Nutrition Help for a Corporate Lawyer?

[Chanceous]

Hey,

Thanks for anyone who can provide some help.

I'm a 26 year old male corporate lawyer at a large and demanding firm. I weigh 155 lbs., am 5'9" tall, and work out rigorously. I started getting serious about my workouts about a year and a half ago--in September 2006. At that time, I was a typical newbie focusing only on glamor muscles. Around September 2007, I shifted my focus to really develop my legs (love squats) and my back. This isn't to say that I ignore everything else, but I largely ignored most other muscle groups in my focus on my arms and chest. Now I've started to become a serious lifter and I need nutrition help.

The conventional wisdom says to eat a solid breakfast and then six small meals throughout the day. I get to my office around 8:30a and stay here until about 6:30p everyday, doing my workouts in the evenings on weekdays. Because I'm a lawyer at a big firm, I'm usually stuck to my desk throughout the day. There is a fridge near my office and a small kitchen. But, I don't have time to work on six specially tailored meals. Can anyone provide a suggestion as to how to make my arrangements work for me and what kind of foods I should be eating? I'd also like to know suggestions as to calorie counts, etc.

As a side note, I'd like to say that I'm very disciplined and can stick to whatever suggestions I'm given. So please take your comments seriously, as I intend to make a lifestyle change based on your feedback. Also know that I'm very serious about fitness and health and want to take my body to the next level (or to the next two or three levels).

Can anyone help?

[AFI82]

I used to do the 6-8 meals throughout the day. I've been much happier since I stopped it though. I have a decent size breakfast/lunch/dinner every day, about 600-700 calories each. If I need it, I'll have a snack in between meals sometimes, a banana, or cashews, or a piece of cheese.

I've been doing about 2200 cal on off days, and 2600 on lifting days since the start of the year. I'm down 15lbs, but I've kind of stalled out the last couple of weeks. So it's time for me to rethink things.

Whatever you do, don't just jump in to something new in an instant. Take some time to understand what you're doing now, what you're eating, and your activity level. That way, when you try something new, you can look back in a couple months and compare. It'll be easier to determine what was helpful, or what was harmful.

[diamondpete]

Welcome to the boards

Originally Posted by Chanceous

Hey,

I'm a 26 year old male corporate lawyer at a large and demanding firm. I weigh 155 lbs., am 5'9" tall, and work out rigorously.

But, I don't have time to work on six specially tailored meals. Can anyone provide a suggestion as to how to make my arrangements work for me and what kind of foods I should be eating

As a side note, I'd like to say that I'm very disciplined and can stick to whatever suggestions I'm given.

Can anyone help?

My thoughts:
I was on a hectic schedule out the door by 8:00 am, usually back by 10pm or later. I worked out M/W/F starting between 11pm and midnight.

I did not have time to count cals, nor prepare "special" meals and had no kitchen. So I went with the "eat no shit" diet. No sugar, no cake, no pop, anything, no dressings no sauces (except ketchup - couldn't give it up)

I just cut them one by one (one new cut a week) then I found I was not eating any crap- The biggest problem I had (and still have is) limiting carbs. It is hard to do that without preparing and carrying food to work.

I am also very disciplined.

I weigh myself in morning and in before bed (around 1am) and the I would get a good handle on how my eating was going.

As far as 6 meals per day/ there has been a lot said about it either way and IMO, it makes little or no difference especially for the weekend warrior. I eat about 5 times because I am hungry

Eat a carb after working out, get lots of protein and eat reasonable amounts and everything that is green- and that should do the trick !

If you want get more specific feedback from people, I would suggest posting a meal plan (even a rough one ) and people will be able to give much more specific comments/advice.

Basically, I just said, "I do not have time to calculate and prepare all this stuff" so this is how I handled the "diet"

Hope that long disjointed story helps

Welcome

Peter

[Lost Dog]

Life's been good since I went back to 3-4 meals a day. That means I only have to worry about 1 meal to take with me (maybe two for a long day). I also keep some snacks handy, just in case, but rarely use them. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snack

It takes a week or two to adjust the hunger schedule down to 3-4 meals, so beware.

[RebeccaC]

I agree with LostDog, there is no need to eat 6-8 meals a day. You need to get the calories in as I assume you are trying to build muscle. Life will be much easier for you if you go with 3 bigger meals and a snack. There is no magical benefit to eating smaller meals. In fact, some people have great success with intermitent fasting (large breakfast, large dinner)
Some suggestions to take to work, whey protein powder, cheese sticks, pepperoni sticks, mini tuna cans, apples. Things like that can stay in the fridge and you can restock every week rather than taking stuff everyday.
Good luck!

[Defiant1]

Get yourself some chicken breasts, pork loin chops, skinned salmon fillets, basically some good quality lean meats. Pre-cook them. While they are cooking, wash and cut up some broccoli, onions, squash, zucchini, carrots, green beans, asparagus...basically just a bunch of fresh veggies.

Buy yourself some of these ziploc microwavable steam bags:

Put a pre-cooked chicken breast, pork chop, or salmon fillet in 5 of these bags and throw in an assortment or combo of your freshly chopped veggies in each bag and store them in your refrigerator. Now all you gotta do is take one out each day, take it to work, throw it in the microwave for about 4 minutes and enjoy a delicious "clean" lunch that is packed with a bunch of nutrients to help you build muscle and drop fat.

As long as you have a desk drawer, microwave, and refrigerator at work...you got everything you need to make healthy lunches and store healthy snacks like cheese, nuts, yogurt, jerky, fruit, veggies, and protein shakes.

This is what I do...and I've dropped roughly 20 pounds since January and all of my lifts have progressed throughout my 4 week workout programs. Best of all....I get to eat really delicious foods.

[Jack P]

The 6 to 8 small meals a day can help with blood sugar issues, and keeps your metabolism going. As long as you are getting the right balance of foods per day, each meal does not have to be balanced. One meal could be crackers and a hard boiled egg, and another carrots dipped in peanut butter, yet another an apple and cheese. Keeping a selection of easy to grab foods in the fridge could let you eat well at work and not bother to pack food on a daily basis.

[Jazz Funk Kitten]

In all honesty it's quite easy to do. I travel to different offices everyday and my lap top, handbag and lunch cooler bag go everywhere with me. I have 2 snacks and lunch. You can put your food into tupaware pots then reheat it in a microwave or, like me, get used to cold chicken and rice salad. Uncle Bens do those rice pouches which you heat for 2 minutes in the microwave, you can do baked potato with tuna. I got strange looks from security at Heathrow when they removed a raw potato and tin of Chicken of the Sea from my handbag before a flight.

There's nothing wrong with a turkey, spinach and tomato sandwich on whole wheat. You can get mini tubs of hummus to have with a bag of ready chopped carrot sticks.

[Jack P]

Definant1 - Have you tried using cooked frozen chicken and frozen veggies? That would be easier for me - make a bunch a head of time and pull them out of the freezer as needed. I'm wondering how the cooking time works with that.

It's a great idea - never thought of it before.

[Defiant1]

Originally Posted by Jack P

Definant1 - Have you tried using cooked frozen chicken and frozen veggies? That would be easier for me - make a bunch a head of time and pull them out of the freezer as needed. I'm wondering how the cooking time works with that.

It's a great idea - never thought of it before.

Yeah it works fine frozen as long as the chicken is pre-cooked before freezing. It says on the bag how long to cook it for if it is frozen, and I am constantly just throwing a bag full of unfrozen chicken and veggies in for about 4-5 minutes...so you might have to add a couple minutes to it...but it works.

[Jack P]

Awesome - thanks for the idea. I end up creating lunches for a week, but having days at work that I don't use them. I hate the waste. This sounds like the perfect pre-made frozen dinner idea. I'll let you know how it turns out.