Am i overdoing the carbs??

clare_1 · Post by **clare_1** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 3:24 pm

Ive been reading through quite a few of the posts on this site and feel quite deflated about diet.

Am i eating too many carbs? Do i really need to be having protein shakes?(the thought makes me feel a bit queesy)

Anyway heres general daily diet.

I dont mind if you all rip it to shreds as id rather know what im doing wrong. Please note im in the UK so may not have some of the stuff you guys have.

Break - wholewheat cereal with 2% fat milk and banana
OR
2 slices wholegrain toast with low fat spread and banana (Im thinking should i add a cup of milk etc with cereal or maybe add peanut butter to toast to up protein?)

Lunch - Chunky veg/chicken soup with slice wholegrain bread
OR
tuna/chicken/lean ham and salad on wholegrain bap
+ a yogurt and piece of fruit
OR
2 boiled eggs + 2 slices wholegrain toast
Afternoon snack - fruit or small flapjack

Dinner - chicken/tuna/turkey/small lean steak with small baked potato/wholemeal pasta/brown rice and salad/vegetables

Supper - slice of toast with low fat spread and peanut butter
OR
2 crackers with low fat spread and peanut butter

As i want to get to 120lbs from 130lbs i thought maybe get rid of supper but from what im reading i should be eating this much. Should i change what im eating at supper? Suggestions? Also the carbs im eating at lunch and dinner - should i get rid of them and have more veggies/protein?
Lastly do you think 1 wholegrain bread with 1 boiled egg would be better for breakfast with the banana mid morning?

Im sorry if i sound dumb. I thought i was well up on this kinda stuff as i usually hand out the advice to friends/family, but i wanna get really serious now to get the results i want and to give me something to concentrate on other then the stresses in life.Ha. thanks in advance. x

Boss Man · Post by **Boss Man** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 3:52 pm

clare_1 wrote:
Break - wholewheat cereal with 2% fat milk and banana
OR
2 slices wholegrain toast with low fat spread and banana (Im thinking should i add a cup of milk etc with cereal or maybe add peanut butter to toast to up protein?)

(You can do the Cereal thing, but the Banana, especially a large one, might be too many Carbs. I would suggest, going for perhaps a smaller type of Fruit choice like a Tangerine, or some berries, or pieces of Sliced Apple, and just give it 10-15 minutes before you have the rest of the food, to help the Fruit digest.

You could with the Toast have some Low Fat Cheese to boost up the Protein and Carbs, and get some healthy Fats. With your cereal option try a 2-3 Egg Whites with a Yolk scrambled, as a possible option.)

(I would have snack here. You could go for something like Low Fat Cheese, if you didn't with Breakfast. Perhaps go for something like Peanuts, for the Protein, Carbs, Fats, or perhaps something like another piece of Fruit, (same adivce as earlier), add something like a bit of Chicken or Turkey for example, and then perhaps some Nuts, as a possiblee example.)

Lunch - Chunky veg/chicken soup with slice wholegrain bread
OR
tuna/chicken/lean ham and salad on wholegrain bap
+ a yogurt and piece of fruit
OR
2 boiled eggs + 2 slices wholegrain toast

(Soup idea is good. Fruit for Lunch is needed, as you've got Yoghurt and Whole-grain Sandwhich. THe mixing of choices for Flesh filling is good.)

Afternoon snack - fruit or small flapjack

(Don't bother with Fruit, go for Flapjack, and add a Protein source in here.)

Dinner - chicken/tuna/turkey/small lean steak with small baked potato/wholemeal pasta/brown rice and salad/vegetables

(Good dinner options.)

Supper - slice of toast with low fat spread and peanut butter
OR
2 crackers with low fat spread and peanut butter

(I'd ditch the crackers, and go for the Toast option, though you could boost the Protein with something like a small amount of Baked Beans, or some Eggs, if you didn't do the Egg thing earlier.)

crimsonred · Post by **crimsonred** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 4:19 pm

i would replace ALL pasta/rice/ceral with brown and multigrain carbs..and ONCE a day u can have a carb like that..

crimsonred · Post by **crimsonred** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 4:20 pm

also i would do oatmeal instead of ceral sometimes and DEF a sweet potato not a regular potato

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:08 pm

- i'm a big fan for protein shakes but only after wt workouts, no other times...there's no other way for your muscles to recover really without them so if you don't recover properly, you'll struggle to reach any sort of goal
- it's not about haw many carbs you have, it's when you have them...the big 4 are bread/pasta/rice and cerial (sugary and fibrey)...the problems withthese is that portion sizes tend to get a litte out of control so they are best to be had for breakfast and for the meal after training

i'd try this:

1 - fruit, whole grain cerial (a high fibre one or oatmeal, museli etc), 1/2 protein shake
2 - fruit, eggs, salad
3 - meat, veg (soup can be had but bump the meat up in it
4 - meat, veg, salad
5 - meat, veg, salad
6 - if your hungry then eat...killing your metabolism by cutting cal's will make you fatter not leaner

this plan is for a day off from training and cardio only days if you do them...for wt training days add this in immediately after training:

protein shake, rice/pasta/sugary cerial or bread (only 1 though)

simply pop into the plan then start back up where you left off

clare_1 · Post by **clare_1** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 5:14 am

That seems like such a lot to eat. I just get so full. When we go out to eat i get kids portions when i can because you get given so much. I am gonns try best to follow this advice and def increase protein. I love eggs so thats 1 way i guess.

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 4:55 pm

you can work up to it, it's not that much rally

1 serve protein - palm of your hand size
1 serve of veg - 1cp at least

start with this maybe:

1 - fruit, whole grain cerial (a high fibre one or oatmeal, museli etc), 1/2 protein shake
2 - fruit, eggs, salad
3 - meat, veg (soup can be had but bump the meat up in it
5 - if your hungry then eat...killing your metabolism by cutting cal's will make you fatter not leaner

add in post meal on training days and every week add in extra meal, you may need to force feed a little but you'll be fine in 2 - 3 weeks

cassiegose · Post by **cassiegose** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 7:23 pm

hi there Clare,

One piece of advice that worked for me... try eating smaller portions on your meals. You don't have to have 6 FULL meals a day, but it IS important to eat every 2-3 hours. I would try to get atleast 5 meals a day(going with the plan that swans showed you) and just eat smallerl portions at first. Evenually your metabolism will speed up and you'll find that you're able to eat larger portions... this is great because it means that you're body is burning more calories.

I hope this helps.

Cassie :)

clare_1 · Post by **clare_1** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 12:11 pm

Thanks Cassie, I understand what you mean. I usually have 3 smallish meals at the regular times with 3 snacks slotted in so i suppose i am doing it right. When im on a shift at the hospital though and we are busy i may not get a meal for 6-7 hours and then i just go home and sleep. So ive decided to keep something in pocket to sneak into a room to eat to avoid this. I was thinking maybe a small flapjack and some yogurt raisins?

diet today wasnt too great as i got busy again. Could be worse though.

Break - 2 boiled eggs, 2 seeded batch toast with low fat olive oil spread

Then i worked out around an hour and a half after

After workout i had a tangerine and a flapjack and this kinda ended up being lunch

I had a low fat yogurt and some grapes mid afternoon

Dinner - chicken breast, 2 small boiled potatoes (wouldnt usually have these but thought i should as missed lunch), cauliflower, broccoli and sprouts.

Supper - slice of toast with low fat olive oil spread and tea spoon peanut butter

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 5:40 pm

get that post training meal in

trainiung should only be hr max

cassiegose · Post by **cassiegose** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:29 pm

Hi there,

Yeah work can definitely make a healthy diet difficult if you don't have time to get your meals in. Remember to try to have a protein with EVERY meal. I'm not a huge fan of protein bars or meal replacement bars, but that might be an option for you as you could eat it quickly when you ahve a quick break and can easily carry it in your pocket. If you do go for a meal replacement bar, try to pick one with an equal amount of carbs and protein and limited sugars... also check out the ingredients and make sure they are mostly natural with no hydroginated oils, fake sugars or chemicals if possible.

You might make a protein shake before your workout so you have that available to drink immediatly after working out. After drinking that... you could have the flapjack.

For midafternoon snack, I would grab some sliced lunch meat, can of tuna, eggwhites (I boil mine ahead of time and just eat them plain), or other protein. For best results, have some veggies with that protein. Yogurt and grapes are both relatively high in sugar and might not be best for a mid afternoon snack as they could give you a burst of energy followed by a rapid loss of energy. Eating that protein will help your energy levels and metabolism to remain constant the whole day. You might also throw some almonds in a baggy and snack on those during the day to ensure youre getting enough healthy fats each day.

Sorry for the long post. I hope this helps. :)

Cassie

clare_1 · Post by **clare_1** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 6:36 am

Thanks guys. Well i guess next time i go shopping there will be a lot of changes. This way of eating is different to me. Im used to a quick graze of fruit etc at snack time so it will take some getting used to. I may try meat lettuce rolls, the old diet fav that could actually be a benefit after all. You know - a slice of ham/turkey/chick placed on a lettuce leaf and rolled. Just an idea.

I have a party saturday with a buffet which is going to be a bit hard to avoid. Im just gonna hope they have plates of meat and a salad bowl. Sorted.

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 7:12 pm

train like a demon on sat afternoon then eat like a demon sat night, no damage done

clare_1 · Post by **clare_1** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 4:31 am

That, friend, sound like a plan.

Can I just tell you all that last night I was feeling kind of unwell after eating dinner of a lean steak and veggies, which i have often may i add but with a small baked potato usually. Anyway an hour after eating i got quite sick and then had the strongest cravings to eat cereal ever. Im afraid I ate it. And felt better after. But whatgs that all about? training tells me the logical explanation is that the sudden increase of protein and decrease of carbs has done it. Any ideas of problem and how to prevent it??

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 6:48 am

if you've cut carbs back a lot then you'll have cravings but then i'd say if you feed yourself adequately throughout the day, those cravings shouldn't come for too much longer

Am i overdoing the carbs??

Am i overdoing the carbs??

Re: Am i overdoing the carbs??