Thoughts on my diet/work out routine blue print

[Bond18]

Hey guys, I’m trying to create a fuller and strict routine to follow in regards to my work outs and diet. I find if I don’t have a plan/schedule in mind about what I need to get done and consume I start to get sloppier.

First of my goals: To lose about 10 pounds, increase endurance, increase cardiovascular fitness. Down the road I’ll look into doing some bulking, but for now I’m carrying some but not a ton of excess fat.

I’ll start with the proposed diet portion:

I’m aiming for about 5 meals a day. Thoughts on my plan so far:

10:30am: Breakfast. I’ve traditionally gone for a healthy cereal but the more I read the more it seems most cereals are to carb and calorie high. Should I just make the switch to oatmeal (which I’ve never particularly cared for but I’m sure could tolerate) or do you guys have some good suggestions for a very healthy breakfast cereal? Also with breakfast a glass or two of water, and a piece of fruit.

2:30pm: Small protein shake and piece of fruit.

4:30pm: Lunch. A salad containing lettuce, cucumber, onion, and carrot topped with some olive oil and vinegar. A small piece of lean meat such as chicken or beef, in the case of beef a healthier cut. To drink, skim milk.

Work out about 7 or 8pm (depending on when poker gets done that day. As an MTT player, it’s hard to be exactly sure.)

Post work out dinner: I don’t want to necessarily have the exact same dinner every day. Some things I like to have is some steamed rice with a chicken or pork stir fry that contains peppers, carrots, onion, and zucchini. It has some teriyaki and soy sauce and tastes great. Are the sauces going to be a big problem? I also like to have some steamed rice with a lean meat in a bulgogki sauce. Also, I’ll sometimes stir fry some prawns with a light sauce and put them on rice.

11:30pm: Small protein shake and fruit again.

1am: Sleep.

How’s that look overall? Anything you would add/take out for certain? Any glaring omissions/mistakes?

For work out routine my largest question is whether I should do my normal muscle concentrated routines (Monday: Back, Tuesday: Legs, Wednesday: Biceps/shoulders, Thursday: Pecs, Triceps) or switch over to a 3-4 times a week full body work out?

My plan thus far is: Monady/Tuesday/Wednesday/Friday weight training. Thursday/Saturday/Sunday HIIT work out.

For HIIT I’m thinking of doing about 10-20 minutes on the punching bags in my gym. Should I also consider adding some traditional cardio or should the HIIT be satisfactory?

I also like to play tennis a couple times a week on top of this. On those days if I have a HIIT or weight training scheduled should I consider taking off?

Thanks a lot for all your input guys.

[theblackkeys]

For your split workouts, what exercises do you perform?

I'd recommend getting squats (go parallel or lower), deadlifts, and power cleans in if you don't already.

[Wolfram]

Regarding your diet. I'd just work out your how many cals you want to eat per day and then use fitday.com religiously for a week or two and aim for 1/3 protein, 1/3 carbs, 1/3 fat (a higher % of protein won't hurt).

After that it becomes second nature.

Btw, lol @ "lunch" being at 4:30 pm.

[theblackkeys]

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Btw, lol @ "lunch" being at 4:30 pm.

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that used to be my breakfast time.

[Wynton]

I've been altering my diet over the past week, and have a couple of comments.

First, 5 meals is too few for me, but perhaps that's a function of my schedule, which usually starts with waking up at 6 am. I like a breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-day meal, dinner and a late night meal. And sometimes I notice a 7th meal sneaking in. (Note, by "meal" or "snack" I'm referring to as little as one piece of fruit, though the traditional meals do tend to be more.)

Second, I've tried a protein shake (as well as the protein bars), but I'm not thrilled with them and I'm surprised so many rely on them. Unless real food is inconvenient, I don't see the appeal. But maybe I'm not trying the right ones.

Don't you guys find the protein shakes boring, day after day? And don't you need the satisfaction of chewing?

[Wolfram]

I [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] my protein shake. It's:

1 cup 0.5% fat milk
1 serving chocolate whey protein
1 banana
2 tbsp natty peanut butter
lots of ice.

Blended to perfection, it becomes chunky like a thick milk shake. It's a lot of calories though (about 500).

Besides that I usually just have some whey protein mixed with water, which isn't really a meal replacement.

[Northern]

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10:30am: Breakfast. I’ve traditionally gone for a healthy cereal but the more I read the more it seems most cereals are to carb and calorie high. Should I just make the switch to oatmeal (which I’ve never particularly cared for but I’m sure could tolerate) or do you guys have some good suggestions for a very healthy breakfast cereal? Also with breakfast a glass or two of water, and a piece of fruit.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oatmeal, although great for you is carbs just like cereal. Think of it like this every meal should have some carbs/proteins/fats. Something you might want to try is to sprinkle a scoop of your protein on your oatmeal. Some do cottage cheese, but personally I can;t stomach it.

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2:30pm: Small protein shake and piece of fruit.

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Not horrible but if your looking for a small snack, maybe look into some almonds, cottage cheese or along those lines. Personally I try to avoid liquid snacks, especially since its been 4 hours.

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4:30pm: Lunch. A salad containing lettuce, cucumber, onion, and carrot topped with some olive oil and vinegar. A small piece of lean meat such as chicken or beef, in the case of beef a healthier cut. To drink, skim milk.

[/ QUOTE ]

If your worried about limiting calories than try to go less on the dressings. Don't forget about the importance of protein, I would make it atleast a serving size.

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Work out about 7 or 8pm (depending on when poker gets done that day. As an MTT player, it’s hard to be exactly sure.)

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Now place in your shake as your PWO instead of your midmorning snack.

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Post work out dinner: I don’t want to necessarily have the exact same dinner every day. Some things I like to have is some steamed rice with a chicken or pork stir fry that contains peppers, carrots, onion, and zucchini. It has some teriyaki and soy sauce and tastes great. Are the sauces going to be a big problem? I also like to have some steamed rice with a lean meat in a bulgogki sauce. Also, I’ll sometimes stir fry some prawns with a light sauce and put them on rice.

[/ QUOTE ]

You make great choices with a variety which is key to staying on a diet. But as you pointed out the sauces are going to hurt you. Try to limit them, slowly ween them out of your cooking, I've been using a sprinlke of spices to substitue some sauces.

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11:30pm: Small protein shake and fruit again.

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If you want to have a shake before bed, mix it with milk to slow down the absorbtion rate.

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For work out routine my largest question is whether I should do my normal muscle concentrated routines (Monday: Back, Tuesday: Legs, Wednesday: Biceps/shoulders, Thursday: Pecs, Triceps) or switch over to a 3-4 times a week full body work out?

[/ QUOTE ]

I am a little bias to a total body split, but I am a frim believer that it is better for someone trying to maintain or cut. You standard split is more aimed for a bodybuilder than someone trying to get into better shape.

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For HIIT I’m thinking of doing about 10-20 minutes on the punching bags in my gym. Should I also consider adding some traditional cardio or should the HIIT be satisfactory?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm going to open a can of worms on this one but you said your looking to increase endurance and cardio fitness, I would pass on the HIIT. Personally I would rather do a long extended cardio session on a tradmill for this goal. A heavy bag is an excellent form of cardio but I find it will get you HR up and burn calories but not ideal for the goals you listed.

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I also like to play tennis a couple times a week on top of this. On those days if I have a HIIT or weight training scheduled should I consider taking off?

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Depends on how you feel. I would still paly if I weight trained, if I was able, judge it as to how you feel. However I wouldn;t do HIIT if I was playing tennis that day. It's great that you will do different forms of cardio.

[AZK]

really can't emphasize zone diet enough for people that want to lose weight without sacrificing performance and have never really "dieted" before. It gives you all the right stuff with the least amount of wrong.

[AZK]

I should also add, that people like to go on all these special diets, make a schedule, try and follow it, etc.... The first success I had with a diet was that I could eat whatever I want it just couldn't be processed, packaged in plastic, or have any ingredients that I couldn't pronounce/spell off the top of my head. You'd be surprised how much weight you cut on a diet like this.