Sport College student in DIRE NEED of a healthy diet (for burning fat first)

[Swimmer]

Hey everyone. I am a freshman in college and have luckily not been smacked by the freshman 15. I have been pretty lazy when it comes to taking caution of my diet and just grab something fast without really thinking. I am a 19 year old male, 6'0, and weigh 185 pounds. Last time I checked, I have about 15% body fat, which I want to scale down to about 8%. With that clear goal in mind, I want to start burning some fat, because only recently, I have been worried about how my new college diet will affect my weight.

I heard after workouts, plenty of carbohydrates and protein are needed. I can take care of that by eating protein bars after each workout within 20 minutes after my cooldown. I also know that it is best to eat 4-5 times a day lightly rather than 3 larger meals per day, and they should consist mostly of fruits and vegetables, protein, carbs, and healthy fats and oils. I am living in the dorms, so I have a meal plan, which means I have access to not only a sandwich bar, but a convenient store with fruits and veggies. Here are some questions I have:

What kind of diet should I be looking at, and what kind of variation each day?
What are good "refueling" snacks after workouts besides protein bars, bananas, or whole wheat bread?
Is Japanese food a healthy choice to incorporate in my diet? (Sushi, most importantly)

Thanks for any help.

 

[x3malex]

Hey everyone. I am a freshman in college and have luckily not been smacked by the freshman 15. I have been pretty lazy when it comes to taking caution of my diet and just grab something fast without really thinking. I am a 19 year old male, 6'0, and weigh 185 pounds. Last time I checked, I have about 15% body fat, which I want to scale down to about 8%. With that clear goal in mind, I want to start burning some fat, because only recently, I have been worried about how my new college diet will affect my weight.

I heard after workouts, plenty of carbohydrates and protein are needed. I can take care of that by eating protein bars after each workout within 20 minutes after my cooldown. I also know that it is best to eat 4-5 times a day lightly rather than 3 larger meals per day, and they should consist mostly of fruits and vegetables, protein, carbs, and healthy fats and oils. I am living in the dorms, so I have a meal plan, which means I have access to not only a sandwich bar, but a convenient store with fruits and veggies. Here are some questions I have:

What kind of diet should I be looking at, and what kind of variation each day?
What are good "refueling" snacks after workouts besides protein bars, bananas, or whole wheat bread?
Is Japanese food a healthy choice to incorporate in my diet? (Sushi, most importantly)

Thanks for any help.

You seem to be well-educated about nutrition overall based on what you wrote.
Answer to question 1: I'll tell you what I do since it's kind of hard to list all the possibe variations of a diet for every day. ALWAYS try to start your eating with veggies and fruits! 5-6 grapes here, a bit of carrot there, THEN start munching on the muscle food. Aside from the 3 main meals day, in between I try to add an all egg-white omelet (with maybe 1 yolk, 2 max): in it, I put tuna or salmon and/or flax seeds (any type of nuts work). Or just plain egg whites, or just a tuna sandwich etc. Additionally, fruits and veggies IN BETWEEN the 3 meals, as well as the occasional protein shake/bar in between non-workout days.

Answer to Q2: A ratio of 4 to 1 grams of carbs to protein is recommended for a post-exercise snack. For post-exercise snacks anything healthy is good, really. Try grapes, they contain dextrose, which is a really fast, if not fastest absorbed type of natural sugar for your body + protein bar/chicken breast/tuna/salmon/peanut butter(be careful with this one, choose a good product), yogurt ( the low % one), rice.

To Q3: Can't really tell you, it' heavily dependent on the source of the food. The nutrition in sushi is not universal, but I'm sure a bit of rice + seaweed + salmon wouldn't hurt...rice is good!

 

[evolutionX]

I heard after workouts, plenty of carbohydrates and protein are needed. I can take care of that by eating protein bars after each workout within 20 minutes after my cooldown. I also know that it is best to eat 4-5 times a day lightly rather than 3 larger meals per day, and they should consist mostly of fruits and vegetables, protein, carbs, and healthy fats and oils. I am living in the dorms, so I have a meal plan, which means I have access to not only a sandwich bar, but a convenient store with fruits and veggies. Here are some questions I have:

3-4 meals a day is fine. Main priority is protein and then the omega fatty acids. Carbs are not essential and low-carb intakes can help with fat loss. And fat free chocolate milk makes one of the best post-workout drinks. Although if your diet is not in check for the rest of the day, what you do post-workout doesn't mean a lot.

What kind of diet should I be looking at, and what kind of variation each day?
What are good "refueling" snacks after workouts besides protein bars, bananas, or whole wheat bread?
Is Japanese food a healthy choice to incorporate in my diet? (Sushi, most importantly)

Thanks for any help.

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