[Howard-33]

I'm working on drastically cleaning up my diet to try and lose 35lbs by Aug.16th. This is the menu for today...

Here is lunch for the day...



The cup of Tropical trail mix was actually at 10am. I can hardly stand to eat anything right after I have woken up, but I realise I need something so I had this today. The rest is actually combined into a salad with water to drink.

Dinner at 4pm will be 1 4oz grilled chicken breast with light teriyaki glaze, small salad of spinach & radicchio with fat free italian dressing and water.

Snack at 7pm will be 1 can of Tuna in water with a splash of apple cider vinegar and a splash of hot sauce with 5 whole grain crackers.

Not sure about 10:30pm before turning in. Really depends on if I'm even hungry.

[cfmuh]

That's a lot of calories just for lunch. Lose the dressing and use some olive oil instead. Cut down on the carrots and fuck the trail mix and blue cheese crumples. Also, check the FAQ's. Good luck dude.

[ronin0352]

Did you not work out today? I still think you need to eat something right after your workout. Also, I'd ditch the trail mix and eat more lean protein. Good mix of veggies I think. Still pretty low on the calories, you may burn out cutting back that much

[cfmuh]

One more thing....eat breakfast.

[Howard-33]

If I follow this strickly, then my end of day calorie count would be 1975 calories consumed. This is not including something at 10:30pm.

*Updated* I'll need to see what I can make that I will feel like sticking too. I used to like steel cut oats. I may try that again. May take 20 minutes to cook, but its worth it compared to regular style.

I added the blue cheese because it was a cheese mentioned by Berardi in Gourmet Nutrition. It was to up my source of fat.

I'm surprised you would suggest cutting out carrots. Are their carbs really so bad that it totally cuts them out, or is that something for a post workout meal?

[cfmuh]

Originally Posted by Howard-33

If I follow this strickly, then my end of day calorie count would be 1975 calories consumed. This is not including something at 10:30pm.

*Updated* I'll need to see what I can make that I will feel like sticking too. I used to like steel cut oats. I may try that again. May take 20 minutes to cook, but its worth it compared to regular style.

I added the blue cheese because it was a cheese mentioned by Berardi in Gourmet Nutrition. It was to up my source of fat.

I'm surprised you would suggest cutting out carrots. Are their carbs really so bad that it totally cuts them out, or is that something for a post workout meal?

I just think that those calories could be spread out more instead of all in one meal. You don't need to cut the carrots out, just cut down or spead them out through the day. But, you're on the right track. Keep learning and you'll be fine. There's a lot of knowledgeable people on here. And the FAQ's are great.

[Howard-33]

Cfmuh - I believe your right. Looking at that monsterous thing, I believe I will break it into two servings and have one for lunch and one for dinner along with an additional chicken breast.

Any suggestions on a pre-bed snack? I'm abit lactose intolerant which is why I really haven't taken to having cottage cheese before bed although I know that actually be fairly good. It's casein protein right, and should break down slowly while I sleep to keep my ****bolism slowly churning.

[cfmuh]

There's much more knowledgeable people on here than me, but I like to eat almonds or pistachios at night. Healthy fat with some protein as well. Are you eating any nuts during the day? If not, try. Some healthy fat sources=nuts, olive oil, avocadoes.

[Saith]

Eat breakfast unless you plan on cheating later in the day. Oatmeal is good and really easy and easy to prepare to your liking (you can add all kinds of stuff to it: fruit, honey, almonds, etc.). Scrambled eggs are easy too, search for the microwaved scrambled eggs thread that was floating around here.

Drop the trail mix, it's absolute balls. Dried fruit = insulin reaction = fat storage. Get some mixed low-sodium nuts and a cup of yogurt instead, and maybe a piece of fresh fruit or some carrots or something.

Before bed either have a serving of cottage cheese, or a casein protein shake (i.e. Muscle Milk) if you can't stand cottage cheese.

How much do you currently weigh and (if you know it) what's your current body fat %? This will make a difference in how strict you need to be (<10-12% BF and your body goes into fat storage mode).

What is the pilgrim's pride stuff? Is it deli chicken? Pre-packaged? Can you find the labelling online somewhere? If possible, prepare your own chicken breast on an electric grill and divide it up for throughout the week.

Also cut back on the pasta. You only need 1/2 cup for a single meal. Less if you can handle it.

Most importantly of all: are you taking fish oil?

[Saith]

I see in your reply that you're lactose intolerant. Is it possible to take one of those pills with your pre-bedtime meal to deal with that? I really don't know of any non-dairy alternatives to casein.

Edit: I would also like to add just be patient and stick with it. It takes time to adjust to a new diet, and it's likely you won't get it all right at first. Just keep at it and make good choices and over time you'll make the mental adjustments you need in order to reach your goals.

It will also help to get a healthy cookbook. John Berardi has one with his Precision Nutrition system, I believe (or as a separate product, you'll have to look into that). Also, there's a book called Eating for Life by Bill Phillips that I got a bunch of good recipes from (especially large batches of soups). Getting something like this is important because it will give you new ideas on what you can make and keep your diet diversified. If you just keep eating the same salad day-in and day-out, you'll get sick of it and stop eating right.