My Diet Is Horrible

Diet and Nutrition
1

Im a long time member, since 2000, have some questions, when I was 22-27 i stayed in great shape throughout college mainly because I played football through college, and on scholarship at western michigan. since then its been harder, I stay with working out 3-4 times a week, my problem is my diet is horrible,

my workout routine is fine i keep doing and incorporating many of my workouts from this site into my own custom built routine, doing high rep workouts and low rep workouts 3-4 times a week, I do need to do more cardio which im trying to do as well now. whats maybe a good grocery list foods to get at the store, even more importantly since i travel a lot out to eat.

Eric

2

What are your goals? Are you looking to put on more muscle or maybe cut some fat ect… The best bet at the supermarket is to shop around the outside aisles of the store. I think Berardi has said this and it makes sense. The produce, meats, fish, eggs and dairy are all along the walls inside the store (at least in all the markets i’ve been in). The inner aisles are filled with processed foods and snacks that aren’t any good for your goals.

3

[quote]elusive wrote:
What are your goals? Are you looking to put on more muscle or maybe cut some fat ect… The best bet at the supermarket is to shop around the outside aisles of the store.

I think Berardi has said this and it makes sense. The produce, meats, fish, eggs and dairy are all along the walls inside the store (at least in all the markets i’ve been in). The inner aisles are filled with processed foods and snacks that aren’t any good for your goals. [/quote]

Im looking to cut some fat, even if it means losing some strength. I have always been powerlifting through college, and know that i need to incorporate some cardio, i really like to do the sprinting, pushing the anaerobic threshold, to mix it up in my workouts.

I have added considerable amount of protein to my diet, and just order Surge for postworkout recovery, fish oil, BCAA’s amd extra glutamine.

4

If your diet is “horrible” now, I would think its best to not worry about specific diets, but about solid eating habits until you shake your bad ways. Berardi has great articles on nutrition. http://www.T-Nation.com/findArticle.do?article=291seven2

5

What sort of food do you typically keep in your home? I actually try not to have any junk around, and will always have an ample supply of good stuff to snack on. I will note though that I seem to be able to eat the same crap over and over without problem (some people wouldn’t want to eat 2-3 bowls of oatmeal a day -lol).

What I ALWAYS have on hand in my kitchen:

Metabolic Drive - I buy 6 at a time, in diff flavors. When you dont feel like eating, but it’s been 2 hours since u last did, force a few scoops down your guttet!

Natural Peanut Butter - Straight outta the jar with a lotta watter, or a big gob mixed into a bowl of oatmeal. Will add to a ‘full’ feeling.

Oatmeal - Totally convenient and quick cooking source of complex carbs, fiber, and very few calories if you think about it (~150?)

Cashews or Almonds - not a ‘bad’ snack, especially if you’re eating mostly P+F meals. I’ll throw a handful in a bowl of collage cheese at night to up the calories.

Frozen pre-cooked chicken breasts - Yes, these are processed as hell, and certainly not great compared to fresh chicekn, but the convenience is huge, and if you’re not severely restricting your sodium, the prot and cals aren’r bad. Can also be tossed over a salad, or pasta

Tuna - what needs to be said

Sardines - I just started eating these a month or two ago, and if you can eat tuna, you can eat sardines. I’ll buy the skinless/boneless ones in olive oil, and put down 2 cans at a time (total cals ~450, total prot ~50). For the amount of food you’re actually ingesting to get this much prot, it seems like a nice bang for you buck to me.

Eggs, Shredded CHeese, Sliced Turkey - SOmetimes breakfast, sometimes dinner, eggs seem to take up a lot of space, and contain few cals (especially if you use mostly whites), with a great nitritional profile. I’ll whip up an omlete with some cheese and about 1/4 lbs of turkey and be nice aqnd content with something the size of a football on my plate (a little tabasco or low sugar ketchup goes a long way with this!)

Meat - usually a few packages of frozen Bison patties from Trader Joes.

Talapia - Again, a few packages of frozen pieces from Trader Joes

Now, while I may splurge, or occassionally eat ‘crap’ while I’m out, having this type of food on hand is HUGE. I do not keep bread in my apartment, or any sort of somewhat healthy nonsense. Some of my choices are there for simplicity’s sake, and some because they are basically good choices overall. Figure out what you need to keep onhand (that you don’t mind eating over and over), and even foods you can carry around with you if need be (jerky, prot bars, nuts). Keep things simple, and keep repeating! -lol

S

6

I keep plenty of whey protein, bottle water, try to limit juice, frozen stuff, smart balance butter, lowfat yogort, my panty has wild rice, oatmeal some snack but I also try to keep that at a minimum.

im pretty much on a limited budget so i cant always go to the grocery store every week, I do like the idea of keeping it simple reccommended to me i will try that out.

thanks

7

One thing i do need to add is i do have high cholesterol, not crazy high, and my doctor is making me restrict my sodium in the 1500-2000 range total per day, and just had some blood work done last week to see if it has improved, in the six months I have been working out since then I have dropped from 268 to 252, working out 3-4 times a week.

My cholesteral was 215 when check 6 months ago, it should be better im hoping, i will let everyone know, also I know when last checked my triglyceride levels were high, i am very interested in also doing the transformation, before and after pictures, I just dont know how great my results would be with my traveling so much with work.