was sweating and it felt good knowing I was getting a good pump. However, I reached a point where I could not even break a sweat even with hitting PR's and increasing weights. yesterday I told dad that I'm at a loss again with diet and I confessed to him that I'm always tired and feel like going to the gym is a hassle instead of a blessing. I hate feeling this way. I come here seeking advice on what I should be eating. Every day meals are like clock work as far as content goes. For breakfast its one serving of oats with protein powder(1 serving) and 1 cup of cashew milk with an apple. At lunch its either chicken or fish around 2 servings of 4 ounces of each depending on how it fits into the macros for the day aswell aswell as the rest of carbs consisting of rice or a sweet potato. For dinner its 60-100 grams of avocado depending on macros.Then at around 8 or 9 I go to the gym workout for an hour every day and come back and drink last bit of macros with a serving of protein shake. I am lead to believe I'm again under eating or not eating enough based off of what knowledge is. I am in desperation at this point and everyday I wake up worrying about what I'm going to eat and how I'm going to make self feel satisfied with hunger. Thank you for taking the time to read this I accept all knowledge.
Re: I am looking for some guidance with diet.
Hi Andriin, good to talk to you.
I can appreciate your situation and I can empathise with it, that it can be difficult to try and achieve something when you don't understand how to really go about doing it and you start to feel like everything you do is not working, or isn't good enough.
You are under-eating to an extent not least as the avocado is accounting for less than 200 calories as a dinner and you could be aiming for 300-400 calories for dinner based on how many meals you eat daily and approximately how many calories there are in those other meals.
I would suggest something like this, as I've posted it before for other people, but it can be tweaked if needs be.
Breakfast
Option 1.
Bowl of Whole-grain Cereal and scrambled Eggs, (2 Egg Whites + Yolk)
Option 2.
Protein shake, small portion of Nuts, (excluding higher carb ones like Cashews, Chestnuts and Grapenuts).
Snack
Option 1.
Portion of Turkey + Orange
Option 2.
Small Portion of Peanuts, some Chicken
Lunch
Option 1.
Large Beef Sandwich with trimmings, I.E. Tomato, Lettuce, Cucumber etc.
Option 2.
Bowl of Chicken Soup, + Pot of yoghurt.
Snack
Option 1.
Turkey + Cashews
Option 2.
Ham + 2 large Tomatos
Dinner
Option 1.
Pork with mashed Potato.
Option 2.
Chicken and Rice
Option 3.
100g Halibut + Broccoli
Snack
Option 1.
Beans on Toast
Option 2.
Ham Sandwich, no trimmings.
Easy on the bread with both options.
You could add a few things to certain meals, like Sea Salt, Cracked Black Pepper, Parsley, Mustard, Herbs, Garlic.
I can appreciate your situation and I can empathise with it, that it can be difficult to try and achieve something when you don't understand how to really go about doing it and you start to feel like everything you do is not working, or isn't good enough.
You are under-eating to an extent not least as the avocado is accounting for less than 200 calories as a dinner and you could be aiming for 300-400 calories for dinner based on how many meals you eat daily and approximately how many calories there are in those other meals.
I would suggest something like this, as I've posted it before for other people, but it can be tweaked if needs be.
Breakfast
Option 1.
Bowl of Whole-grain Cereal and scrambled Eggs, (2 Egg Whites + Yolk)
Option 2.
Protein shake, small portion of Nuts, (excluding higher carb ones like Cashews, Chestnuts and Grapenuts).
Snack
Option 1.
Portion of Turkey + Orange
Option 2.
Small Portion of Peanuts, some Chicken
Lunch
Option 1.
Large Beef Sandwich with trimmings, I.E. Tomato, Lettuce, Cucumber etc.
Option 2.
Bowl of Chicken Soup, + Pot of yoghurt.
Snack
Option 1.
Turkey + Cashews
Option 2.
Ham + 2 large Tomatos
Dinner
Option 1.
Pork with mashed Potato.
Option 2.
Chicken and Rice
Option 3.
100g Halibut + Broccoli
Snack
Option 1.
Beans on Toast
Option 2.
Ham Sandwich, no trimmings.
Easy on the bread with both options.
You could add a few things to certain meals, like Sea Salt, Cracked Black Pepper, Parsley, Mustard, Herbs, Garlic.
Re: I am looking for some guidance with diet.
Hey I'm glad you replied and really appreciate the meal plan. Will this be a good baseline to go off of? I'm set on consuming only 1500 calories a day and I've been reading the forums and saw that I should be consuming more on days I workout. If this is so should I add in a protein bar as a preworkout meal along with usual post protein shake? As far as drinks and sauces should go, what is the best thing to make the bland food taste better? Right now I use Mrs. Dashes seasoning but it doesn't really add a whole lot of flavor. For drinks should I count those calories? I am always afraid to consume any drinks that claim to be healthy with a calorie count of 10 and below because I feel like every calorie is precious to me.
Re: I am looking for some guidance with diet.
I am assuming you're female, in which case sedentary females need 1,800 calories a day ideally, so I would aim more for that and another 200-300 on workout days.
As for things that might improve food, you could use things like cracked black pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, sea salt, parsley, which is good for b vitamins, tabasco sauce, chili sauce, tomato sauce made with fresh tomatoes, etc.
I wouldn't have the protein bar and shake before workouts, when you could just have more of the protein shake product instead, as it would be a bit unnecessary I feel.
Yes I would consider drinks as part of the caloric total.
As for things that might improve food, you could use things like cracked black pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, sea salt, parsley, which is good for b vitamins, tabasco sauce, chili sauce, tomato sauce made with fresh tomatoes, etc.
I wouldn't have the protein bar and shake before workouts, when you could just have more of the protein shake product instead, as it would be a bit unnecessary I feel.
Yes I would consider drinks as part of the caloric total.