Help with a diet for a 185 pound 6'2 Division 1 football receiver

[Athlete127]

I will be playing Divison 1 football in the fall, and I need a good diet. Right now, I typically try to wake up, drink a 2 serving of protein shake (25g's a serving) mixed with 2% milk, and oatmeal. Then mid morning, I eat a protein bar. Lunch I eat a chicken breast or a can of tuna. Mid snack, I eat either another protein bar or do without. Dinner consists of maybe subway, (oven roasted chicken breast, all veggies, no cheese, wheet bread, and honey mustard) and I usually split the footlong up for a couple hours later. Then I work out 4 or 5x a weekly. (1.5miles of jogging/running) plus weights. Then a 2 serving of protein shake with 25 grams of protein in each serving mixed with 2% milk. right now im on vacation, and its hard to keep this diet, plus all I can do at night is push ups and crunches since I'm not close to a gym, and I feel like Im losing what Ive gained, because Ive ate pizza, beef jerkey, drank cokes,ate a home cooked meal, plus dont have my gym or protein shakes with me but I will be back home in 2 days.. Plus, I don't know if I'm getting enough protein, or too much. I want to tone up alot, but at the same time gain muscle too so I'm not a beem pole. I feel like I can't eat anything. Especially when my friends are eating what they want. Need some help!

[MuscleScience]

First thing is you need to log your diet and figure just how many calories you are eating. It sounds to me that your not really getting a lot in.

When do you report for summer weights. Your schools strength and Conditioning coach should already have a program laid out for you.

[Athlete127]

Bump.

[bigslick7878]

I will be playing Divison 1 football in the fall, and I need a good diet. Right now, I typically try to wake up, drink a 2 serving of protein shake (25g's a serving) mixed with 2% milk, and oatmeal.(can get by with that as your first meal of the day) Then mid morning, I eat a protein bar.(not a meal) Lunch I eat a chicken breast or a can of tuna.(not a meal) Mid snack, I eat either another protein bar or do without.(not a meal) Dinner consists of maybe subway, (oven roasted chicken breast, all veggies, no cheese, wheet bread, and honey mustard)(a meal, but lacking) and I usually split the footlong up for a couple hours later.(ditto) Then I work out 4 or 5x a weekly. (1.5miles of jogging/running) plus weights. Then a 2 serving of protein shake with 25 grams of protein in each serving mixed with 2% milk. right now im on vacation, and its hard to keep this diet, plus all I can do at night is push ups and crunches since I'm not close to a gym,(get a set of dumbells, pronto 20/25/30lb you can't do pushups every day and expect progress) and I feel like Im losing what Ive gained,(you probably are, because you are not eating anywhere near enough for your body type) because Ive ate pizza, beef jerkey, drank cokes,ate a home cooked meal, plus dont have my gym or protein shakes with me but I will be back home in 2 days.. Plus, I don't know if I'm getting enough protein, or too much.(you are not even close on protein, not in the same zip code on carbs you need those too) I want to tone up alot, but at the same time gain muscle too so I'm not a beem pole.(you are a bean pole, gaining fat is the least of your worries, you need to eat double what you are now) I feel like I can't eat anything.(unlike a lot of people you probably can, but that is no excuse to eat junk) Especially when my friends are eating what they want. Need some help!

Your "diet" is complete garbage, and needs a complete overhaul. Read the educational threads about diet because you really don't have a clue.

Don't worry most 20 year olds are clueless just like yourself.

[voidofRoids]

I am surprised whatever program you will be a part of hasn't been forcing their own researched diet down your throat. There is a ton of information available here, but have you attempt to communicate with concern to the coaching staff of this team? I would suspect they have a variety of programs available.

[gbrice75]

Use the info below to educate yourself on proper diet and nutrition. Come back here and post up a proposed diet. We'll help you sort it from there.

Thanks to Damien for compiling this:

__________________________________________________ ___________________

I love analogies. Let’s use a good one. Think of your perfect body as a house that you must build. You’ve figured out your BMR and TDEE, so you know the exact specs of the property you have to work with. You know how exercise affects weight loss and how much of a caloric deficit/surplus we must create to lose/gain said weight; so you know how to build - you understand architecture. You also know the pace you intend on losing/gaining weight at based on these other factors, so you know it will be harder to get your house built in weeks as opposed to months. The only thing left is the tools/building material you must use and because you don’t know how to eat, you still can’t build anything. At least, not well. Sure, you can starve yourself for a few months but you’ll just gain all the weight back in a couple weeks of binge drinking and shitty eating on a vacation – you’re house will fall down!

So, let’s talk tools baby. Let’s talk food. First off, there are only 3 types of foods/macronutrients. Protein. Carbohydrates. Fat. That’s it.

Protein – 4 calories per gram - Building material. Bricks. You can’t gain energy from protein, you can only use it to build muscle/skin/hair/nails. It’s basically just amino acids and it’s what our bodies are made of. As such, we need lots of it. 1g of protein per body lb is a good number to shoot for . Go as high as 2g per body lb if you’re lifting weights and trying to build muscle. For example, I am 207 lbs and I eat between 300-400 grams per day. Our body can only break down so much at one time however, so we want to eat 20-40 grams of protein in every meal, several times per day. Protein, being building material only and not energy/labor – the body can rarely find a reason for it to be stored as fat. If you must over-eat – make it lean meat/fish.

Carbs – 4 calories per gram - Think of these as human labor for your house. Think of sugar as dudes you pick up out front of home depot and oatmeal as a skilled carpenter. Both are carbs, both serve very different purposes. Carbs help transport essential nutrients to the muscles, create glycogen stores, and as such, increase protein synthesis but do not build muscle; they are simply an energy source. As such, they should only be eaten/used when we need energy. Any carbs we ingest before bed or before watching a movie, or something sedentary are not used as energy, and as such, are more likely to be stored in the body as glycogen (glucose/water in our muscles that we will use when doing high-intensity exercise). Once our glycogen reserves are full, they will spill over and be stored as fat. Yes, they will make you fat. Carbs can be your best friend or your worst enemy.

Fats – 9 calories per gram - Like carbs, fats are an energy source, not a building material like protein. They provide nowhere near as much energy as carbs however. Ask anyone who's on a ketogenic diet. With regard to our house, think of fats as the glue/cement. They provide much needed essential fatty acids, which are great for joint/organ health and increase our protein synthesis. Going back to our analogy, cement/glue increases the effectiveness of bricks! If we give our bodies the right fats, it will be able to burn stored body fat quickly as it won’t see any use in keeping it. Remember, like carbs – not all fat is good and ALL fat is high in calories so watch out. A tablespoon of peanut butter can be a good addition to a meal. Snacking on 5-6 tablespoons, however, means you’ve just eaten over your TDEE for the day.

Acceptable proteins for your healthy lifestyle diet:

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 sources. Do not eat these because they are high in fat. And not the
good kind we find in nuts and olive oil – I’m talking about cholesterol raising saturated
fat!

§ 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

Acceptable Carbs for your healthy lifestlyle:

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:

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

Don’t get discouraged upon reading this list. I still make desserts all the time with whole
grain flour and splenda. I buy bagels and baguettes at the health food store that use
complex carbs as a base. If you’re dedicated, you don’t have to miss out 100%

Acceptable fats for your healthy lifestyle:

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
§ Flax seed 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

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)

[Athlete127]

I'm confused on how my diet is trash? Just because I'm not eating enough, or what?