Food Pyramid and Protein Powder.

Hello sythe, I am going to change my diet in order to get a little bigger and lose excess fat.
I should tell you where I'm at right now, So you can help me out accordingly.
-I weigh 177 Lbs.
-I am 18 years old
-I am approx 5'5.

I don't eat very healthy when it comes dinner/lunch. It usually consists of burgers and other things like that.
WHat I plan on doing: I am planning on getting back to working out, and replacing the protein intake from the food pyramid to Protein powder. I went from 194 lbs to 177 from not eating at night anymore ( I used to eat a big meal right before bed but now I don't).
Now, this is what I'm going to be consuming every day:
5 fruits/vegetables
5 servings of cereal/bread.
2 servings of milk
NO JUNK FOOD.
The least amount of fat possible.
LOTS of water.
Protein shake after every work out.
Now here is where I need help, How many servings of protein shakes should I consume daily? I was thinking one after each work out, but I will not be eating meals such as dinner, should I replace what I usually eat for dinner with another protein shake? Each shake will contain 27 grams of protein, 0.5 grams of fat, and 120 calories. Like I said, the food I have in my house is not healthy... my mom has no time to cook things such as chicken breast or any healthy foods other than salads, so she just cooks something quick every night. Also, if I do follow the pyramid, and do everything correctly, Approx. How long will it take for me to lose the excess fat? I have approx a 20% body fat last time I checked, but I was fatter than I am. I will follow this every day, I already have the motivation, so I won't fuck up.

 

Just lift heavy man. Some people would actually like to be in the position you are now because little guys always want to "bulk up." You appear to already be bulked, so now you can rip. Just lift heavy and eat right.

 

I strongly advise against using protein powder if you're trying to lose weight. Those who drink protein shakes do so to gain mass. The amount of sugar in said powders allow that to happen.
I would suggest eating more natural protein and eating less carbohydrates. You don't have to worry about saturated animal fat if you're exercising everyday. I also advise against skipping an evening meal. This will cause your body to store more fat incase you were to ever go without eating for a while (such as not eating dinner).

You should eat atleast 3 medium to large meals a day with atleast 1 or more small nutritious snacks in between. And instead of drinking a protein shake after working out, I would eat tuna a sandwich with wholegrain bread and mayo with a tall glass of milk.

 

Well you're wrong about the protein.. here are the nutritional values for one scoop:
111 calories
0.1g fat
1.5mg cholesterol
0.5g carbohydrates
0.5g sugar
0.3g fibre
50 mg sodium
140mg potassium
27g protein.
If what you're saying is correct, then that protein that I have is rare or really fucking good... I asked the lady that i wanted to build lean muscle and lose weight, and this is what she gave me.

 

bumpppp

 

If you're just wanting to lose weight, take out the protein powder and just eat healthier and exercise regularly. But, if you're wanting to replace the excess fat with lean muscle, use the protein powder. Taking the protein powder will only, in turn, help you build muscle - NOT LOSE WEIGHT, unless you do insane anaerobic exercises. The only thing I have to say about your eating regimend is: think about eating dinner and replacing lunch with a protein shake. If you really want to have the protein shake instead of dinner, I suggest you add some whole grain foods to your dinner, whether it be a slice of toasted bread with peanut butter on it, or a bagel. That protein shake by itself will not hold you over from the time you eat lunch, to the time you go to bed. The whole grain foods will add some carbohydrates and fiber, so you feel more full and you won't be tempted to snack as much at night.

That's all I have, if you have any questions, please P.M. me.

 

I've lost 5 pounds in two weeks prior to the powder, I was at 177 now i;m at 172, and I ride my bike to the gym and back which takes around an hour in total, I do 30 mins of treadmill which burns around 300 calories, and I do my workout. When I get home I drink the shake which totals up to 240 calories (I drink my protein with skim milk, no fat, sugar, and only 120 calories, the powder itself is 120.)with half a gram of fat and low sodium and sugar. I then eat fruits and veggies and some bread or something throughout the day when I feel hungry, I eat 3 hours before bed and then go to sleep.<-- This is pretty much my new schedule tell me if it will make me lose fat and build some nice lean muscle, thanks.

 

It seems that everything you're doing is fine. The protien powder doesn't seem to bad as long as you're not taking TOO much of it; then you'll have problems. I would STRONGLY recommend that you swim instead of run on a treadmill, you will see much better results and you'll gain muscle while swimming. Aside from that, just keep what you're doing - Try to make a log of your progress to keep yourself motivated.

 

Getting ALL of your daily protein from powders is a terrible idea. You need to get a lot of it from solid foods. And you'll need to get 170+grams of protein per day.


Also you NEED to be eating dinner, aswell as 2 other main meals plus 2-3 healthy snacks spread out over the day. Don't waste you're time if you're too lazy to plan your meals and go to the grocery store yourself to buy healthy meals, don't blame you're mom or any of that BS.

 

She probably heard gain lean muscle and gave you this. Like I said before, protein powder is used for gaining mass and muscle, not losing weight. But because you're mostly doing cardio, that's why you're losing weight. However, if you were to skip the protein shakes and just eat natural protein, you would lose weight a lot faster.

 

That should be fine, assuming that after you ride to the gym and before you ride back from the gym, you workout while you're at the gym. But, yeah, that will be good to lose weight and build muscle.

 

Just do what I do, alternate between gym and heavy cardio.

Monday is gym, 10 minute cardio warm up then stretch and then weights, with a cardio cooldown (I'm still not sure about this, I'm heavily pondering if this is a good idea, the personal fitness assistant seemed unsure.) I usually have a protein shake afterwards.

Tuesday is a 60 minute jog spanning around 10km wearing an exercise belt, this makes you sweat like an asshole.

Keep going until Sunday which is the amazing day of rest.

I've lost ~45lbs this summer because of this, I don't know why it's working so good for me, and I've also made quite nice progress on building muscle on my upper half.

Also, don't skip meals, your body will go into "ohshit he's not eating enough I need to hold onto this fat" mode, just generally eat healthier and try to get your protein intake as a majority from chicken or tuna instead of the shakes.

 

Wow.. congrats man. That's a lot of weight to put off in one summer.

 

Thanks, I'm pretty proud, no excess skin as well which is something I was really scared of.

 

I also was like you wanting to gain my lean muscle, i was 175, 5.10, and 17 years old. 1) take once a day after working out, drink it within the first 20 minutes of working out, no later. sip it, dont chug. 2) no dont skip out on meals, when i did this, i had 5 meals a day, just portioned them smaller, less fat, more protein, less sugar, and less fat. I would not recommend drinking a shake for dinner, because if you have a chance to eat a "Legit" meal, take it. i would advice you going out to the store and buying simple meal items such as the following: canned tuna in water, turkey, all colored veggies (you want fiber), and fruit for a dessert type thing lol. It is good that you follow the meal plan, but if you really want to gain more muscle than losing weight, get more protein in your diet, the shakes are alot but you need natural protein in foods. The body fat losing part, give it a good 4-8wks and you will see great changes in your body, you will be more cut, have more muscle, and be more confident because you realize everything you tried has been working.
Hope this helps, if not sorry and if you more questions just post em.

 

Yeah that's what I'm doing, I wake up, eat an apple or a banana, go to the gym, come back, drink the shake (with skim milk) then the rest of the day I eat fruits and such when I'm hungry, then at like 7 or 9 pm I eat dinner (today it was subway, coldcuts) and then after that depending on when I go to bed, I just eat fruits or veggies when I'm hungry. I already feel more muscular after 3 days of using the powder, also, I see my chest got more defined after just one workout, I'm just gonna stick with this .
And to Eman, that's amazing bro, I might consider doing that once school starts because everything is going to change schedule wise, but really that's amazing, I've lost 20 pounds and I feel great, you must feel amazing shedding 45 pounds, mad respects.

 

I don't blame her, it's just the shit she buys is not healthy. I don't have a job so I can't go out and buy my own things, but she does buy me fruits and stuff now, also skim milk.