need help with planning my 5-6 meals per day. (muscles, meat, program)

[semidevil]

So I"m going to start with my 6 small meals a day going forward. That, with cardio, and resistance, my hope is to lose some weight, have a healthier life, and get rid of that belly. I'm currently 28, male, 150lbs, 5'6, male.

Here is what I did yesterday just to give it a test run. Can I get some suggestions? I'm trying to make this easy since 3 of my meals will be at work.

meal 1:
1 serving of oat meal.
handful of blue berries

meal 2: 1 orange (or some other fruit)

meal 3 (my lunch): I have been having this meal shake for several months now. Pretty much I add, water, 1 apple, 1 banana, and 1 cup of berries.
http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Life-...2370792&sr=8-1

meal 4 - non-fat protein yogurt, greek.

meal 5 (dinner at home). some lean meat. chicken breast or turkey, with steamed veggies.

meal 6: ??? do not know. more fruits?

I"m pretty good at sticking to a regimen, so is this something that is sustainable? Testing this out, I did get hungry at some points, and doing additional research, I need more protein for sure right? I went online and based on my current lifestyle, my bmr is about 1630, and my calorie maintance is about 1900.


What about meal 6? nuts? can I just add another yogurt?
Also, with 6 meals a day, do I need to cut down each meal by a portion? It all sounds like a lot of food!

[Luckyd609]

Nuts are great. They fill you up and pack a lot of protein and have really good fats for your body plus a host of other beneficial properties.
I would add more fats like olive oil or a half an avocado. They really make you feel full and will carry you to the next meal. You do not need a lot and they are really good for you.

[yellowsnow]

If this doesn't work well for you, cut out the fruits and other carbs while adding protein. Don't be afraid to change it up. For me, the culprit is always sugar. I can eat anything I please as long as I avoid sugar/grains/carbs. I find protein foods much more satisfying than fruits/sugars anyway. And don't forget water...try for 8 glasses a day. And a multivitamin.

Here's one that would work well for me.

Breakfast

3 oz sliced turkey or chicken with a tablespoon of mayo.
Handfull of blueberries.

Snack
Handfull of pistachios or almonds.

Lunch
2 cups green salad with tuna, chicken, salmon, or turkey. And one hardboiled egg.

Snack
Beef, chicken, or turkey jerky.

Dinner
Any lean meat or fish with a small salad and some kind of veggie.
Scoop of SF ice cream or SF chocolate for dessert.

Snack
3 or 4 1 in square cubes of cheese.

You can change it around any way you want as long as you swipe a protein for a protein, etc. I cook in quantity once a week so the food is already prepared and easy to fix. I have decent containers for carrying food to work.

I'm lazy and I know I won't stick with any diet/exercise program that's not a little bit fun. I have to have SOME of the things I enjoy or it won't work long term.

[RD5050]

Originally Posted by semidevil

So I"m going to start with my 6 small meals a day going forward. That, with cardio, and resistance, my hope is to lose some weight, have a healthier life, and get rid of that belly. I'm currently 28, male, 150lbs, 5'6, male.

Here is what I did yesterday just to give it a test run. Can I get some suggestions? I'm trying to make this easy since 3 of my meals will be at work.

meal 1:
1 serving of oat meal.
handful of blue berries

meal 2: 1 orange (or some other fruit)

meal 3 (my lunch): I have been having this meal shake for several months now. Pretty much I add, water, 1 apple, 1 banana, and 1 cup of berries.
http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Life-...2370792&sr=8-1

meal 4 - non-fat protein yogurt, greek.

meal 5 (dinner at home). some lean meat. chicken breast or turkey, with steamed veggies.

meal 6: ??? do not know. more fruits?

I"m pretty good at sticking to a regimen, so is this something that is sustainable? Testing this out, I did get hungry at some points, and doing additional research, I need more protein for sure right? I went online and based on my current lifestyle, my bmr is about 1630, and my calorie maintance is about 1900.


What about meal 6? nuts? can I just add another yogurt?
Also, with 6 meals a day, do I need to cut down each meal by a portion? It all sounds like a lot of food!

Your above menu sounds like roughly around a 900 - 1000 calorie total.

A male who is 150lbs, 5'6", isn't really overweight. But you could lose around 5 - 10lbs and have a trimmer midsection.

You might want to mix in additional items such as:

• fat-free cottage cheese for protein
• peanut butter for healthy fats and protein
• salads made with spinach leafs or other dark greens, cucumbers, bell peppers, carrots for vitamins and minerals
• egg whites for protein
• tuna fish for protein

Personally, when I was losing weight earlier this year, I maintained a very low-fat diet, which was approximately 60% carbs, 30% protein, 10% fats. I counted my calories each day, along with my carbs, protein and fat counts, to make sure I was getting enough of each.

Now that I am at my desired weight, I still maintain a low fat diet with percentages similar to the above, but I increased my calories to keep from losing more weight.

Some diets such as Atkins recommend very low carbs, but I believe carbs are important for energy. Fruit is packed with carbs, so I eat several pieces each day, along with whole grain cereals, whole grain breads, and occasionally a small serving of pasta.

I've read nutrition books which recommended eating approximately 10 x your desired weight in calories while you are trying to lose weight. So if you wanted to weigh 140 lbs, you would eat 10 x 140 = 1400 calories per day. Then after you reach your desired weight, you would increase your daily calories to a number based on how many calories you normally burn each day, so you don't lose more weight. Since you are already familiar with BMR, etc., there is no need to explain this.

If you are aiming to weigh 140, then divide 1400 by 6 meals = 233 cals per meal. So this is the approximate size of each meal. You could make some meals a little more, and some a little less.

In addition to cardio & resistance, add exercise such as sit-ups and ab-crunches to tone up your mid-section, and increase the size of your abdominal muscles.