Radical changes required! Can you help!?

[gymfail]

First of all its my first time to the forum so Hi!

I thought this forum would be an awesome place to try and see if forum roamers and gym buffs could perhaps help me form a nutritional/diet plan to improve my quality of life and reduce my stress.

I work a 45 hour, Mon-Fri desk job, which is extremely fast paced (for a desk job!) and very draining on the wellbeing and energy levels. I get home at 5, purchase fastfood because its quick and somewhat instant, and then tend to eat more later in the night because I become hungry again. I skip breakfast because I hate the cereal and never have time because I am still so fatigued when I awaken after a 7-8 hour sleep.

Life story aside, I am looking to make a radical change to my diet. I have recently came out of a battle with drugs (5months of it), which DING!, contributed to a HELL OF A LOT of the issues. I have overcome this and I want to have renewed energy, confidence and the ability to operate like an efficient person!

Where do I start? Google gives me 101 DIFFERENT answers and most are opinions. I consider myself ignorant on the topic so breaking it down like a baby will be happily accepted.

Really looking for help on what to eat, when to eat, how much it will all cost. I want to also incorporate gyming - buffing up and toning, whilst improving my diet to receive all the nutrients I need.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated! I think putting all my info out here like this leaves me open to criticism but please take note I am aware of how pathetic my diet and lifestyle is/was and thats why I am trying to make a positive change!!

Any help would be appreciated

[Android]

Basic changes I'd make would be small things but don't know everything about you like how much coffeee you might drink to stay alert at work or whether you are out late Friday nights and recover all weekend in bed, or how many kids you have if any etc etc.

Eat some fruit that you enjoy when you get up (no-one says you have to start the day with cereal and no-one says you have to be wide awake before you start eating either...open mouth, shovel in, chew).

Chop a banana, peel and segment a mandarin, slice an apple OR toast some muffins with honey on them...eat.

Eat at morning tea.

Eat at lunch time.

Eat at afternoon tea.

Prepare something easy to eat when you get home and make 2 servings of it, one for later when you say you get hungry again. Easy meals to prepare are stir-fry meat and frozen mixed veges, adding rice or kumara that you microwave is easy too.

I know a PT who buys a whole seasoned chicken in a bag and microwaves it when she gets home from work, picks at it for her dinner and supper then takes the rest to work. It's as convenient as takeaways tbh.

Sounds like a gym visit would be exhausting for you...?

You say you are tired when you get home from work, a gym visit will add an hour onto that day.

Just before signing yourself up for 12mths maybe you want to just try getting home, having dinner, 30min rest, then go for a 30min walk around the streets or local park. Afterwards you can have your supper and you'll be tired enough to get a good nights sleep.

Just a thought, welcome btw :-)

[falla]

Normally a good breakfast is Oats. Good carbs and you will have energy for most of the day.

Some good foods are

Eggs

Chicken

Tuna

Nuts

Vegetables

Cottage Cheese

If you get hungry at night, eat some of that cottage cheese.

Eggs i find are extremely cheap and very nutritional. You are able to consume more than 2 a day, since they don't effect your cholesterol after new studies were conducted found.

Water is also very important to control your appetite. Try drink atleast 3 liters a day.

Also, you talked about being tired aswell. Try to wake between sleep cycles, they normally last around ~90 minutes. So 6 hours sleep, 7 and a half hours, 9 hours. Try to get one of those amounts a night, preferably not 6.

[Jenna]

as said already water is pretty important.. it can effect your energy levels ahell of a lot.

easy way to make positive changes is all about the planning... some suggestions.. im pushed for time alot and a hate waiting for food so i make the base of most of my foods one day aweeks and divide it up for the rest of the week. for example i make a plain veggie bake then by adding in different herbs or half a can of tomatoes, or some sweet tie chilli you get a variety of meals every week.

also you can buy the heat and eat bags of rice now.. bag of frozen veggie.. through in a cup or two of them with a can of flavoured tuna and theres dinner. healthy and takes nothing to put it together

first meal of the day is pretty important.. and as said doesnt have to be cereal how about an omelette instead.. with some toast.

you could also try eating some low GI carbs.. different bread. some fruits, oats etc they should help with maintaining constant energy levels throughtout the day.

what are you eating during the day..

oh and maybe dont go changing EVERYTHING about your diet all at once, your probably not going to stick to it because of too many changes. focus on one area that you want to work on ie like what you have for dinner.. work on that for two three weeks then focus on what happens in the morning...

jenna

[mike27]

hi and welcome

yeah as above! chip away at the things you need to work on. work on a good breakfast every day for 2-3 weeks, then add in a good mid morning,mid arfternoon meal/snack etc for 2 more weeks.... and so on

if you change everything overnight, your not likely to stick at it

its a marathon, not a sprint! little an often and you will get there! :nod:

regular bed-times and regular wake times will help you get set in a pattern or routine.

good luck

[teamfatboy]

I'm with Mike27 - this journey you've started is a marathon, not a sprint.

But, one thing you didn't mention, is what kind of a state you're in - overweight or under-weight.

The eating plan will likely look similar in many ways, except quantities... a diet higher than average in protein and good fats while focussing carbs around the times they can do the most good.

Meal timings and balance will be important, and that's going to mean prioritising them up from where they are now. From your description, you're fitting meals into the gaps in your day, rather than treating them as fuel stops to help with that busy lifestyle. Android's advice on eating is spot-on.

From waking, your body will need a good first fuel load, followed by refills thru the day, tapering off towards the end. One of the reasons you keep eating late at night is that you've failed to top up energy stores during the day. Then, eating late at night and promptly going to sleep (or trying to), will potentially complicate your move to buffing up and toning.

It can be done - there are many many people who've applied the sorts of techniques used by bodybuilders to tone up - meal timings, protein-fat-carbs ratios, eating little-and-often, treating food not as entertainment but as fuel, paying attention to water intake, and so on. Here is just one example.

So, welcome and good luck

[BeastBuilder]

First of all its my first time to the forum so Hi!

I thought this forum would be an awesome place to try and see if forum roamers and gym buffs could perhaps help me form a nutritional/diet plan to improve my quality of life and reduce my stress.

I work a 45 hour, Mon-Fri desk job, which is extremely fast paced (for a desk job!) and very draining on the wellbeing and energy levels. I get home at 5, purchase fastfood because its quick and somewhat instant, and then tend to eat more later in the night because I become hungry again. I skip breakfast because I hate the cereal and never have time because I am still so fatigued when I awaken after a 7-8 hour sleep.

Life story aside, I am looking to make a radical change to my diet. I have recently came out of a battle with drugs (5months of it), which DING!, contributed to a HELL OF A LOT of the issues. I have overcome this and I want to have renewed energy, confidence and the ability to operate like an efficient person!

Where do I start? Google gives me 101 DIFFERENT answers and most are opinions. I consider myself ignorant on the topic so breaking it down like a baby will be happily accepted.

Really looking for help on what to eat, when to eat, how much it will all cost. I want to also incorporate gyming - buffing up and toning, whilst improving my diet to receive all the nutrients I need.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated! I think putting all my info out here like this leaves me open to criticism but please take note I am aware of how pathetic my diet and lifestyle is/was and thats why I am trying to make a positive change!!

Any help would be appreciated

Not sure if serious...

Inb4 Trollolol anyway