My current diet, may needs improvements

[bass]

Okay this is in response to my workout post. My question was about muscle cramping especially my chest, but the workout was not a factor, so some members thought it could be my diet. So here it is.

NOTE: I am cutting as well, the list below is not set in stone, my foods change but try to keep it at 200-300g of protein, 200-300g crabs and at about 50g o fat…

6:30 am
One hour cardio

8:00 am
1 cup of cereal with fat free milk, about 16g protein
2-3 table spoons of roasted flax seeds, about 6g protein

9:00 am
one apple

10:00
Brown rice and another apple

11:30 am
one can of salmon, about 26 grams of protein

1:30 pm
another apple and lots of greens (broccoli or celery) about 10g protein

2:30 pm
One can of breast chicken or turkey breast, about 60g protein

4:30 pm Pre-workout
Fruits or few dates, sometimes sweet potatoes

5:00 pm workout

5:45 pm
Whey shake with 2-4 raw eggs, about 70g protein

7:00 pm
Lean stake, or lean hamburger with whole wheat bread, about 70g protein

9:00 pm
Fresh chicken breast or fresh salmon cooked with one table spoon of olive oil, about 50g protein

10:00 pm
2-3 tablespoons of roosted flax seeds, about 6g protein

11:00 pm
Few sticks of celery, nuts

Please feel free to critique…Thanks

[POPS]

Need to post some stats first as well as bmr and tdee.

Just for what you have down, I would dump all forms of sugar - cereal, milk, fruit, dates.

Dump the ww bread and brown rice. Use sweet potatoes instead in your PRE-WORKOUT meals and greens ( broccoli, green beans ) as your carbs in the pm.

Add efa's and/or fish oil where needed.

Try egg whites in your meals for protein, Great source...

If you have to have lean hamburger, sub for turkey burgers if you can find them.

By all means Im no pro on diet but Im sure one of my TEACHERS ( lol ) might chime in and fine tune what I just recc.......

[bass]

thanks for the quick response...

my stats are posted in my profile, but here are some,

49 years old
5' 9"
198 pounds
BF% 18-20%

[POPS]

Ill give you some tips that are working for me.

Bfast is most important. Try 8 egg whites and 1/2 cup of oats. Best way is to grind them up and mix together with the whey. This is where I take my supps ( multi, vitamin c, creatine, fish oil )

2nd and third meal I have protein and fats - ex. 1 cup of turkey chili ( homemade, and a handfull of almonds )

pre-workout I usually have a sml cup of coffee and thats it! No need to over think this one.

While I train I sip on bcaas to retain muscle and follow up with 60 min l.i.cardio followed up with pwo shake and fish oil.

for dinner Ill usually have either chicken, lean steak or turkey burgers with 3-4egg whites and a handfull of almonds.

before bed Ill have a sml shake with fish oil.

Thats pretty much it. As you see Im following a high pro/fat with low carb diet. Ive been doing this for about a week and can already see a dif. Also, major cardio is a must. 60 min is a long time but youll get used to it.

Like I said earlier, Im no pro but this should get you started.....

[LionsGate]

your trying to find out what may be causing the cramping in your chest or looking for a diet critique?

are you warming up? drinking plenty of water? these are my only two guesses.

ive only had a muscle cramp once long time ago during a basketball game. calf. it sucked.

i never heard of a bad diet causing muscle cramps. i would be interested to here any theories on that.

[bass]

thanks Popsinc for the advise, i'll see what others have to say...one thing stood out though is the one hour cardio post workout, wow, this goes against everything I have read here. I do one hour in the morning on empty stomach, and 30 minute low intensity PWO. Not consistent with this one but I will as soon as I relocate my treadmill. I’ve never taken BCAA or Creatine, any recommendations?

LionsGate, i did post in the workout section, but i was advised to post it here so they can see if i am lacking in my diet, cramping could be caused by poor diet, rare but it could happen. Sure, it would be nice to also get advise on my diet, it wouldn't hurt. yes i do stretch before, during and after workout, and i drink plenty of water. I am almost 50 so age could be a factor as well...

[POPS]

thanks Popsinc for the advise, i'll see what others have to say...one thing stood out though is the one hour cardio post workout, wow, this goes against everything I have read here. I do one hour in the morning on empty stomach, and 30 minute low intensity PWO. Not consistent with this one but I will as soon as I relocate my treadmill. I’ve never taken BCAA or Creatine, any recommendations?



LionsGate, i did post in the workout section, but i was advised to post it here so they can see if i am lacking in my diet, cramping could be caused by poor diet, rare but it could happen. Sure, it would be nice to also get advise on my diet, it wouldn't hurt. yes i do stretch before, during and after workout, and i drink plenty of water. I am almost 50 so age could be a factor as well...

Actually your cardio method is ideal. I did not know that you were doing it twice a day, my bad. For me its a timing thing and work schedule thats why I do 60 pwo cause I start work at 5am and am on my feet all day. I would wait on the bcaas and creatine for a while, jmo.

[Twist]

Okay this is in response to my workout post. My question was about muscle cramping especially my chest, but the workout was not a factor, so some members thought it could be my diet. So here it is.

NOTE: I am cutting as well, the list below is not set in stone, my foods change but try to keep it at 200-300g of protein, 200-300g crabs and at about 50g o fat…

6:30 am
One hour cardio
****Great

8:00 am
1 cup of cereal with fat free milk, about 16g protein
2-3 table spoons of roasted flax seeds, about 6g protein
****this whole meal is no good. eat eggs or another source of protein. NO carbs in this meal, but plenty of protein

9:00 am
one apple
****No way, this is not a meal. how about 2 cans of tuna and some light mayo?

10:00
Brown rice and another apple
***No wonder you are sore. There is no protein in most of your meals. omit this meal for some type of protein and some sort of low gi carb preferably veggies (if any carbs at all)

11:30 am
one can of salmon, about 26 grams of protein
****more protein I would say but it is ok. take some efas at this meal

1:30 pm
another apple and lots of greens (broccoli or celery) about 10g protein
****once again this is not a meal. eat a serving of protein(not liquid) and some sort of fat.

2:30 pm
One can of breast chicken or turkey breast, about 60g protein
****eat some sort of fat like ***** 3-6-9

4:30 pm Pre-workout
Fruits or few dates, sometimes sweet potatoes
****Sweet potato is ok, lean red meat or chicken

5:00 pm workout

5:45 pm
Whey shake with 2-4 raw eggs, about 70g protein
****great

7:00 pm
Lean stake, or lean hamburger with whole wheat bread, about 70g protein
****switch protein sources with the next meal

9:00 pm
Fresh chicken breast or fresh salmon cooked with one table spoon of olive oil, about 50g protein
****switch protein source with the previous meal

10:00 pm
2-3 tablespoons of roosted flax seeds, about 6g protein
****After switching protein sources, switch this meal with the previous one

11:00 pm
Few sticks of celery, nuts
****Not a meal. Omit completely or eat a lean protein source.

Please feel free to critique…Thanks

****look for the ****
no wonder you were sore for so long. you are constantly lacking protein, and a good diet altogether.

[elpropiotorvic]

what twist said

[bass]

****look for the ****
no wonder you were sore for so long. you are constantly lacking protein, and a good diet altogether.

Holy cow Twist, you really "Twisted" my diet! LOL...

BTW, the ones you marked not a meal, you are correct, they are snacks just to help boost up my metabolism. Did you notice my protein intake is about 300g or more? Not sure why you think it’s not enough! i weigh about 200lbs, are you saying i need about 400g protein? What will more meals like that do to my cutting? i still have a good 10%BF to shed. Anyway, i trust your input, so I’ll start changing my diet or at least resort it as you have pointed out and see what happens.

BTW, what’s efas?

Thanks...

[Twist]

Holy cow Twist, you really "Twisted" my diet! LOL...

BTW, the ones you marked not a meal, you are correct, they are snacks just to help boost up my metabolism. Did you notice my protein intake is about 300g or more? Not sure why you think it’s not enough! i weigh about 200lbs, are you saying i need about 400g protein? What will more meals like that do to my cutting? i still have a good 10%BF to shed. Anyway, i trust your input, so I’ll start changing my diet or at least resort it as you have pointed out and see what happens.
****most of your protein is form odd things like cereal and the little (incomplete) proteins in things like veggies.
****400g is not bad fro a 200lb person. I eat over 400g and I am 165
****your "snacks" are nothing but carbs, this keeps your body from burning fat.
BTW, what’s efas?
****Essential Fatty Acids
Thanks...

****

[Damienm05]

Damn Twist, you're on it these days bro. I saw this dude's thread is the workout section, then came over here to see if diet was on point, by which time you'd already saved this young man's soul. My chest was always sore for 4-5 days on 1g per lb. of protein. Ever since eating a solid 300g daily, all soreness when not stretching is gone after 2.

[bass]

thanks again Twist...

[Twist]

My pleasure

[bass]

worked out my biceps 2 days ago and both of my valves cramped up, this never happened before, occasionally one calve but not both. yesterday was leg workout, did okay with calves but never felt them burn out like that before. well, tomorrow is my chest day so we'll see if my chest will cramp up, I’ve been on the revised diet for few days now, hopefully this will help. if not, could I be lacking on potassium perhaps?

[POPS]

worked out my biceps 2 days ago and both of my valves cramped up, this never happened before, occasionally one calve but not both. yesterday was leg workout, did okay with calves but never felt them burn out like that before. well, tomorrow is my chest day so we'll see if my chest will cramp up, I’ve been on the revised diet for few days now, hopefully this will help. if not, could I be lacking on potassium perhaps?

I have some left over taurine from my clen cycles. I still take about 1k g per day and have no cramping issues. Its cheap and it works.....jmo....

[Twist]

never had an issue with cramping really. only some sort of a pull. If I start to feel weird I kinda know what I have been depriving my body of so I will get it. I have gotten tothe point where I am on the way to work and pulled into a gas station to get peanuts because that is what I needed. eat a banana if you have to. pay attention to what your body tells you

[bass]

worked my chest today and guess what, no cramping, my chest felt normal. i think my new diet helped. thanks Twist and everyone...

[Twist]

Wait and see if you get sore like you normally do. I am eager to hear the results

[bass]

This is my third day and my chest is still sore, the good kind of a soreness, its what I have expected, tomorrow it should be done. the main thing is I didn’t get cramped while working out.

[Twist]

what is your chest workout?

[bass]

DB press, 8-15 reps to failure x 4
DB incline, same as above with lighter weights
Cross cable flys, 8-15 reps to failure x 4
Machine press, 8-15 reps to failure x 4, alternate every workout with cable pullovers

[Twist]

You are doing 16 sets and the chest is actually not that big of a muscle IMO (it is big but not that big)

try this:
1. Pick a strong aspect of your chest (ie decline)
2. don't train it very hard, just stimulate it.
3. Train all of the aspects around the muscle with things like flyes (ie decline cable flyes at the end of the workout to 16 reps)
4. after a month or a month and a half make that muscle (decline) your target muscle and focus on that and "neglect" another aspect of your chest

This worked really well for me. I neglected decline completely and now I just started it again and my chest got way rounder and taller, even in the incline aspect. Now I am neglecting flat completely, then I will do incline.

Most think that if they are not growing they should work the muscle harder (I still think like that sometimes), but usually it is the other way around. I have heard bbers on many occasions say that what they do when they can't seem to grow is rest more.

you seem like you are doing too much flat and to failure everytime. Don't do forced reps also.

[bass]

sorry Twist, i don't quite understand!

are you saying pick a muscle and only stimulate it, but work all the other muscles with normal weights and reps? do this for 1-1.5 months then pick another muscle to stimulate and work the rest normally, and so on and so forth?

[Twist]

yeah but only aspects of the muscle. I bet you are working flat so hard you are not hitting the supporting muscles enough. give flat a rest and work on decline, incline and only do light flat flyes. a part of a muscle, not the entire muscle: don't neglect your whole chest, just certain parts.

You should not be sore for so long and especially if it is a delayed soreness. that only happens to me if I do a new exercise that has not been done in a really long time and then it only happens once. like your body should adapt to the workout and it should be easier next time you try it (due to muscle memory and new muscle). you should not be getting sore for so long.

[Twist]

I wish some others would chime in.... muscle science cough top cough cough cough nark....

[bass]

okay i think i understand. you are right flats is my main workout and the heaviest. I'll try your method and report back later...