diet plan help

[ICPERFECT]

Hey all, so a buddy of mine set me up for a diet plan - not too sure if this is what I need or not. I've been looking at Fitday.com for some help with my calories. I weight 168, I am probably 17% body fat (not sure), I've never really lifted before and am planning to start as soon as I create my diet plan here. So as a "newbie" of sorts, what are your recommendations to tweek this diet plan up? I still plan to do cardio to remove any of the flab off, I still have a guy and my chest is still soft. My goal is to build about 20lbs of muscle by December. Is this realistic? Thanks for any help.

Work Out Days

7:00 AM - Meal 1 – 3 servings (1.5 cups) 100% rolled up oats (oatmeal) with 8 oz skim milk, 6 oz can of tuna, 2 large grapefruits, 1 orange
11:00 AM - Meal 2 – 6 oz buffalo steak, 1 medium sized baked red potatos, 1 cups broccoli, 1 tbsp parsley
2:00 PM - Meal 3 – 6 oz haddock, 4 slices whole wheat bread, 24 oz watermelon, raw garlic cloves
3:45 PM - Meal 4 – Pre workout drink - 1.5 cup cranberry juice, 5 g’s creatine, banana (right before workout).

4:00 PM – Workout - Workout drink - ½ myoplex with 1.25 cup skim milk, 10 g’s glutamine, 2 tbsp olive oil (during workout)

6:00 PM - Meal 5 – Post workout drink – 2 cups cranberry juice, 60 g’s Isopure protein, 50 g’s medium complex chain carbs, 5 g’s glutamine
6:30 - Meal 6 – 6 oz chicken breasts, 6 servings of jumbalaya, 1 raw vidalia onion
9:30 PM - Meal 7 – 1.5 cups nonfat cottage cheese, 2 large raw carrots, fat free dressing
11:00 PM - Meal 8 – 25 g’s Nitrovarin (not sure if this is used on these boards, I've posted looking for some other product - do I need thish) slow time released protein with 8 oz skim milk and ½ cup of blueberries

* I also take 5 g’s of glutamine first thing in the morning every morning and every night before I go to bed.
* I take multivitamins, Flax seed oil capsules, and Omega-3 EFA capsules throughout the day
* I have 2 servings of green tea a day.

 

[nikkita]

are you lifting weights and doing cardio already? when would you begin your diet?

 

[ICPERFECT]

No, right now I havent done much of anything :-( I did a lot of running this summer. Tomorrow I plan to begin lifting and maintain cardio in the morning on an empty stomach. What do you all think? I think this is too many calories for me - I'd like to maintain calorie intake to around 1800 - 2500. I'd like to tweak this so I have optimal muscle gain.

 

[pintoca]

If you are not doing anything yet, why are you taking the supps? (in any way, you should wait till you see some results and have tweaked your diet before hitting the supps).

I take it you want to bulk first and fat loss is not your concern right now.

First thing you need to know is find out how many cals is that diet you are proposing, second, find out how many grams of prot, carbs and fat does that include

 

[nikkita]

ok... at first glance, if you're not used to lift then you may gain the 20 lbs by december but be prepared to gain some fat too.

However, you mentioned you are a "newbie" of all sorts, so my opinion is that goals are somehow unrealistic.... you may first need to begin with a balanced diet for a 3-4 week conditioning workout routine (meaning general routine to make your body adapt to the new type of exercise you will be following, i.e., lifting weights)... then after that evaluate your progress and decide whether to bulk, strenght or cut.

Bulking workouts demand lots of effort, not just the training but following the diet and recovery... if any of this former are not followed correctly you'll not get the results you desire.

My suggestion is to set realistic objectives first, eg., first follow a conditioning routine and then bulk.

 

[ICPERFECT]

Thanks for the advice~