I keep trying to make myself a food plan on FitDay.com and no matter what I do the carbs are always TOO HIGH. It's really frustrating me that I can't get this food thing down :mad: I have cut out whole wheat bread and even with that out the carbs are still so high. The only thing I can see that would be high in carbs is a sweet potato.

Here's the meal I put on there and I just don't get it food is really starting to piss me off lately I have no problem eating good food I just can't figure out what and when to eat what and blah blah blah. I thought I was doing great but aparently I suck at this. :mad:

Meal 1:
3 Egg omlette
1 cup Soy Milk
1/2 cup All Bran Flakes
1 medium Orange

Meal 2:
1/2 cup Oatmeal with water
1/2 can drained Tuna in water
Medium Apple

Meal 3:
3 slices Turkey Breast plain
12 roasted unsalted Almonds
1 1/2 cups Raw Brocolli

Meal 4:
1/2 cup Oatmeal with water
1/2 cup drained Tuna in water
Banana

Workout - PWO Shake ON 100% Whey in Water with 2 tbls Natty PB

Meal 5:
B/S Chicken Breast
1 cup Brocolli

Meal 6:
Undecided at the moment

What the hell am I doing wrong????? Food is the enemy right now nutrition is confusing the hell out of me.

First of all, lose the natty PB post workout. It should be protein/carbs. Switch out some of your oats with EFA's. You're not getting enough fats.

What's your goal for carbs?

I can tell you if you are trying to reduce carbs, take out some of the oatmeal and cereal.

I only try to do carbs like oatmeal PWO or for my first meal, but that's just me. Other times I use veggies or fruits for carbs.

Speaking of PWO, the conventional thought is carbs PWO, not fats. So, move some of your oatmeal to PWO and move your PB somewhere earlier if you want to follow that model. You don't have to, as discussed in another thread yesterday you can do PWO with a fat depending on goals and your body's tendency as to how to use carbs, but since you seem to have a lot of oatmeal in your diet, it is better PWO IMO.

Just sub nuts for oatmeal in some of those meals to swap fats for carbs, if that's your goal (or olive oil on the tuna).

My first thoughts would be to put an oz of nuts (or PB) in meal 2 and maybe 4, then put oatmeal in PWO and meal 5.

Another thing to do is swap some of the carbs for higher protein. 3 slices of turkey generally is not a lot of protein, so you could double that. I try to get at least 6 oz of meat in a serving. You could also swap in more egg whites for the cereal in meal 1 for a similar type macro change. I like 2 full eggs, +6 whites for a nice scramble along with some cheese and an oz of some sort of lean meat mixed in.

You'll have to tell us more specifics, though. Total calories, macros currently, etc.

:confused: I could have sworn I've seen 1fastgtx say to eat fats with PWO shake. Maybe I read it wrong or that's just the way he does things.

I don't have a particlar "goal" for carbs I just want to lower them. I am trying to cut and slim down and am trying to get into that 40/40/20 range but I seem to be in the 35/60/40 range. Maybe I'm just not good at this whole food preparation thing blancing macros and all that junk I just can't seem to understand it no matter how much I read.
This site has helped me emensily but the more I read the more confused I get :doh:

So switch up the oatmeal with EFA's then? Like Natty PB, walnuts, Almonds ect. ect. This doens't seem at least to me like a good thing if I'm cutting.

I've recently cut on 50+% protein, -20%carbs, 35+% fats. On non-workout days, carbs would be around 15%, fats would be above 40.

This included lots of lower carb veggies in nearly every meal, too.

So, fats can help you cut if you are smart with them.

I'm not saying that is the only way, but it is one way. 40/40/20 works for many just fine.

I hear what your saying Mannish I'm so fed up with trying to perfect my diet I'm about to just throw it all out the window and stick to working out and cardio. I feel like I just am the way I am and I can't change my body beyond a certain point.

You could change your ratios by simply having a protein + fat meal for Meal #6.

Also, you may not need to lower the carbs any more, but as some others have suggested, move them around.

For example: Take the oatmeal out of Meal #2 and add some LF Mayo to the tuna and eat on celery or inside of a small tomato.

Add a carb source to the PWO2 meal (sweet potato, regular potato, rice, etc.) when (some say) you have the most need for carbs (glycogen).

progression not perfection....remember that...it applioes to everything...

its easy just follow the advice given...drop a piece of fruit..add some fats....dont freak out

okay... one thing I noticed is that several of your meals have two carb sources in them... for instance your breakfast has the bran flakes and the orange... drop the orange and have oatmeal instead of the bran flakes... oatmeal is a good slow digesting carb and will help give you energy first thing in the morning.. I would also add a few more egg whites... for instance have 1/2 cup oatmeal and 6 egg whites... in your third meal I would drop the banana... banana's have a lot of natural sugars and if you are cutting you want to avoid too many fruits throughout the day... some is okay but too much is just that.. too much... if you want a banana have it in your post workout meal... i think you mis-remember 1FastGTX about the carbs and fat post workout... you want protien & carbs post workout... a protien shake w/ a banana in it would be good for a PWO shake.... if you want an apple have it about a half hour before your workout, it will give you some good (high fiber) slow digesting carbs to give you some energy for your lifting ;)

if you really want some good diet help you might want to look into a trainer like Swolecat... he would give you a very specific set of instructions for diet and make this all very simple... just a suggestion... I know that I have gotten a LOT out of his services :nod: :tucool:

:confused: I could have sworn I've seen 1fastgtx say to eat fats with PWO shake. Maybe I read it wrong or that's just the way he does things.
No!

What I said was fat was fine and simple carbs were not necessary, not that you must have fats.

Anyway, please explain your problem, because I don't understand. You say carbs are too high, but you have bran flakes and oats and sweet potatoes. If you want to drop some of the carbs, well, um, drop some of the carbs. :)

...if you want an apple have it about a half hour before your workout, it will give you some good (high fiber) slow digesting carbs to give you some energy for your lifting ;)

It also tops off liver glycogen stores so that more PWO carbs go to refilling of muscles....

I hear what your saying Mannish I'm so fed up with trying to perfect my diet I'm about to just throw it all out the window and stick to working out and cardio. I feel like I just am the way I am and I can't change my body beyond a certain point.

Don't settle. Also, don't stress so much and expect instant success. Small progressive changes as others have stated are the way to go.

First, your plan is pretty good about not including a bunch of crap foods, so it's a good start. Now you are just tweaking.

Apply some of the changes suggested here and see how your ratios work out. Post back about what you end up with, and we'll help you make more adjustments.

I also think you have a misconception about fats that many in the mainstream have, and you want to avoid them to cut as per your previous response. Fats are good for you, if you eat the right ones and keep portions controlled. They can help your body actually use it's stored fat more readily.

Anyway, please explain your problem, because I don't understand. You say carbs are too high, but you have bran flakes and oats and sweet potatoes. If you want to drop some of the carbs, well, um, drop some of the carbs. :)
Ok well I guess that's where I don't get it then. I don't know which foods contain high carbs low carbs high fats low fats ect. ect. I mean I'm eating what seems to me like clean food but obviously I'm going about the clean foods the wrong way. This is retardedly confusing to me the science of this eating style is agrivating. It all seems fine to me but aparently it's not.

Don't settle. Also, don't stress so much and expect instant success. Small progressive changes as others have stated are the way to go.

First, your plan is pretty good about not including a bunch of crap foods, so it's a good start. Now you are just tweaking.

Apply some of the changes suggested here and see how your ratios work out. Post back about what you end up with, and we'll help you make more adjustments.

I also think you have a misconception about fats that many in the mainstream have, and you want to avoid them to cut as per your previous response. Fats are good for you, if you eat the right ones and keep portions controlled. They can help your body actually use it's stored fat more readily.
I will try tweaking it a little more to see if I can do any better.

if you really want some good diet help you might want to look into a trainer like Swolecat... he would give you a very specific set of instructions for diet and make this all very simple... just a suggestion... I know that I have gotten a LOT out of his services :nod: :tucool:
I would love to be able to use SwoleCat as a trainer but I just can't afford that type of thing at all. I'm a typical broke ass 25 year old just trying to make it by.

Ok well I guess that's where I don't get it then. I don't know which foods contain high carbs low carbs high fats low fats ect. ect. I mean I'm eating what seems to me like clean food but obviously I'm going about the clean foods the wrong way. This is retardedly confusing to me the science of this eating style is agrivating. It all seems fine to me but aparently it's not.
http://www.fitday.com
http://www.calorieking.com
http://www.bodybuilding.com

All good resources to help you figure out what is high and low carb.

So with adjustments made to what I currently have listed and 6 - 7 days of cardio and lifting 3 times a week I should be ok for cutting then??

You could try those suggestions to lower carbs, or, if you're happy witht your diet the way it is, eat that. It looks quite healthy to me, and, depending on your goals, I think you could probably get good results on it.So switch up the oatmeal with EFA's then? Like Natty PB, walnuts, Almonds ect. ect. This doens't seem at least to me like a good thing if I'm cutting.
I can't find the study right now, but someone posted a study on this forum about how almonds helped in fat loss. In a diet with the same number of calories, the one with a greater percentage of calories from fat (EFAs specifically) resulted in greater weight loss.

Again, it's optional. You really only need to get nitpicky about macronutrients and specific meal timings when you're trying to lean down into the single digits.

It also tops off liver glycogen stores so that more PWO carbs go to refilling of muscles....

kewl... I didn't know that... I always have an apple before I workout :D :tucool:

So with adjustments made to what I currently have listed and 6 - 7 days of cardio and lifting 3 times a week I should be ok for cutting then??

You may not even need that much cardio. I've done 3 days lifting, 3 days cardio and been just fine. 1FastGTX I believe isn't a big cardio guy at all.

You can try 3 or 4 days, and then up it if you aren't progressing. I always like to have one day a week I don't do any workouts though. Just lets the body recover a bit from the stess you are throwing at it. If you are going to do it every day, at least do some LISS for some of it instead of higher intensity work.

kewl... I didn't know that... I always have an apple before I workout :D :tucool:

Yummy. Me too!:nod:

1FastGTX I believe isn't a big cardio guy at all.

The only cardio GTX does is scrambling egg whites in the morning...
:p and that seems to work just fine for him.

Thanks a lot you guys I'm feeling a lot better now about all of this. I guess earlier I was just flustered. I think I will try out my current meal plan with the variations suggested and see how it goes. This forum is great I don't know what I'd do without you guys :bow:

The only cardio GTX does is scrambling egg whites in the morning...
:p and that seems to work just fine for him.
You are correct sir. :)

I am thinking about adding some HIIT here pretty soon though. Oops, did I just say that out loud? :eek: