My new diet and goal (advice welcomed!)

I am 25, 6'1" and 190 lbs. I want to be around 195 pounds of muscle. I am sorta skinny arms wise, but with some belly fat (I guess I have 18% BF). I work 80 hours a week (I sleep between 9am to 3pm), so cooking is out of the question. I buy my meat from the Baja Fresh next to my work (they sell cooked chicken breast and steak). Here's what I have been able to come up with to make up for the fact I can't cook:

Meal #1 4:00pm
Natural Peanut Butter Low Fat (2 tablespoons)
Quaker Oats (1/2 cup)
Sugar Free Jam (2 tablespoons)
Whey Protein (2 scoops)
610cal 60pro 55carb 18fat

Lift for an hour on my "lunch break"

Meal #2 7:00pm
Whey Protein (2 scoops) w/Dex
500cal 46pro 71carb 3fat

Meal #3 8:00pm
Steak (6 oz)
Whole Wheat Bread (3 slices)
Low Fat Swiss Cheese (2 slices)
718cal 71pro 60carb 23fat

Meal #4 11:00pm
Whey Protein (2 scoops)
220cal 46pro 6carb 3fat

Meal #5 3:00am
Chicken Breast (6 oz)
Low Carb Wheat Tortilla (1 slice)
Low Fat Swiss Cheese (1 slice)
Pico De Gallo (6 oz)
390cal 59pro 21carb 7fat

Meal #6 7:00am
EvoPro (2 scoops)
Flax Oil (1 tablespoon)
420cal 52pro 6carb 20fat

Totals: 2858 calories / 334 protien / 219 carbs / 74 fat

My lifting days are Sun-Tues-Thurs. I go one day Chest/Triceps/Shoulder next day Biceps/Back/Legs then the third day I go back to Chest/Triceps/Shoulders and so on and so on. My cardio is on Mon-Wed-Fri. My cardio days diet is the same except the ppwo shake/dex drink (I could use advice on what I would need cal/pro/carb/fat wise on those days).

I attached my body pic (yes, it's pretty sad) along with my goal of what I'd like (next to it)- but maybe slightly bigger arms (SLIGHTLY).

If you guys can give me any pointers or advice I would appreciate it. Please keep in mind, I am unable to cook. And because I work so much, I can't do cardio on an empty stomach before work. I have to do it on my lunch break. I might be able to squeeze cardio around 5am on my second job (I was thinking about that). Thanks guys!!

I am assuming this is a bulking diet?

I would suggest you re-read the bulking stickie and remember it is important NOT to mix fats/carbs which i see you are doing quite a bit.

As far as your off days, i would have a pro/fat meal in the place of where my normal PWO would be.

Are you doing cardio before meal 1? I would definately start implementing cardio around 2:30 for an hour and then eat your first meal at 4pm. Now before you say you would'nt get enough sleep, you need to truly ask yourself just how bad you want this. Its gonna take hard work and many sacrifices to obtain your goals but you can do it.

I get up every morning at 5:15am (go to bed at 11:30-12) to run 5 miles, is it hard..of course but i would not trade it for anything as the results speak for themselves.

I would also come up with a better split...legs IMO should be done by themselves because if you are busting your ass in the gym as you shopuld be, believe me you would not have the energy to do anything else.

Here is an example:

Sunday: Legs (This way you will have legs for the following weekend)

Tuesday: Chest/Shoulders

Thursday: Back/Traps

Saturday: Arms

Why no lifting on Saturday's? You can work abs many times throughout the week as you see fit.

Your cardio looks good considering you are bulking, 3x a week should be sufficient for now but of course this depends on when you are performing cardio.

I was thinking of doing more of the lean mass diet. By looking at my current picture and the goal I want to attain, is that the wrong diet? What should I be getting as far as cal/carb/pro/fat on my lifting and cardio days?

I start work at 3pm, so I am not able to do cardio at 2:30 :frown:

Also, isn't sleep super important? I only get about 4-5 hours of sleep a day as is, and I can't really sacrifice anymore.

I do calf raises and squats for legs. That's pretty much it. I know legs are important, but honestly for my goals I think that's good enough for me.

Also, Sat's are my cheat days. After an 80 hour work week, I want one day where I don't do sh*t :D

bump :)

i would try to sep carbs and fats as much as possible unless its a mixture of HIGH Quality EFA's like Flax and Wholesome Low GI/II foods like Oats, otherwise bad fats can have a synergetic effect on your insulin when combined moderate or higher GI carbs. this will allow you to get ample cals while minimizing fat storage

Ok here is my revised diet. I did my best to seperate the carb/fat. Meal 1 has a mix of both but PB is a high quality EFA, right? So its ok?

Meal #1 3:00pm
Natural Peanut Butter Low Fat (2 tablespoons)
Quaker Oats (1 cup)
Sugar Free Jam (2 tablespoons)
Whey Protein (2 scoops)
760 cal / 65 pro / 82 carb / 21 fat

Lift at 5:30pm

Meal #2 7:00pm
Whey Protein (2 scoops) w/Dex
500 cal / 46 pro / 71 carb / 3 fat

Meal #3 8:00pm
Chicken (6 oz)
Whole Wheat Bread (3 slices)
Pico De Gallo (6 oz)
590 cal / 65 pro / 70 carb / 7 fat

Meal #4 11:00pm
Whey Protein (2 scoops) (I'd rather replace this with something else here, any suggestions?)
220 cal / 46 pro / 6 carb / 3 fat

Meal #5 3:00am
Steak (6 oz)
Low Fat Swiss Cheese (2 slices)
418cal / 56pro / 0 carb / 19 fat

Meal #6 8:00am
EvoPro (2 scoops)
Flax Oil (1 tablespoon)
420 cal / 52 pro / 6 carb / 20 fat

2908 cal / 330 pro / 235 carb / 73 fat

On my cardio days, it's the same diet but subtract the dex and it's only 1/2 cup Oats for Meal #1

Is this ok guys?

To be honest i didnt look at each meal, but looked at ur overall carbs/protein/cals. i would advise purchasing some sesathin to keep off unwanted fat during bulking. Also you should prob add some caffine to ur diet/suppliments, these do will do wonders for keeping fat in unwanted areas during bulking, this and cardio that is. I am about ur same size, n body looked exactly like urs, for right now i wouldnt worry about bulking, or eating as much are you are,(this is just my opinion) Id go look at the cutting stick, and go bye that diet. Id get your body fat down, possibly even shed some pounds before you bulk, I know many people belive this to be wrong(cutting before you bulk, most peopel bulk then cut) but in ur case i feel it would be GREATLY beneficial to lose fat at this point ,bye looking at ur pic your main concerns for right now should be cardio, and sticking to somethig similar in the cutting sticky, rome wasnt built in a day, for the look you want im gonna go out on a limb in saying something similar can be achieved in 6 months, but id go with cutting first, this is how i did it n had great results, once u cut down ull be abel to pu ton lean muscle easier then u ever imagined

finding a workout,diet,n schedule u can adheare to is ver tough, its all trial and error. Once you have a good foundation down, drop some bodyfat, and a schedule down u will be set. and can gain lean muscle. You may look alittle smaller then u want for the first few month, but with ur body type how it is right now with the diet u posted i feel u wont ge the results u want. like i said i had ur exact frame, and now i ahve something very similar to what u want( im about 2 months away). i would suggest buying sesathin, and possibly a fat burner/ lean xtreme. Try n consume about 240 grams of protein a day, and about 40-50 grams of carbs. this will shed body fay, then u can gain lean muscle, just food for thought

Wouldn't cutting down on the carbs prohibit any muscle building?? I would try it, but I'm afraid that it would limit the muscle I could put on. I also thought about using clenbuterol (nothing else) to trim the fat.

You say you had the same physique I had and are getting the results I'm looking for, rightt? What kind of daily meal plan do you use?

thanks for the info

i just posted my diet, its def not perfect , u could take out the whole wheat in meal 2 and have oatmeal for breakfast, and just ahve the tuna ou tof the can, this would be best, i feel the rest is pretty good, im waiting to see what the rest of the board thinks. yes u may not gain as much muscle on this diet, but the pic u posted of what u wanna look like is an EXTEMLY low body fat, if thats your goal then for right now u gotta cut body fat, cut body fat, and cut more body fat. Once ur bf is down u can start adding some more stuff to ur diet slowly n see what ur body can take.

80 hours a week ****!!

Like i said it would prob take about 6 months to look like that(concidering ur going into the first week on a set diet,workout n supps) And i would say about 4 1/2 months of that will be cutting. If your planning on doing this ntural(which i would reccomend) its not gonna happen over night, its going to be a very slow process. you cant just go on some crazy bulking diet n expect to gain ALL muscle n lose fat, it just doesnt happen liek that, hope i have helped u out, i think most people will agree with me that right now cutting is ur main priority

Yes, I work 80 hours a week (2 full time jobs :( )

With this change, I understand I will lose fat, but will I gain muscle?

I will try what you said, cut the carbs to around 50-60 maybe and drop the protein a little. What about the calories and fat content though? Am I ok with 2500 and 70? Thanks for the help

Can I get any other opinions, too?

loosing fat/gain muscle... ALMOST impossible to do at same time...
if your going to use clen then i seriously suggest you read Hooker's ENTIER Post on the usage and profile of clen
and yes you do need carbs you need an alternative energy source to use so your body can use protein to heal/maintain muscle while cutting.

Thanks for the clen and carb info. Just one other thing, by seeing by body now and where I'd like it to be, which of the 3 diet stickies should I be focusing on? (bulking? lean muscle? cutting?)

Thanks!

Quote:

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loosing fat/gain muscle... ALMOST impossible to do at same time...

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COMO?

An overweight person who begins a diet/training regime will lose BF, and lose BF FASTER as muscle density increases. I'm guessing you didn't mean what is being said here...?

Bro you need to focus on a lean muscle diet. Looking at the pic, I'm gonna say you're around 26% BF. The last thing you need is to commit to a true "bulk".

I'm going to follow the Lean Diet thread, but 300 gm of carbs seems a bit high. What do you recommend I get daily as far as cal/pro/carb/fat?

30% of calories from protein
30% of calories from carbohydrates
40% of calories from healthy fats

If this doesn't work for you after 3-4 weeks, drop the carbs to 25% and up the fats to 45%.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Austex

COMO?

An overweight person who begins a diet/training regime will lose BF, and lose BF FASTER as muscle density increases. I'm guessing you didn't mean what is being said here...?

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the almost was stated because once a person acquires a muscular base its very rare to drop bf and gain lean mass at same time.
now if your a virgin who starts out strong hard and has ample body fat to spare yes it will happen but for 3-6 months...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Austex

30% of calories from protein
30% of calories from carbohydrates
40% of calories from healthy fats

If this doesn't work for you after 3-4 weeks, drop the carbs to 25% and up the fats to 45%.

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im not sure on those percentages...
i would keep protein around 50-60%
carbs around 25-30%
and fats 15-20%
on lifting
and reverse the carb/fat ration on non lifting IMO
i will post some info on why protein shud be higher in just one sec.

I do
Protein 40%
carbs 40%
fat 20%

I have found that low fat % works better for me in bulking and cutting.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by niXon)(

I do
Protein 40%
carbs 40%
fat 20%

I have found that low fat % works better for me in bulking and cutting.

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u dont up ur protein to 50%+ when cutting?

Get a nutritonist to help you. I did and I had great results. Go to

www.vizualxcellence.com

Look at Swolecat's Wall of Fame. I am in there too. MeatieV

He is amazing. You won't regret it. Also join the forums there too so you can see current clients progress photos.

Yes I do

Quote:

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Originally Posted by taiboxa

u dont up ur protein to 50%+ when cutting?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Meatie*V

Get a nutritonist to help you. I did and I had great results. Go to

www.vizualxcellence.com

Look at Swolecat's Wall of Fame. I am in there too. MeatieV

He is amazing. You won't regret it. Also join the forums there too so you can see current clients progress photos.

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SC duznt know anything..
he eats icecream and shoots 750mg TestProp ED
:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by taiboxa

SC duznt know anything..
he eats icecream and shoots 750mg TestProp ED
:D

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:lol:

Thanks for the advice everyone, I appreciate it. 40% fat sounds a bit too high, I think i'll drop that to around 20%. The only fats I am going to get are from flax and my steak and cheese meal :)

Meatie, thanks for the link. I visited the site, and thought about joining but there's a reason I work 80 hours a week (thats to pay off some cc debt :blush: ) i'm broke as is lol

I think I got my diet modified and constructed to fit with the advice you all laid out for me. Thanks everyone!!