Everyday Systems

Hey y'all,
I just wanted to run by you what I eat usually and ask how it is relative to what I'm trying to do, which is improving upon my swimmer's body. I used to swim regularly(1mi ~30mins). Haven't gotten back into the pool in a while but I'm currently doing P90X right now. I'm a total beginner when it comes to training so I decided it was best for me to pick up a program that was ready-to-go. I've modified it slightly to suit my needs. Anyhow, here's my diet:

I eat no more than 1 plate of food a meal(usually a bowl because I eat rice).

This is the norm:
Breakfast:
-1 glass of water
-1 cup of granola/healthy cereal with what I assume to be an equal amount of 1% milk
-Occasionally I'll add a fruit

Lunch:
-Glass of Water
-The bowl equivalent of a 12" plate. In it I eat rice and some thing that is either seafood, lean chicken, or veggie-soup
-handful of nuts when I can

Dinner:
-Same as lunch but with fruit

-Veggies usually is spinach or romaine lettuce that I eat plan to avoid dressing but man, spinach plain is terrible.
I'm very much on eating healthy(mainly for longevity).
Two things to note:
-I've been having trouble controlling portions recently, I'll usually eat another 1/4 bowl
-I've been replacing half of my WHITE rice with whole wheat bread. So 2 slices of bread, and 1 full bowl(not to the brim)
-I tried eating brown rice but it doesn't taste the best. Recently I bought a bag and am trying to slowly integrate it into my meals.
-I tried eating smaller meals more frequently but that did not go well. I have trouble with eating until I'm satiated.

I'm almost 20, stand at 6'1", weight 173ish and do my best to strength train 5x/week. Planning to start swimming 3+ times a week again.

My ideal would be to just stop at the 1 bowl equivalent including bread but I've been a glutton.
Thanks for the help.

Hi pepper,
I just posted on your other thread. Some additional thoughts, you can eat rice on a plate, I always do. You can vary with a medium potato or sweet potato instead of rice. You can add olive oil and vinegar to your salad (olive oil is healty w/omega 3s) or you can swap out the greens with stir-fry veggies (avail frozen quick and easy to prepare). Vary your protein, tuna, salmon, lean beef, chicken breasts etc and find a couple of herb or prepared seasonings that you like (avoid ones heavy in salt, sodium or msg). On No S you can have more than 3 meals, in the book, Reinhard just says to fix a predetermined number and stick with it. Obviously if you are eating more meals they should be smaller ones if you are trying to lose weight that is. No S really wasn't designed to gain weight.

Not sure what your question is. Your meals sound fine, except that you say you are not sticking to them. You may legitimately need more food than your bowl will accommodate. Just as Reinhard says to use a smaller plate than the regular 11-inch plate of today's dish sets if a person is not losing, you may need a bigger bowl. Why do you say you are being a glutton? Are you stuffed after your meals for more than an hour?

If you need to increase your calories to accommodate your activity, I suggest checking your fats and seeing if they might be too low. You're probably getting enough protein (see Brad Pilon on youtube) and starches can make one feel bloated. Fats are compact and add satiety. Monosaturated fats and omega- 3s are your best bet. I'm not suggesting a hunk of butter. This is just the opposite of what people normally need on No S, but you are not the average Joe here.

You're not trying to lose weight, are you? And you are alternating body parts for weight training? Most serious bodybuilders don't stress the same muscles groups two days in a row. It's the stress followed by down time that builds the muscle. Though I know Reinhard has had decent results with shugging 5x a week, but he always takes the weekend off, does have some failure days, and sounds like he NEVER overdoes it.

Hi oolala,
I was just curious if this seemed appropriate for cutting. I AM trying to lose weight, which appropriate since the first phase of P90X is weight loss(allegedly). When I say I am a glutton, I tend to eat to 3.5-4 (on a scale of 1-5; 1-being not full,2-half full, 3 full, 4-pretty full, 5-bloated). If I have food on my plate, I'll usually finish it even if I KNOW it's full. For example today, I grilled some BBQ chicken. I ate my fill but there was a piece left and I HAD to finish it. I think I should try to work P90 again.

I don't think I need extra food because I've maintained my weight for the past several months with infrequent exercise. I think I consume enough fats, because olive oil often in my cooking and I eat cheese frequently.

I'll assume you're not familiar with P90X. It's a really popular BeachBody program that alternates muscle groups everyday. Many people use it for cutting. It involves split days 5x/week. I actually decided I'm not going to count calories or any macros, I don't have time for it.

I was just asking if what I'm eating appeared healthy. Starting yesterday, I began eating a large breakfast and eating smaller lunches and dinners, and Kashi cereal before bed. I think I need help with portion control.

If I had exercised as often as I've watched the P90X infomercial, I'm sure I'd be a few pounds of pure fat down. Ha!

I think it sounds like a good program and will definitely get you results. These programs are so nice these days because they include the variety of routines and even take some of the guesswork out by giving you an exact schedule. I used to use The Firm workouts, but it got a little confusing because I had some that used pretty heavy weights and I wasn't sure how often I could use them.

I've seen that they say they have a nutrition program. I'm imagining they say to eat 5 x a day? Grain of salt.

Yes, I guess if you're eating the chicken just because it's there, you are a bit of a glutton. But I doubt there's a better eating program to work with that than No S. And I've had LOTS of experience with dealing with that. I'm not happy with my overeating on the weekends, but in the grand scheme of things, I've reduced it immensely. I eat my plated meals and it's usually plenty. And I feel I'm very close to sane eating all weekend, too.

BTW, yesterday I bought the Zumba package by Beachbody! I'm willing to do SOME weight work, but I like to dance more. It's all about what you think you'll be consistent with.

Good luck!