Looking for some professional advice

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Wilkz

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Hey everyone, I'm new around here and looking for some answers/helpful advice to get back in shape. A little background about myself, I'm 23 years old, I'm 5'11 and weigh around 160. During high school I played sports and was in shape, over the 5 years it took for me to graduate college I've lost all of my muscle tone and consider myself generally out of shape.

Where I'm at right now: I decided 28 days ago that I was going to get off the couch and start doing p90x, which so far I have been seeing some decent results, my questions mostly have to do with the nutrition side of it.

I'm limited as to how much I can spend on groceries to eat healthy every month and I'm having a hard time finding sites that give different recipes on what to eat. To this point I have been eating a lot of salad and baked chicken but as you could imagine that is starting to become boring.

So to sum things up, here are a few questions I hope can be answered:

1) What are some alternatives to eating a bag of salad everyday?

2) I have a problem of losing discipline later at night and snack, any suggestions on how to break this habit (or if even snacking before bed turns to fat is true or not?)

3) I know a big part of losing body fat is portion control, I have a very hard time with that.. normally when I sit down for dinner after a hard workout I cook up a pound of chicken over an entire bag of salad, is that way too much even given the fact that the p90x workout + 1/2-1 mile run just took place before?

4) I normally drink a Syntha-6 shake after every workout where I used weights but some of the p90x workouts are mostly cardio, should I be using the shake after those as well?

Any other advice, hints, tips or general criticism would be greatly appreciated, thank you all for your time.
 
Hey Wilkz, welcome to the forum! Sounds like you're off to a good start!

I hope I can give some helpful suggestions:

1. Can you buy some veggies that are easy to prepare, such as snap peas, snow peas, carrots, peppers (I know these can get expensive sometimes), celery, tomatoes, etc. You can have them raw or lightly steamed. I love grilled veggies, but that depends on if you have a grill available. Frozen veggies are a very good choice because they usually contain most of their nutrients, provided that you don't overcook them. Lightly steam or stir-fry only, never boil them!

2. It really depends on the portion sizes and what you snack on. Try to stick to things that are high in fiber and/or protein... these will fill you up faster and keep your hunger satisfied for longer. And try to stick to no more than 200-250 calories per snack. The best snacks are low GI (glycemic index) and include good, lean protein. These are things such as:

"Complex" carbs A.K.A Low Glycemic Index carbs

Most veggies, including the ones listed above and excluding the starchy ones like potatoes
(sorry, no french fries :)), yams, sweet potatoes, squash, corn, beets, etc.

Most fruits, especially apples, berries, citrus fruits, guavas, nectarines, peaches, plums, pears, applesauce (no sugar added), or dried apples.

Try to combine a small serving of something above with a small serving of a protein-containing food such as:

Almonds (max of 10 almonds!)
Cottage cheese (low fat or 1%)
Low fat cheese
Low fat, low sugar yogurt (natural or greek yogurt)
Low fat frozen yogurt
Hazelnuts (max of 10)
Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds

**When looking for low-fat products, watch for the other added stuff, especially sugar and sodium. They often add these to make up for the loss of flavor with the reduced fat content.**

3. This does sound like a large meal. If you're finding that you're very hungry, make sure you have something after your workout - could be a snack similar to what's listed above, or have a shake, which you mention that you already have. Try to think of your plate this way (this is an 8-10 inch plate):

1/4 protein
1/4 starches or grains (this includes things like rice, pasta, breads, and the 'starchy' veggies that I listed above)
1/2 veggies (at least 2 kinds; could be one veggie and one fruit)

You may want to increase the protein portion a bit on the days that you do a strength workout OR have your post-workout protein shake, then your balanced meal.

4. The shake is probably not necessary after the cardio workouts, especially if you're trying to lose weight. Since you're eating dinner soon after working out, having the shake is just giving you excess calories.

What you should or shouldn't do really depends on whether or not you're seeing results. For weight loss (and health in general) the rule of thumb is to ditch the c.r.a.p. (yes, this is from another member - thanks pearshaped ;)). This means cutting out caffeine, refined carbs, alcohol, and processed foods. Just doing these things go a long way towards health & weight loss!

Hope that helped!
 
Thanks a lot PLBfitness!

I'm going to head to the store later today and pick up some of your suggested items. Sounds like with that and trying to watch portions will be extremely helpful, thanks again!
 
Keep in mind that what I listed above was in no way a complete list of foods, just a starting point. There are many other options out there. I would suggest doing some homework and look into the glycemic index. Try to choose foods with a lower glycemic index more often than those that are higher on the glycemic index scale (these tend to contain more 'simple' sugars).

Also, there are more options out there for foods with lean protein. Read food labels. High quality bread and cereals contain fiber and protein (and less simple sugar); skim or 1% milk are a great source of protein; oats have protein, you just have to stay away from the 'instant' or quick cooking kind. Steel cut oats are a good option, they just take a bit more time to prepare.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!
 
Hi wilks,

I'm a fan of salads. There is a way to make them interesting. The trick is to vary up the greens. Look for chinese greens. Ad tomato some time and capsicum other times. Try different types of proteins, eggs, steak, bacon, cheese, fish, nuts. And also consider the salad dressing, I swear by thousand island. I also like to ad a variety of seeds for texture. And occasionally I ad 2-3 strawberries. I've heard blueberries work too. :) just be creative
 
Remeber, you don't have to do it all at once. Sometimes a slight modification can produce results, especially if/when you hit a wall.

Experiment and experience will tell you. Maybe higher fat (good fats) snacks will work better, more filling, more energy per gram.

I usually have clients increase fat/decrese startch until they find a "money spot".

Oh yeah, and frozen veggies are cheap and easy!

Mike
 
I am also new to training and seem to doing ok (been training for just over 3 weeks so far and have lost 7 kg so far ... train 5 times a week and do some light weights and 4 cardio machines)

I try to vary my dinner meals everyday of the week ...

start off the morning with the juice from a fresh orange and from a graperfruit (really miss my coffee!)

then either have a bowl of cooked scottish oats, or 2 weetabix or a bowl of pronutro porridge (south african breakfast cereal).. I dont use skimmed milk and prefer organic whole milk

lunch is normally a small fat free greek youghurt with 2 portions of fruit (a banana and an apple or pear or half a papaya etc or a youghurt, 1 fruit and some nuts such as walnuts or unsalted cashews or almonds

dinner tonight consisted of a grilled lambchop (fat removed), a portion of wild brown, wild red and wild black rice (I buy this from a health shop and it is called 'Organically Grown Gourmet rice mix) .... and a fresh salad that consisted of organic watercress/spinach and rocket, fresh small tomatoes cut in half, cucumber slices, spring onion, celery, 1/2 an avocadopear green pepper and 3 giant green mammoth greek olives .... for salad dressing, I drizzle a bit of extra virgin olive oil on the salad ... also hav a bit of beetroot (ready made from the bottle .... been craving for beetroot the past 2 days)

desert was a sesame seed bar made with honey (from the health shop)

-----------------------

today the gym was closed, as its a public holiday here in the UK ... mondays to fridays, I go to gym, and normally have a juice mixture (about 1/2 an hour before going to gym)of a few vegetables and 1-2 fruit put through my juice extractor (example: a carrot, an apple, some celery and a bunch of spinach)... tastes gross but seems to give me the energy for gym ... if I am in a rush, and no time to use the juicer, I will have a seed/nut bar which I buy from the health shop
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dinner tommorow will be a salad similar to the above (but without avocadopear as I have read that one should only eat 1 avocado a week) ... I will add some pumkin seeds and a handfull of king prawns (they are already cooked when I buy them)... a pinch of cayene pepper on the prawns and will make a salad dressing of extra virgin olive oil with 1/2 a fresh squeezed lemon
--------------

I eat a salad daily, and vary the meat I eat ... fillet steak once a week (although expensive per kg, a small pice hammered with a meat hammer goes a long way) ... or I will steam a small piece of salmon with the salad ... or grill a chicken breast etc ... if I feel for something sweet, I have a fruit such as a satsuma or spanish orange

I also make a salad and add 2 sliced hard boiled eggs once a week ... I have a boiled sweet potato once a week with either a small portion of meat or fish and a fresh salad ... I also steam some brocolli once a week and cook some mushrooms in a wok once a week

I take a multiviamin daily (solgar omnium) and an amino acid tablet just before going to gym ... I drink more than 2 litres of evian mineral water daily

I have cut out all coffee and alcohol (miss my beer!) but drink a green tea everynight just before bedtime ... weather is good for a BBQ so will BBQ a sirloin steak next weekend

I never feel hungry and am loosing weight steadily (and getting fitter) ...
 
Have you ever tried Shakeology? It's on the beachbody website where you buy P90X. I have been using it for a few weeks and it is AWESOME! It fills you up and you use it as a meal replacement. Therefore you are spending less at the grocery on breakfast items. If you want to know more let me know.
 
Dim

Sounds like what you're doing is working, congrats!!

That being said, sounds to me like too much juice/sugar/oats, etc. Just an observation.

Try meat for breakfast, that'll do ya!
 
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