Diet Tips

[Nicholas Fahrenheit]

Hey guys, in my long timed pursuit of abs ive come to a sticking point. I have strong abs, I can do powerful ab excersises but I still dont have visible abs. Which means that its on my diet, I have the tiniest bit of chub sitting on top of my abs. People tell me that its just skin, but surely I can get rid of this.

I need some dietary pointers to get me on my way to.
- Visible abs
- Stronger and bigger upper body
- Better internal health.

This said, I dont have a particularly bad diet, I eat take away food maybe once a week, and Ive nearly eliminated that aswell. Today I ate..

Toast for breakfast, with iSnack2.0 spread, (Google it) then a museli bar aswell. I then didnt eat til about 1pm when I had sushi, teriyaki chicken sushi with cucumber, and tofu and rice. 2 plates, had asian tea with that. Didnt eat again til 8.30 where I had a 3 egg omelete after I came home from gym, then a milkshake. Am currently eating another museli bar. Will be going to bed in an hours time.

What do I need to do? Cardio? Eating habits?

[Sean]

iSnack2.0, haha it sounds like an iphone app.

Here is a post I copied/pasted from Tim Ferris' blog.

I've tried this personally and it works. If you have any questions, let me know.

How to Lose 20 lbs. of Fat in 30 Days… Without Doing Any Exercise

[rjmlvv]

First of all, I don't have a medical license or anything. So what I'm writing down is based on 10+ years of experience.

Originally Posted by Nicholas Fahrenheit

Today I ate..
Toast for breakfast, with iSnack2.0 spread, (Google it)

Some kind of vegan cheese-based spread. Well it says CREAM cheese, this needs to go.

Originally Posted by Nicholas Fahrenheit

then a museli bar aswell.

too much sugar, this needs to go. You can eat this if you're feeling a little light-headed, because you have low blood sugar. But if you've got that, it's better to take a table spoon of honey or eat an apple instead.

Originally Posted by Nicholas Fahrenheit

I then didnt eat til about 1pm

too much time between meals.

Originally Posted by Nicholas Fahrenheit

when I had sushi,

good. The right fish is fat free, and the fatty-acids in there are good fatty-acids: omega-3, -6 and a bit of -9.

Originally Posted by Nicholas Fahrenheit

teriyaki chicken sushi

The sauce contains a lot of salt and sugar. Salt leads to fluid retention.
Too much sugar is stored in the form of fat.

Originally Posted by Nicholas Fahrenheit

with cucumber, and tofu and rice

that's good.

Originally Posted by Nicholas Fahrenheit

2 plates

take something between breakfast and 1pm, you don't have to eat 2 plates.

Originally Posted by Nicholas Fahrenheit

, had asian tea with that.

does this have a kind of function?

Originally Posted by Nicholas Fahrenheit

Didnt eat again til 8.30

too much time between 1 and 8.30pm.

Originally Posted by Nicholas Fahrenheit

where I had a 3 egg omelete

good.

Originally Posted by Nicholas Fahrenheit

after I came home from gym, then a milkshake.

What was in the shake?

Originally Posted by Nicholas Fahrenheit

Am currently eating another museli bar. Will be going to bed in an hours time.

You don't need the energy of the bar if you're going to sleep within an hour. Again this is stored in the form of fat.

Originally Posted by Nicholas Fahrenheit

What do I need to do? Cardio? Eating habits?

Alright try to find nutrional values of your food.
An adult dude needs no more than 2500kCal per day. If you're working out, you need a bit more, say 3000kCal.
I don't know how serious you are about this.
You could get your bodyfat% measured. I've found, when really getting into this, the BMI is worthless.

In the mean time, I found that this really helped me drop under 10%.
6 am: 30-45 min brisk walk (4 mph)
7 am: 3 slices of whole weat bread with honey on it or something, proteine (eggs, powder, etc.)
11 am: apple, slice of bread, proteine
1 pm: big lunch, salad (no dressing unless home-made), lean steak, chicken or fish.
3 pm: apple, slice of bread, proteine
4 pm: some fast carbs (weat-a-bricks)
5 pm: work out + cardio (30-45 min), apple and proteine shake (powder + water, no milk) afterwards
7 pm: dinner, lean meat, chicken or fish, potatoes, veggies.
8.30 pm: something with proteine: lean yoghurt, omelet, absolutely no sugars.

basic principles:
- No added salt or sugar (look at ketchup, it has extra sugar in it)
- Only lean proteine sources: beef (steak), chicken, fish (salmon, etc), soy.
- No carbs before bed.
- If you want to build muscle mass, you need about 30 grams proteines per kg of lean body mass. (that's why you might want to get your fat% measured)

LISTEN TO YOUR BODY

[rjmlvv]

Originally Posted by Sean S.

iSnack2.0, haha it sounds like an iphone app.
I've tried this personally and it works. If you have any questions, let me know.

How to Lose 20 lbs. of Fat in 30 Days… Without Doing Any Exercise

I don't see how this could work long-term

[rjmlvv]

Your ab-workout probably consists of crunches etc.
Also, remember that you don't need to work the abs more than 2-3 times a week. They need time to heal.
You might want to look into core-training.

[Nick Krygier]

You really know your nutrition RJMLVV. Thanks for taking the time to spell all that out for us. I agree with all of your points and am currently working on finding the ideal diet for myself at the moment. Do you think you could make a simple diet for a man on a tight budget that isn't too overwhelming?

[Sean]

Originally Posted by rjmlvv

I don't see how this could work long-term

Please elaborate in this thread.

Thanks

[rjmlvv]

You're welcome,

And sure, I could do that.
I'm on a budget of about 175eur a month. I guess that's about 200dollars. I do buy the good stuff, the better brands. I think you can make cuts when you start looking for cheaper stores.
A big thing that I learned is to learn how to make my own dough and pasta-sauce. My sauce only contains fresh products.
I know about 10 recipes by heart, and I can make them anytime, anywhere. I usually make large portions and then put them in the freezer to heat up later. This makes it extra cheap for me.
Go to allrecipes.com, you can probably find cheap recipes there. Plus they give you all the nutrional values.

I don't eat take-out (or no more than once a week on my "snack day") or anything like that. It usually contains massive amounts of salt and fat.
No crisps, chips, soda's, candybars, cookies, hamburgers, deep fried food, etc.
No light/diet-products. They trick your body into believing you've eaten enough. You want to get to know your body. When you eat slowly, your body will clearly indicate when enough is enough. Learn to trust your body.
Also, you need fat. You need it to transport non-watersoluable substances like proteines, minerals and vitamines. You also need them to lubricate your joints and to make sure the walls of your bloodvessels stay protected (cholesterol is not bad, too much "bad" cholesterol is bad) not to mention it keeps your skin smooth as well.

Here's what I eat, (starting from next week). Remember, I don't train half as much as I used to, so I don't need all the carbs and proteines any more.

(before breakfast I do some sort of cardio)
7am: (I just like a big breakfast) 1 baked egg, soda-bread (buttermilk + baking soda + flour), fresh juice (2 oranges, 1 grapefruit), all bran corn flakes + some milk. White beans in tomato sauce. Cup of coffee/tea.
The grapefruit juice excellerates your metabolic rate.

11 am: 2 slices of bread w/t honey and/or lean meat (roast beef, turkey or chicken fillet).

1pm: warm meal, s/t like curry, lasagna (or another pasta), basically anything. Desert: (lean) yoghurt, custard, or s/t.

3.30pm: some fruit, apple, orange, banana, grapes, etc.

4.30pm: soup + bread (home-made: yeast (7g), sugar (10), luke warm water (200ml), whole-weat flour 300g)

7 or 8 pm (kinda depends): yoghurt or s/t, no more carbs like bread/pasta. Coffee or tea.

Green apples (Granny-Smiths) contain more apple-pectine. This also excellerates your metabolic rate.
Another advantage is that it actually costs the body more energy to process the apple than the apple supplies.
It will work great after your work-out.
Raw veggies have about the same effect.

If you're using proteine powder, like supplements here are some tips:
During the day: use time-released system: this contains proteines that are quickly absorbed by the body and slowly. E.g. whey (by-product of cheese) and caseine (eggs).
After a training: quickly absorbed proteine: e.g. whey
before bedtime: slowly absorbed proteine: e.g. caseine
CAUTION: if your urine or sweat begins to smell of amonium, cut down on the proteine. Also, you'll need to drink enough water, or you might damage your kidneys in the long run.

Pork is a bad source of proteine. Better: any kind of lean beef, turkey, chicken, fish, soy, qorn (meat supplement), nuts (google which ones), veal.

Veggies like peas, corn and black/kidney-beans are for building mass.
Veggies like string beans, carrots, tomatoes are for filling.
String beans and asperges have a cleansing effect.

If you want to cut off that last piece of fat, cut out all dairy products like milk, yoghurt and cheese. I've found that they create a kind of a layer. Don't know what it is.
Remember, fat that came on first, will go off last. Fat that came on last will come off first. For most dudes, fat around the belly (love-handles) comes on first. So, your abs will actually show last.

OK, why the hell not, some training tips:
In the morning: start with cardio, don't elevate your heartrate/breathing too much, make sure your muscles don't start to burn, or you'll be burning musle instead of fat.

It takes about 20 minutes of cardio before your body switches to it's fatstorage (reserves)

Change your training routine every 4 weeks. By the end of the fourth week, your body has adapted to the routine and becomes lazy, So, mix it up, pyramid (big, small, reverse), negative training, hit-training, count-training, fusion-training, core-training, step-training, 2-set, monster-sets, etc. .

If you want to burn fat, train your legs. Your glutes, quadriceps and hamstrings are the biggest muscles in your body and furthest away from your heart. Most people hate training their legs, I found that it keeps me in really good shape. Plus I loved training them, I used to do squats with 240lbs on my neck. And girls LOVE a cute, solid, rock-hard ass.

Do cardio-circuits. You do as many reps as you can in 30 seconds of each exercise, then you move directly to the next. Make sure you don't feel a burning sensation.
2 exercises for legs, 2 for back, 2 for abs, 2 for pecks, 2 for shoulders, 1 for triceps, 1 for biceps, 1 for calfs. Repeat 3 times.
You want a lot of "pump". This forces blood (and all the nutients) into the muscle.
Actually, you want to build enough pressure that some capilairs (tiny vessels) tear. The body now gets a signal to repair the damage and make more capilairs in your muscle to deal with the bigger pressure. So the bloodflow in your muscle increases, increasing the import of nutritients and export of waste.

[rjmlvv]

Alright, this is what I used to eat, plus I put in my training split on my most extreme moment.

6 am: run/bike/swim
7 am: whole-weat porridge (equivalent of 6 slices of bread), 45 g proteine
9 am: cardio circuit, apple after
11 am: whole-weat porridge (equivalent of 4 slices of bread), 40 g proteine
1 pm: lean meat, potatoes, pasta and rice (time released carbs)
3.30 pm: whole-weat porridge (equivalent of 4 slices of bread), 45 g proteine
4.30 pm: banana and pear, 40 g proteine
5 pm: training + cardio, apple after + 30 g proteine
6.30 pm: dinner, usually twice as much as a normal person
8 pm: 40 g proteine

Cardio circuit:
squat, lying leg curls, lat pulley/chin ups, barbell row, crunches, leg raises, dumbell presses, dumbell flyers, side raises, uprigh rows, cable push downs, dumbell curls, standing calf raises.
I usually completed 4 rounds within 20 minutes, and then I walked/bike for another 10 minutes.

training split:
Mondays: legs + calves
Tuesdays: back + abs
Wednesdays: no weight training, only cardio
Thursdays: chest
Fridays: arms
Saturday: cardio circuit
Sunday: Rest

[BestStyle]

Most of all is taking in plenty of water or if not other calorie-free beverages

We sometimes get it wrong and confuse thirst with hunger. So we end up consuming more calories, when ice-cold glass of water is what is important and really what is required. If you find plain water boring, you can as well add citrus or even a splash of juice and brew of infused teas such as mango or peach.