My boyfriend (who has a strict diet and eats very clean and looks absolutely cut) is suggesting that if I want to REALLY lean up, I need to cut out my FF milk (b/c it has sugar), cut out the nuts that I eat (soynuts and Almonds), and lose the bread (which I'll eat occasionally with Nat. PB and sugar Free jelly) in my already pretty clean diet. When I say clean, (and it has taken me two years to get this far) I mean oatmeal or some kind of fibrous cereal in the morning with an occasional grapefruit, or egg whites, salads, cottage cheese, low sugar/low carb yogurt (blue bunny kind), lots of chicken breast or turkey burgers, frozen veggies, protein shakes post workout, tuna, apples, and I shoot for almost a gallon of water a day. Now I need to cut out the bread completely (and I have two frozen loafs in the freexer :( ), finish up the cereal I eat with the milk, and not buy anymore nuts (thats okay because they are $$$ for me).

To the point: Does this sound healthy to you guys for a woman? Now, I don't know how much body fat I have right now because I haven't found someone yet to propery check it (and I don't want to pay a trainer for it). But the scale keeps reading 170 (this is mostly muscle, of course) and I look thinner than when I weighed 165 6 months ago. I am 5'8 and age 26. My abs are starting to show, but I have been wanting to take the next step. And this almost sounds extreme. I told my boyfreind that if I don't eat enough or not enough sugar in my diet, I get dizzy or sick (not to mention CRANKY:mad: ) Its just how my body reacts. I don't like to be cranky either. :(

Apologies ahead of tiem for this being so long and descriptive. :rolleyes:

Your boyfriend could be right, but I'd look into other options first, if I were you. Being cranky is just not worth it. If I try to cut out bread or yogurt from my diet, I suffer from insane cravings for brownies and ice cream, so I'd rather choose the lesser of two evils.;)

How long have you been on the clean diet? Do you know how many calories you eat in a day?

Also, health and fat loss are not the same thing; you might need to compromise on one to get the other. I'm personally not a fan of protein shakes. I think extra fruits and vegetables are a much smarter option.

I need to cut out my FF milk (b/c it has sugar)
Well, you could have some here and there maybe. If it's something you really, really want then you can easily incorporate it into a healthy diet. I'd try dropping it for a couple months though just to see how it affects you. (My girlfriend tends to do much better when she keeps milk out of her diet.)

cut out the nuts that I eat (soynuts and Almonds)
This one I would disagree with. Nuts are a great source for healthy fats. Depending on the rest of your diet, I might suggest having almonds every day actually. :)

and lose the bread (which I'll eat occasionally with Nat. PB and sugar Free jelly) in my already pretty clean diet.
Nah, you can still lose fat with bread. I don't eat it but many do. If you're going to cut it, I'd still finish off what you have in the freezer (no need to waste it). Just have one sandwich a day.

When I say clean, (and it has taken me two years to get this far) I mean oatmeal or some kind of fibrous cereal in the morning with an occasional grapefruit, or egg whites, salads, cottage cheese, low sugar/low carb yogurt (blue bunny kind), lots of chicken breast or turkey burgers, frozen veggies, protein shakes post workout, tuna, apples, and I shoot for almost a gallon of water a day. Now I need to cut out the bread completely (and I have two frozen loafs in the freexer :( ), finish up the cereal I eat with the milk, and not buy anymore nuts (thats okay because they are $$$ for me).
Eat the grapefruit not occassionally, but every day. :)

If you want to, list out a full day of meals (what you eat and how much, for each meal), and we'll help you adjust it.

Wow, well, according to you two, I'm doing opretty well then. I don't think I will ver cut out my healthy yogurt because of its benefits in general. I will definatley cut out the milk once I get rid of the cereals. The bread will have to go eventually too. But you know, I don't even eat teh sandwhiches every day. Its usually when I run out of salad to eat for lunch. Then I go for the bread. So once a day is not even my norm. MOre like once a week or less than that, even! As for the grapefruit, I love them and I know its healthy because it is a simple carb. And the best time to eat simple carbs are in the morn. Grapefruit and apples and raspberries is what I eat. :D YUM! And the nuts: THATS WHAT I TOLD HIM! Because thats what I knew about them. They both have good amounts of protines in them. So the only reason why I can think of why he wanted me to cut those out is the fat content in the almonds. Even though it is health fat, like in Nat. PB. I don't get it. But oh well.

For some reason I am too lazy to write down everything I eat. If I give you one day, thats pretty much every day (during the week, not weekend). So here it goes........a typical day:

1/2 cup of oatmeal w/ cinn, splenda, raspberries and FF milk
1 grapefruit

mid snack: handful of almonds or can of tuna (varies)

lunch: usually a salad with kidney beans or not, an apple, 1/2 cup of cottage cheese and or a yogurt

2nd snack: turkey burger or PBJ sandwhich or soynuts or chicken breast (varies)

*gym 2 1/2 hours later for 2 hours, then a protein shake

dinner salad with chicken breast and some kind of desert like sugar/fat free jello or PB.

How's this? Too many calories still? I have always been known to eat a lot at lunch, but its not bad foods. I just just never stop at just a salad. Its never very filling.:blank:

Thanks for the input everyone!:tu:
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:) Upon reading your posts and the various responses initially I thought that your diet looked really good but maybe you might want to concern yourself with portion size. (Your stats being 5’8” and 170lbs) Of course as I scrolled down and came to your picture I realized that over eating wasn’t an issue (unless of course the bottom half of you is MOST incongruous with the top half….I can’t tell by the picture.) however I was puzzled with your stats in as much as I am 5’8” and weight 131 with a profile much more, how shall I say this……. dense, perhaps …….than yours. I realize that as a woman of more mature years than you, despite working out for a while now, my body would most certainly not have the pleasing symmetry as someone of your years. Now to the point; lucky you…you carry your weight well, your diet looks reasonable and balanced and based on the pictures you’ve posted the only thing I can see that you might want to do, in the event that you haven’t already incorporated it into your life style, is lift weights and develop muscle mass and definition. You are a most attractive young woman. Just thoughts from the unschooled.;)

:p Thank-you, everyone, for your support. Yeah, tell me about it. Weighing in at 170 on every scale I stand on is very puzzling to me. By far. Even when I went to the doctors office a month ago or so, they weighed me in at almost 170. I was in the upper 160's on their scales. Mind you, whenever I weight myself, I have my shox on, and my long sleeve shirt and shorts before I work out. I know, I know, I NEED to go out and buy one of those cheap standard scales and weigh myself in the morning. Just haven't gotten around to it. Ya know?

When I read those nice Oxygen or muslce mags and read that some of these women are my height as well but weigh 130 lbs, I am SHOCKED. Becuase if this is what I look like at 170, then I would be dead at 130! Hoply crap! Im already thin. I just need to melt off some more baby fat that is evenly convering my nice abs. Just need to cut out a few more carbs in my diet and eat more protein. I'll keep ya'll posted. :) I wish I had a full body picture of me right now. Those pictures are "okay" (sorry I goofed and had that huge one on there). Although my twin said that in those pictures which was taken a month ago I am looking good, and he even meitnoed that my boobs are shrinking too. Well, I wish! LOL! But if thats what he thinks after not seeing me for 3 months, than so be it. He has better judgment than myself. After all, we are all our very own worst critic!:rolleyes:

I agree with Carole; I have a hard time believing you're 170 after seeing the picture! I believe you of course, it just doesn't look like a 170 pound female. :)

Some thoughts...
1/2 cup of oatmeal w/ cinn, splenda, raspberries and FF milk
1 grapefruit

mid snack: handful of almonds or can of tuna (varies)

lunch: usually a salad with kidney beans or not, an apple, 1/2 cup of cottage cheese and or a yogurt

2nd snack: turkey burger or PBJ sandwhich or soynuts or chicken breast (varies)

*gym 2 1/2 hours later for 2 hours, then a protein shake

dinner salad with chicken breast and some kind of desert like sugar/fat free jello or PB.
M1: I'd cut the F/F milk for a while and see how you react to it. I'd also add 1 egg and about 3-5 egg whites to this meal.

M2: I would have BOTH the almonds and the tuna.

M3: This is pretty good especially when you have the cottage cheese with it. Can you tell me more about the salad? What's in it, etc.

M4: Not too sure about the turkey burger, what type of bread do you use? PBJ could be better; I'm not too familiar with the nutrition facts on jelly since I don't really use it myself. Chicken breast is good of course. :)

GYM: Not sure I understand but do you spend 2 hours in the gym?

M5 (shake): what's in the shake exactly and how much?

M6 (dinner): This isn't bad. I'd definitely include the PB as the healthy fats are good before bed IMHO.

How's this? Too many calories still? I have always been known to eat a lot at lunch, but its not bad foods. I just just never stop at just a salad. Its never very filling.:blank:

Thanks for the input everyone!:tu:
It does not sound like too many calories at all to me. In fact I think you could eat more than this. It's a little hard to tell without more info on some of the meals though (if you can possibly tell us more I'm sure you'll get more replies).

My salad may have kideny beans in it, or nothing at all with balsalmic vin. dressing. Or light Ranch. And the gym thing: I meant 2 1/2 hours after my last snack. And I would spnd almost 2 hours at the gym. Probably too long for 6 days a week. At any rate, I will keep trying. And the turkey burger is just the burger, no bread. If I am eatting a PB&J sandwhich, it is with whole grain bread. And the jelly is sugar free. :D

170 lbs guys. Beleive it. The scale doesnt lie. Its the stuopid muscle/fat ratio. And muscle is winning over, thankfully, BUT, its just a little discouraging. Us women see this as a bad sign when weight goes up, not down. :blank:

what are your goals? U looking to compete, photoshoots, mag covers?

BTW, lemme start off by saying that judging by this picture u posted, U look amazing. :tu:

My point is that Im trying to understand why so many (females mostly) are willing to cut out all the nutrients, goodness and fun out of their food, and diet to get leaner and leaner, often beyond a healthy bodyweight or bodyfat %.

What is your bf% (oops, did I miss that in your posts? sorry if I did!), this should be your main tool if u feel that the mirror and scale arent properly reflecting your efforts.

Ill repeat myself here, but U look really good girl!