Diet Critique...

[sbfigure]

*Sigh* Well... I was on my way to another competition this year... yet tried about 6 different diets along the way and needless to say... I WAS NOT GETTING ANYWHERE!!!! i dropped 20lbs during the prep but i was not at all happy with the way i was coming in, so I set it aside and gave up. Maybe I was holding more water/fat due to the whole cortisol stress factor from being under so much pressure from college... anywho... I wanted to start my offseason diet from the weight I was at, and have a year of REAL offseason dieting- aka-- sticking to a diet with a cheat or 2 on the weekends... not a cheat a day like i always did.

here is the frustrating part... I AM TORTURING MYSELF, STICKING TO A DIET, YET MY CLOTHES ARE TIGHT!!!! i want to gouge my eyes out. Maybe someone can critique what I am eating... due to the fact that i am a broke college student.. getting someone to help in my offseason diet is not an option right now so im trying to create it on my own. once i graduate and start preppin for a show i plan on gettin my nutrition guru. anyway the diet is as follows...

Meal 1.
2/3c liquid egg whites, 2 whole eggs
2 slices of ezekiel bread (cinnamon raisen)

Meal 2.
shake (IDS pro whey- mixed berry flavor)

Meal 3.
4oz chicken
1/4c. ezekiel cerel (or 1/2c smashed sweet potato-- or my new fave recipe- baked sweet potato fries- sounds fattening but its just sliced sw.pot. with rosemary and salt baked at 400degrees for 45min.!

Meal 4. **PRE WORKOUT**
SAME AS MEAL 3

Meal 5. **POST WORKOUT**
Shake
2 slices of ezekiel bread or 1/4c ezekiel cereal

Meal 6
4oz london broil
1c green veggie

I TAKE MY FISH OILS, AND MULTI'S religiously... i currently am not running a fat burner-- taking a 6 week break. I drink my coffee black.. i drink diet soda (coke or pepsie zero), 1-2gals. of water a day... and I am still doing cardio 5 times a week, mostly morning on empty stomach sometimes post workout... 30-60 min. depends on how i feel. My goal this offseason is to NOT GET FATTTTT... i have major fatgirl phobia... i dont expect a 6 pack but i dont expect to be wearing a size 10 jean either!!

sorry for the novel....any opinions?

THANKS!!!

[sassy69]

Seems light on the good fats. Also is your goal to lean out, lean bulk or bulk? Other sources of good low GI carbs are barley, oats, etc. I was on a barley kick up until March. Cheap & very robust carb.

Also I wanted to ask if you've done / considered /ever done a detox diet? That might help reset your body to start back up. Sometimes trying too hard to get somewhere and nothing is working, is a good time to just start from square 1 and clean things out to start over. In the past I've gotten a juicer for like $30 from Target and hit Costco to get whatever bulk veggies I can and just juice away for 4-5 days.

[muscles_1976]

have you tried following the offseason diet dave posted in his q&a thread? it looks like a solid plan -- and it fits your budget--free

[tammyp]

i dont see many veggies at all and i think its a bit heavy with the ezekiel. how about oats, veggies yams or rice instead? what are your stats and the macro breakdown of this diet?

[Northman]

Dieting all year around is not healthy in my opinion.

[sbfigure]

Seems light on the good fats. Also is your goal to lean out, lean bulk or bulk? Other sources of good low GI carbs are barley, oats, etc. I was on a barley kick up until March. Cheap & very robust carb.

Also I wanted to ask if you've done / considered /ever done a detox diet? That might help reset your body to start back up. Sometimes trying too hard to get somewhere and nothing is working, is a good time to just start from square 1 and clean things out to start over. In the past I've gotten a juicer for like $30 from Target and hit Costco to get whatever bulk veggies I can and just juice away for 4-5 days.

i didnt mention the veggies... i eat veggies with meals 3, 4 and 6. its usually a spinach salad.. w/ tbsp on olive oil and vinegar. if i dont have the salad, i have either broccoli or spinach.

I have never done a detox "diet" but i have done a body cleanse using pills after my HORRRRIBLE rebound last year.

my goal is to lean bulk....

[sbfigure]

i dont see many veggies at all and i think its a bit heavy with the ezekiel. how about oats, veggies yams or rice instead? what are your stats and the macro breakdown of this diet?

I switch the carbs around: my carb sources are either
-rolled oats (i try to use sparingly tho because they make me gassy)
-sweet potato/yam
-ezekiel bread or cereal
-brown/white rice (white only post workout)

and the veggies i left out, but i do eat them with meals 3,4,6. usually spinach salad w. tbsp.oil and vinegar., reg. spinach, broccoli, green beans.

My stats: 5'8 170 lbs. (i compete at 140) -- [u can see my competition/photoshoot pics at www.myspace.com/gurleegrlraycn]

I do not have the macro breakdown of this diet.. i will have to work on that.

--i just went out and bought a mix of raw almonds and cashews too.. so when i dont have the salad with the oil i will have 1/4c. of the nuts. thinking bout adding them into meal 2 as well.

does that help any??

[sbfigure]

have you tried following the offseason diet dave posted in his q&a thread? it looks like a solid plan -- and it fits your budget--free

im scared to try that diet right now, cuz i feel like i NEED the carbs. Im in college and i tried a no carb diet while in school and my grades dropped. idk if its in my head or what. I will hopefully begin working with dave in January when I am done with school. that will still give me 7 months in an offseason be4 having to start my 16 week contest prep in July for the 2010 Eastern USAs... for now, i am just trying to do my best on my own.

[figurebre]

I think you need to take a mini 'metabolic reboost' period with your diet. Sounds to me like all the starting/stopping/changing of diets is screwing with u some.
I wouldnt add in cheat meals just yet either...let your body adjust to one thing.
i am definately no expert tho....
BUt I would:
Substitute the ezekial bread for oats, its cheaper anyway.
Use protein sources that are easier to digest ( fish, eggs, shakes)

Once I started competing my Gpa went from a 3.5 to 2.9....woops

[sbfigure]

I think you need to take a mini 'metabolic reboost' period with your diet. Sounds to me like all the starting/stopping/changing of diets is screwing with u some.
I wouldnt add in cheat meals just yet either...let your body adjust to one thing.
i am definately no expert tho....
BUt I would:
Substitute the ezekial bread for oats, its cheaper anyway.
Use protein sources that are easier to digest ( fish, eggs, shakes)

Once I started competing my Gpa went from a 3.5 to 2.9....woops

haha i went from a 3.5 to a 2.89! go figure! (no pun intended)

[tammyp]

once my fat goes low, i lose. you may be that way. high fat works great when im bulking but not when im leaning out. if your eating nuts and using olive oil you may be having too much, along with the amount of carbs your eating. maybe try keeping your carbs around yoour workouts and stick the veggies the rest of the day.

[sbfigure]

once my fat goes low, i lose. you may be that way. high fat works great when im bulking but not when im leaning out. if your eating nuts and using olive oil you may be having too much, along with the amount of carbs your eating. maybe try keeping your carbs around yoour workouts and stick the veggies the rest of the day.

Thanks so much Tammy. I will give it a try. I am not very good at breaking down macros but a friend of mine does it, so i will have him take a look and figure it all out for me, and ill let you know what im consuming. i will cut back the carbs to meals 1, pre and post workout. and ill keep the fats (olive oil) with my salads throughout the day.

[Melissa]

Bre's right...you do have to let your body re-adjust to eating a "normal" amount of food. And the key is to be consistent. I agree with Tammy about keeping carbs primarily around pre and post-workout. I went through my offseason eating only 1/2c oatmeal in the am and one scoop of Carbolyze with 1 and a half scoops of Isolyze postworkout. My fat was pretty high though, and I learned just how efficient my b ody could be fewer carbs. Dammit girl, we need to set aside like 4 hours to catch up on all this crap!

[sbfigure]

ok so here is the revamp... i started this today...

Meal 1.
1c. egg whites (or 6 egg whites)
1/4c ezekiel cereal/ or 1 slice ezekiel bread or 1/4c oats

Meal 2.
shake (IDS pro whey- mixed berry flavor)
1 oz nuts (almond/cashew)

Meal 3.
4oz chicken
spinach salad w. tbsp olive oil/macadamia nut oil and vinegar

Meal 4. **PRE WORKOUT**
4oz chicken
1/4c. ezekiel cerel (or 4oz smashed sweet potato-- or my new fave recipe- baked sweet potato fries- sounds fattening but its just sliced sw.pot. with rosemary and salt baked at 400degrees for 45min.!
spinach salad w. tbsp olive oil/macadamia nut oil and vinegar
*should i nix the salad here cuz of the carb?*


Meal 5. **POST WORKOUT**
Shake
1/4c ezekiel cereal

Meal 6
4oz london broil
spinach salad w. tbsp olive oil/macadamia nut oil and vinegar

[figurebre]

if this is your offseason, it just doesnt seem like enough food to me???