Critique my Workout/Diet please

[Nathan183]

My first post here, I've been reading this forum for awhile and have learned a lot.

First some history. I played hockey for many years and was very active in high school. When I started university I got lazy and was not very active. I also had a terrible diet (soda, fast food, etc.). About 8 months ago I decided it was time to clean up my act and stopped drinking soda, reduced the amount of fast food I ate and tried to eat healthier when I did. This gave me good results, I went from 200 lb to 170 (I'm 6'1). I'd still like to lose a bit more fat, but I'm more concerned with adding muscle right now.

Here's what I'm doing now: I've started Rippetoe's Starting Strength 3 times a week. I've signed up for a basketball league and intend to play tennis about once a week. On days when I'm not doing anything else I plan to do some HIIT.

A typical day:

8:00 wake-up

8:30 orange

9:00 arrive at work, eat a granola bar

10:00 banana

11:00 a few handfuls of a mix of nuts I keep at work (sunflower seeds, peanuts, walnuts)

12:00 half of my lunch - a chicken breast and some mixed vegetables

1:30 the rest of my lunch - same thing

3:00 some spinach with homemade olive oil/balsamic vinegar dressing

4:00 an apple

5:30 dinner - typically a can of salmon, brown rice, and some fresh veggies

~7:00 workout/basketball/etc

~8:30 Vector energy bar and sometimes a sports drink, another can of salmon sometimes

10:00 bowl of yogurt with granola and blueberries/raspberries

11:00 sometimes a light snack - a piece of fruit or some nuts

12:00 bed

All I drink (other than the occasional sports drink) is water. I drink about 6 L a day.

This works out to about 3300 Calories, 130g fat, 350g carbs, 200g protein.

This seems like it might not be enough Calories, but the fat seems really high. Also, I imagine I should be eating more earlier in the day but I don't seem to have much appetite then.

Also, I have some multivitamins that I was taking, but according to Fitday, with this diet I'm greatly exceeding the RDA for the vitamins/minerals they have listed. Should I keep taking the vitamins? Are there any other supplements that I should be taking?

From what I've read it's difficult to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. Should I just focus on gaining muscle now and losing fat later?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[thirddan]

jesus man, how do you have time to do anything other than snack? why are you eating so often, rather than having some actual meals?

"Should I just focus on gaining muscle now and losing fat later?"

figure this out, then come up with a plan...how can you have a plan when you don't know what the goal is?

[Nathan183]

Most of the snacking occurs at work, what else would I be doing? (work is boring!) I'm also under the impression that several small meals/snacks are better than a few big meals.

When asking that question I was referring to the fact that I have somewhat conflicting goals (to add muscle and to lose fat) and was just asking whether I can achieve both simultaneously or if it'd be better to focus on one then the other.

[SmileyEH]

[ QUOTE ]
When asking that question I was referring to the fact that I have somewhat conflicting goals (to add muscle and to lose fat) and was just asking whether I can achieve both simultaneously or if it'd be better to focus on one then the other.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're a beginner so it is easy to do both at the same time. Honestly, your best bet is to try and make a consistent lifestyle change toward eating better, exercising/lifting weights. The results will come. Bulking up/cutting is really for those already at least somewhat trained with a history of monitoring their diet closely.

[Green Kool Aid]

I love it.

I hate big meals.

[DLKeeper1]

I would try to improve your breakfast...an orange, banana, and granola bar in the span of 2 hours doesn't quite cut it.

[Rootabager]

If you can maybe eat a lil more breakfast but i know alot of people dont like to.