Need a basic diet

[Xerxes]

21yo, 178cm, 98KG, 25% body fat

Looking to lose body fat, and maintain what muscle i have, if not gain more.

due to work and some difficulties at the homefront, my diet has been to eat watever whenever, but things are back to norm now.

i do 8 training sessions a week:
3 Cardio room
2 pool circuits
3 light weights/bodyweight circuits with jump rope inbetween circuits

any help would be GREATLY appreciated

[DiliosOfSparta]

This is what my brother told me one time, he is a body builder.

Lose weight = less calories eaten.
Gain weight = more calories eaten. Thats pretty simple.
After you workout, eat some sugar (aka carbs like bread, fruit, oats, cereal, juice) and eat extra protein (shake, soymilk, meat, cottage cheese, etc.) A mix of protein and carbs is good after a workout, extra protein!
Drink lots of water instead of other calorie beverages (except after you workout).
Make your shakes with water not milk if you want less calories.
Don't eat too big portions all the time, eat every 3 or 4 hours instead of just 3 times a day. (Translation: have a snack between meals for and easy way to do that)
Eat healthy foods, in medium portions, all throughout the day. Drink H20

[Cookie]

21yo, 178cm, 98KG, 25% body fat

Looking to lose body fat, and maintain what muscle i have, if not gain more.

due to work and some difficulties at the homefront, my diet has been to eat watever whenever, but things are back to norm now.

i do 8 training sessions a week:
3 Cardio room
2 pool circuits
3 light weights/bodyweight circuits with jump rope inbetween circuits

any help would be GREATLY appreciated

Would be a good idea to post up a typical days food intake and we can work from there.

[sanga]

This is what my brother told me one time, he is a body builder.

Lose weight = less calories eaten.
Gain weight = more calories eaten. Thats pretty simple.
After you workout, eat some sugar (aka carbs like bread, fruit, oats, cereal, juice) and eat extra protein (shake, soymilk, meat, cottage cheese, etc.) A mix of protein and carbs is good after a workout, extra protein!
Drink lots of water instead of other calorie beverages (except after you workout).
Make your shakes with water not milk if you want less calories.
Don't eat too big portions all the time, eat every 3 or 4 hours instead of just 3 times a day. (Translation: have a snack between meals for and easy way to do that)
Eat healthy foods, in medium portions, all throughout the day. Drink H20

Pretty much spot on IMO

[Xerxes]

One of my good days

Breakfast: 2 peices of white toast w/ vegemite, glass of milk
Lunch: miss it most days, but usually when i have it, a couple of sandwiches
Dinner: generally stir fry or similar
H2O: 4-5 litres between 6am and 4pm

[dsisive407]

You definitely need to eat lunch.

[Scott]

One of my good days

Breakfast: 2 peices of white toast w/ vegemite, glass of milk
Lunch: miss it most days, but usually when i have it, a couple of sandwiches
Dinner: generally stir fry or similar
H2O: 4-5 litres between 6am and 4pm

jeez, dude I'd hate to see one of your bad days

you might wanna have a wee look through this thread. check out some of the diets there, my one wasnt bad at the time or taks or megatrons..... you might get a better idea from those.

I personally like the three meals plus three snacks approach. get yourself some oats,chicken,nuts,fish,steak,brown rice..... ditch the white bread!

[eqlb]

if your trying to lose bf% then i would recommend doing a ckd regime. Pretty much its 60fat 35 protein and 5 carbs. There is a few sights out there that will help you set up a food schedule. You could also do a 40carb/30protein/30fat as well

[Arjuna]

How you approach this depends on your aims. Are you wanting to get as lean as possible as fast as possible at whatever cost? Or do you want a long-term and sustainable plan that will gradually take you toward your goals? I would suggest that unless you have a specific event coming up to get lean for, then the latter is better.

If so, you need to take a wider view of your diet. Stuff like whether you eat alone, on the go, eat out a lot with work or have ethical or religious criteria to satisfy would be the first thing to look at. It may sound like too much hassle this, but it's no good embarking on a no-carb meat-fest if you're married to a vegetarian, and she does all the cooking. Likewise it's no good resolving to eat chicken breasts every 2 hours if your working day is spent in 4 hour-long meetings with a 10 min break for lunch.

In other words, I'd look at making a diet that fits in with your lifestyle, that way you'll be able to sustain it long term.


We'd need to know more about you before going in depth, but a couple of points based on what you say:


-you obviously make time for breakfast, so it shouldn't be too hard to switch that to something better. Oats, eggs and some fruit is a decent prescription. At least ditch the white bread.

-you also seem to cook a bit - get a recipe book and vary it up a bit. Look on here as well. Emphasise veggies and lean protein, (chicken, fish, lean beef if you eat it. If veggie use whatever floats your boat).

-when embarking on a diet, people often overlook the seemingly trivial - but imo most important part - modifying your behaviour around food. This is a big area, but things like making time for your feeds, and paying them the respect they deserve (ie don't just shovel shit in your mouth while you're watching Eastenders) make a huge impact to your success or failure.

-don't mean to sound snidey - but where are the additional calories coming from? What you've listed wont sustain 98kg's for long. Make an honest log for a few days of everything that goes in your mouth, (nearly everything - we don't need to know if you practice water sports with the Mrs...).

-well done on the water.

A good diet is not hard to arrive at - most people know that eating veggies, fruit, nuts, lean protein and a little of what you fancy is gonna be pretty healthy. It's just making sure this becomes habit.

[Cookie]

Very good post Arjuna.....

[barry]

Precision Nutrition.

And I'd add some weight training into your programme. The more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns even while sleeping.