Need some advice on my poor diet

therealhyper

Hi
I've adjusted my diet 2 weeks ago and can feel a little difference. I feel better and have lost a few pounds.

I just wanted to be sure my diet options are correct for my goal (which is too lose weight and a later date maintain it).

I am trying too keep a number of diffrent meal types so that i dont get bored.

My current diet ( which is mostly home made):

Breakfast (at home):
Porridge or Weetabix or (cheat day) 2x scrabbled eggs, 2 wholemeal toast with beans and coffe (skimmed milk). Approx 500 calories

Lunch:
Grilled chicken toasted into wholemeal bread, with mixed Salad and either portion of mash potatoe OR wholemeal rice
With water or tea
Approx 500 calories

Dinner
Either:
2 boiled eggs with tea (approx 200 calories)
Chicken salad (minimum dressing) approx 300 calories

Snacks are either:
2 to 4 pieces of fruit or 1 cup of mixed or cashews /walnut (unsalted) approx another
1 x coffe (home made)
Total approx 350 calories

My daily cal intake is approx 1650

I am determined to get back into shape. I have a cheat day (burger chips) on a weekend day.

I am training approx 4 to 5 days (football, run, weights, mma) and so far it's going really well.

Any pointers on the diet....can it be improved ?
Thanks guys in advance.

therealhyper

Bump

Tricia7188

Others will probably have more to say about this but as a quick note, be sure to weigh your nuts! I love nuts and usually 1 oz is about 160-180 cals! 1 oz is only about a 1/4 cup so your 1 cup of nuts for snack cals doesn't quite add up. My fave nut, almonds, for about 28 of them are 160 cals or so. 28 seems like alot but when in snack mode I can easily eat triple that. So I preportion them out in small containers or baggies (1 oz portions) so its easier to log and harder to mindlessly overeat.
Otherwise your meals seem pretty healthy and well rounded, just keep logging and weighing foods and you'll get to your goals!

lynn_glenmont

For one thing, a cup of nuts will likely be 700 to 800 calories, not the 350 calories you're estimating (I'm assuming by cup you mean a measuring cup -- 8 fluid ounces, or roughly 240 to 250 milliliters). Even four pieces of fruit might be more than 350 calories. It's better to weigh all solids rather than to measure them by volume -- the same amount of nuts will take up more or less space depending on the size of the individual pieces and whether you pack them in or shake them to settle (all this affects how much empty space is in between the individual pieces). A gram is a gram, whether the nut is whole, chopped fine, or ground into a paste. And fruit comes in different sizes. There's no way to know that your apple or banana is what a database entry means by a "medium" apple or banana.

Do you put anything in your coffee? (e.g., milk, cream, sugar, flavored syrups, etc.) You have to account for those too.

If those are plain boiled eggs, you're probably overestimating the calories, unless you're buying massive eggs. A large egg has around 70-75 calories.

Overall, it looks like you could be a lot more accurate with your logging.

Also, you don't seem to be getting much by way of vegetables, either in total amounts or in variety.

And why are two eggs a "cheat"? They probably have no more calories than your porridge, unless you're adding a lot of oil or butter when you cook them, or you're eating a tiny bowl of porridge. Do you have the toast and beans with the porridge or with the eggs, or with both, or by itself?

It's fine to work in burger and chips on the weekend, but you should still log the calories, so you know how much it's cutting into your weekly deficit.

AshetteKetchum

I would say try eating a wider selection of carbs. It seems that some breads, pastas, oatmeals, etc are usually high calorie. Don't cut them completely, but maybe try eating some more veggies and fruit instead to try to lower numbers. Also make sure you are accurately measuring, weighing, counting, etc. all the foods that you consume, as others have mentioned with nuts its easy to eat more then you are accounting for.

Also just out of curiousity, what do your macros look like? If you are trying to build more lean muscle mass you might want to increase your protein intake and watch the macros. Try looking into protein shakes, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, eating more chicken, turkey, egg whites, etc. =]

Sometimes it also helps to change your work out routine for better gains! Lots of advice, recipes, programs and articles on bodybuilding.com (useful even if you don't plan on competing or going into bodybuilding).

Keep on working at it!

RodaRose

Maybe larger portions of protein and veggies and less/fewer carbs . . . .
Consider lunch: have a larger portion of chicken breast and skip the bread in order to have more veggies and or more oil like part of an avocado or a little humus or mayonnaise or cheese.
Regarding the cashews: perhaps you had a typo. At any rate, 62 grams of cashews is roughly 350 calories.
Regarding no porridge or Weetabix: for some mornings, consider bacon or cheese with the eggs.
Low calorie vegetables: asparagus, green beans, yellow squash, cauliflower, broccoli, eggplant, tomatoes, cucumbers.

ahamm002

You didn't mention your height/weight. Given your activity level 1650 net calories might be a bit lowish, and therefore hard to maintain.

J72FIT

First observation is, were are the vegetables?
Secondly, seems a little low in calories for all that training.

therealhyper

Tricia7188 wrote: »

Others will probably have more to say about this but as a quick note, be sure to weigh your nuts! I love nuts and usually 1 oz is about 160-180 cals! 1 oz is only about a 1/4 cup so your 1 cup of nuts for snack cals doesn't quite add up. My fave nut, almonds, for about 28 of them are 160 cals or so. 28 seems like alot but when in snack mode I can easily eat triple that. So I preportion them out in small containers or baggies (1 oz portions) so its easier to log and harder to mindlessly overeat.
Otherwise your meals seem pretty healthy and well rounded, just keep logging and weighing foods and you'll get to your goals!

Hello. Thanks for replying :-).
Sorry....a cup (as in a small drinking cup) so around 10 cashews and 10 walnuts (I'll double check in the morning).
Yes will get better at logging with accuracy.
Thanks

Francl27

Yeah make sure to weigh your nuts.

Otherwise, I'd say too to keep to one carb type at lunch, so ditch the bread or the rice or the mashed potatoes but don't have 2 of them. And have more veggies instead of just salads.

But personally I'd be really bored of eating the same thing all the time, but I guess it works for some people.

therealhyper

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

For one thing, a cup of nuts will likely be 700 to 800 calories, not the 350 calories you're estimating (I'm assuming by cup you mean a measuring cup -- 8 fluid ounces, or roughly 240 to 250 milliliters). Even four pieces of fruit might be more than 350 calories. It's better to weigh all solids rather than to measure them by volume -- the same amount of nuts will take up more or less space depending on the size of the individual pieces and whether you pack them in or shake them to settle (all this affects how much empty space is in between the individual pieces). A gram is a gram, whether the nut is whole, chopped fine, or ground into a paste. And fruit comes in different sizes. There's no way to know that your apple or banana is what a database entry means by a "medium" apple or banana.

Do you put anything in your coffee? (e.g., milk, cream, sugar, flavored syrups, etc.) You have to account for those too.

If those are plain boiled eggs, you're probably overestimating the calories, unless you're buying massive eggs. A large egg has around 70-75 calories.

Overall, it looks like you could be a lot more accurate with your logging.

Also, you don't seem to be getting much by way of vegetables, either in total amounts or in variety.

And why are two eggs a "cheat"? They probably have no more calories than your porridge, unless you're adding a lot of oil or butter when you cook them, or you're eating a tiny bowl of porridge. Do you have the toast and beans with the porridge or with the eggs, or with both, or by itself?

It's fine to work in burger and chips on the weekend, but you should still log the calories, so you know how much it's cutting into your weekly deficit.

Hello...thanks for taking time out to respond.
Thinking about it, I weighed the cashews and walnuts, scanned the bar code on the packet and adjusted the consumtion amount which gave me the calorie count. But i will double check.

Fruit...TBH I haven't been weighing the fruit....but you are right....I will begin to do that to get the logging as accurate as possible.

Coffe - It's Nescafe Gold 2 spoons full made with skimmed milk and a spoon of brown sugar. When I add coffe to the app it adds the milk. ..I will also add the sugar from now on. .
Good point !!!.

The App suggest a Medium boiled egg was approx 70 cals...that was for a few medium eggs...so used that reading ?

I have mixed salad in the chicken panini or as a side in the meals. Will look to add more greens.

I was under the impression fryed eggs are BAD ?
I am using the 1 Calorie (Olive Oil) spray (few squirts) with 2 Wholemeal Toasts (no butter) and beans. Is this a Healthy Option ? If so I would much prefer to have this a few more times during the week...instead of porridge !!
:-)

I will keep logging and improve on this. It's difficult to log restaurant or takeaway food as not all have nutrition info available. Though I have been logging them against the best examples I have found on this app.
Thanks

therealhyper

AshetteKetchum wrote: »

I would say try eating a wider selection of carbs. It seems that some breads, pastas, oatmeals, etc are usually high calorie. Don't cut them completely, but maybe try eating some more veggies and fruit instead to try to lower numbers. Also make sure you are accurately measuring, weighing, counting, etc. all the foods that you consume, as others have mentioned with nuts its easy to eat more then you are accounting for.

Also just out of curiousity, what do your macros look like? If you are trying to build more lean muscle mass you might want to increase your protein intake and watch the macros. Try looking into protein shakes, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, eating more chicken, turkey, egg whites, etc. =]

Sometimes it also helps to change your work out routine for better gains! Lots of advice, recipes, programs and articles on bodybuilding.com (useful even if you don't plan on competing or going into bodybuilding).

Keep on working at it!

Yes I do need to improve on the accuracy of my logging...will do !! :-)
Macro ? OK sorry...could you explain ?

I stopped drinking protien shake as I thought I had enough protien from the chicken. ..but can bring this back into the diet ...if it's a good thing. Won't too much protien add on the weight ?

Will try the cottage cheese...again was thinking cheese is bad....!!
Thanks

therealhyper

RodaRose wrote: »

Maybe larger portions of protein and veggies and less/fewer carbs . . . .
Consider lunch: have a larger portion of chicken breast and skip the bread in order to have more veggies and or more oil like part of an avocado or a little humus or mayonnaise or cheese.
Regarding the cashews: perhaps you had a typo. At any rate, 62 grams of cashews is roughly 350 calories.
Regarding no porridge or Weetabix: for some mornings, consider bacon or cheese with the eggs.
Low calorie vegetables: asparagus, green beans, yellow squash, cauliflower, broccoli, eggplant, tomatoes, cucumbers.

Hello
Ok points noted ! What sort of weight/size should the chicken be ? Humous sounds good !!
And try those vegetables too!!
Thank you

bathmatt12345

I would add to this, protein/carbs after a workout. I've been doing a lot of hard MMA training, and after I tend to get 300 cals, milk and protein powder. Helps rebuild as I sleep. I mostly train from 6-830 in the eve.

therealhyper

J72FIT wrote: »

First observation is, were are the vegetables?
Secondly, seems a little low in calories for all that training.

I'm having the salad stuff but you are right...I will mix it up and vegetables to the diet. Thank you!!

How many calories should it be ?
Thanks

therealhyper

Francl27 wrote: »

Yeah make sure to weigh your nuts.

Otherwise, I'd say too to keep to one carb type at lunch, so ditch the bread or the rice or the mashed potatoes but don't have 2 of them. And have more veggies instead of just salads.

But personally I'd be really bored of eating the same thing all the time, but I guess it works for some people.

The diet can get boring so I'm anything to spice it up would be fantastic...I will add the vegetables and take of some of the carbs. I'm still trying to get my head around the nutritional stuff....

therealhyper

bathmatt12345 wrote: »

I would add to this, protein/carbs after a workout. I've been doing a lot of hard MMA training, and after I tend to get 300 cals, milk and protein powder. Helps rebuild as I sleep. I mostly train from 6-830 in the eve.

What sort of protien would you suggest ?
I've tried the lean protien by Maxi. It has the decent enough taste but also has guranana, green tea

bathmatt12345

Beans and rice, Pork is lean, fish, I make salmon with some soy, ginger, garlic and misc other stuff over rice.

You can use lean means like some cuts of beef, Play with MFP ingredients (verified only) and build plates, keeping your macros in the same ballpark.

Sparing/grappling and stuff I assume about 80 cals/round (5 minutes) that adds up. Don't let you go too negative.

What weight class you going for? lightweight (155) or lower?

therealhyper wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

Yeah make sure to weigh your nuts.

Otherwise, I'd say too to keep to one carb type at lunch, so ditch the bread or the rice or the mashed potatoes but don't have 2 of them. And have more veggies instead of just salads.

But personally I'd be really bored of eating the same thing all the time, but I guess it works for some people.

The diet can get boring so I'm anything to spice it up would be fantastic...I will add the vegetables and take of some of the carbs. I'm still trying to get my head around the nutritional stuff....

J72FIT

therealhyper wrote: »

J72FIT wrote: »

First observation is, were are the vegetables?
Secondly, seems a little low in calories for all that training.

I'm having the salad stuff but you are right...I will mix it up and vegetables to the diet. Thank you!!

How many calories should it be ?
Thanks

Need more info for that. Height, weight and training.

callsitlikeiseeit

learn to weigh your food accurately and eat more variety.

the 16 GRAMS of cashews i had today were almost 100 calories.... and thats not many nuts LOL

singingflutelady

There is nothing wrong with eggs.

tryasimighty

Try scrambled eggs on big pile of wilted spinach for less calories and more nutrition, I agree with the nuts that many would be more like 600-800 cals!! Around 25 almonds is about 200 cals just to give you an idea, even 1 tsp peanut butter is 80 cals! More nutritious foods will really help, Id also lose the cheat days they give a very false sense of security

kiaraaharper

I agree with others on the point that you should weigh your nuts. I usually avoid cashew nuts because they have more calories. I don't know whether you're aware about macadamia nuts or not, but those nuts really help in losing weight fast. I was told about these nuts by a friend and since I stay in Australia, it is easy for me to get them as they are native to Australia. I usually get roasted, salted nuts from here. You can try and find if they are available at the place you stay. They are highly nutritious and really wonderful for losing weight as well as for skin and hair.

RodaRose

Fried eggs are o.k. Measure the oil.