New guy

[Mr_Kebo]

Long time lurker here. Great forum with alot of great people/info.

Im 23 years 5'9" and weigh 190(around 25% body fat) At the moment im trying to get my diet more on track. I plan to start the WBB#1 routine April 1st, right now at work we are prepping for inventory so im working long hours. My main goal is to lean and tone my body up. Not goin for huge mass at this time. Just trying to get some definition to my body again. I signed up over at fitday to try and track my cals,carbs,fats,pro to see how im doing, need a little criticism here and what i need to change/modify with the diet.

Food Name Amount Unit Cals Carb Fat Prot
Total 1,873 171.2 59.6 163.1
Cereals ready-to-eat, KRAFT, POST Fruity... 1 cup 144 31.6 1.4 1.3
Milk, whole 6 fl oz 110 8.3 5.9 5.9
Banana, raw 1 medium (7" to 7-7/8" long) 105 27.0 0.4 1.3
Egg, whole, cooked, hard-boiled 2 large 155 1.1 10.6 12.6
Carrots, baby, raw 1 serving 30 7.0 0.1 0.5
Tuna, canned 2 can (6.5 oz), drained 371 0.0 2.6 81.6
Bread, whole wheat 2 regular slice 138 24.5 1.9 5.7
Cheese, processed, American or Cheddar t... 1 slice (.75 oz) 71 1.5 5.5 4.0
Banana, raw 1 medium (7" to 7-7/8" long) 105 27.0 0.4 1.3
Carrots, baby, raw 1 serving 30 7.0 0.1 0.5
Chicken 4 oz, boneless, cooked 269 0.0 15.3 30.7
Beans, string, green, cooked 1 cup 82 10.7 4.3 2.5
Potatoes, canned, drained solids 1 cup 108 24.5 0.4 2.5
Egg, whole, cooked, hard-boiled 2 large 155 1.1 10.6 12.6
Total 1,873 171.2 59.6 163.1



Am i on the right track with my meal planning to reach my goals?Do i need to cut the carbs down due to no workout sched in place right now? Also since im not getting atleast 1g of pro per pound should i add some type of whey during the day? I will post body shots later this week to show what im starting with. Thanks for any help and advice.

[AKMass]

I would up your fat intake and protein while reducing carbohydrates. You're gonna want around 190 g of protein and ~95 g of fat. Otherwise your diet looks pretty healthy and solid. You're definitely going to need to start working out also...Starting Strength is a good routine for beginners, which you may or may not know. And yes, I'd throw in a whey protein shake...would cut down the carbs and increase the protein.

[Tom Mutaffis]

Have you calculated your maintenance calories? 1,800 may be somewhat low depending on activity levels and training; at ~145 lbs LBM if you are training frequently that should put you around 2,500 - 3,000 calories for maintnenace and then I would stay about 500 calories under that number. 3,500 calories is a pound of fat and so you would be losing about 1 lbs per week on that program which is a good number. If you keep calories too far below maintenance it will effect training and overall performance and your results may plateau quickly. The key with a quality program is "slow and steady" you can cycle periods of extreme calorie deficit or extreme training with periods of rest or "re-feeding" but a program that is very taxing is not effective for long term.

Perhaps something like this might work:

Maintenance Calories 2,500

Week 1 = 1,900 (Current diet)
Week 2 = 1,900 (Current diet)
Week 3 = 1,900 / 1,500 (alternating each day, 3 @ current)
Week 4 = 1,900 / 2,500 (alternating each day, 3 @ current)
Week 5 = 2,500 (everyday)
Week 6 = Repeat from Week 1 (*If desired you can repeat Week 5 on Week 6 and repeat Week 1 at Week 7)

Total Calorie Deficit over 5 weeks = 16,000 (4.57 lbs lost)

Just an idea... might give you some variation which will keep motivation high and on the re-feed (maintnenace calorie) week you can really go nuts with the training to help boost the weight loss and body composition improvements.

The biggest thing about a good diet / training program is that it is a domino effect, almost exponential. As you lose bodyfat and build muscle your metabolism will speed up causing you to continue to improve body composition and get more lean!

[Mr_Kebo]

I have used an online calculator to figure my maint cal and this was the results:

Maintenance: 2219 Calories/day
Fat Loss Range: 1520 - 1775 Calories/day

I was already 100 cal over my fat loss range according to that. Is there a "right" way to calculate my maint cals? For the next Month i wont be hitting the gym yet. With work prepping for inventory i wont have the time at all. I have a bicycle machine at home i could work with but thats it. April 6th will be my first day in the dym.

[AKMass]

Don't use calculators like that...Everyone is different, track what you eat every day for a couple weeks(or however long it takes) using fitday.com. When you haven't gained weight in a week(or two), that's your maintenance level. Problem is, when you start working out, your maintenance level will go up, so you might want to wait until after April 6 to try this.

[Mr_Kebo]

I see. I will give that a shot. Thanks