Diet of a beginner

[Goo]

I am currently 10 stone, some of you may think that's not much but I have a high body fat% that I really want to get down (put a lot of weight on over the summer due to the ole' sweet tooth ).

I found my BMR to be around 1550kcal and my maintenance is around 2300kcal. I figured if I will be lifting 5 times a week for about an hour per session and want to lose fat I would consume about 1650 calories a day.
so my diet plan so far looks like this:

Breakfast: Banana and whey shake (270kcal)

Snack: Porridge with cinnamon (370kcal)

Lunch: 3 whole eggs with mixed vegetables (365kcal)

Snack: Prunes and whey shake (250kcal)

Dinner: Lean meat with mixed vegetables (285kcal)

Bed time snack: Quark (105kcal)

Is this a good start for someone who wants to lose weight and make gains at the same time? I've heard of low carbing and other diet variations but I am unsure if it will effect my performance. If you think I would need to make some changes please point them out. I have considered replacing the carby prunes with something fatty like coconut as I mostly workout in the early hours of the day.

[SpiderDan]

Your right 10st isnt much and I've got to be honest I wouldnt recommend losing anymore weight.

Im assuming you havent lifted before so I would say and trying to learn to lift with less than maintenance cals probably isnt the wisest idea, you want the energy to focus on getting things right.

IMO go with maintenance cals for the first few months and just lift, you will get some body recomposition in that time and you can get a better idea of what you need to do. I cant stop you going low cal but I dont think its what you need.

For more help post up which routine you will be doing and the split of protein/carbs/fat in your diet.

[comanight2]

what height are you?

[Goo]

My height is 5'7", roughly two years ago I would hover around 8.5 stone just living a normal life, I have an inherently small frame, pretty similar to that of Haile Gebrselassie so you can imagine why I want to try and put some muscle on

My routine looks like this right now (3 sets of ~5reps each):

Mon - Chest: dumb flys, dumb press, incline press, incline dumb flys
Tue - Back: barbell rows, dumb bent-over row, shrugs, lat pulldown
Wed - Legs: lunges, squats, deadlift, calf raises, leg extensions,
Thu - Shoulders: shoulder press, side raises, front raise, behind neck press, vertical barbell row
Fri - Arms: forced negative dumbbell curls, reverse grip barbell curls, narrow grip bench press, dumbbell kick backs, dumbbell preacher curls

The above routine is a conglomeration of info I gathered from scoobys workshop, ExRx and Stronglifts 5x5

I currently get the following amounts of nutrients: 155g Protein / 220g Carbs / 34g Fat

[dogz]

You need rest days.

Also, deadlift is a back exercise.

[Goo]

At the moment I have the weekend off for rest. You think this is enough? the annoying thing is that when you read articles on the internet there is always one that will contradict the other, some people say you can workout with about 2 days rest in a week and others say you can make the same gains by working out less but have more rest days

[Gaz Man]

Quote

My height is 5'7", roughly two years ago I would hover around 8.5 stone just living a normal life, I have an inherently small frame, pretty similar to that of Haile Gebrselassie so you can imagine why I want to try and put some muscle on

My routine looks like this right now (3 sets of ~5reps each):

Mon - Chest: dumb flys, dumb press, incline press, incline dumb flys
Tue - Back: barbell rows, dumb bent-over row, shrugs, lat pulldown
Wed - Legs: lunges, squats, deadlift, calf raises, leg extensions,
Thu - Shoulders: shoulder press, side raises, front raise, behind neck press, vertical barbell row
Fri - Arms: forced negative dumbbell curls, reverse grip barbell curls, narrow grip bench press, dumbbell kick backs, dumbbell preacher curls

The above routine is a conglomeration of info I gathered from scoobys workshop, ExRx and Stronglifts 5x5

I love that Scooby guy, some of what he says I take with a pinch of salt but generally he's right and he is funny lol. I know you're asking for diet advice but just a few suggestions for your workout:

1 Tsk tsk why no pull ups on back day
2 Lose dumbell bent over row, it's needless repetition.
3 I'd also probably move deadlifts onto your back day as it's more of a back exercise than anything else.
4 Should put some press ups on chest day.
5 Perhaps some chin ups on arms day.

What made you choose 3 sets of 5 just out of interest, and were you not interested in any of the tried and tested beginner routines?

[dope540]

you're doing more work on your arms than you are for your legs and your legs take up half your body. personally, i'd drop arms day.

i would also stick a days rest between legs and back. you won't be able to train with enough intensity doing it back to back.

had a quick glance at your diet and you aren't eating enough to gain. get some fats in there and more whole food protein sources. up the fruits and veg as well.

have a look at the sample diet plan on the MP homepage, the stickies in teh beginner section, particularly radicalry's one and peoples journals for ideas.

[Gaz Man]

Quote

At the moment I have the weekend off for rest. You think this is enough? the annoying thing is that when you read articles on the internet there is always one that will contradict the other, some people say you can workout with about 2 days rest in a week and others say you can make the same gains by working out less but have more rest days

Lifting weights by itself will not make your muscles bigger or stronger. Your muscles grow when you're resting, and mainly while you sleep so get as many hours shut eye as you can. They will also not grow unless you are eating over and above your daily maintenance levels, and as I'm sure you already know you will need to eat around 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day.

[Goo]

Don't want to beat around the bush, all the errors you point out in my routine and diet are due to ignorance or misunderstanding. I got the 3 sets of 5 thing from scooby, At the moment I would say it works for me personally as I manage to complete each session in about an hour where I work as hard as I can and still have a wee bit of juice left in me.

Would it be possible to give me some advice on fats? I've considered something like coconut oil, but compared to other healthy fats it costs twice as much and probably costs just the same to manufacture, although im sure it would taste a lot better in a shake. I don't really fry my food so cooking oil doesn't get used much etc. I'm one of these people that would just chuck some chicken breasts in the oven for 30 minutes and go watch tv while the oven does all the work I imagine I come across as sounding quite lazy/fussy