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I have to say, you guys were incredibly informative and helpful in the previous thread. THANK YOU so much for your responses!
I love to hear many different opinions before forming a clear and concise plan of action for anything, and I especially try to pay attention to what I hear repeatedly among varying different view points.
I've been trying to do the whole fitness/health thing since middle/high school; however, along with most things in life my opinions on the matter have been formed from long ago when I first started. I might be(and probably am) doing it wrong.
I want to hear your opinions on what things(if anything) you would add/subtract from this regimen, for whatever reason(s). My goal is a healthy lifestyle :)
- 4:30 Morning begins with a fresh cup of water, with water throughout the day
- 5:30 In to work
- 7:00 Steamed frozen vegetables(4 servings, 200 calories) and a protein shake(1 serving, 80 calories)
- 8:00 Handful of almonds(1 serving, 130ish calories) and a cup of OJ(1 serving, guessing 80-100 calories)
- 9:00 Tuna(1 serving, 50 calories) and brown rice(1 serving, 230 calories)
- 10:00 Light yogurt(1 serving, 70 calories)
- 11:00 A cup of 2% milk(1 serving, 130 calories)
- 11:30 Tuna(1 serving, 50 calories) and brown rice(1 serving, 230 calories)
- 12:30 Light yogurt(1 serving, 70 calories)
- 1:30 A cup of OJ(1 serving, guessing 80-100 calories)
- 2:30 Leave to workout at the gym
- 3:30 Continue working from apartment
- 4:30 Yoga
- 6:30-7:00 A protein shake(1 serving, 80 calories) and a gatorade(1 serving, 30 calories)
- 8:30-9:00 Tuna(1 serving, 50 calories) and brown rice(1 serving, 230 calories) or oatmeal(1 serving, 190 calories)
- 9:30-10:30 Bed
~Leilond
http://tinyurl.com/Leilond-Portrait
http://drzeal.forumotion.com Learn How to PvP!
First, the water through out the day. Its really not necessary. That 8 glasses a day thing is mostly a myth. What the study back in 1945 was talking about was having so much water per calories eaten. That worked out to the 8 glasses. The thing is that you get most of that water through the food you eat. I'd really only be concerned about water before, during and after your workout.
Secondly, way too much tuna. Mercury levels in tuna are fairly high. If you were to eat like this every day, your mercury blood levels would be crazy high. I imagine you would start getting headaches often if ate this much. Not to mention other side effects. Cut it back to 4-6 servings a week. Replace the tuna with other meats and egg. Since you do not seem big on cooking, I'd recommend getting deli meats(chicken, turkey and beef(sparingly)). Just have them slice it in half to inch thick. Then you can cube it and add to the rice. If you don't want the meat three times a day, swap the tuna for more veggies or egg. You should have egg a few times a week, if not one daily.
Move up that 6:30 protein shake to right after your workout. After a workout is when your muscles most need protein so that they can use it to build more muscle.
Move up that 8:30 meal. I'm one of those who believe that you really should not eat 2-3 hours before bed.
Have to add more time for playing DR. Fun is needed. Mental health is as important as physical health.
Abison/Rystien
Secondly, way too much tuna. Mercury levels in tuna are fairly high. If you were to eat like this every day, your mercury blood levels would be crazy high. I imagine you would start getting headaches often if ate this much. Not to mention other side effects. Cut it back to 4-6 servings a week. Replace the tuna with other meats and egg. Since you do not seem big on cooking, I'd recommend getting deli meats(chicken, turkey and beef(sparingly)). Just have them slice it in half to inch thick. Then you can cube it and add to the rice. If you don't want the meat three times a day, swap the tuna for more veggies or egg. You should have egg a few times a week, if not one daily.
Move up that 6:30 protein shake to right after your workout. After a workout is when your muscles most need protein so that they can use it to build more muscle.
Move up that 8:30 meal. I'm one of those who believe that you really should not eat 2-3 hours before bed.
Have to add more time for playing DR. Fun is needed. Mental health is as important as physical health.
Abison/Rystien
Sounds all in all like a pretty healthy lifestyle. There's only two things that jump out at me:
1) In regards to your final meal: I'd always heard that eating that close before bed doesn't do great things for you. Something about the metabolism turning way down while you sleep, and things just kinda sitting in your stomach all night. I'd turn the 6:30 snack into the final meal of the day and coast on water (or tea) for the evening.
2) I don't know how strictly you follow the diet there, but never underestimate the power of variety. It really is the spice of life. Just like work out regiments (make sure you switch exercises up at the gym every so often), if you stick to one meal plan for a long time, your body starts getting a little lazy in its reaction. Switch up the tuna once in a while and don't buy the same mix of vegetables every time. I personally would also ditch the protein shakes and gatorade, but only because they're a little processed for my tastes for such regularity, though I do drink them occasionally (shakes when I don't have time for breakfast, gatorade when I want to avoid a hangover the next day). Not relying on the shakes will force you to add more variety to your protein intake. If you don't do red meat or poultry, there's still other seafood, cheese, beans, etc. Also, cheat every once in a while and eat some pizza or something fried. It's good for the soul, and it keeps your metabolism on its toes.
Caveat: I am in no way an expert. I am speaking from the point of view of someone who has been through a bit of physical therapy and consulted (and occasionally dated) a couple of personal trainers and nutritionists over the course of the past fifteen years. Also, I'm kind of a hippie and kind of a southerner, so... grain of salt.
1) In regards to your final meal: I'd always heard that eating that close before bed doesn't do great things for you. Something about the metabolism turning way down while you sleep, and things just kinda sitting in your stomach all night. I'd turn the 6:30 snack into the final meal of the day and coast on water (or tea) for the evening.
2) I don't know how strictly you follow the diet there, but never underestimate the power of variety. It really is the spice of life. Just like work out regiments (make sure you switch exercises up at the gym every so often), if you stick to one meal plan for a long time, your body starts getting a little lazy in its reaction. Switch up the tuna once in a while and don't buy the same mix of vegetables every time. I personally would also ditch the protein shakes and gatorade, but only because they're a little processed for my tastes for such regularity, though I do drink them occasionally (shakes when I don't have time for breakfast, gatorade when I want to avoid a hangover the next day). Not relying on the shakes will force you to add more variety to your protein intake. If you don't do red meat or poultry, there's still other seafood, cheese, beans, etc. Also, cheat every once in a while and eat some pizza or something fried. It's good for the soul, and it keeps your metabolism on its toes.
Caveat: I am in no way an expert. I am speaking from the point of view of someone who has been through a bit of physical therapy and consulted (and occasionally dated) a couple of personal trainers and nutritionists over the course of the past fifteen years. Also, I'm kind of a hippie and kind of a southerner, so... grain of salt.
I think the nutrition looks great...the points mentioned earlier are spot on as far as water intake, reducing the tuna, adding variety, and cheat meals once or twice per week. However, a meal of that size an hour or so before bed isn't going to hurt you in the slightest. You would definitely want to avoid a large meal though as that can actually prevent you from sleeping properly. The idea that eating right before bed can cause weight gain is a myth. Weight management is really only about calories in vs calories out.
I'm curious as to why you eat every hour. Do you just find yourself really hungry if you don't? I generally eat every 2.5 to 3 hours. I don't believe there's anything particularly detrimental to eating every hour as long as you're keeping calories in check. Eating more often is definitely more desirable than eating less often as it minimizes blood sugar spikes and can help prevent feeling hungry all the time.
I'm also curious what your gym sessions are like.
There is so much gold in these posts, thank you all so much for the advice and info! <3
I actually only try to maintain that schedule Mondays through Thursdays. Friday I try to switch up the food at work, and Saturday/Sundays are whatever I feel in the mood for that's still moderately healthy. Tuna is a big staple only because it's a dirt cheap form of protein and I am trying to cut costs. The dang DR adventure quests aren't helping :/
I had read the thing about the tuna having high mercury, but I also read from a few sources that the kind of mercury levels you get from a typical serving of canned tuna would only really affect pregnant women and infants, and that it was pretty much a non-issue for adults.
What I hadn't heard was the thing about eggs being important. Why is this? Is it because they have a good kind of cholesterol? Someone else told me that eggs were a good staple for what you should be eating along with fruits but I sort of brushed it off at the time and didn't do any further research.
I really like the ideas of cubing the thick-sliced deli meats, and I'm sure if I replace some of the tuna I'm getting with that it won't be too much of a price increase.
I try to do the all-natural/non-processed thing but whey protein is just wayyyy too convenient, tasty and good for the muscles to pass up :( Also I don't think I was able to locate another source for Electrolytes other than the gatorade-esque drinks, and since the yoga I do is Bikram(super hot room) I am losing a lot of that from sweating so much.
Definitely agree with the necessity of cheat days. I would revert back to going 6 months without anything tasty and then binge eating if not for the cheat days D:
lol @ DIMINISHEDANGEL
>>I'm curious as to why you eat every hour.
I've read from a few different sources that eating spikes your metabolism(more calorie burning), and eating smaller meals more frequently throughout the day helps to maintain/regulate your energy levels. Also, I've been eating 10+ meals a day for years now and if I go for 2 or 3+ hours without eating I get super hungry D:
>>I'm also curious what your gym sessions are like.
Nothing major. I limit myself to a couple body parts a day, and sometimes I skip a day of gym. I've started to solely do super sets(12-16 reps of "heavy" weight done very slowly and controlled, followed immediately by 60-80 reps of "light" weight done very rapidly), maybe 2-3 times per body part. I don't work a muscle again until two full days have passed after the day that I exercise it. I try to do yoga every day :)
Thanks again for the great advice!
~Leilond
http://tinyurl.com/Leilond-Portrait
http://drzeal.forumotion.com Learn How to PvP!
I actually only try to maintain that schedule Mondays through Thursdays. Friday I try to switch up the food at work, and Saturday/Sundays are whatever I feel in the mood for that's still moderately healthy. Tuna is a big staple only because it's a dirt cheap form of protein and I am trying to cut costs. The dang DR adventure quests aren't helping :/
I had read the thing about the tuna having high mercury, but I also read from a few sources that the kind of mercury levels you get from a typical serving of canned tuna would only really affect pregnant women and infants, and that it was pretty much a non-issue for adults.
What I hadn't heard was the thing about eggs being important. Why is this? Is it because they have a good kind of cholesterol? Someone else told me that eggs were a good staple for what you should be eating along with fruits but I sort of brushed it off at the time and didn't do any further research.
I really like the ideas of cubing the thick-sliced deli meats, and I'm sure if I replace some of the tuna I'm getting with that it won't be too much of a price increase.
I try to do the all-natural/non-processed thing but whey protein is just wayyyy too convenient, tasty and good for the muscles to pass up :( Also I don't think I was able to locate another source for Electrolytes other than the gatorade-esque drinks, and since the yoga I do is Bikram(super hot room) I am losing a lot of that from sweating so much.
Definitely agree with the necessity of cheat days. I would revert back to going 6 months without anything tasty and then binge eating if not for the cheat days D:
lol @ DIMINISHEDANGEL
>>I'm curious as to why you eat every hour.
I've read from a few different sources that eating spikes your metabolism(more calorie burning), and eating smaller meals more frequently throughout the day helps to maintain/regulate your energy levels. Also, I've been eating 10+ meals a day for years now and if I go for 2 or 3+ hours without eating I get super hungry D:
>>I'm also curious what your gym sessions are like.
Nothing major. I limit myself to a couple body parts a day, and sometimes I skip a day of gym. I've started to solely do super sets(12-16 reps of "heavy" weight done very slowly and controlled, followed immediately by 60-80 reps of "light" weight done very rapidly), maybe 2-3 times per body part. I don't work a muscle again until two full days have passed after the day that I exercise it. I try to do yoga every day :)
Thanks again for the great advice!
~Leilond
http://tinyurl.com/Leilond-Portrait
http://drzeal.forumotion.com Learn How to PvP!
You don't really get a metabolism "spike" from eating often. There is a common misconception that if you go too long between meals your metabolism will plummet. This does happen but it takes several days. The sluggishness that you feel when you don't eat after several hours has a lot more to do with blood sugar being bottomed out and a depletion of muscle and liver glycogen than a general slowing of your metabolism. Your body has gotten used to eating every hour and like I said I'm not aware that eating every hour is detrimenal. Overall, in terms of maintaining a steady blood sugar with very few spikes it's considerably better than eating every 5 or 6 hours.
What you do have is what's called the thermic effect of food. It takes energy for your body to process the food that you take in. However, even this is very negligible. Your body is so efficient when it comes to utilizing and storing energy that it doesn't make any sense for it to burn a significant amount of energy breaking down food.
When you go into the gym it's important to keep in mind what it is you're trying to accomplish. There's no such thing as "toning" a muscle. Muscles are muscles...they will have the same level of "tone" whether you do 1000 reps to volitional fatigue occasionally reaching failure, or 8-12 reps to volitional fatigue or occasional failure. Although the muscles worked at the 8-12 range will be bigger. What makes a muscle look "toned" is not having a layer of fat over the top of it. If you want to occasionally do something like 60-80 reps to throw your muscles a curveball that's not a bad thing, but as a regular part of your workout it's probably unnecessary.
However, having said that, as long as you're enjoying your workouts and you're progressively overloading your muscles then ultimately that's all that matters.
Yeah, most of the stuff on tuna is on pregnant mothers, but it still is not good for anyone. The less is better, but fish is still good. But really, the benefits from fish that you don't get other places are only needed a few times a week.
Eggs contain more protein than most other foods. Eggs also have been found to be the most purest form of protein there is(what that means is up for debate). The way I look at it is, this egg contains everything that is necessary(except the male sperm) to bring a new life into existence. How can that be bad. Too much may be bad, but not the egg itself.
>>I really like the ideas of cubing the thick-sliced deli meats, and I'm sure if I replace some of the tuna I'm getting with that it won't be too much of a price increase.
Watch for your grocery weekly ads. Deals to be found and meat can be frozen. I'm a coupon guy myself and stock up and more.
>I've read from a few different sources that eating spikes your metabolism(more calorie burning)
Are you trying to lose weight?? If not, or less than 10% of you weight, there is little reason to spike metabolism.
Abison/Rystien
Abison/Rystien
Eggs contain more protein than most other foods. Eggs also have been found to be the most purest form of protein there is(what that means is up for debate). The way I look at it is, this egg contains everything that is necessary(except the male sperm) to bring a new life into existence. How can that be bad. Too much may be bad, but not the egg itself.
>>I really like the ideas of cubing the thick-sliced deli meats, and I'm sure if I replace some of the tuna I'm getting with that it won't be too much of a price increase.
Watch for your grocery weekly ads. Deals to be found and meat can be frozen. I'm a coupon guy myself and stock up and more.
>I've read from a few different sources that eating spikes your metabolism(more calorie burning)
Are you trying to lose weight?? If not, or less than 10% of you weight, there is little reason to spike metabolism.
Abison/Rystien
Abison/Rystien
<Yeah, most of the stuff on tuna is on pregnant mothers, but it still is not good for anyone. The less is better, but fish is still good. But really, the benefits from fish that you don't get other places are only needed a few times a week.
Tuna is also not as good of a renewable resource as other fish. They take forever to grow and are at the top of the food chain. They sure taste good though.
Nikpack
Tuna is also not as good of a renewable resource as other fish. They take forever to grow and are at the top of the food chain. They sure taste good though.
Nikpack
>First, the water through out the day. Its really not necessary. That 8 glasses a day thing is mostly a myth. What the study back in 1945 was talking about was having so much water per calories eaten. That worked out to the 8 glasses. The thing is that you get most of that water through the food you eat. I'd really only be concerned about water before, during and after your workout.
Water is very necessary, the recommended is 8 eight ounce glasses a day but varies by activity level, body weight and other things. You should most certainly not get your daily water intake from foods alone, that isn't enough water. Especially if you're only drinking it directly before, during, and right after a work out. You want to consume water throughout your entire day. Besides being a natural appetite suppressant, water will help the body metabolize fat. If you are dehydrated (and you will be with the above recommendations) your body will draw water from cells such as fat cells, those fat stores will then be less likely to be burned off as energy. Your kidneys also require a plentiful supply of water to function, if this is lacking it will recruit the liver to assist. If the liver is utilizing its time to assist the kidneys it's not performing its primary function optimally. There's also a lot more that water helps the body with, these are only some.
>Move up that 6:30 protein shake to right after your workout. After a workout is when your muscles most need protein so that they can use it to build more muscle.
Time really is irrelevant, there's no magic window before, after, or during a workout that's open momentarily and quickly disappears. Pre-workout nutrition cancels that urgency. If you're eating regularly and are taking in your required macro nutrients i.e. (fat, carbs, protein) your body will get what it needs.
>Move up that 8:30 meal. I'm one of those who believe that you really should not eat 2-3 hours before bed.
This is actually myth unlike Water throughout the day. Your body needs a constant supply of nutrients, it doesn't matter when that occurs. If you eat less during the day and more towards the night fat oxidation will occur at a greater rate through the day and vice versa. After 24 hours your body doesn’t know or care which half of the day contributed.
Water is very necessary, the recommended is 8 eight ounce glasses a day but varies by activity level, body weight and other things. You should most certainly not get your daily water intake from foods alone, that isn't enough water. Especially if you're only drinking it directly before, during, and right after a work out. You want to consume water throughout your entire day. Besides being a natural appetite suppressant, water will help the body metabolize fat. If you are dehydrated (and you will be with the above recommendations) your body will draw water from cells such as fat cells, those fat stores will then be less likely to be burned off as energy. Your kidneys also require a plentiful supply of water to function, if this is lacking it will recruit the liver to assist. If the liver is utilizing its time to assist the kidneys it's not performing its primary function optimally. There's also a lot more that water helps the body with, these are only some.
>Move up that 6:30 protein shake to right after your workout. After a workout is when your muscles most need protein so that they can use it to build more muscle.
Time really is irrelevant, there's no magic window before, after, or during a workout that's open momentarily and quickly disappears. Pre-workout nutrition cancels that urgency. If you're eating regularly and are taking in your required macro nutrients i.e. (fat, carbs, protein) your body will get what it needs.
>Move up that 8:30 meal. I'm one of those who believe that you really should not eat 2-3 hours before bed.
This is actually myth unlike Water throughout the day. Your body needs a constant supply of nutrients, it doesn't matter when that occurs. If you eat less during the day and more towards the night fat oxidation will occur at a greater rate through the day and vice versa. After 24 hours your body doesn’t know or care which half of the day contributed.
First of all, I agree that eating often is great, and good for preventing blood sugar spikes. But just something to consider: you may not be in the same job/social situation forever, and sometimes friends or family might want to take you out to a big meal. You probably think about this already, this is just a reminder to be flexible.
About the tuna. Tuna is being massively overfished and should be avoided for this reason (check out wikipedia's Tuna article). We simply can't sustain it as is. Other good sources of (potentially cheap) protein are eggs, yogurt, beans, quinoa, nuts, and tofu.
Water throughout the day. Great. Personally I replace all sugary drinks with water; it's sooo easy to overdose/get addicted to sugary drinks. But yes, as others have said, there's no need to push for 8 glasses a day.
4:30 am. Yikes. I don't know the evidence about this, but it has always felt to me like getting up early is just... horrible. Maybe that's just me. Probably you can't do much about this, but you might consider slimming your morning routine as much as possible so that you can be getting up later. Also, 10:30 pm - 4:30 am? Are you really okay with just 6 hours of sleep? And with so much muscle healing/building to do?
Yoga. This won't help you with getting up earlier, but something to think about in the future is that yoga is often best practiced in the morning, before the cares and worries of the day begin. When everything is quiet, including the mind.
Finally, the one major worry I have reading your schedule is that it is too regimented. I tried the same thing when I was in college and eventually decided that being super strict was detrimental to my mental health -- because inevitably life would come along with a curve ball and I'd feel like a "failure" for not sticking to my schedule. It would fall apart like a house of cards. Now, I prefer to aim to feel good and eat well and not worry so much about doing exactly X at Y time.
-- Player of Eyuve
About the tuna. Tuna is being massively overfished and should be avoided for this reason (check out wikipedia's Tuna article). We simply can't sustain it as is. Other good sources of (potentially cheap) protein are eggs, yogurt, beans, quinoa, nuts, and tofu.
Water throughout the day. Great. Personally I replace all sugary drinks with water; it's sooo easy to overdose/get addicted to sugary drinks. But yes, as others have said, there's no need to push for 8 glasses a day.
4:30 am. Yikes. I don't know the evidence about this, but it has always felt to me like getting up early is just... horrible. Maybe that's just me. Probably you can't do much about this, but you might consider slimming your morning routine as much as possible so that you can be getting up later. Also, 10:30 pm - 4:30 am? Are you really okay with just 6 hours of sleep? And with so much muscle healing/building to do?
Yoga. This won't help you with getting up earlier, but something to think about in the future is that yoga is often best practiced in the morning, before the cares and worries of the day begin. When everything is quiet, including the mind.
Finally, the one major worry I have reading your schedule is that it is too regimented. I tried the same thing when I was in college and eventually decided that being super strict was detrimental to my mental health -- because inevitably life would come along with a curve ball and I'd feel like a "failure" for not sticking to my schedule. It would fall apart like a house of cards. Now, I prefer to aim to feel good and eat well and not worry so much about doing exactly X at Y time.
-- Player of Eyuve
Oh, sorry, P.S.
Light yogurt. I accidentally grabbed one of these when I was in the US recently and nearly spit it out. I checked, and it's sweetened by high-fructose corn syrup (ugh) and aspartame (double-ugh). Personally, give me real, all-natural yogurt sweetened with a tiny bit of honey.
-- Player of Eyuve
Light yogurt. I accidentally grabbed one of these when I was in the US recently and nearly spit it out. I checked, and it's sweetened by high-fructose corn syrup (ugh) and aspartame (double-ugh). Personally, give me real, all-natural yogurt sweetened with a tiny bit of honey.
-- Player of Eyuve
Yogurt... yum! Try the Greek variety if you haven't yet. A plain Greek yogurt with a tad of honey to sweeten is fantastic for you. It has more protein and lower carbohydrates and sodium than the regular variety, but on the other hand, lower levels of calcium. If you're looking to cut costs however, watch out, since it tends to be a bit more expensive than the regular variety.
-Broichan Leshyahen
> hum tuneless
You hum a tuneless tune.
-Broichan Leshyahen
> hum tuneless
You hum a tuneless tune.
A few other things I would add.
1) Eat something within 30 minutes of getting up. Eating during this time will jump start your metabolism and studies have shown it to have an incredible impact on your energy, muscle growth and weight control. Don't worry about grabbing a full breakfast that quick, but something like a banana is perfect. After that you can continue about your eating schedule.
2) Variety! Some people already said this but eating that much tuna and brown rice might not be too sustainable (even if it is cheap). Look for other cheap sources of protein (and remember that there are plenty of non-meat sources as well). Another cost saving tip: If you buy your protein shakes as powder from a store try to ask if they have any expiring soon. Often they will sell ones that are expiring soon at an incredible discount, and with the amount you are planning to drink you will probably drink it up in good time.
3) Workout. You didn't mention what your goals were but make sure you are tailoring your workout and your eating plan for your goal. It is one thing to be working to lose weight and another to be trying to put on muscle mass, making sure to tailor your plans with a goal in mind is the best way to accomplish it and work towards it. What you want will also let you know how many reps and how many sets you want to work on. Also, make sure you aren't working out too much. Yes... too much. Many studies show that you don't want to do too much more than 90 minutes a day and that after that you actually start to do more bad than good. Rest is a very important part of the health regimen and necessary for development.
4) Many little meals vs big meals. Recent studies have shown that there really isn't much proof that different eating habits lead to a difference in weight loss or your metabolism. The main factors are what you are eating and making sure they are packed with things that will keep you full long enough (slow vs fast carbs, water packed, etc).
5) Brands! Don't fall for gatorade and the sort. If you are eating properly you are probably not in trouble with electrolytes (and often "electrolytes" ends up just meaning sodium aka salt). Sports drinks often are just extra calories or salt that isn't needed and water normally is a better substitute unless you are having a severe issue.
6) Eggs. Eggs are great sources of protein and many health places say you should eat 1 a day. Maybe not so many more than that, but 1 a day is a lot of good protein. The egg got a bad reputations due to some studies that actually have been pretty much proven to be wrong. The current studies show that there is almost no link between the cholesterol you eat and your cholesterol levels in most of the population and the link that might be there is very minimal. Other factors (like sleep, activity, hydration, etc) have so much larger an impact on your cholesterol you shouldn't worry too much about something like an egg.
7) Water. Water is amazing and fantastic, but like everything else make sure you don't over do it. Hydration is very important especially with all that activity, so make sure you are getting enough water. The best way to tell is to actually just pay attention to the shade of your urine. Light is good. Don't over drink water though or you can cause problems (and this is rather rare for people who aren't extreme athletes or extremely active).
Umm... I think that is enough for now before I keep typing a novel. If you can't tell I spend a lot of time researching these topics and reading studies (and who studies are being done by). I also was studying to become a personal trainer a few years ago (and really need to finish that up) so I like to keep up on things and make sure I am well informed.
1) Eat something within 30 minutes of getting up. Eating during this time will jump start your metabolism and studies have shown it to have an incredible impact on your energy, muscle growth and weight control. Don't worry about grabbing a full breakfast that quick, but something like a banana is perfect. After that you can continue about your eating schedule.
2) Variety! Some people already said this but eating that much tuna and brown rice might not be too sustainable (even if it is cheap). Look for other cheap sources of protein (and remember that there are plenty of non-meat sources as well). Another cost saving tip: If you buy your protein shakes as powder from a store try to ask if they have any expiring soon. Often they will sell ones that are expiring soon at an incredible discount, and with the amount you are planning to drink you will probably drink it up in good time.
3) Workout. You didn't mention what your goals were but make sure you are tailoring your workout and your eating plan for your goal. It is one thing to be working to lose weight and another to be trying to put on muscle mass, making sure to tailor your plans with a goal in mind is the best way to accomplish it and work towards it. What you want will also let you know how many reps and how many sets you want to work on. Also, make sure you aren't working out too much. Yes... too much. Many studies show that you don't want to do too much more than 90 minutes a day and that after that you actually start to do more bad than good. Rest is a very important part of the health regimen and necessary for development.
4) Many little meals vs big meals. Recent studies have shown that there really isn't much proof that different eating habits lead to a difference in weight loss or your metabolism. The main factors are what you are eating and making sure they are packed with things that will keep you full long enough (slow vs fast carbs, water packed, etc).
5) Brands! Don't fall for gatorade and the sort. If you are eating properly you are probably not in trouble with electrolytes (and often "electrolytes" ends up just meaning sodium aka salt). Sports drinks often are just extra calories or salt that isn't needed and water normally is a better substitute unless you are having a severe issue.
6) Eggs. Eggs are great sources of protein and many health places say you should eat 1 a day. Maybe not so many more than that, but 1 a day is a lot of good protein. The egg got a bad reputations due to some studies that actually have been pretty much proven to be wrong. The current studies show that there is almost no link between the cholesterol you eat and your cholesterol levels in most of the population and the link that might be there is very minimal. Other factors (like sleep, activity, hydration, etc) have so much larger an impact on your cholesterol you shouldn't worry too much about something like an egg.
7) Water. Water is amazing and fantastic, but like everything else make sure you don't over do it. Hydration is very important especially with all that activity, so make sure you are getting enough water. The best way to tell is to actually just pay attention to the shade of your urine. Light is good. Don't over drink water though or you can cause problems (and this is rather rare for people who aren't extreme athletes or extremely active).
Umm... I think that is enough for now before I keep typing a novel. If you can't tell I spend a lot of time researching these topics and reading studies (and who studies are being done by). I also was studying to become a personal trainer a few years ago (and really need to finish that up) so I like to keep up on things and make sure I am well informed.
Yeah, I am archiving all of these posts on my computer :P Thanks again for all of the really great and thought out responses! I've taken away a lot of really wonderful information from this :)
Also,
>> Light yogurt ... sweetened by high-fructose corn syrup (ugh) and aspartame (double-ugh).
OMG good catch, I usually check the labels and avoid this stuff but I guess I didn't on this one for some reason. I just checked and sure enough, full of that stuff. Drat! Guess it's back to the drawing board and/or greek yogurt :P
~Leilond
http://tinyurl.com/Leilond-Portrait
http://drzeal.forumotion.com Learn How to PvP!
Also,
>> Light yogurt ... sweetened by high-fructose corn syrup (ugh) and aspartame (double-ugh).
OMG good catch, I usually check the labels and avoid this stuff but I guess I didn't on this one for some reason. I just checked and sure enough, full of that stuff. Drat! Guess it's back to the drawing board and/or greek yogurt :P
~Leilond
http://tinyurl.com/Leilond-Portrait
http://drzeal.forumotion.com Learn How to PvP!
