Hi, I'm new here. I've been reading the main site and the forums for a few weeks now. I've started a meal plan last wednesday and I wanted to get some advice. Here's the info:

21 yrs old
6'0"
203 lbs
I lift on Mon and Thurs
I do HIT on Tues and Friday for 15 mins (will increase this to 20 minutes soon)
I do LISS @ 65-70% for 45 mins on Wed and Sat
Sunday is my off day

Here's my daily meal plan:
7:00 AM
1 scoop (29g) GNC Whey Protein - Vanilla w/ 1 Cup Water 120 2 1 4 0 2 20
1 Packet Instant Oatmeal, Maple and Brown Sugar (Quaker) 160 2 0 33 3 13 4

9:30 AM
1 Potato Hot Dog Roll (Martins) 130 2 0 26 4 6 6

11:30 AM
1 Oz Dry Roasted Peanuts (Planters) 170 14 2 5 2 2 8
1/2 Cup Cottage Cheese 80 1 1 5 0 4 13

1:00 PM
1 Whole Grain Wheat Bread (Pepperidge Farm) 90 1 0 16 2 2 4
4 Oz Tuna 140 1 0 0 0 0 32

3:00 PM
4 Slices Turkey Breast (Butterball) 120 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 Large Banana 172 0 0 40 1 22 3
1 scoop (29g) GNC Whey Protein - Vanilla w/ 1 Cup Water 120 2 1 4 0 2 20

6:00 PM
8 Oz Boneless Chicken Breast 120 1 1 0 0 0 25
1/2 Cup Cottage Cheese 80 1 1 5 0 4 13
1/2 Cup (dry) Brown Rice 300 2 0 64 2 0 6
1 scoop (29g) GNC Whey Protein - Vanilla w/ 1 Cup Water 120 2 1 4 0 2 20

Totals:
Cals. Fat Carbs Protein
1922 30.5 6.5 206 14 59 174
14.3% 42.9% 36.2%


What should I change with this? I'm looking to lose 1.5-2lbs per week. Should I be eating more on lifting days? Thanks for your advice.

Here's my initial thoughts. You said you're new here, so I'm going to assume that you're new to putting together a diet or nutrition plan. Being new, I have to say first that it's excellent that you took the time to do the math, come up with some numbers for yourself, figure out what ratios you wanted to hit and then put together a plan that matched those ratios. Excellent work on doing that, it's something that a lot of new people have a hard time doing, and you were able to before even posting your first message. :tucool:

Now here's some things that you might want to think about changing when you feel comfortable. Don't try to take on too much at once, get used to your plan, but think about these things if you decide to make changes in the future.

1. Instant oatmeal and potato rolls are not good choices. Whole Quaker oats and whole wheat bread are much better choices because they will give you longer lasting, more sustained energy.
2. Your numbers are off on the 8 oz of chicken. In your menu, 8 oz of chicken has the same calories as 1 scopp of whey. 4 oz makes a better serving. Try having two servings of 4 oz chicken at different times in the day.
3. You're drinking too much protein. Try finding your protein in meats, nuts and other real food sources.
4. You have no food between 6pm until 7am. That's 13 hours. Try having something with complex carbs and good protein about 3-4 hours after that 6pm meal.
5. Think about adding some green veggies.
6. Please promise me that you'll stop buying from GNC. Check out All The Whey in the banner ad up top and compare their prices with what you paid at GNC, I bet you'll be amazed.

Good luck!!

Here's my initial thoughts. You said you're new here, so I'm going to assume that you're new to putting together a diet or nutrition plan. Being new, I have to say first that it's excellent that you took the time to do the math, come up with some numbers for yourself, figure out what ratios you wanted to hit and then put together a plan that matched those ratios. Excellent work on doing that, it's something that a lot of new people have a hard time doing, and you were able to before even posting your first message. :tucool:

Good luck!!

Yes, I'm new to creating meal plans and such. Thanks a lot for the compliments and the comprehensive advice. I believe another thing I need to focus on is changing my meal plan. I would like to use the aforementioned plan everyday, albeit I understand it's a better idea to have a dynamic approach. Do you have any advice for lifting days? Should I try to consume more calories/protein on those days? I'll address your points below:

1. Instant oatmeal and potato rolls are not good choices. Whole Quaker oats and whole wheat bread are much better choices because they will give you longer lasting, more sustained energy.
I actually already have some WW bread I just haven't started eating it yet. I'll toss the potato rolls for the WW brea. I also have ordinary whole quaker oats that will replace the instant oatmeal (although I think I'll eat it as a treat every once in awhile).
2. Your numbers are off on the 8 oz of chicken. In your menu, 8 oz of chicken has the same calories as 1 scopp of whey. 4 oz makes a better serving. Try having two servings of 4 oz chicken at different times in the day.
This will be difficult, but I understand your point.
3. You're drinking too much protein. Try finding your protein in meats, nuts and other real food sources.
Should I limit the protein powder w/ water to 2 scoops/glasses a day? I went out and bought some Boar's head roast beef and turkey so that I could get more protein since the butterball turkey I was eating has hardly any and tastes like crap.
4. You have no food between 6pm until 7am. That's 13 hours. Try having something with complex carbs and good protein about 3-4 hours after that 6pm meal.
What about pushing back 1 of my 2 protein drinks to later at tonight and have some veggies or fruit at 9-10 pm?
5. Think about adding some green veggies.
Done.
. Please promise me that you'll stop buying from GNC. Check out All The Whey in the banner ad up top and compare their prices with what you paid at GNC, I bet you'll be amazed.
I promise, although I'll have to finish this tub off first. :D

Thanks again for your help.

Awesome! Yeah, 2 scoops of whey a day is fine. Boars head stuff is delicious but pricey. You may want to look into buying meat and cooking it for the week, then just tupperwaring portions to bring with you to work or school or wherever you go. Definitely keep the instant oatmeal as a treat if you like it, but go for the regular oats as part of your normal routine. Pre-lifting you want to eat some low GI (glycemic index) carbs like oats about an hour before, then right after lifting you want to have a post-workout shake with high GI carbs (search on "PWO" and you'll find a lot of good info).

Just remember, go at your own pace and if you feel frustrated by your diet or your taste buds get restless, don't deprive yourself completely... you're just going to hate the whole thing. Give yourself treats, just have them in moderation. I can tell you're going to do great. Keep us posted on your progress.

I'm new to the forums as well. I've been reading John's site and nutritiondata.com for a while, but haven't committed to tracking my diet until just recently. I'd like to jump in here since I think I'm in the same situation. I'm a soon-to-be 27-year-old male, started around 220 and have made it to 185. I _think_ I'm somewhere around 12-14% body fat, but I'm not confident I'm using my fat caliper correctly. I usually lift and do abs twice a week and try to run at least twice a week. I've recently started trying HIIT instead of running (usually about 2 8-minute miles). I know I need a little more cardio. I just have to force myself to take the time away from the GF :p I also have to do all my exercise after work, unless I do it Saturday mornings. So I typically drink whey right after getting home from the gym/trail.

Here is a sample of my daily diet:

(The numbers are cal/fat/sat/carb/fib/sug/prot)

7:00 AM 30g Whey Protein (Optimum Nutrition) (Vanilla Ice Cream) 110 1.5 0.5 2 0 1 23
7:00 AM 1 Cup of Cereal (Kashi "Go Lean") (52g) 140 1 0 30 10 6 13
7:00 AM 1/2 Cup 2% Milk 122 5 3 11 0 12 8
9:00 AM 1 English Muffin 125 1 25 1 2 4
9:00 AM 1 slice Kraft fat-free American cheese 24 0 2 0 1 4
9:00 AM 2 Large Egg Whites 34 0 0 0 0 0 8
11:00 AM Baby Carrots (100 g)? 35 0 0 8 2 5 1
11:00 AM 2 Slices ___ Bread 101 1 18 5 2 5
11:00 AM 4 Slice Smoked Turkey Breast 112 0 0 0 0 0 28
11:00 AM Horseradish Sauce (1 tbsp) 22 2 1 0 0 0
2:00 PM 2 Slices ___ Bread 101 1 18 5 2 5
2:00 PM Horseradish Sauce (1 tbsp) 22 2 1 0 0 0
2:00 PM 6 Oz Tuna 150 1.25 0 0 0 0 32.5
4:00 PM 1 Medium Banana 105 0 0 27 3 14 1
6:00 PM 30g Whey Protein (Optimum Nutrition) (Vanilla Ice Cream) 110 1.5 0.5 2 0 1 23
8:00 PM 1 soft tortilla shell 120 2 25 4
8:00 PM 3 oz beef 80% lean 231 15 6 0 0 0 23
8:00 PM 1/8 cup shredded cheddar cheese 60 4.5 3 0 0 0 3.5
TOTALS 1724 38.75 13 170 26 46 186
PERCENT 20.23% 39.44% 43.16%

So I'm pretty close to a 20/40/40 fat/carb/prot diet and I'm just a bit under my target of 1800 calories/day. I realize I should probably try to get more vegetables in there. Also, the taco (beef) isn't normal, but I try to vary my dinner so life isn't too boring. I try different things with chicken. I also need to drink more water. Are drinks like diet pepsi couterproductive?

I appreciate any pointers/suggestions you guys would have.

That looks like a really nice diet, Eradicator. You put some nice variety in there. You should see some good progress with that. One thing you may want to add is a simple carb post workout. After you lift, the simple carbs are much more important than the protein. Like I told judic, search here for "PWO", that stands for post-workout, and you should find lots of info on how everyone makes their post workout shakes. Good luck!