minced hamburger

[musclestack]

Hey, guys. My goals for the next 6 months are to gain about 5 pounds of muscle and lose about 12-15 pounds of fat. My stats are 5'9" 178 pounds at 14% bf, age 26. So, I'm leaning more towards the cutting than I am the bulking but would like to put on a bit of LBM while I'm at it.

99% of the time, I only eat the following foods: lean steak, chicken breasts, fish, rice, sweet potato, bread, tomatos, onions, olive oil, oats, whey protein, water, sugarless tea.

The only other thing that I may eat from time to time is spaghetti pasta with minced hamburger and a tomato paste. I usually have this about twice a week. I enjoy pasta, but is it a good choice considering my goals? From what I've read, I'm starting to think that there is too much fat in the hamburger and too much starch in the spaghetti. How do you feel about this? Should I drop this meal altogether? How do you feel about the bread? Too much starch?

Thanks for your advice.
MS

[xibalba]

Hey, guys. My goals for the next 6 months are to gain about 5 pounds of muscle and lose about 12-15 pounds of fat. My stats are 5'9" 178 pounds at 14% bf, age 26. So, I'm leaning more towards the cutting than I am the bulking but would like to put on a bit of LBM while I'm at it.

99% of the time, I only eat the following foods: lean steak, chicken breasts, fish, rice, sweet potato, bread, tomatos, onions, olive oil, oats, whey protein, water, sugarless tea.

The only other thing that I may eat from time to time is spaghetti pasta with minced hamburger and a tomato paste. I usually have this about twice a week. I enjoy pasta, but is it a good choice considering my goals? From what I've read, I'm starting to think that there is too much fat in the hamburger and too much starch in the spaghetti. How do you feel about this? Should I drop this meal altogether? How do you feel about the bread? Too much starch?

Thanks for your advice.
MS

now im far from a diet exspert but yea theres no need for the bread or spaghetti. as for your goals they are possible yea but you really gotta get everything in check to obtain them, i cant help you with that but im sure someone will give you a bit of advice

[Cousinbutch]

Check out the Milo Sarcev videos. There's a post with them at the top of the diets page, says something about learning how to eat I believe.

[Damienm05]

Hey, guys. My goals for the next 6 months are to gain about 5 pounds of muscle and lose about 12-15 pounds of fat. My stats are 5'9" 178 pounds at 14% bf, age 26. So, I'm leaning more towards the cutting than I am the bulking but would like to put on a bit of LBM while I'm at it.

99% of the time, I only eat the following foods: lean steak, chicken breasts, fish, rice, sweet potato, bread, tomatos, onions, olive oil, oats, whey protein, water, sugarless tea.

The only other thing that I may eat from time to time is spaghetti pasta with minced hamburger and a tomato paste. I usually have this about twice a week. I enjoy pasta, but is it a good choice considering my goals? From what I've read, I'm starting to think that there is too much fat in the hamburger and too much starch in the spaghetti. How do you feel about this? Should I drop this meal altogether? How do you feel about the bread? Too much starch?

Thanks for your advice.
MS

You can buy lean ground beef (93/7 - Meat/Fat - or better). You can buy whole wheat spaghetti (complex carb - not high GI like regular). You can use lots of garlic, onions, fresh basil, oregano to make your sauce, as well as a splash of white wine, low-sodium chicken stock, and a couple tablespoons of tomato paste. All in all, not only could you have it now and then on a cutting diet - it could be a staple, eaten many times per week guilt-free.

[Damienm05]

Interchangeable lean protein sources:

The goal is to eat lean protein. Meats/other sources low in fat/carbs.

Ground beef (93% lean or better)
Lean steak (Flank, flat iron, or top sirloin)
Bison sirloin (the highest quality red meat)
Chicken breast
Turkey breast
Tuna (canned or sushi grade)
Salmon
Tilapia (mostly all white fish)
All shellfish
Venison
Whey protein (post-workout recovery purposes only)
Casein/Cottage cheese (before bed only)

Black-list protein:

Bacon
Sausage
Expensive fat-marbled Steaks (Ribeye, Strip, Filet)
Pork and beef ribs
Pork/Lamb chops
Restaurant ground beef (80/20 fat – most burgers)
Duck
Chicken legs/thighs
Chicken skin
Cheese

Interchangeable complex carbohydrates:

Complex carbs are now your creed. These are slower-digesting, natural, low on the glycemic index carbohydrates that digest slowly and provide us with sustained energy. They do not drastically affect our blood sugar and do not cause insulin spikes. Thus our body sees no reason to store them as fat, it would rather burn them for energy. Simple carbs such as enriched white breads/pastas/rice/potatoes/sugars (including most fruit) cause insulin spikes and are high GI foods. They should not be eaten when on a strict diet. Fruit can be consumed early in the day or pre/post-workout because of it’s high nutritional value but should usually be avoided due to being a form of simple sugar. Remember, healthy, low-calorie foods aren’t always the correct foods and such is the case with fruit.

Oats/Oatmeal
Grits/Cornmeal
Unsalted/non-buttered popcorn (great, low-cal snack)
Sweet potato (the best choice)
Butternut squash
Whole wheat pasta (not enriched)
Organic whole wheat bread (not enriched wonder bread crap)
Brown rice
Ezekiel bread
Swedish grain bread
Gluten free bread
Wheat couscous
Corn
Quinoa
Lentils
Beans
Many more, look up the GI (glycemic index) for healthy choices

Black-list carbohydrates:

White pasta
White bread
Baguette
Bagels
Cookies, cake, muffins, cupcakes, all sweets basically.
White couscous
White rice
You get the idea…

Interchangeable fat sources:

We look for fat sources that are high in omega-3, 6, and 9 fatty acids. Also, many are high in protein. We do not want saturated fats such as butter, cream, meat fat. We don’t want test tube fats like trans (the worst). We want mono/polyunsaturated fats that our body can use for something other than calories. Remember, even good fats are high in calories.

Natural peanut butter (no sugar added, just roasted peanuts)
Natural almond butter
Cashews
Almonds
Peanuts
Flax seeds/oil
Salmon and Trout (great fatty proteins)
Fish oil
Extra virgin olive oil (should be used on all veggies/salads)
Chia seeds
Grapeseed oil
Macadamia nut oil
Udo's oil
Walnut oil
Sunflower seeds/oil

Acceptable miscellaneous foods:

These foods don’t provide much as far as macronutrients but are great for adding vitamins/minerals and taste. Notice some of these other foods are dairy. Dairy is another animal’s milk. We lack the enzymes to digest it as they do and it’s high in fat/sugar. It should only be eaten early in the day for nutrient purposes with the exception of whey and casein (cottage cheese).

Skim milk (Hood brand is only 45 calories and 3g of sugar per cup)
Greek yogurt (no sugar added)
Berries (all berries are much lower in sugar than other fruits and packed with fiber/nutrients – eat berries)
Green Vegetables. These are technically carbs but they are packed with fiber (a type of carb that isn’t used as energy or stored). In bodybuilding/nutrition – we refer to most vegetables as fibrous carbohydrates. While a serving of Broccoli may have 6g of carbs, 5 are from fiber. Meaning that it contains only 1g of storable carbohydrates. In addition, green vegetables are a calorie neutral/negative food (our body uses more calories to digest them than they contain – think celery). Veggies should be eaten with every meal. Every day. If you do this, you can become almost impervious to getting sick. Some vegetables are better than others for healthy diets.
Many non-green vegetables. Most are fine – just check labels, some have a good bit of sugar and should be eaten in moderation only (carrots)
Edit/Delete Message

[musclestack]

Thanks Damien! Exactly what I was looking for!