A new me!

Ok so I just turned 18 and I'm looking to get serious with my fitness. Right now I am by no means fat or out of shape but I want more. I am 5 foot 8 164 pounds and 10% body fat according to my skin caliper test yesterday. My goal is to get to 6% body fat to show off my abs and look cut, I don't want to be bulky cause I'm kinda short to begin with, I would prefer a lean cut muscular look.

Anyway, my problem is with my diet, I eat extremely healthy but I can't seem to drop my bf% or any real weight. I think my problem might lie in the fact that my diet is not practical to be on long term and I stay strict to it for 2 weeks then I crack and have a cheat meal, setting myself back.

Here is an example of what I would eat on an average day:

Breakfast-

2 Hardboiled eggs
Oatmeal w/ 1 banana and 1 kiwi mixed in for flavor

Snack an hour later-

Apple
Handful of unsalted almonds

Lunch-

Grilled chicken sandwich w/ a little mustard on pepper on ezekiel bread
Orange or some kind of fruit

Few hours later-

Wheybolic shake

Pre Workout-

Whole wheat pasta with no sauce

PWO-

Wheybolic Shake

Might eat an apple or some fruit later on

Before bed-

glass of milk and oatmeal with a little milk

The oats before bed are a nono IMO.  My rule is no carbs within 3 hours of bed.  Carbs serve one purpose in bodybuilding and fitness, and that is a a quick acting fuel.  If you need to eat before you sleep, use cottage cheese, eggs, or a casein shake. Or just stick with the milk, it is high in fast absorbing carbs though (lactose), but if heated will help you sleep and has casein protein in it at about the 6g per cup mark.
Why no sauce on the pasta, tomato sauce would be the only nutritional part of that meal.  At least chop up some veggies and throw some garlic on that, or why eat the pasta.  You do not need to fuel up on carbs to workout.

Thanks for the advice, I'll cut out the oats before bed and look into a good casein shake, is there one you would recommend?

As far as the pasta goes my thought process was to get some carbs in to fuel my workout/cardio after but I guess that logic was flawed. What's a good Pre-workout snack?

SpartaWrestler


Here is an example of what I would eat on an average day:

Breakfast-

2 Hardboiled eggs
Oatmeal w/ 1 banana and 1 kiwi mixed in for flavor

Snack an hour later-

Apple
Handful of unsalted almonds

Lunch-

Grilled chicken sandwich w/ a little mustard on pepper on ezekiel bread
Orange or some kind of fruit

Few hours later-

Wheybolic shake

Pre Workout-

Whole wheat pasta with no sauce

PWO-

Wheybolic Shake

Might eat an apple or some fruit later on

Before bed-

glass of milk and oatmeal with a little milk

First of all you say you want a muscular look without bulking, but that doesn't come from obtaining a low bodyfat - you still need to build the muscle to show off in the first place, keep that in mind.

Secondly your diet needs to be revised. You aren't getting anywhere near enough protein from real sources and barely enough from shakes included, the majority of your protein should be from real sources and you should aim to have a balance of carbs and protein with each meal. Having 1 shake after your workout isn't enough, because that's when your body needs to refuel and desperately needs the intake - you should be having a full meal (if not your biggest meal) of the day right there. As for pre-workout, you should again be including protein because with the insullin spike from your carbs you want to intake some protein so your body is able to use a high amount. You should be training just 1 hour after this meal too. If you want to gain some muscle whilst cutting BF at the same time, then cut out needless calories like bread which is really just eating dough and replace it with a portion of brown rice or something similar. And overall you need to eat more, because I would dare to say you aren't eating enough to even maintain. (Note: there's nothing wrong with having a cheatmeal every 2 weeks)

V,
    You're the Clipart Photoshop GOD!

 

optimumhealth


The oats before bed are a nono IMO.  My rule is no carbs within 3 hours of bed.  Carbs serve one purpose in bodybuilding and fitness, and that is a a quick acting fuel.  If you need to eat before you sleep, use cottage cheese, eggs, or a casein shake. Or just stick with the milk, it is high in fast absorbing carbs though (lactose), but if heated will help you sleep and has casein protein in it at about the 6g per cup mark.
Why no sauce on the pasta, tomato sauce would be the only nutritional part of that meal.  At least chop up some veggies and throw some garlic on that, or why eat the pasta.  You do not need to fuel up on carbs to workout.

I would disagree, you have much more energy by consuming carbs before workout. My opinion.

V,
    You're the Clipart Photoshop GOD!

 

what would you reccomend adding to each meal to up my calorie intake/protien and carb intake? I wanna make sure my nutrition is on so I can put on a little size and cut up.

SpartaWrestler


Here is an example of what I would eat on an average day:

Breakfast-

2 Hardboiled eggs
Oatmeal w/ 1 banana and 1 kiwi mixed in for flavor

Snack an hour later-

Apple
Handful of unsalted almonds

Lunch-

Grilled chicken sandwich w/ a little mustard on pepper on ezekiel bread
Orange or some kind of fruit

Few hours later-

Wheybolic shake

Pre Workout-

Whole wheat pasta with no sauce

PWO-

Wheybolic Shake

Might eat an apple or some fruit later on

Before bed-

glass of milk and oatmeal with a little milk

Add 2 more eggs to breakfast or the snack after it. But keeping in mind that 4 eggs, a cup of almonds and a glass of milk is lot of fat (albeit EFA) and you might want to reconsider adding chicken or your meat of choice instead. For lunch make sure you are getting a good portion of chicken (aim for 6-8oz) and replace the bread with rice or pasta. Add a real source of meat to your pre workout meal. Have a proper Carb/Prot full size meal for PostWO. Remove the oatmeal from your before bed meal and the shake that you were having previously after your workout you have at bedtime mixed in with your milk. On top of that try to fit in an extra full meal somewhere in that schedule that suits you.

V,
    You're the Clipart Photoshop GOD!

 

Eat fish products and seafood for protein and good fats.  Before you workout you can have a peice of fruit if you to carb up.  Just remember that your body need to use energy to digest food so have it an hour or two before you workout.  A coffee or tea before you workout will give you enough caffeine to get you focused and strong through a workout.  I have no reccomendations on a casein shake, I am a milk and cottage cheeser.

You've got not enough protein in the morning. Remember you just went through 7 or so hours of your sleep, so your breakfast needs to be the biggest meal of the day, IMO.

I usually eat 9 egg whites along with some toasted wheat bread in the morning.

I agree with everyone else, you need to increase your protein intake. You seem to not getting enough protein, buddy.

Before bed, I have 6 egg whites, a glass of milk, and a slice of cheese.

This kind of diet has really done me well in the last 3 or so weeks.

Good luck.

5'8.1"
Age = 20 
started in February 16th 2007: 58kg (127.6lbs)
current : around 79-80kg (173.8lb-176lb)

I made the advised changes to my diet but my only problem seems to be the amount of eggs I blow through, I can finish a dozen in two days, and they aren't cheap.

Is there an alternative to buying dozens of eggs? Would liquid egg whites be a better option?

Also, I would like to make it clear I am not going for a "bodybuilder" body, I am more in search of a fighters body, I took up boxing and I am a martial artist so being muscular but able to move quick and fight is a necessity.