Sport What needs to change in my diet?

[wimclend]

Greetings all,

I am looking for some help in critiquing my diet -- I think I am eating pretty well for the most part, but I'm sure some things aren't right or could be better.

For reference, I am a 23 year old male, just shy of 6 ft 1 inch, as of Monday the scale said 211.2. I am trying to cut down my body fat and get rid of the rather large belly I developed from 10+ years of obesity (May '06 I weighed ~315 lbs). Last summer I dropped down to ~230, and then got down to ~215 where i've been stuck +/- a few pounds for several months. I lost a lot of weight fast, and still have a good portion of fat on me, especially around the middle.

Here is my breakdown:

~6am -- Breakfast
-1 Egg, ~1/3 cup Egg whites
-toasted Weight Watcher English Muffin, 2 tbsp of Natural Peanut Butter

I believe it comes out to ~442 cal, 23.6g fat, 31 carbs, 7g fiber, 27.7g protein

~6:45-7:30am -- workout (MWF = weights, T,Th,Sat Cardio)

~9am -- post workout meal -- at work
-1 Cup skim milk + 1 scoop Whey protein powder
-Oatmeal + 2 tbsp Natural peanut butter

I believe comes out to ~570 calories, 20.5g fat, 50 carbs, 42g protein

~12pm -- Lunch -- at work (this meal varies)
-Tuna Salad (2 90 cal packs of tuna, 1 TB light mayo, 1 TB mustard, 3 TB no sugar relish)
-Steamed Vegetable (1-2 servings of a Steamfresh vegetable)

I believe comes out to ~285 calories, 6.5g fat, 14g carb, 43g protein

~3pm -- Snack (?) -- at work (always the same)
-Tuna Salad (2 90 cal packs of tuna, 1 TB light mayo, 1 TB mustard, 3 TB no sugar relish)
-Steamed Vegetable (1-2 servings of a Steamfresh vegetable)

I believe comes out to ~285 calories, 6.5g fat, 14g carb, 43g protein

~6-6:30pm -- Dinner -- this varies a lot, and I unfortunately dont' have any nutrition breakdown.

Typically it is either Stir Fry (lean beef or chicken breast and no rice), or a Lean meat + vegetables and/or Salad. Lately i've also been making pasta, but i dont think this is a good idea (I try to keep some for lunch the next day) -- its a Whole Grain Penne Pesto w/ chicken breast

~8-8:30pm -- Usually I have a little fat free cottage cheese before going to bed.

EDIT: I forgot to add, while at work (and at home), I drink lots and lots of water. I'm not sure how much, but today i'm marking down every glass I am drinking so I can get an idea.


Here are my concerns that jump out at me:

1) I have a feeling i'm eating too much peanut butter/fat. Is this so? What can/should I replace it with?
2) When is it ok to eat pasta, how much of it, and how often? The pasta I make only uses whole grain/wheat pasta, and lately has only been pesto sauces. I add chicken for protein, and try to throw in some vegetables too.


I believe I am eating approximately 2000-2200 calories per day right now, and trying to lose 1.5-2 lbs per week if I can thru eating right and exercise 6 days per week. This is my second week eating like this, and the first week I was able to drop 1.5-2 lbs; so far so good I suppose.


I apologize for the novel-long post; if you made it this far, thank you


Thanks,

will

 

[spicypumpkin]

There are some that will say it's all about what you eat and when you eat it, and there are others that will say it's all about the calories. I accept the calorie theory more. If you have a deficit of calories, you will lose weight. You seem to have a pretty balanced diet with a few sources of protein. That's good. So, if you're consuming 2000-2200 calories a day, then you should be burning around 3000 calories a day if you want to lose 2 lbs a week. Find a site where you can get your BMR tested to see how many calories you burn on average. The most important thing is to watch how your body responds though. If you aren't losing weight, then something isn't working. Try something new until it works. We're all individuals and our bodies all work differently, so what works for one person may not work for you. Keep trying and keep up the good work.

 

[monavie07]

Its amazing to me how many people just dont eat fruit. Even if its just an apple and an banana a day. You need your fruit intake daily!!!

 

[malkore]

Well, every person is unique, so while you have a decent program laid out, it may not be best for you.

There's a school of thought out there that you can easily research using google, that feels that your meals should either be protein and fat, or protein and carbs, never mixing carbs and fat in large quantities.
reason being is that carbs cause insulin to spike, and insulin is what helps nutrients enter cells....so carbs + fat means you're helping the body store fat.

Now, when I say carbs, I do mean starchy or sugary carbs, not fiberous carbs like most veggies.

Your first two meals are fine, except I'd drop the peanut butter since its almost pure fat. its fine at other times of the day, and no I don't think you've got too much fat in there at all, just fat at the wrong times.

I also honestly feel that you're under-eating a little at only 2,000 calories a day. LV put me on a diet once that had me at 2300 cals a day, and I'm barely 5'9" and 30 years old. I was dropping fat easily.
His diet didn't combine fats and carbs, and used carb cycling so that on cardio days, I only ate 55g of carbs per day, and 25g of that was fiber. on weight training days, I got something like 140g of carbs, again 25g or so from fiber.

that kept me from going insane without carbs, and from entering ketosis, yet didn't really give my body any carbs for energy beyond my BMR. thus my body turned to fat reserves.
since carbs got so low, I consumed a lot more protein, 50g at every since meal on cardo days, and around 60-70g of fat per day.


I'm not saying that's what you should do...rather, that's something you "could" do. There's plenty of information out there on carb cycling too. i'm not a fan of constant carb restriction because of the stress it puts on the body.