Diet advice

[TheKanga]

Hey guys just looking for a bit of advice on diet and what foods i should throw out and ones i should include.

I weigh 98kg, 6 foot, 26 yrs old and i'm male (think i put on a kilo just over xmas )
I would like to turn some of this weight into muscle but i'm not looking to look like a beef cake.
Just would like to be able to tell i have muscle and look fitter with a flat stomach.

For a starters i know i have to cut out all the snacky stuff i eat sometimes & soft drinks.
Will hopefully see an improvement after not consuming these things.

Any pointers?

 

[estibador]

There's plenty of different ways to go about it but you can't go wrong by limiting sugar and processed foods and sticking to whole foods I reckon.

I recommend reading the LCHF thread - I lost 20kgs eating bacon and eggs every day after I started eating low carb. But that was easy for me because I don't have a sweet tooth and I've never been a fan of pasta and rice. Your mileage may vary if you're a carbaholic - the best 'diet' to adopt is one that you can stick to.

I'd also recommend reading the intermittent fasting thread if you're trying to lose weight. Works like magic.

 

[TheKanga]

Cheers mate.
You may have noticed i made another thread here last year, things were going well for awhile but ultimately it failed as i think i got to hungry and/or reverted back to comfort foods.

What about things like Chicken and rice with a curry type sauce? I do enjoy spicy foods.
Anyways i'll have a good read through those threads.

 

[Bazzar]

Agree 100% with estibadore.

Intermittent Fasting is one of the best thiings I have ever done, and still continue to do. At the moment I'm following the Warrior proticole eating from 5pm - 9pm and fasting the other 20 hours except for tea, coffee and water (plus the occasional coke zero)


This article is one of my favorites at the moment, great read from a bloke who is a vault of knowledge, Robb Wolf from Paleo F(x)



Why Diets Fail and ‘Eat Less, Move More’ is Bad Advice
http://paleofx.com/blog/why-diets-fail-and-eat-less-move-more-bad-advice

 

[Bazzar]

This is also as good as it gets. Brilliant reading.

https://optimisingnutrition.wordpress.com/author/martykendall/

 

[estibador]

What about things like Chicken and rice with a curry type sauce? I do enjoy spicy foods.

Yeah nothing wrong with that. If you cut out all the stuff you love you'll just end up binging anyway.

I adopted a lot of the paleo type principles along with LCHF, but I still eat a shiteload of cheese and some other dairy. No way I could stick to a diet that didn't let me eat cheese every day.

 

[Bazzar]

Mark Sisson's Daily Apple is Primal (limited dairy- no milk) The low carb version is what I follow

http://www.marksdailyapple.com

 

[TheKanga]

How important is it to join a gym?

EDIT - Also would anyone be able to suggest a template of Breakfast, Lunch, Snack & Dinner ideas?
Just to get me started...
I'm going to start using that phone app to track everything again.

 

[Bazzar]

My preferred breakfast (at 5pm) is 3 rashers middle bacon, 2 poached eggs, 1/2 avocado, 2tbl sauerkraut and around 25-30g (my own activated) cashews.
Nutrition powerhouse and close to zero carb. My 8pm meal I include most of my 50-60g of carb.

 

[PoopingHindi]

- eat real food, not stuff that comes in packets or boxes
- dont drink your calories
- dont let yourself go hungry. hunger is the enemy
- if you want to add muscle you're going to need to do some form of resistance training

congratulations. you just got leaner/healthier

 

[TheKanga]

There's plenty of different ways to go about it but you can't go wrong by limiting sugar and processed foods and sticking to whole foods I reckon.

I recommend reading the LCHF thread - I lost 20kgs eating bacon and eggs every day after I started eating low carb. But that was easy for me because I don't have a sweet tooth and I've never been a fan of pasta and rice. Your mileage may vary if you're a carbaholic - the best 'diet' to adopt is one that you can stick to.

I'd also recommend reading the intermittent fasting thread if you're trying to lose weight. Works like magic.

Hey regarding the intermittent fasting would you recommend starting with 8 hour or 16 hour fasts to begin with?
The 24 hr ones might be a bit of a stretch for me at the moment...

Also once i do eat would i just be looking to eat plenty of whole foods in my eating period meats with plenty of protein, veggies & fruits?
Example fast from the time i wake up until 3pm eat until 10pm rinse and repeat?
What if i don't wake up at the same time everyday (i work nights)

 

[saj_21]

Hey regarding the intermittent fasting would you recommend starting with 8 hour or 16 hour fasts to begin with?
The 24 hr ones might be a bit of a stretch for me at the moment...

Also once i do eat would i just be looking to eat plenty of whole foods in my eating period meats with plenty of protein, veggies & fruits?
Example fast from the time i wake up until 3pm eat until 10pm rinse and repeat?
What if i don't wake up at the same time everyday (i work nights)

Give all things a trial, you will find a "system" that works for you. Some
on here like fasting, high fat, low carb etc....for me in a numbers man so track calories and weigh my food (although I'm at a stage now I'm very accurate with guesstimating the amount of food I eat)

Secondly just going on your point about the other thread you started. I find it quite the opposite eating healthly is not more expensive than junk food. I spend around $100 a week on food and that pretty much a covers 4 meals a day plus snacks. The only extra food I buy is dinner on Saturday night.

If you were to go and buy junk food for 4 meals a day, it would easily cost $40-$50 a day, times by 7 days, hats around $300-$350 a week.

My typical day of food is;

Breakfast- 3 eggs and mince or 100g oats with berries
Meal 2 and 3 - 200g of chicken/beef/kangaroo/fish 100-200g of brown rice and veggies
Afternoon snack - rice cakes with peanut butter and jam or after meals almond and peanut butter
Dinner - 200g (same as above) with 300g of sweet potato and veggies
Dessert- berries and yoghurt

For supplements - around a $250- $300 order from Bulknutrients gets me a 6 month supply.

5kg of protein powder
1kg of BCAA/creatine/glutamine
And some pre work out

So around $50 per month for shops if your avg it out.

I rekon around $120 all up a week, meals and supps for me.

 

[TheKanga]

Thanks for advice mate

I made up a little schedule for next week so to see how i go.
I got some these recipes from the internet.

Last meal at 7pm - Dinner (protein rich meat, veggies, sweet potatos) - tues night
Fast until bedtime
Wake up
10am excercise
continue to fast until 12pm
Have lunch (egg, shredded vegie, chilli & turkey wraps)
Coffee & protein shake

2pm - More excercise

3:30PM - Snack (Apple, Bannana & tuna/salmon can meal)


7pm - Chicken with tomato, walnut and basil pesto

Fast until bedtime

----

Wake up (non work day) Thursday

10am excercise
Lunch at 12pm - Avocado, red salmon, rocket and red onion on vita wheat biscuits
Coffee & protein shake

2pm - more excercise
3:30pm - snack - Fruit + UpNGo shake

7pm - Dinner - Chicken Green Curry

Fast until bedtime


Wake up (work day 6pm start) - Friday

10am excercise
Continue to fast until 12pm
Have lunch (fast and healthy high fibre pasta)
Have coffee and Protein shake

2:30pm - Bananna and Apple

3:30pm - Bowl of special k nourish low fat milk

Go to work fast until bedtime

----

Saturday (work day)

10am excercise
Continue to fast until 12pm
Have lunch - Tuna & Tabouli wraps

2pm - Another snack if still hungry

- 3:30pm - snack - Bananna and Apple

Go to work fast until bedtime

-----

Feel free to critque the **** out of this, maybe to much food still?
hopefully i'm on the right path.
Would like to lose some of this flab and get leaner

EDIT - Breakfast = yes/no ???

 

[Bazzar]

On a few occasions I have tried writting food plans and they have never worked. It would be easier if you clear one shelf space in your fridge and the night before stack it with everything (exact) you will be eating the following day.

It's up to you how and when and how you will eat it, but studies show it's all about getting your micro's and macro's all in in a 24 hour period whether its in a 12 hour or 3 hour period. And remember the worst thing you can do to lose weight is under-eat. A good starting point would be to roughly calculate your Resting Metabolic Rate and reduce it by 20% and that would be the perfect starting point. As the months roll on you can adjust accordingly.

 

[estibador]

Secondly just going on your point about the other thread you started. I find it quite the opposite eating healthly is not more expensive than junk food.

Yeah I'm on a student budget and I manage to eat healthy pretty cheaply. I only eat two meals a day at the moment though.

$20 at the local fresh food market buys enough veggies to last me the better part of two weeks usually - a whole broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage (for sauerkraut), a couple of big sweet potatoes, and a bag each of mushrooms, carrots and onions. Maybe capsicum if they're on special. The place I go is a lot cheaper than normal supermarkets though. I used to get stuff like olives, avocados, greek yoghurt and frozen berries, but I've sacrificed them for the time being while I'm a bit povo.

Meat I stock up on cheap stuff like budget mince, liver, and chicken pieces on the bone, then just keep an eye out for chops/steak/whatever when they're on special for around the $10 a kg mark. Portion pack everything and chuck it in the freezer. Use all my bones to make bone broth.

Then I just spend another $15 or so a fortnight on a block of cheese and a pack of cheap bacon, and eat a shiteload of eggs from my own chooks.

 

[saj_21]

Thanks for advice mate

I made up a little schedule for next week so to see how i go.
I got some these recipes from the internet.

Last meal at 7pm - Dinner (protein rich meat, veggies, sweet potatos) - tues night
Fast until bedtime
Wake up
10am excercise
continue to fast until 12pm
Have lunch (egg, shredded vegie, chilli & turkey wraps)
Coffee & protein shake

2pm - More excercise

3:30PM - Snack (Apple, Bannana & tuna/salmon can meal)


7pm - Chicken with tomato, walnut and basil pesto

Fast until bedtime

----

Wake up (non work day) Thursday

10am excercise
Lunch at 12pm - Avocado, red salmon, rocket and red onion on vita wheat biscuits
Coffee & protein shake

2pm - more excercise
3:30pm - snack - Fruit + UpNGo shake

7pm - Dinner - Chicken Green Curry

Fast until bedtime


Wake up (work day 6pm start) - Friday

10am excercise
Continue to fast until 12pm
Have lunch (fast and healthy high fibre pasta)
Have coffee and Protein shake

2:30pm - Bananna and Apple

3:30pm - Bowl of special k nourish low fat milk

Go to work fast until bedtime

----

Saturday (work day)

10am excercise
Continue to fast until 12pm
Have lunch - Tuna & Tabouli wraps

2pm - Another snack if still hungry

- 3:30pm - snack - Bananna and Apple

Go to work fast until bedtime

-----

Feel free to critque the **** out of this, maybe to much food still?
hopefully i'm on the right path.
Would like to lose some of this flab and get leaner

EDIT - Breakfast = yes/no ???

I'd try and add in another serving of protein, especially if you are training twice a day.

Breakfast/meal frequency is entirely individual thing, for me eating 5 times a day suits me.

I'd also say try and figure out how many calories you are burning and how many you are eating. Google can help you there, search for Harris benedict formula.

Final tip, eat as much food as you can whilst losing weight. Last thing you want to do is eat the bare minimum calories Whisky dieting and when you hit a plateau you have no more calories to lose.

 

[vonn]

Thanks for advice mate

I made up a little schedule for next week so to see how i go.
I got some these recipes from the internet.

Last meal at 7pm - Dinner (protein rich meat, veggies, sweet potatos) - tues night
Fast until bedtime
Wake up
10am excercise
continue to fast until 12pm
Have lunch (egg, shredded vegie, chilli & turkey wraps)
Coffee & protein shake

2pm - More excercise

3:30PM - Snack (Apple, Bannana & tuna/salmon can meal)


7pm - Chicken with tomato, walnut and basil pesto

Fast until bedtime

----

Wake up (non work day) Thursday

10am excercise
Lunch at 12pm - Avocado, red salmon, rocket and red onion on vita wheat biscuits
Coffee & protein shake

2pm - more excercise
3:30pm - snack - Fruit + UpNGo shake

7pm - Dinner - Chicken Green Curry

Fast until bedtime


Wake up (work day 6pm start) - Friday

10am excercise
Continue to fast until 12pm
Have lunch (fast and healthy high fibre pasta)
Have coffee and Protein shake

2:30pm - Bananna and Apple

3:30pm - Bowl of special k nourish low fat milk

Go to work fast until bedtime

----

Saturday (work day)

10am excercise
Continue to fast until 12pm
Have lunch - Tuna & Tabouli wraps

2pm - Another snack if still hungry

- 3:30pm - snack - Bananna and Apple

Go to work fast until bedtime

-----

Feel free to critque the **** out of this, maybe to much food still?
hopefully i'm on the right path.
Would like to lose some of this flab and get leaner

EDIT - Breakfast = yes/no ???

The thing with food plans is that it takes a special type of person to be able to stick to X food on X day for X amount of time (i.e. not me and probably not 70% of the population unless it's forced via a budget.) I see you've gone to the other diet threads which is good, and hopefully you picked up pointers there. I just wanted to add (after seeing this food plan) is that while it's important you eat healthy and clean (cutting soft drinks is a HUGE start, that stuff is complete rubbish... & in where you don't fully suspect it i.e. mixed alcoholic drinks, beer & such) etc. etc. ultimately the goal of a 'diet plan' is to restrict or maintain a certain amount of calories or carbs or whatnot from a balanced diet. It may be more worthwhile to eat normally (for a day or two), log that (Calorie Counter app is good), and see how much you have to cut per day to get to a certain amount. Or, how much carbs you need to cut etc. Calorie counter is pretty extensive in that it breaks down your diet (if I remember correctly?)

I think trying to remain around that calorie mark to lose weight is much more worthwhile than a food diary - which is pretty impractical when you factor that you may dine with others, go out, be too busy, etc. Obviously 'calorie counting' is a loose guide - naturally no fats are equal, but I think that a basic understanding of nutrition is pretty universal now so I won't go on about that. While the LCHF thread is good, that lifestyle may not be 100% for you, and it may not be long term sustainable for you - so make all the adjustments that you need to. There really is no 'right' or 'wrong' way to lose weight - my diet is probably more carb heavy than the average person (dem asian rice meals), but I'm still in a healthy weight range and fit, and I couldn't keep a long-term lifestyle without that, so I have made other adjustments. Find what works for you... if what you're doing doesn't feel natural you probably won't sustain it for life anyway (probably why you didn't keep going last year.)

 

[TheKanga]

The thing with food plans is that it takes a special type of person to be able to stick to X food on X day for X amount of time (i.e. not me and probably not 70% of the population unless it's forced via a budget.) I see you've gone to the other diet threads which is good, and hopefully you picked up pointers there. I just wanted to add (after seeing this food plan) is that while it's important you eat healthy and clean (cutting soft drinks is a HUGE start, that stuff is complete rubbish... & in where you don't fully suspect it i.e. mixed alcoholic drinks, beer & such) etc. etc. ultimately the goal of a 'diet plan' is to restrict or maintain a certain amount of calories or carbs or whatnot from a balanced diet. It may be more worthwhile to eat normally (for a day or two), log that (Calorie Counter app is good), and see how much you have to cut per day to get to a certain amount. Or, how much carbs you need to cut etc. Calorie counter is pretty extensive in that it breaks down your diet (if I remember correctly?)

I think trying to remain around that calorie mark to lose weight is much more worthwhile than a food diary - which is pretty impractical when you factor that you may dine with others, go out, be too busy, etc. Obviously 'calorie counting' is a loose guide - naturally no fats are equal, but I think that a basic understanding of nutrition is pretty universal now so I won't go on about that. While the LCHF thread is good, that lifestyle may not be 100% for you, and it may not be long term sustainable for you - so make all the adjustments that you need to. There really is no 'right' or 'wrong' way to lose weight - my diet is probably more carb heavy than the average person (dem asian rice meals), but I'm still in a healthy weight range and fit, and I couldn't keep a long-term lifestyle without that, so I have made other adjustments. Find what works for you... if what you're doing doesn't feel natural you probably won't sustain it for life anyway (probably why you didn't keep going last year.)

Yeah true it will be hard, with life's hussle n bussle to find the time to adhere to it completely.
I think i'm just going to do a bit of trial and error with myself and test how my body reacts to dietary changes and exercise.
I'll be definitely cutting out soft drink (coke in particular was an addiction), chips, shapes, lollies, chocolate, etc.
Stepping up my exercise and doing it regularly every day rather than just when i feel like it.
Doing all that i should see some improvements in my physique and once i get used to it i could adopt a more specific plan (like LCHF or something else)

I've started tracking like you suggested via myfitnesspal today i still have 1,400 calories to spare.
Might just grab something on my break at work tonight for dinner.
I've done some excercise today but i think i need more cardio.
I did jogging up and down the stairs at the front of my house for a few mins, probably looked like a tool but it felt good
Done crunches, pushups and used my dumb-bell weights.
I have a pretty psychical job as well which i have to go to tonight, repetitive heavy lifting, always on my feet, etc.

 

[vonn]

Yeah true it will be hard, with life's hussle n bussle to find the time to adhere to it completely.
I think i'm just going to do a bit of trial and error with myself and test how my body reacts to dietary changes and exercise.
I'll be definitely cutting out soft drink (coke in particular was an addiction), chips, shapes, lollies, chocolate, etc.
Stepping up my exercise and doing it regularly every day rather than just when i feel like it.
Doing all that i should see some improvements in my physique and once i get used to it i could adopt a more specific plan (like LCHF or something else)

I've started tracking like you suggested via myfitnesspal today i still have 1,400 calories to spare.
Might just grab something on my break at work tonight for dinner.
I've done some excercise today but i think i need more cardio.
I did jogging up and down the stairs at the front of my house for a few mins, probably looked like a tool but it felt good
Done crunches, pushups and used my dumb-bell weights.
I have a pretty psychical job as well which i have to go to tonight, repetitive heavy lifting, always on my feet, etc.

Another super (and probably more time efficient) cardio as well is skipping. Target have weighted skipping ropes (which I have been loving) for $5. Swimming is a lot easier on the joints too if you get sick of jogging (also is a full body workout which jogging cannot compare with.)

Wow, 1400 to spare? How much were you on before if you don't mind me asking?

Anyway - best of luck!

 

[Bazzar]

The other best bit of advice is don't fear the fat, get plenty of mono and sat fat in. Around 60/40 is my preferred ratio, keep your poly to a minimum.
If you like Avocado get one in every day. Nutrition powerhouse.

 

[Cotchin 9]

Ditch the vita wheat, up n go, pasta and special K and low fat milk and you're halfway there.

 

[Bazzar]

up n go ... lol

 

[TheKanga]

The other best bit of advice is don't fear the fat, get plenty of mono and sat fat in. Around 60/40 is my preferred ratio, keep your poly to a minimum.
If you like Avocado get one in every day. Nutrition powerhouse.

That's good then as i love Avocado's

 

[TheKanga]

Another super (and probably more time efficient) cardio as well is skipping. Target have weighted skipping ropes (which I have been loving) for $5. Swimming is a lot easier on the joints too if you get sick of jogging (also is a full body workout which jogging cannot compare with.)

Wow, 1400 to spare? How much were you on before if you don't mind me asking?

Anyway - best of luck!

Well i ended up the day yesterday with 382 calories to spare and i burnt off 210 according to my app.
I think last time i went on a diet some days i would go way under others i would go over, last time i was using Kilo joules rather than Calories.

How much calories should i be aiming to burnt off via cardio per day? sorry i'm a bit of a n00b with all of this haha.

Gotta buy a new set of scales next week.

 

[PoopingHindi]

Well i ended up the day yesterday with 382 calories to spare and i burnt off 210 according to my app.
I think last time i went on a diet some days i would go way under others i would go over, last time i was using Kilo joules rather than Calories.

How much calories should i be aiming to burnt off via cardio per day? sorry i'm a bit of a n00b with all of this haha.

Gotta buy a new set of scales next week.

i'd focus on getting the eating part right first without worrying too much about the exercise bit.

just do something you enjoy for as long and as hard as you feel like. play around with it for a bit, get a better understanding of your body and how far you can push it. once you figure out what works for you then you can get more specific from there, but i wouldnt get too hung up on calorie burn in the beginning.

as long as you're having a go and getting into the habit of exercising everything else will happen eventually.

weight loss is mostly about food intake. exercise is just the cream on top (full fat cream)