Cutting diet, opinions?

[Beast1284]

Just a little background, I am 20 years old. When I was 16 I weighed 315 pounds and the doctor told me that if I didn't do something about my weight that I would be dead by 20, well here I am. :) At 16 I put myself on a super strict diet and lost 60 pounds in 4 months. Since about 6 months ago I was hovering around 260 or so, and decided again that I wanted to be at 200 pounds and look good. So I went on another diet (this time I like to call it a lifestyle change ;)) and since then I have lost another 20 pounds and am currently at 240. My current goal is 200 pounds, and once I get there I'm sure I'll want to be around 180, but we'll see when I get there. My problem is this, I started up college again a couple weeks ago, and with the meal plan I have it's been hard to get my meals in, so I have went to the following plan, but have went down to losing about a pound a week. Here's what I eat:

wake up mid morning 10 AM or so
MWF cardio for 45 minutes
Tu Thu lift (upper/lower body)

after my morning workout around 11 AM
sportpharma powder, banana, milk, peanut butter
500 cals 80 g protein

2 or 3 oclock sub from food place at school
whole wheat bread, turkey, cheese, whatever veggies i want, no condiments
390 cals 35 g protein

5 or 6 2nd shake same as above

8 or 9 2nd sub same as above

total daily intakes around 1780 cals 40 g fat 220 g protein

My question is does this look ok to you guys? It seems like I should be losing more than a pound a week, or is this just a plateau since I've lost so much weight in the past? Should I cut out the cheese on the sub and save 200 or so calories a day? Thanks for any input you guys might have.

[bradley]

Originally posted by Beast1284
wake up mid morning 10 AM or so
MWF cardio for 45 minutes
Tu Thu lift (upper/lower body)


I would recommend taking in a small amount of calories before you train in the mornings. Maybe a protein shake along with a small amount of carbs (banana for example).



after my morning workout around 11 AM
sportpharma powder, banana, milk, peanut butter
500 cals 80 g protein


Keep fat to a minimum around your workout, and I would also recommend mixing your post workout shake with water. These changes will increase the rate at which your protein shake is digested.



total daily intakes around 1780 cals 40 g fat 220 g protein

My question is does this look ok to you guys? It seems like I should be losing more than a pound a week, or is this just a plateau since I've lost so much weight in the past? Should I cut out the cheese on the sub and save 200 or so calories a day? Thanks for any input you guys might have.

I think your daily cals are too low, as well as your overall fat intake. Increase your daily cals slowly over the next couple of weeks, and I would shoot for a daily calorie intake around 2200-2500. This is just an estimate, but you have to take in enough cals to support your activity level.

As far as fat goes, you can add in some fish oil, flaxseed oil, olive oil, etc. to boost up your fat intake (as well as EFA intake). I would try and get ~25% of your daily cals from fat.

Best of luck with your goals.:)

[Beast1284]

Thanks for the reply.

If I cut the milk from my shakes that would take out about 300 cals from my diet so I would have to find those elsewhere. And to be honest, powders with water make me gag, yuck. My ideal diet would be to take in around 2200 cals throughout 6 meals a day (which is what I eat at home), so basically my options are limited to very inexpensive non perishables, such as pb and bananas, heh. I suppose I could pick up some tuna, not sure if I will have the extra cash for the fish pills or not, but thanks again.

[bradley]

Originally posted by Beast1284
Thanks for the reply.

If I cut the milk from my shakes that would take out about 300 cals from my diet so I would have to find those elsewhere. And to be honest, powders with water make me gag, yuck. My ideal diet would be to take in around 2200 cals throughout 6 meals a day (which is what I eat at home), so basically my options are limited to very inexpensive non perishables, such as pb and bananas, heh. I suppose I could pick up some tuna, not sure if I will have the extra cash for the fish pills or not, but thanks again.

You could also try canned salmon or other types of oily fish, which would provide a good source of EFAs, as well as an inexpensive protein source.