Hey Guys,

I'm new here and I've become very motivated to start a diet to get the body i always wanted. I'm 5' 3" and about 125 lbs. Anyways this is what I eat every day:

7:00 - Whey protein Powder, 5 g Glutamine Powder
2 egg whites
10:00 - fruit salad or granola bar
12:30 - chicken salad
3:00 - 1 cup Honey Bunches of Oats cereal w/ 1 cup skimmed milk
6:00 - 5 oz tuna w/ ff mayo, 2 slices whole wheat break or pita pocket
9:00 - Whey protein powder, 5 g Glutamine Powder

* I also do in total about 30 minutes of cardio a day

What do you think? Should I change anything?

Welcome!

Hey Guys,7:00 - Whey protein Powder, 5 g Glutamine Powder / 2 egg whites
Add either some healthy fats or complex carbs to this meal. Examples:

FAT: Flax seed oil, natural peanut butter
CARBS: Oats!!

10:00 - fruit salad or granola bar
What kind of fruit?
Need to add protein to this meal.

12:30 - chicken salad
More info, what is in it? Etc.

3:00 - 1 cup Honey Bunches of Oats cereal w/ 1 cup skimmed milk
Not the best choice but not horrible.

6:00 - 5 oz tuna w/ ff mayo, 2 slices whole wheat break or pita pocket
OK

9:00 - Whey protein powder, 5 g Glutamine Powder
Again add a healthy fat or complex carb. Since this is your final meal of the day I would go for fat. You can easily put flax into that shake. Also, I would prefer to opt for something besides whey as your final meal. You could cut out the shake and have cottage cheese+flax, for example. Or pick up a protein blend or a casein powder.

* I also do in total about 30 minutes of cardio a day
Weightlifting?

What do you think? Should I change anything?
It could be better. You seem to be eating very little I THINK (hard to tell without more information). I think you could do well with more protein than this personally.

Thanks for the reply.

Sorry for the lack of detail. I weightlift on weekends:

Friday - biceps/back
Saturday - legs
Sunday - Triceps / shoulders/ chest

7:00 -Should I eat the oats along with my regular meal or do away with the Protein powder?

10:00 - The fruit salad is : 1 cup canteloupe, 1 cup grapes, half an apple. But what kind of protein should I eat instead. *The granola bar has 4g protein (does that count)?

12:30 - the chicken salad is: 3 oz. baked lean chicken breast, lettuce, 1 tomato and 2tbsp. Italian salad dressing (non fat free)

3:00 - what type of cereal do you suggest?

9:00 - do i need this meal? I heard females should only eat 5 times a day.

Is that better or what should I change?

Veggies Veggies Veggies!!! The beauty of fibrous vegetables, is that you can eat a ton of them and barely break 100 calories. This will help keep you feeling full.

7:00 -Should I eat the oats along with my regular meal or do away with the Protein powder?
I wouldn't do away with the protein powder necessarily, but if you can use real foods for your protein instead it might be better. Personally I LIKE shakes for breakfast because 1) I feel the quick shuttle of nutrients is beneficial and 2) I hate preparing food when I'm half-asleep (not a morning person!). What I like to do is make a shake consisting of protein powder, water or milk, and oats. You can grind the oats up in a coffee grinder.

There are many ways of doing it of course, that's just what I like to do.

10:00 - The fruit salad is : 1 cup canteloupe, 1 cup grapes, half an apple. But what kind of protein should I eat instead. *The granola bar has 4g protein (does that count)?
Well, fruit is good imo. But that is a lot (at least for my preference). I wouldn't say "instead" though - I wouldn't replace the fruit with protein necessarily. I'd probably eat some fruit but not that much, but look for a complex carb source. I don't know much about the granola bar you're eating but I don't really eat those that often (though they do taste great!). 4g/protein is not sufficient in my opinion even for females with lower bodyweight. I'd opt for a meat source at this point most likely: tuna, chicken, something with lower fat.

12:30 - the chicken salad is: 3 oz. baked lean chicken breast, lettuce, 1 tomato and 2tbsp. Italian salad dressing (non fat free)
That sounds decent to me though I don't think 3oz is much chicken. It's good that you have lettuce in there as (like txitalian suggested) you really should be eating more veggies. However you probably should be getting more than just a little bit of lettuce. Any other veggies you like that you can add to this meal? I don't eat chicken salad so I don't know what would taste good in it.

3:00 - what type of cereal do you suggest?
Again, I'm not a big cereal eater so I don't really know. I have not found many cereals that I LIKE that have a decent protein amount in them. I do like the taste of many cereals (I LOVE frosted mini wheats lol), but it's kind of a pain for me to fit cereal in when I'm trying to lose fat so I usually just don't buy it.

9:00 - do i need this meal? I heard females should only eat 5 times a day.

Is that better or what should I change?
Yeah you need that meal. "Females should only eat 5 times a day" is a broad and general statement, and pretty much false. Before you go to bed I feel you should be getting in some protein and healthy fats. Think about it this way - you'll be fasting (not eating) for what, 7-9 hours? Don't make that gap bigger by making 6pm your last meal; now you'll be fasting for 10-12 hours. That's 10-12 hours with no protein or nutrients. :) (Not that you should follow a bodybuilder's diet by any means, but this is partially why a lot of bodybuilders set their clock for like 2-3am, get up and drink a protein shake and go back to bed!).

I believe there MAY be some benefit to not eating carbs for your last meal, but I know plenty of people who have them at night and do fine. As with most things you should experiment. My favorite pre-bed meals? Either:

Cottage Cheese and Flax Seed Oil
Nitrean in Water
Casein Protein in Water
Pizza, 6 pack of Bud Light, 2-3 Twinkies, and a 2-litre of Pepsi (JOKE!!!!)

Feel free to keep posting, we're here to help!

PS - txitalian great point about veggies, my fault for missing that!!!

I'm not a big cereal eater so I don't really know. I have not found many cereals that I LIKE that have a decent protein amount in them. I do like the taste of many cereals (I LOVE frosted mini wheats lol), but it's kind of a pain for me to fit cereal in when I'm trying to lose fat so I usually just don't buy it.
I'm not a big pusher of protein. I don't really see anything wrong with a meal of cereal and milk. I think it would be even better if you added some berries. If you're looking for cereals with a little more protein, check Vector and Kashi Go Lean, keeping in mind that nearly all commercial cereals have quite a lot of sugar in them. An alternative would be a pancake made with an egg, 1/4 C yogurt or cottage cheese and 1/2 C oats.

Frosted Mini Wheats are one of my favorites too!

I'm not a big pusher of protein. I don't really see anything wrong with a meal of cereal and milk.
Which is why I said "Not the best choice but not horrible." :)

I believe an a bit more protein in this meal would be beneficial. Yes, milk has protein, but not much. One cup of skim milk has I think under 10g of protein. I just don't think it's enough for ME.

I think it would be even better if you added some berries. If you're looking for cereals with a little more protein, check Vector and Kashi Go Lean, keeping in mind that nearly all commercial cereals have quite a lot of sugar in them. An alternative would be a pancake made with an egg, 1/4 C yogurt or cottage cheese and 1/2 C oats.

Frosted Mini Wheats are one of my favorites too!
Agreed, agreed, agreed.

Thanks for the Vector tip, never heard of it and will look into it. I don't like the taste of any of the Kashi stuff I've tried, unfortunately.

Oh and the pancake recipe sounds really good, might try that too. :tucool:

Post Shredded Wheat with bran:

Ingredients: 100% Whole Grain Wheat, Wheat Bran, BHT ....That's it.

per 2/3 cup (30g)
cal 110
Fat .5g
sat 0
Chol 0
Sod 0
Carb 24g
Fiber 5g
sugar 0g
Protein 4g


Add in milk and put some berries on top and away you go. Cheaper than Kashi and when it's sugar free you can control how you sweeten it.

Need more protein, well I get that from something else since cereal (to me) = carb source (the protein is a bonus)

Never mind the Vector. I just checked the nutrition information, and it's almost identical to Frosted Mini Wheats, but with half the fibre. :(

Eat with caution too. This stuff is so addictive, I can never have just one serving.

I used to eat Kellogg's Vive, and Special K Soy, but they've changed those products around so much, I'm not sure they're still available. They're not necessarily a significantly higher protein source either (8 to 10 g per bowl, maybe).

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm going to change around my diet and see how it goes from there.