[Zen82]

I don't train MMA - just do regular running & weightlifting. I'm a CPA, so I'm behind a desk all day. This is what I generally eat from day to day:

Breakfast:

Shake: 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup blueberries, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup water, 1 scoop ON Chocolate Gold Standard Whey.

Then I drink 1/2 cup of V8 Pomegranate/Blueberry juice with 1 spoonfull of Greens+, 3 fish oil pills (Health from the Sea), and a multivitamin (currently Adam's).

Occasionally I'll have a midmorning snack, typically a FiberOne Bar or something.

Lunch: Deli turkey with light wheat bread, one banana, lowfat yogurt. Dt. Mountain Dew - 12 to 24 oz.

Dinner: Cooked turkey burger, salad (lettuce, tomatos, almonds, green peppers) usually a good sized bowl.

Lift or run in the evening.

After workout: Protein shake, two scoops whey, banana.

I'm 6'1" and about 195 - looking to get down to about 185 - 190. Part of me doesn't think I eat enough times during the day, and it would be hard for me to cut the diet soda out of lunch.

[romistrub]

Just a couple minor things: try and split your fish oil throughout the day. Also, take your multi after you work out. It's not a big deal, but it's a really easy change that *might* have some benefit for absorption.

Also, you could take your second morning drink later in the day, or a couple hours after your first meal. It seems easy enough to prepare, that you could probably take the ingredients to work and mix it there. At least this will distribute your caloric intake a little more evenly.

I think it's hard to cut out the Mountain Dew for the exact reason that you should: because (at least I find) you get addicted to the sweetness of those drinks. I think you should give it a try, though.

Questions:

By "turkey burger", do you mean just the patty? Do you have a bun and condiments?

Do you find that evening workouts lower your quality of sleep?

Good luck!

[cheath]

I was at 6'2 195lbs a couple months ago as well, except I wasn't behind a desk. I'm a former college athletic, and I still maintained an athletic physique. Point being, you wouldn't look at me and think I necessarily had much weight to lose at all.

I started getting 1/2 gallon a water a day, replaced my nightly ice cream with yogurt and berries, went from eating out 2x per week to maybe 1 if that, switched out the semi-regular unhealthy snacks of things like chips & salsa to healthier things, and low and behold in about 4 weeks I was down from a consistent 195 (with regular fluctuations of course) to a consistent 185.

So for the last month I started following Berardi's 7 habits as best I can (which is probably a far cry away from ideal), and I'm hoping to break into the 179 weight class next Friday.

Moral of the story is that you and I have quite different lifestyles, and probably quite different physiques. Spend an hour searching around this forum, get ahold of Berardi's 7 habits and actually follow them, and if you get some good training in you should be able to see some pretty solid results in a few weeks. Shit, if i can anybody can!

[YellowChicken]

Overall, I think your diet is pretty good as it is quite practical and appears pretty easy to follow and is somewhat balanced. Its not ideal but sometimes you got to make comprimises based on your lifestyle and practicality.

My diet is not that different from yours, in fact my breakfast is nearly the same as you but I put in 1.5 scoops of whey and I use mixed berries instead of just blueberries.

Where Im different from you is that:
I never drink juice or softdrinks. I prefer to eat whole fruits instead and just stick to water.
I take fish oil caps twice a day (6 in total)
I take a multivitamin and I also take 1gm of Vitamin C.
I rarely ever eat sandwiches. I prefer eating leftovers for lunch like sweet potatoes, veggies and BBQ meat.
Im not shy about having some saturated fats from eating pork or lean red meat. I get tired of chicken/turkey.
Unless its just a fruit, I try to have snacks that have a substantial amount of protein, like natural, low fat yogurt rather than some processed carb-high granola bar.

I've been dieting for much of this year (with lots of cheats and the periodic total diet meltdown along the way) and I've gone from 254 to 213 lbs retaining much of my muscle. Im 6,1 and sitting behind a desk as well. Nutritionally, I suspect Im eating more protein and fat than you. I find watching your overall caloric intake and keeping the carbs somewhat low seems to work best for me as far as dropping fat goes. I train about 5-6 times a week - crosstraining, although I lift quite a bit.

As long as you work out what range of calories you should be consuming daily and stick to it, you will certainly lose the weight you want to lose.

[DrBdan]

The one thing that jumps out at me is a lack of veggies. The only veggies you list are lettuce and tomato and I guess there are veggies in V8. You could eat some cut veggies as a mid-afternoon snack. Also, what kind of lettuce do you use in your salad?

[Zen82]

Originally Posted by DrBdan

The one thing that jumps out at me is a lack of veggies. The only veggies you list are lettuce and tomato and I guess there are veggies in V8. You could eat some cut veggies as a mid-afternoon snack. Also, what kind of lettuce do you use in your salad?

I just use shredded lettuce from the bag. Not the best, I know, but I just go for what's easy.

What veggies would you suggest? I don't really mind raw broccoli as a snack, although some kind of dressing would be ideal to put on it. Any suggestions?

I do take Greens+ as veggie supplementation.

[DrBdan]

Broccoli is good. Also try cauliflower, green beans, carrots, bell peppers, cucumber and zucchini for snacks. I cut them up ahead of time and then fill a plastic container in the mornings with a random mix. For the salad throw in some spinach, you can't go wrong with that.