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I've recently began to watch closely what I eat. I follow the following guidelines:

-no refined carbs, eat whole grain organic carbs. I eat brown rice and whole wheat pasta.

-lots of vegetables. I'm single and don't want to spend too much time cooking so I buy many bags of frozen cut vegetables.

-limited meat, I eat around 1/3 lb of meat or less of meat per day. I usually eat ground beef, frozen meat/fish balls, or on occasion chicken breasts

-for snacks I eat almonds and fruits

-no sugary drinks or dairy products(I'm not a big fan). Instead consume soy products like tofu

-lots of eggs

how healthy is this diet? My goal is to lose excess body fat and at the same time gain more muscles. I have a fairly moderate workout schedule consisting of pushups and pullups on alternate days.

thanks

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Consider this article on why white rice would actually be better for you than brown. One of the USRDA "My Plate" and food pyramid biggest fallacies is the over-reliance on grain. However, if you are going to have grain, have a grain that isn't going to hurt you as bad.

As far as eating for health, look at your macro-nutrients first.

  • Protein: Unless you have renal problems, protein should be one of the higher proportions of food in your diet. Minimum is 1g per kg of lean weight if you do no exercise. If you do exercise, you will be better served by 1g per pound of lean weight or more. NOTE: 4 Calories per gram of protein.
  • Fat: There are several fat soluble vitamins you need--not the least of which is Vitamin D. If you stay with monounsaturated and saturated fats you will do well. You just want to make sure you balance of Omega-3 to Omega-6 fats are favorable. NOTE: 9 Calories per gram of fat.
  • Carbohydrates: Way to over-emphasized in modern diets, but still very necessary. These usually contain the water-soluble vitamins we need. NOTE: 4 Calories per gram of carbohydrates.

A diet that consists of an even split 33% of Calories from each macronutrient is actually a pretty well balanced diet. Another good split is 30/30/40 (protein/fat/carbs). As far as carbohydrates go, the more you de-emphasize grains and emphasize green vegetables the better your diet will be.

Meat is not bad. Fish is probably one of the best choices, usually anti-inflammatory (which reduces blood cholesterol), but prefer a filet over fish balls. Fruits are also good in moderation. Eggs are also good. To put things in perspective, most sources of meat include about 20g of protein per 4oz (closed fist portion) of meat.

As far as meat selection goes, if you favor grass-fed (or natural diet) sources of meat, the fats will have a more favorable balance of Omega-3 to Omega-6 fats. This will improve your health overall.

The biggest thing I see in your diet, is it seems to emphasize carb sources over protein sources, and possibly not enough fat.

As to your exercise, you will need to do something more than just upper body if your goal is to lose fat and gain muscle. You want to stimulate your whole body. You can do that with body-weight exercises. Burpees, squat-stands, etc. engage your lower half, and can help improve on the work you are doing with the upper half.

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    The white rice article lacked any definitive ending. It was a rant in some capacity and provided no real direction, a bunch of if's and but's IMHO. Jan 26, 2012 at 15:42
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I will suggest try HIIT and intermittent fasting for optimum muscle growth. Also try Gluten free as I have seen a huge difference after going gluten free.

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