yet another diet critique please

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

Hey all. I am pretty new to this forum (have posted a couple of times before, but no direct questions). I am 25 years old, 5?11? tall, 210lbs with about 20% bf, and I’m looking to get lean for the summertime. I am just starting T-Dawg 2.0, and I’m looking for advice on diet. A typical day for me looks like this:

7:00 AM - Meltdown Training
7:30AM - Surge
10:00AM - protein bar (usually Balance Gold or Detour)
12:00 PM - usually either baked chicken salad with homemade dressing or some homemade chicken soup
2:15 PM - boiled egg, about 0.5oz. pecans, 3 fish caps
4:00 PM - boiled egg, about 0.5oz. pecans, 3 fish caps
6:00 PM - chicken, salmon, or steak with steamed broccoli and 1Tbs. Udo?s Choice
8:30 PM - Miceller Matrix, 1Tbs. Udo?s Choice

I haven’t been doing the PM Meltdown sessions, but am doing the weight part of the program in the morning.

I would appreciate any advice. Thanks.

Mike

2

Hey, there, Mike!!! You’ve got some good things going for you, but I see a couple of opportunities.

First on the list, and forgive me for shouting, but DITCH THE BARS!!! Detour bars will spike insulin (a bad thing) to a greater degree than white bread. They are bad, bad, bad.

Second, you need to be eating a P+C meal 1 to 1.5 hours after Surge. It should be of the starchy carb variety; oatmeal, sweet potatoes, yams, rice, etc.

Finally, Meltdown may be a bit, uh, “challenging” on T-Dawg. If you find you’re having trouble keeping up, switch to another program. T-Dawg is not a high-carb diet and Meltdown, though it’s wonderfully effective, is extremely anaerobic. Any of the strength programs (5x5, ABBH, 6x4, 8x3) would work exceedingly well on T-Dawg.

If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask!!!

As far as meal timing goes on a workout day, I’d recomend that you take in your Surge PWO and then eat at 9:00, noon, 3:00, 6:00 and 9:00. Spacing out your meals more evenly would be a good thing.

Third, protein requirements based on your LBM are 42g per meal, based on your taking in 6 meals per day

3

Tampa-Terry, thanks for the reply and suggestions. You rock as usual!

The reason my afternoons are kind of sporadic is because I am a grad student and have class on Tuesdays and Thursday from 2:30-3:45. On Mon, Wed, and Fri my afternoon meals are much more even. I was wondering if you had any recommendations for a P+C meal to replace the bars? Keep in mind that I am a student, and I need quick easy meals during the day.

I am going to stick with the Meltdown for now. I just got off 5X5, but I may do it again after Meltdown.

Also, I realize that I am a little low on protein intact during the afternoons. Do you have any suggestions on how to add more?

Again, thanks for the help. I really appreciate it.

Mike

4

If you were buying protien bars, I assume you can afford to pick up protien shakes. Learn to love 'em. They are pretty portable, just grab a shaker (rather cheap if you don’t have one) and throw the powder in there. When you are ready, add 8-16 oz of water and you have a great little protien supplement. Definitely avoid the bars though, they are more expensive and not near as beneficial as shakes. Less nutricious but equally portable is beef jerky. I am not a fan but I know some people always have a stick near by. Your choosing.

As for the P+C to replace the bar… That is pretty personal. I am a fan of oatmeals/beans for my low glycemic meals. Throw in a handful of blueberries to the oatmeal or eat the beans with an orange or something and you have the carbs knocked out. As for the protien, any lean meats are fine as well as… protien shakes :slight_smile:

5

Mike, the difference between 2:30 and 3:00 is not that great, for that one meal if you need to eat early. If you really wanted to stretch it out to 3:00, you could always drink a protein shake that you had pre-made and packed in your bag.

I usually travel with my food. Between ZipLock bags and Tupperware/Rubbermaid, I’ll pack anything I want to eat, be it chicken breast or lean ground beef or steak or tuna. The trick may be just to prepare your food for the day the night before, throwing it all (or as much as you need) into an insulated bag (which I never leave in the car) as you head out the door. Ice pack, of course, is optional.

More protein? I’d just recommend larger portions of meat or a larger serving of protein powder. Definitely make sure you’re hitting your protein numbers if you want to preserve LBM while dieting.

6

TT’s advice as usual very solid,:slight_smile:

I would also suggest going over the Foods that Make you look good Nekid article, as well as the “School Days” I and II would be of greta use. They are by JB’s brother and are all about training and nutrition for college students.

I am also a grad student and all it takes is a little planning and pre packing. It gets easy.

Good Luck

Phill

7

Hey all. Thanks for the replies and advice. I will implement your suggestions next week. I did read the ?foods that make you look good nekid? article, and I am going to try the oatmeal/protein powder meal. I will also get some more protein powder, and I?m going to save the bars for the summertime when I?ll be hiking and kayaking a lot.

Sexy J, do you know where your friends get their beef jerky? I have always been a little suspicious of that stuff, because of all the added salt and preservatives. Do you know of any decent brands?

So far this week I have lost 8lbs, hopefully it was mostly water weight and some fat. I have a Tanita scale, but we all know the bf reading on that is pretty inaccurate (it actually increased, but I bet that as I lost water weight the scale gave a more accurate reading).

Thanks again.

Mike