Need a little help working out my diet please

Hi guys!

Just a note:

I'm all natural, don't even take whey. I'm 22y.o and my goal is to lose my fat while gaining a bit of muscle/shape!

Great forum with great topics and advice. I got a slight problem calculating my calorie intake and working out a diet. I have done a lot of research, read the dieting 101 and 102 sticky's but there are a few things I still don't get. I have seen there are many calculators that help you determine your carb/protein/fat intake, with how much to lower your calories to lose weight etc, but here's what I don't get.

How do I calculate the calories of the food I eat and do I measure things like meat while it's raw? And let's say I need 30g of fat a day, how do I determine how much peanut butter/olive oil/nuts I need to take in?

For example 150g of chicken fillet - is it measured raw and do I calculate the entire piece of fillet as a protein source? How do i determine how much calories I'm taking in with this 150g chicken and how much protein?

And with carbs, like one medium baked potato, is it calculated as only a carb source and how do I determine the calorie and carbs from this potato?

Same with fats such as natural peanut butter? How many cals/fats in 1 tbsp?

I really want to try and work out a good nutrition plan for myself because I have been training with weights 3 times a week and doing some HIIT and moderate cardio about 3 times a week, but I don't get the results I want and I think it is from my nutrition.

At this stage my diet looks something like this (I don't know how many calories it is and I don't weigh my food but here's rough estimates)

Morning:

A small bowl of instant oats and every other day the oats AND 2 egg whites + 1 whole egg

Later:

One small steamed peace of hake with about a cup of mixed veg and every other day a medium baked potato

Later:

1 slice whole wheat toast with peanut butter

Later:

Either about 150g of lean steak or about a 150g chicken fillet grilled
215g (small tin) of baked beans

Any help would REALLY be appreciated

www.nutritiondata.com go there and research calories.. Also you ate under eating, why don't u take whey? Its just a protein supplement. Toast and peanut butter isn't a meal.

Also reading the labels on the back of jar's of peanut butter will help,peanut butter is 50g of fat per 100g of peanut butter.it just takes a bit of research bud.

Thanks, I'll check it out and try to figure it out! Under eating? I'm scared if I eat too much I won't lose weight!

What's your weight and body fat%? Under eating is gonna shut down your metabolism

Wimmas wrote: Thanks, I'll check it out and try to figure it out! Under eating? I'm scared if I eat too much I won't lose weight!

Under eating = overtraining
As long as you are eating right, you shouldn't get overtrained

Thanks, I'll check it out and try to figure it out! Under eating? I'm scared if I eat too much I won't lose weight!

Dude, i also had the same perception, if i eat too much, or have extra carbs, that il get fatter! right now, Dj got me on a eating plan, with way more food then i thought i should be eating, but still losing weight! if the diet design isnt working out for you.. drop Dj a email

74kg
1.72m
I've never measured my bf but I estimate it at around 20%

I'm a student so I'm on a tight budget, but this holiday (end of June) I will surely send DJ an email to get a proper nutrition plan to lose weight!

B.T.W that link you put on has great information. I just don't get it that they tell me with my stats and activity level I should consume 3200 cal a day for maintenance, meaning I should eat around 2700 cal a day to lose weight.

I do cardio on tues, Thurs and Sat. +- 15min HIIT on stationary bicycle and 15min on the stair climber, all and all the machines say I burn around a total of 340cal in this session. On mon, wed and Fri when I do weights I do 10min stair climber afterwards and burn another 130 cal.

I'm just confused but I'll eventually figure it out!

Thanks for the advice

Hi once again guys! As you know I want to lose fat. So I did a bit of research and tried to construct a meal plan that fits my budget and will hopefully help me lose weight. I'm unsure if my calculations are right but I used two reliable websites to help me. It looks like a lot of food to eat for me and only comes to 1670 calories. Please give me constructive criticism! THANKS

My stats:
75kg
1.72m
Unsure of bf

Target:
68kg

Your still under eating, I am no diet guru but I can give you some advice. Those carbs from the baked beans that are in your last meal should be put in meal 3 or 4. Throw some almonds in your last meal to bring those calories up.

Buy some whey bro. Throw 40g's whey in the first meal. This diet still needs some work but that's a start.

what time of day are you training?

Yes tjom!
Eerstens wil ek se dis goed om te sien dat jy gewillig is om moeite te doen en om behoorlike navorsing te doen. Ek het baie tyd ve sulke mense.

Hie is ve jou n paar idees oor jou dieet:
Jou kaloriee per dag is baie die selfde as myne so ek kan jou baie help. Probeer dat elke ete n verhouding van 3:2:1 carbs:protein:fats behels, behalwe jou laaste ete moet net vette en proteine wees. Dit is veral belangrik dat jy proteine by elke ete by sit. As jy nie van carbs hou nie probeer dan DJ se advies. Daar is 'n goeie struktuur in die sticky thread.
Meal 1: Ek neem an dit is jou Pre-workout ete? Sit proteine by.
Meal 2: 200g hoenderborsie, en vervang die mayo met neute soos cashew of macadamia neute. As jy jou hoender wil geur kan jy Nandos sous Koop of net kruie gebruik.
Meal 3: Probeer om weg te Bly van suiwel produkte. Melk is basies lee kaloriee en die koolhidrate daarin is eintlik n Vorm van suiker. Ek Het n traan gepik toe ek dit hoor. Los die kaas en sit carbs en vette by.
Meal 4: 200g KWALITEIT steak. Miskien n carb?
Meal 5: Ek weet nie of baked beans regtig goed is nie. My ou dietician was wel n fan. Jy kort vette en carbs.
Meal 6: Sit n ekstra ete by. Net voor jy gan slaap, probeer om 5 heel eiers te eet. Dit is ongelooflike goeie proteine en vette- presies wat die lyf nodig het om spier te bou wanneer jy slaap.
Het jy al gedink an 'n post-workout ietsie? Hoop dit help tjom.

Ok bro I'm a bit confused because you have gained 1KG since your last post 2 weeks ago and are eating 1670 calories? Something doesn't add up.

At your height you should not gain weight with that diet. Your maintenance calories required should be anything from 2100 to around 2400 depending on if you are really training your ass off. You would be losing weight at 1670 a day with weights and cardio 3 times a week. It's very hard to get any accurate numbers to give without knowing your bodyfat %.

If you are seriously around 20% bf like you said before you'd have to lose about 7KG of fat to end up at a semi-lean 12% bf at 68KG. That is gonna take hard work and not a quick 8 week program considering that burning 1KG of fat means burning over 9000 calories. So yea, check that bodyfat% and let us know.

I normally do weightlifting or cardio after my breakfast! To me this is a big change, I have not been eating the way I should and I guess that's because of my diet and habit! I have been under eating a lot!

On the topic of whey, to me it's unafordable, I'm a student with a limited budget! So it's difficult!

@Muscleaddict: The problem with eating very little, especially when it is under your BMR is that your body will feel that it is being starved and basically goes into starvation mode. This means it will shut down your metabolism, store anything you eat as fat, and also tuck into your muscle before eating that fat away. Not at all surprising then that someone would gain weight.

Oh and I frikken gained 1kg of pure fat because i gained 1kg of fat because I turned 22 on 25 May, so many people fed me alcohol and all sorts of empty carbs! But from the 4th of June I'm going a strict diet, just wanted everyone's opinions on my whole diet! I'm still going to give DJ an email on what he thinks and some adjusting, but that is more or less a meal plan that I think I will not go hungry on and loss a ton of wieght!

But thanks guys, I really do appreciate it!

and just to tell you guys I've started with exams so my training has been worthless the past couple of days but from next week I'll be putting in 110%

Pyroclasm wrote: @Muscleaddict: The problem with eating very little, especially when it is under your BMR is that your body will feel that it is being starved and basically goes into starvation mode. This means it will shut down your metabolism, store anything you eat as fat, and also tuck into your muscle before eating that fat away. Not at all surprising then that someone would gain weight.

Ya boet. I've been eating boring food for the sake of vanity for many years :lol: . I know a thing or 2. It doesn't quite work like that. You CAN NOT gain weight if you are eating less than your BMR. Your metabolism will slow and you will lose muscle and store fat. But you will lose weight. He is gaining mass. Either way it doesn't add up.

Haha yeah old man I guess I misunderstood what you said. It's always enjoyable to teach an old dog new tricks so you can't blame me for trying. Meanwhile back at the ranch- would you say it is impossible to gain mass while on a calorie deficit? So even if you are gaining fat you would compensate by losing muscle? Am I understanding this right?

Nope that's why its called a caloric deficit :whistle: . Ideally you want to aim for around 200 calories under your maintenance calories and then hit the cardio. The lower you go under that the more muscle you will be losing with the fat loss, even with a seemingly good diet. With calories too low, if you are losing more muscle mass than fat-> your bf% is going up-> your metabolism is slowing down and so the catabolic nightmare begins since muscle is what burns the fat. It's possible to gain a bit of muscle along with the fat loss on a (slight) caloric deficit but not enough to get too excited about.

Sorry for the bad spelling last night, I was basically sleeping on my keyboard!

90% of the time I work out an hour or two after breakfast and my schedule rarely allows me to eat at the right times and fit in all meals!

I will move the baked beans to meal 3 cause it does make sense!

The reason I added light mayonnaise is to get it down easier, I actually had a hernia op less than a year ago so it's difficult to get down dry chicken etc!

I would like to fit in whey to get the calories and protein up a bit but one day when I start making money that'll be an option.

To me, eating this much is a record and I'm 110% sure I will not go hungry at any point. I will actually need to force the food down!

under eating has really slowed down my metabolism, it's like I just gain fat and no muscle or tone to my body!

For now I'll stick to this diet after adjusting on your advice, and then just adjust it accordingly to what works for my body over the next 6 months.

Hopefully by December I can post some before and after pictures.

Thanks for the friendly advice and help guys, REALLY do appreciate it

Order the whey from ondier.

Good luck

Whey Concentrate is R120/kg from ondier. Instead of having a 200g chicken breast you can have 60g whey concentrate. This works out to R7.20 per serving. Whereas chicken breasts at R50/kg works out to R10 per serving. Unless its your rents buying the food and you eat from their fridge, I don't buy any excuses that say money is a problem.