I am thinking about upping my protein and dropping my carbs a little bit, to more of a 50/30/20 ratio. Im not trippin off any Atkins type stuff, but here is my reasoning:

1.) I am eating 5-6 pieces of bread just to get to my carb requirements. I feel like it's wasted effort to just kinda add those filler calories, even though its all low GI. I eat vegetables, occasional fruit, but I just don't seem to hit the 190g I'm aiming for without generous bread supplementations.

2.) I have had my greatest fitness success in the past with weight training, and don't have a very hard time putting on muscle. If those filler caloris could be taken up by protein instead that would be a 25% protein increase. Although my plan is DEFINITELY focused on losing fat, I think putting an emphasis on weight training might be the way to get there.

I weight train 4x a week and do cardio 5x. Currently I'm eating 1900 calories a day (another note, thinking about maybe adding some?) Any thoughts would be great, thanks everyone.

go ahead and increase your protein intake. if you are working as hard as you say, it will greatly benefit your muscle gains yet still help you lose weight as long as you maintain your caloric ratios and numbers consitent.

good luck! :gl:

Or...you could eat vegetables, fruit, and oatmeal for your carbs in place of the bread. Bread isn't very nutritious, and doesn't keep you full for very long. But this is just what I would do, you know?

When I was leaning down for my last photo shoot, I was averaging well over 300 grams of carbs per day, and about 40 grams of fiber. Didn't have to eat a ton of bread at all. Here are a few sample days:

== SAMPLE 1 ==

First snack:
8oz apple juice

Early morning meal:
1 orange
1 apple
1 pear

Lunch:
1 plain roll
Garden salad with red wine & olive oil vinaigrette
Approx. 2 cups angel hair pasta in olive oil, garlic, basil, and crushed red pepper sauce

Dinner:
10oz jerk-style chicken breast on 3 cups romaine lettuce

Late night:
4oz soy milk

Calories: 2443
Fat: 96g (13g saturate) 35%
Sodium: 1010mg
Potassium: 3730mg
Carbohydrate: 267g (26g fiber / 6g sugar) 43%
Protein: 137g 22%
Water: 144oz

== SAMPLE 2 ==

Morning:
8oz tangerine juice

Breakfast:
1 Orange
1 Apple
1 Pear

Early meal:
2 whole eggs, 3 egg whites
3/4 cup organic broccoli

Lunch:
4oz Ostrich meat

Afternoon meal:
Luna bar (Key Lime Pie flavor)
8 whole wheat crackers
3/4 cup organic broccoli

Dinner:
1 slice sprouted grain whole wheat bread
2 tbsp almond butter
8 Newman's round pretzels
8oz multi-grain milk

Late night:
8oz red wine
1.5 oz organic Belgian dark chocolate with espresso beans

Calories: 2384
Fat: 74g (15g saturated) 27%
Sodium: 1930mg
Potassium: 3390mg
Carbohydrate: 302g (39g fiber / 101g sugar) 49%
Protein: 104g 17%
Alcohol: 7%
Water: 153oz


See - 300 grams of carbs, well over 190, and ... easy! No eating 6 slices of bread per day.

Jeremy

Thanks guys. Yea I feel like I am definitely working hard, I mean that's why people around here always want to see the latest study, always want to tweak it just a little further. We work damn hard so we might as well work smart too. I don't think I'm lacking in vegetables by any means, I could stand to eat a little more though. But regardless I mean the bread is just going to waste, I know it is. And of course I'd be much happier eating more meat, I'm a carnivore by all means. Thanks a lot for your advice.

If I were you I wouldnt up my protein. You are already getting 40% and that is heaps. The body needs Carbos to function and when it doesnt get that it will begin breaking down the protein into glucose to use (along with fat) so the protein wont be getting to your muscles at all. Not to mention the stress it would put on your kidneys. There is only so much protein the body can use and after that its just a waste, IMO 40% is more than youll need.

Marcus :tucool:

If you *want to* eat more protein, do it by all means. But the excess protein, that you body does not need will be used as if it was carbs. Protein for the most part is more expensive than carbs so you might want to consider that also.