How bad my current diet?

[m16a2]

I know that this is definitely not my choice for the diet I would want to pursue, but I am under strong limitations from being a student with alot of hours. My goal is to drop bf% before I start my cutting cycle (fina/winny) in april. For the past 4-5 days I have been sticking to this general food intake...

10am Morning: Met-rx shake /w 1 bannana and strawberries
1-3pm Afternoon: Protein shake blended with fruit (and possibley a scoop of frozen yogurt) and a tangerine on the side
5-6pm Evening meal: A healthy portion of chicken breasts, lean beef cuts, or turkey with steamed veggies and some non-fat, nutrasweet yogurt for desert.
9-10pm Nighttime: Either a Met-RX shake or a normal <a href="http://www.allsportsnutrition.com/listproducts.php?style=category&value=PROTEIN" target="_blank">protein</a> shake

I would estimate my total <a href="http://www.allsportsnutrition.com/listproducts.php?style=category&value=PROTEIN" target="_blank">protein</a> consumption to be around 250 grams/day, calories around 1500-2000.

I am supplementing 600mg ALA and 2 time release multi-vitamins per day.

I am also doing pre-meal morning cardio 3x per week, consisting of 20 minutes on the treadmill (light walk/jog) and 25 minutes on the bike with target heart rate 150.



I am dropped 3 lbs this week and my belt is one loop tighter (first time in a long time). I have a feeling that I might be sacrificing some muslce with my current diet, so I'm looking for some pointers.

Specifically, I looking for easy and cheap meals I can throw in. So far, I've bought tuna and non-fat mayo and I am going to throw that into my diet. Thinking about mixing 5 cans and just storing it to snack on. I really am having trouble finding easy to make foods that are good for my goals and situation.

[painintheazz]

You need to get more "real" food in you. Only 1 of your 4 meals consists of "real" food the others are all in the form of a shake. (also you should try to up the amount of meals you get to about 6, atleast 5) When I diet I find I have better results when I eat whole foods instead of shakes. I think it is because they digest slower and feed my body for a longer time. The main thing I notice is that I lose a lot less muscle doing this. IMO I would increase your whole food sources, add an extra meal probably in the morning your first meal comes at 10 am, that is 12 hours without anyfood in your body. Maybe if you add a few more whole food meals try waking up at like 7am and having one of those shakes and then going back to bed or whatever you do. Hope this helps.

Pain

[chinups]

If you are going to cheat your body of real food at the least take your vitamins. But add in a can of tuna and some simple turkey burgers that cook real fast on the forman grill. I use to hate cooking but now i can get in done fast because I have been doing it so long. Protein shakes should just be post workout and a quickie if you don't have time..

[yellows2k]

This diet's a joke. You are eating as much as a woman would.

[BIG TEXAN]

I can't believe that all you lost was 3lbs eating like that! Trust me bro, when I was in college I took 16 hours plus played ball and was able to work in more meals than that!!! Be creative, more real food!!!

[m16a2]

Some hardcore criticism here! The whole point of the thread was to get meal ideas that I could insert into my day! Thanks for the ideas!!!! I know that its not enough calories and that its likely catabolic right now, I'm planning to add in some tuna, egg whites, and hopefully some lean meats into the meals. I personally like having my stomach shrink, keeps me from overeating and I trim down nicely.

The reason I don't eat for 8-10 hours is to make sure that my morning cardio will be an effective <a href="http://www.allsportsnutrition.com/listproducts.php?style=category&value=FAT%20BURNER S" target="_blank">fat burner</a> .

p.s. I wish I had 16 hours! I'm stuck doing 20-22 hours the rest of the year so I can be eligible for transfer.

[BIG TEXAN]

Hey.....calm down brother! I wasn't flaming ya! Now you're adding the tuna and eggs good. How about adding a cup of oats to your breakfast and replacing that shake with some scrammbled eggs...4-6 whites, 1-2 yolks. Remember try to eat every 3 hours.
10am
6 scrammbled egg whites/2 yolks
1 cup oatmeal
1pm
turkey or tuna sandwhich/wheat bread
protein shake
fruit (if that's all you got)
4pm
lean meat or chicken breast, veggies, brown rice
7pm
tuna sandwhich or egg white omelette w/ham and salsa
10pm
protein shake before bed.
I'm not sure if the carbs are a good amount for ya......I'm at work trying to squeeze the board in for a few minutes. Anyway don't use so many shakes....real food. And with the responses you recieved.....well you did ask everyone's opinoin and that's what you got. I'll try and answer you better when I have more time.

[m16a2]

Big Texan, I hear ya brother, I was definitely looking for some advice here since eating enough is not something I'm good at! I got this paranoia about getting fat again... Anyhow, if I'm eating every 3 hours, how will my body ever enter a calorie deficit and start to burn stored fat? I know your right about that preventing muscle catabolism, but it won't loose fat will it? I went to the store today, bought fat free cream cheese, fat free cottage cheese, egg whites, salsa, some low-carb/low-fat tortillas, sweet relish, a non-stick pan, and some alluminum foil. I'll work on getting some real meals in, its just gonna be a little work. I also have protein bars on the way, so I'll have a quick snack soon.

[BIG TEXAN]

Ok, when you go hours without eating or say just 3 meals a day, yes your body get catabolic, but the food you do eat isn't burned instead it's almost in a starvation mode and store most of the food you eat as fat. Now if you eat more often and eat clean, than you actually raise your metabolism and burn and use pretty much all the calories your eating, and the few calories you're not using or burning you're taking care of it with cardio. Think of it this way (saw this on an infomercial and it made sense) take a burning fire, slowly keep adding wood (food) to the pile and it keeps burning brighter and hotter, now quit feeding it and the fire burns down to coals, now throw a big log on the fire....it won't burn and it just sits there. See what I'm getting at? Just keep eating right and eat the amount of calories you need and train properly and you'll be fine.