does this sound like a good diet and exercise plan?

Question

I am 5'9'' 184 pounds
Right now I am trying to maintain/gain muscle and lose body fat( specifically my stomach) I have been lifting weights for 4 years now with cardio now and then.( i played football) I am trying to shape up my midsection so i have changed my diet and increased cardio (for about 5 weeks now) example of my diet:

1) vitamin, 6 egg whites, 1/2 cup of oats, 1 packet of instant oatmeal, apple or tbs of pb

2) Whey protein scoop, pb sandwhich, salad(just greens with calorie free dressing)

Lifting for about 1 hr - 1hr 30 min

3) can of tuna, 2 slices of whole wheat bread,( or brown rice) salad, apple

4) Musclemilk(350 calories, 32 protein, 12 carbs)

cardio 30 min

5) Chicken breast, yam ( or brown rice), vegetable

6) muscle milk

Am i getting enough calories/too much and how long will it take to really be able to see my abs( not just flexing) I lift 5 days a week and do cardio 4-5 days a week.

Answer 1

You seem to know more about this then most people on here so i doubt you will get a good answer to your question on this forum....

I lost 70lbs by doing treadmill and eating 1000 calories a day but I am a woman so.......

Just looking at your diet you have a lot of protein which is good and veggies and fruit also good.maybe add in some cottage cheese..You do need to remember that your brain needs fat so dont cut fat out of your diet completely....

Answer 2

That looks pretty good so far. I would make a few small adjustments. Post-workout nutrition is the most important to focus on, and yours needs just a bit of change.

30 minutes after lifting, you want to have 40g carbs and about 10g protein. This is the only time that simple carbs are worthwhile (so, move your fruits here). Basically, when you workout, your insulin levels rise. Taking in carbs after working out allows insulin levels to rise even more. Why do we want insulin high? Because it increases protein absorption.

30 minutes after this (1 hour after lifting) you want to take in 40g protein and 10g carbs. This is when you should be taking the whey protein. You want protein that is processed quickly and doesn't need to be digested. With proper insulin levels, quick absorbing protein will be used optimally.

The rest of your food is good. Just make sure you are drinking plenty of water!

Gaining muscle and losing fat is difficult to do at the same time. If you aren't focused on one or the other specifically, it will take longer for you to see results. There's no telling how long it will take to strip the fat off your abs to get them to show. You can speed up this process a little bit by doing more cardio (1hr daily).

Muscle Milk is great stuff, but I find it's a bit too calorie-rich. So, I use Muscle Milk Light instead and it works just fine. That may be something to look into if your fat loss isn't moving like you want it to.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Zantrex 3 is supposed to be a new American diet super pill. Sorry to tell you that it is not worth the money you pay for it. For a while taking between 2 and 4 capsules a day you do lose weight and quite fast but i am afraid it is the wrong type of weight. You need to get rid of fat weight but Zantrex gets rid of meat weight and excess water weight. Soon you will reach a point where the weight loss starts slowing down, then stopping and then you will put all that weight back on and fast. Throw the Zantrex 3 away and use a sensible diet and a sensible exercise regime.

Answer 4

Well first off u can not spot reduce fat, meaning u cant lose fat in just one area. Second the workouts seem good, howver what u are eating isnt all that great u need more vegtables and fruit plus drink plenty of water which also helps the body keep fat off. When u burn more fat u will see ur muscles more. plus u should not work one muscle more than 3 days in a row, u need to let ur muscles rest. Plus u have to change up ur workouts about every 2-4 weeks so ur muscles wont get bored.

Answer 5

For losing body fat you need more cardio. Lifting is good if you do high reps with low weights because you don't want to bulk up. If you bulk up you will get stretch marks from muscle gain and when you get older and have less time for lifting that muscle will turn to flab pretty fast. The best cardio exercise you can get is swimming. It's really good for making your muscles more taught than bulky. If you can't swim then running is second best with good form. For more pronounced abs and pecs try butterfly stroke with good dolphin kicks. If you want to define your abs a lot not much beats good old sit-ups. I'd do about 100-200 per sitting and 2-3 times a day. You'll really feel the burn if you do 200 each sitting and you don't need any equipment to do it with.

Cheers and good luck.

Answer 6

It sounds like a decent diet to me; but a bit heavy on the protein. I would recommend eventually stepping down the protein intake and upping the healthy carbs. It looks like you are low on the healthy fats too. Adding some heart healthy oils could be of benefit to you. Remaining in a protein surplus continually isnt healthy. It overworks the kidneys as you probably already know.
I didn't count the calories that you are taking in, but make sure that you don't remain in a calorie deficit for too long. Your metabolism will slow to compensate. With the amount of exercise that you are doing, you should consume at least 2000 calories.
Anyways; without knowing your current body fat %, it's impossible to tell when you will be able to see your abs. In general men need to be at 10% and women at 13% or below.
For the weight lifting, im assuming you do a split routine (upper body one day, lower body the next) or something of the sort. At least one day of rest is needed after training a muscle group. More if you experience soreness. Cardio should be done after weights.
Anyways; if you have fitness questions, you should probably direct them at people who eat,sleep, breathe this stuff. Here are some message boards that you might want to check out. Check with your doctor for health related concerns. Best of luck!

Answer 7

This does sound like a good diet, however, just make sure you are getting enough fiber, drink lots of water. I think a little more variety could be used here, like making your own protein smoothies. I would also switch out the pb sandwich and eat a leaner protein for lunch, like fish. Just experiment a little, you will be able to find a good balance. The exercise routine looks good and Muscle Milk is a great after work-out boost. I usually don't drink it before a work-out, it makes me feel too full.

Answer 8

Your diet looks good to me, if you're trying to be more defined -- seems short on calories if you're trying to build muscle mass & maybe a bit heavy on protein; but then again, I'm not a nutritionist. Just a couple of weightlifting reminders to add -- you'll have faster results if 1.) Don't neglect the large muscle groups like your legs and back. Your body releases endorphins and testosterone in proportion to the amount of muscle you work. Working the large muscles will also help when you work smaller groups like your arms. 2.) during your workouts, don't forget the negative: Slow controlled release after a lift is like doubling your set. For example, when you do a curl with a dumb bell, bring it up -- hold and slowly bring it back down. You're exercising the muscle on the concentric contraction (up -- muscle fibers shorten) and on the eccentric contraction (down -- as the muscle fibers lengthen).
Also, I would do cardio before lifting to warm up your muscles.

Answer 9

If you're looking to bulk up this is a good plan. Change it up a bit every so often so you don't get bored.

If you're trying to slim down, I'd cut down the strength training to 3 days a week and increase cardio maybe 10 more minutes in duration as well as cutting out a muscle milk.

Answer 10

I'm not doctor, but this sounds like a good diet. Just as long as your not starving yourself, though. That would do the opposite of what you are trying to do. Keep up the good work on losing the weight. I have to do the same! I'm between 5'0-5'1 and weigh about 160.