Confused about the best diet for fat loss and muscle gain

munchie_13

I have been researching on the internet for the past week or so the best foods and meal timing to optimize fat loss and muscle gain, but different websites tell me different things- no complex carbs (like brown rice, oatmeal etc) after lunch, simple carbs after workout; no, complex carbs after workout, etc. It's very confusing and very annoying when I really want to get results! So, I have typed out my typical daily food diary plus workouts below, and was wondering if anybody could tell me if this sounds right for my goals?

Breakfast (8-9AM): A bowl (25g dry) of oatmeal, made up with 100ml almond milk and a handful of blueberries. A glass of water and/or occasionally a glass of low sugar fruit juice (Tesco Light Choices) or black coffee.

Morning snack (10:30-11... some times I skip it altogether however): 80g low fat cottage cheese.

Morning workout goes somewhere here... I do around 25-30 minutes of circuit training in the form of Jillian Michaels 30 day shred or my own routine, which consists of cardio, strength and abs. I don't have a post workout snack, I just have my lunch instead)

Lunch (12-1PM): Sandwich with 2 slices of wholemeal bread (no butter), spinach, cucumber, around 60-70g chicken breast and two egg whites

Afternoon snack (3-4PM): Another 80g serving of low fat cottage cheese or a 130g (drained weight) tin of tuna in spring water.

Afternoon workout is usually between 4:30-5:30PM and it is pretty much the same as my morning workout.

Post workout snack: 2 egg whites and 1 or 2 Belvita breakfast wholegrain forest fruit biscuits (they have a bit of sugar in them... simple carbs?) / or a glass of fruit juice/ or a handful of blueberries

Dinner (6:30-7:30PM): Chicken breast fillets or cod fillets with broccoli and spinach.

I constantly drink water throughout the day and every Saturday I have a cheat day where I can indulge in naughty foods :P


Thanks in advance for any input!

munchie_13

bump

peachfigs

bump

BerryH

For fat loss, stick to a sensible calorie deficit - use MFP's recommendations to lose no more than 1lb a week. You won't gain muscle at a calorific deficit, but you can help maintain what you already have by having enough protein in your diet - no shakes or bars necessary, the amount you have in your typical day is about right - and doing some proper resistance training.

30DS will help with the calorie deficit and maintain some muscle mass, but you should add in three resistance workouts a week with higher weights and fewer reps if this goal is important too you. You don't need to go super-heavy if you're new to weight training, but you'll find your strength increases quickly.

The amount of carbs you have or the time of day you eat them is insignificant if you have enough protein and keep a calorie deficit.

Good luck! :flowerforyou:

Cr01502

First let me clear up a couple of misconceptions:

You can't lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously. You can gain muscle (and hopefully with the right diet and training minimise the amount of fat you put on) and you can lose fat (and hopefully with th right diet and training minimise the amount of muscle you lose.) Hence the whole concept of bulking and cutting.

To gain muscle:

Strength or hypertrophy train

Eat at a calorie surplus (slowly upping your calories by 100 or so calories each week as a sudden jump will be more likely to get stored as body fat). (Usually up to about 20% above your TDEE)

Limit the amount of cardio you do

Get adequate sleep.

Hit your macros regularly

To lose fat while minimising muscle loss:

Eat at a slight deficit. Usually about 10% below your TDEE and slowly decrease to about 20%)

Strength Train

No excessive cardio (I would say to keep it under an hour per week)

Hit your macros regularly

Hope this helps.

LunaStar2008

Your are eating pretty healthy food.
I just had a counsel with a nutitionist, to boost up my weight loss (I am stuck at 175-177). :frown: You have your light meals at the beginning and middle of the day.
Remember the old sayin' : Eat in the morning like an emporer, at lunch like a lord and at dinner like a clochard.". I noticed that I have more success sticking to this.
I know it is sometimes no possible due to work load and other commitments, but a thought worth.

Also, if you do always the same or similar workouts your endurance and your body gets used to it and adapts. It is not a challenge anymore. So, maybe you need to switch your workouts a little. (I am guilty of this as well.)

Fatguy2Fitguy

First let me clear up a couple of misconceptions:

You can't lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously. You can gain muscle (and hopefully with the right diet and training minimise the amount of fat you put on) and you can lose fat (and hopefully with th right diet and training minimise the amount of muscle you lose.) Hence the whole concept of bulking and cutting.

To gain muscle:

Strength or hypertrophy train

Eat at a calorie surplus (slowly upping your calories by 100 or so calories each week as a sudden jump will be more likely to get stored as body fat). (Usually up to about 20% above your TDEE)

Limit the amount of cardio you do

Get adequate sleep.

Hit your macros regularly

To lose fat while minimising muscle loss:

Eat at a slight deficit. Usually about 10% below your TDEE and slowly decrease to about 20%)

Strength Train

No excessive cardio (I would say to keep it under an hour per week)

Hit your macros regularly

Hope this helps.

Unfortunately this chap is right, you can't do both at the same time as you really need a calorie surplus for muscle gain and deficit for fat loss.

I guess you need to have a think about what's more important to you at this stage and adapt your training and diet accordingly.

I wish it wasn't so (I'm sure we all do!).

Best of luck going forward, however you go!