critique my daily menu, help please

[eck]

In the past 2 months, I've stepped up my routine and I am seeing some gains as far as weights/sets/rest. I've always followed the "body for life" style eating and eat portion 1 carb/1protein per meal, 6 meals a day and veggies at least twice a day but now I'm wondering if this is enough for me. I have been doing weights x4 a week and run whenever I can usually at lunch time on 2 of the same days and 1 on the off day.. as of next week, I'll be adding martial arts in on the nights I don't do weights.

If I look at fitday and calculate how much I eat, it doesn't appear to be very much. I can easily hit below 1700 calories. I eat clean for 6 days, free day is on Saturday.

My main goal is to get in shape for a physical abilities test I'll need to do next fall, my second goal is to lean up. While my upper body used to be problematic for me as far as where most of my fat was held, now it's become a lot better however my legs/glutes have gone from best to worst (I know I'm gaining muscle in that area except the superficial skin isn't looking any better.. it actually looks worse no matter how much water I drink).

As for menu, one of the things I never found a definite answer on was EFAs. When adding the foods I eat in sites like fitday, should EFAs like flaxseed oil count towards the daily 20% fat? I've read many mixed answers on this. Some say the calories towards EFAs count toward total calorie count but not towards total fat count and other say they count towards neither.

M1: 4 eggwhites, whole wheat toast with 1 tsp almond butter or real peanut butter
M2: protein shake made of 1 scoop whey protein (22g) powder, half a banana, 4 frozen strawberries, 1/4 cup pure apple juice, 3/4 cup of water (this is my meal before my noon run)
M3: 4oz chicken, 3/4 cup whole wheat pasta + pesto, 1 cup mixed green salad
M4: odyssey peanut butter bar (this could also be replaced by cottage cheese + fruit). (http://www.beyondmuscle.com/prnuodbar12b.html)
M5: chicken 4oz, 1 tomato, broccoli (~1 1/2 cup)
M6: protein shake (22g), with 1/2 1% milk, 1/2 cup water and peanut butter.

I know this is a somewhat loaded post but any help would be appreciated!

 

[Daisy_Girl]

I would count Flaxseed Oil towards fat AND calorie intake. Your body processes it....which means that it will be stored/used.

It might not be enough food for you anymore. Or that your body is so used to the macronutrient breakdown, you might have to change the %'ages to "shock" your body. If you choose that route, I would increase your protein and drop the carbs down a little.

Carbs to drop would be the bread and the pasta. Maybe decrease pasta amount to 1/2c and change the bread to a less processed carb such as oatmeal or 3oz Yam.

Increase veggies - I wouldn't limit amounts of food such as brocolli. It offers so much fiber and vit/min and so few calories.

Also, is the apple juice necessary? It may be pure apple juice, but juice still has a lot of sugar and usually not even the fiber of a whole piece of fruit. I understand keeping the fruit in for the carbs for energy before your run, but how far is the run? If it is
5 miles or less I would say you don't need that many carbs....especially carbs from fruit. Carbs for energy are usually something more "pure", more complex - such as a small potato, rice, even the pasta would be better here.

Protein can be increased by adding 1-2 more egg whites to M1. CC would be better than a bar at M4, but why MORE fruit? Fruit, as healthy as it is, is pure sugar. I/m not saying cut it out entirely, but keep it in moderation. Also, I think M4 is too late in the day to have fruit. CC and a veggie, or CC and Natty PB would be good here.

Try chicken breast at 4-6oz. You could even change up your meats. Turkey, lean beef, fish.

In M6, do you have the milk there to make it last longer in your belly? The PB will help it digest slower, so you don't need both. Milk is healthy, and necessary for bone health, but is also sugar. It would be better in the first shake, not the last. And many protein powders have added vit/min...check to see if yours does. You might be getting more calcium than you think.

Those are just some random thoughts I have right now. Let me know ifI can help anymore, hopefully someone else will have some more ideas.

 

[eck]

I would count Flaxseed Oil towards fat AND calorie intake. Your body processes it....which means that it will be stored/used.

It might not be enough food for you anymore. Or that your body is so used to the macronutrient breakdown, you might have to change the %'ages to "shock" your body. If you choose that route, I would increase your protein and drop the carbs down a little.

Carbs to drop would be the bread and the pasta. Maybe decrease pasta amount to 1/2c and change the bread to a less processed carb such as oatmeal or 3oz Yam.

Increase veggies - I wouldn't limit amounts of food such as brocolli. It offers so much fiber and vit/min and so few calories.

Also, is the apple juice necessary? It may be pure apple juice, but juice still has a lot of sugar and usually not even the fiber of a whole piece of fruit. I understand keeping the fruit in for the carbs for energy before your run, but how far is the run? If it is
5 miles or less I would say you don't need that many carbs....especially carbs from fruit. Carbs for energy are usually something more "pure", more complex - such as a small potato, rice, even the pasta would be better here.

Protein can be increased by adding 1-2 more egg whites to M1. CC would be better than a bar at M4, but why MORE fruit? Fruit, as healthy as it is, is pure sugar. I/m not saying cut it out entirely, but keep it in moderation. Also, I think M4 is too late in the day to have fruit. CC and a veggie, or CC and Natty PB would be good here.

Try chicken breast at 4-6oz. You could even change up your meats. Turkey, lean beef, fish.

In M6, do you have the milk there to make it last longer in your belly? The PB will help it digest slower, so you don't need both. Milk is healthy, and necessary for bone health, but is also sugar. It would be better in the first shake, not the last. And many protein powders have added vit/min...check to see if yours does. You might be getting more calcium than you think.

Those are just some random thoughts I have right now. Let me know ifI can help anymore, hopefully someone else will have some more ideas.

Thanks for the reply!

The run is less than 5 miles. I've been running for ~30minutes but I plan to add another 10 minutes to it every now and then. The run consists of run/walk combo with sprints.

Re apple juice, I add it more for taste than anything. The only reason I consider fruit for M4 is because it is before my weight routine. Also fruits being in season, it's just so tempting to add them to meals but I suppose
I should cut them down The fruits (besides what I would put in a shake),
would be strawberries, honeydew melon or cantalope. M4 is also ~3pm.

I have the milk there to add for taste and a bit of carb but that's about it. I don't always use it in my shake. What about adding soy milk instead of regular milk?