dieting questions! need a third party opinion!

[intel]

ok... so i spend a lot of time in the gym and generally, i prefer to see faster results and put forth the additional effort rather than taking the slow and steady pace with whatever i do.

As of now i am eating between 1500-2000 calories a day, my main conflict is understanding what is ok and what is not when planning my daily diet. I generally leave the house in the morning and return late nights so I cant really cook often; here are some of the options i need judgment calls on:


- at times ill take 4 or 5 sandwiches with me for a full day: 1 slice of turkey, 2 slices of bread, light mayo: total of approximately 150 calories each. YES/NO?

- pb&j's caloric count doesnt look too good, would it be ok to substitute this for above? YES/NO?

- sometimes i forget my lunch: id assume chipotle bowls with no sourcream/cheese/guacomole ranks in around 600 cals...YES/NO to healthy food?


what other suggestions would you guys make? granola bars? nutrigrain bars? what can i use as as a non-cooking take to work snack (Well cover the course of 10 hours) and still be healthy? i can use a microwave if need be.

thoughts?

[dEaFHATCH]

by your daily caloric intake im assuming youre trying to cut fat

when looking at nutrition, i dont look so much at total caloric intake as much as i look at how much of the food is lean protein, carbohydrates, fat, etc... right now im shooting for more of a 75% lean protein, 20% carbs, 5% fat split in my carbs... of course i try to eat 6 meals a day and still stay around an 1800-2000 calorie/day diet, but thats not my main focus

my suggestioned changes on your diet are:

- Keep the turkey sandwichs, but only take about 2-3 sandwiches... throw a few more slices of turkey on their(those two changes will raise your protein intake and lower your carb intake a little bit)... dont forget to use multi-grain bread!!

- PB&J's arent horrible- id have one every few days and try to keep the jelly to a minimum while keeping a decent amount of peanut butter... itll help you keep up your fat intake, and peanut butter contains mostly healthy fats and less unhealthy ones(trans and saturated)

- im not a big fan of chipotle bowls, but thats just a personal oppinion

- as far as good snacks to take a long, granola bars and nutrigrain bars arent bad... id also substitute some of them with an apple, banana, orange, etc... i love fruit and theyre nutritional as well... vegetables are a great substitute as well


this is taken off of bodybuilding.com:

The key factors in quality diets are:


Calorie intake (matters whether you're consciously counting or not)
Consumption of sufficient quantity of essential nutrients
Consideration of individual likes and dislikes
Consideration of metabolic abnormalities
Occasional breaks from the diet
Recognizing that you don't have to stick to the program 100% of the time to see the benefits
hope this helps
-Josh

[j-dizzle]

Defahatch said it pretty well. Also one of the best things in morning its oatmeal not that packaged shit really oatmeal. Nice thing about it is it has slow carbs. Protein shakes are also good because now days its pretty much a drinkable meal. Also tuna is something good to eat and since it comes in the waterless packs its easy to bring with you. Fruits and vegs are always good.

[bb4arson]

i dont know man .. i know you say you dont have time to make (cook) food .

but you have to have your diet in check and protien levels.

[fivesfe]

im in the same delima as you. i work almost all day, trying to eat 6 meals a day is tough. ive been doing the turkey sandwhich thing, alot. oatmeal in the morning, and taking granola bars to work. also yogart as a quick snack to. once in a while ill do the lean cruisine meals. but im always looking for new things to eat.

[bb4arson]

on your sandwiches just make sure you eat wheat bread =)

[Chiodos]

Didn't read what all has been posted so far but here are my thoughts:
I'd eat NATURAL peanut butter with Honey sandwiches, on whole wheat of course, instead of just regular PB and Jelly.

You can cook up a shit load of chicken breasts at the beginning of the week, which will allow you to just grab and go. That and cans of low sodium albacore and salmon. Boil eggs as well at the beginning of the week and eat the whites as snacks. Lots of fruits and veggies.. they are convenient and good for you!

[bb4arson]

Didn't read what all has been posted so far but here are my thoughts:
I'd eat NATURAL peanut butter with Honey sandwiches, on whole wheat of course, instead of just regular PB and Jelly.

You can cook up a shit load of chicken breasts at the beginning of the week, which will allow you to just grab and go. That and cans of low sodium albacore and salmon. Boil eggs as well at the beginning of the week and eat the whites as snacks. Lots of fruits and veggies.. they are convenient and good for you!

mmmm peanut butter and honey for a post worout =)

so true and than you could microwave later..=)


and dude your avatar looks gay i cant take you serious anymore .
i feel like a gay man is looking at me wanting to rape me.:icon_eek:

[jakellama123]

oatmeal is good
SIR mikey would stir fry chicken real quick and eat it with ramen noodles
dont use the seasoning or the juice
just boil the noodles
thats alot of solid calories too and takes maybe 5 min to do
dice up some chicken really quick, add some oil and stir fry sauce shiiiiit
then cover it and boil the noodles real quick

[bb4arson]

you should eat some cottage cheese at nights before you go to sleep..
so your body wont starve while your sleeping

[Chiodos]

you should eat some cottage cheese at nights before you go to sleep..
so your body wont starve while your sleeping

Yes!


and dude your avatar looks gay i cant take you serious anymore .
i feel like a gay man is looking at me wanting to rape me.:icon_eek:

LOL, changed it to more accurately fit your description.....

[bb4arson]

alright thank you you lol i feel more comfortable now.

[Manga_Spawn]

If you want to cut weight the best thing that helped me was just cutting out any complex carbs all together. So no bread, rice etc. I lost 2 pounds after only a few days of doing this and after a month I dropped a total of 13lbs. I now am eating carbs again but I try to limit it pretty heavily. If you have to have bread those sandwich thins are ok and actually Rye bread has the lowest carb count of anything I have found. Insted of sandwiches try salads you can buy those little bags at the store for $1.

I also tried to cut out carbs at dinner since you are just going to go to sleep shortly after. For dinner just try this buy a big package of boneless chicken breast at walmart or where ever you shop. Put them in a baking pan with alittle olive oil and whatever kinds of seasoning you want (I like spicey but whatever floats your boat) and cover the top of the pan with some foil. Then heat the oven to 450 degrees and cook them for about 25-30 mins. They will come out juicy and you can cook plenty extra for the next days meals or whatever. I was also just buying some plain frozen veggies and heating them in the mircowave and I would put alittle olive oil and pepper on there.

Oh and definate yes on the cottage cheese. It is a very slow release protein so it is good before bed and also a yummy breakfast item.

[bb4arson]

^On the carbs ive had a hard time . since carbs are what build size you know .
plus i think your fine with carbs if it whole wheat.

[j-dizzle]

Carbs work for me lol I eat whole wheat bread, bagels, waffles things like that. Each slice of my bread also has 5g of protein. Which makes taking in whole foods protein a lot easier.

[Manga_Spawn]

It is true if you want to get bigger but like you two said you need to make sure you are eating good whole wheat or whole grain stuff. You also don't need to eat a ton of it. Stay far away from things like white rice or white bread. I have cut back a lot only carb intake and it has helped keep me at a consistent weight but I am seeing an increase in muscule. I was also a little confused weather the op wants to just loose weight or loose weight and increase size.

As for a good snack mixed nuts are excellent snacks. They have protein good fats and are fairly filling.

[bb4arson]

i love white rice haha i know its more fatting than brown rice but its my favorite white a tender chicken breast..mmm haha

ive been eating flamming hot peanuts