Hey everyone, just signed up on this website but have been reading for a couple weeks now. I recently started going to the gym again(About 2.5 months ago) and Im trying to find a well balanced diet for my routine. Im looking to maintain about my same weight but get leaner/more toned in some areas and gain more muscle on my upper body. Im about 5'7" at 165 lbs and Im a bigger build: broad shoulders/wide chest/mid-sized waist. And I have some pretty good muscle building on my upper body already. I work out 5 times a week, with 25 minutes of good consistent cardio, then an 1-1.5 hours of weight lifting upper body almost only with a couple ab work outs.

So heres my my diet consists of:

Breakfeast:
3-4 egg whites scrambled
1 chicken sausage

Mid-Morning snack :
1 cup of kashi cereal with organic fat-free milk
1 banana

Lunch:
Chicked Salad- no dressing with corn, onions, peppers, little cheese, black beans and tomatoes
or
Chicken sandwich on wheat with bacon, avocado, lettuce, and tomatoe.
or
Turkey Burger on wheat

Mid afternoon snack:
1 apple

Dinner:
Skinless/Boneless chicken breast
Potatos
Veggies


I work out usually a couple hours after dinner and when i come home i drink a 25-35g protein shake. I also drink plenty of water through out the day.

What do you guys think about my carb/protein/ etc. intake for what im trying to achieve? Thanks a lot for the input....

sounds pretty good to me id just cut the bacon and do the avacado, maybe add some tuna in their just for variety instead of chicken or something, maybe a little more of your omega 3/6 fats but besides that Idont see a problem fruits/veggies/complex carbs/lean protein/lean dairy, theres good unsaturated fats in avacado, theres no real need to be picky about the carbs because you want to maintain weight as long as portion sizes are ok I think your pretty good to go, try fit day and see what your protein/fat/carb ratio is!!!

You like to eat birds?

Hahaha, i kinda left out my varieties of different dinners, but i do eat a LOT of chicked. I just thought it was the leanest meat with the best source of protein. I also throw in some fish or steak as well. And I actually have tuna sandwiches for lunch sometimes to.

I was kinda curious as to how many carbs i should be getting, i stick to wheat when i do eat bread but i have heard that wheat isnt much better than white, its the whole grain bread that is best? If i have a 4 slices of bread/buns a day should i cut down a little? Maybe make a lettuce wrap for the turkey burgers or something?

And whats fit day?

FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal is a free site to track your calories. I use calorie count and there is also the daily plate. All three seem to be pretty good.

It's the best way to track your calories and see how many grams of fat/carbs/protein you are getting.

Oh and lettuce wraps are a great idea for your burgers!

You can check Nutrition facts, calories in food, labels, nutritional information and analysis – NutritionData.com for how much protein, fat, carbs, etc. each food has.

Whole wheat bread is the best type of bread (that is made of wheat). Many "wheat" or "multigrain" breads are mostly white flour. Check the ingredients list for "whole wheat" as the first ingredient. "Enriched wheat flour", "unbleached wheat flour", and "wheat flour" are not whole wheat.

Who doesnt.

Have you put it into fitday and seen how it all comes out?