The key to a diet..

[sproates33]

Currently im blasting the gym and i can feel myself starting to tone up but the end goal i want is to have the ripped look.

Ive been eating what I believe is fairly well, Just wondering if anyone on here who has experience can give me any pointers, for instance my diet today has been..

Beans on toast, 2 boiled eggs and a bannana for breakfast.
Protein bar and shake mid morning.
Sausage and taties for dinner, pint of milk.
Had some jaffa cakes before 7 a side, felt like i needed some sugar.
Chicken breast with onions, peppers, tomatoes, rice and chorizo.
Protein shake.

Thats where im currently up to now, I have a proper sweet tooth anarl, Is this enough fuel to build muscle while stripping body fat? Any alternatives you could suggest? Cheers

[humph]

If you want to have the ripped look its as much about water retention and hydration as it is bodyfat, besides the fact that getting under 10% is very very difficult without 'help'.

Cut the carbs, for every gram of glycogen you store after consuming carbs you store 4 grams of water.

Eat in a big calorie deficit, then SLOWly week by week increase the calories so they come towards maintenance. If you do this right, you'll be super low body fat and eating just the right amount to stay that way.

[sproates33]

Originally Posted by humph

If you want to have the ripped look its as much about water retention and hydration as it is bodyfat, besides the fact that getting under 10% is very very difficult without 'help'.

Cut the carbs, for every gram of glycogen you store after consuming carbs you store 4 grams of water.

Eat in a big calorie deficit, then SLOWly week by week increase the calories so they come towards maintenance. If you do this right, you'll be super low body fat and eating just the right amount to stay that way.

Ive been making sure that i've kept myself hydrated. I reckon I've been consuming around 4 litres of water a day, feel better for it too.

I'm unsure what you mean by this calorie deficit etc..

Is the diet listed above going to help me build muscle?

[safc_graeme]

Originally Posted by humph

If you want to have the ripped look its as much about water retention and hydration as it is bodyfat, besides the fact that getting under 10% is very very difficult without 'help'.

Cut the carbs, for every gram of glycogen you store after consuming carbs you store 4 grams of water.

Eat in a big calorie deficit, then SLOWly week by week increase the calories so they come towards maintenance. If you do this right, you'll be super low body fat and eating just the right amount to stay that way.

Agree with what you're saying for wanting the ripped look, but wont he want a calorie surplus to build muscle?

Edit: I read the posts in the wrong order, he mentioned muscle growth after your post!

[Titus]

Eating in a big caloric defecit is a good way to ensure LBM loss.

Not sure if you're implying that getting below 10% requires some sort of drugs, but that's just...not true at all.

If you're not lean enough, simply trying to reduce water retention isn't going to make you ripped either.

[sproates33]

I'm confused as fuck here. I'm slim but need to build muscle, I'm not fat trying to shift weight.

What is this deficit you all mention?

[Titus]

Originally Posted by sproates33

I'm confused as fuck here. I'm slim but need to build muscle, I'm not fat trying to shift weight.

What is this deficit you all mention?

A calorie defecit means eating less calories than you burn, a surplus means eating more. If you're slim looking to build muscle, you should be eating at a surplus, but not a huge one as you'll put on a load of fat too.

When posting a diet, the food names don't really mean a great deal, post up the nutritional values. (protein/carbs/fats).

[sproates33]

Originally Posted by Titus

A calorie defecit means eating less calories than you burn, a surplus means eating more. If you're slim looking to build muscle, you should be eating at a surplus, but not a huge one as you'll put on a load of fat too.

When posting a diet, the food names don't really mean a great deal, post up the nutritional values. (protein/carbs/fats).

2 Boiled Eggs :- 12 grams of protein, 9 grams of fat, 140 calories.
1 slice of toast :- 3 grams of protein, 1 gram of fat, 23 carbs, 120 calories.
Banana:- 2 grams of protein, 1 gram of fat, 50 carbs, 200 calories

Protein Shake :- 14 protein, 4g of fat, 8 carbs, 120 calories.

Sausages :- 20g of protein, 14g of fat, 0 carbs, 300 calories.
Potato :- 7g of protein, 0g of fat, 63g carbs, 278 calories.

Chicken :- 50g of protein, 5g of fat, 0 carbs, 270 calories.

Other stuff i've ate today such as the veg, jaffa cakes, fruit will probably add on another 500 calories, 15g of fat, 15g of protein and 30g of carbs.

In total then that works out around :- 2000 calories, 120 grams of protein, 50g of fat and 195g of carbs.

I could be quite a way out but just quickly googled nutritional values of my diet today.

Is that enough? What should i be changing?

[bonsai]

Protein shake seems low in protein, one scoop is usually 19g?

[Titus]

http://www.iifym.com/tdee-calculator

Or

http://www.readytogo.net/smb/showthread.php?t=690756

The first link doesn't take into account LBM, rather just weight, but since you're quite slim, it won't matter too much. Use the figure you get from that, eat around 10% calories more than the total daily energy expenditure figure that you get. Monitor your gains and adjust calories accordingly.

Also, I'd advise you to get in the habit of tracking your macros, can be annoying at first but becomes a habit and allows for the best management of your diet and ultimately gains.