Hi Sledge, great goal man, hopefully I can help.


Eating times -

Great job - 5 to 6 small meals (250-500 cal) is the way to go. For your height/build, you don't want to go below 1200-1500 Calories/Day. If you do, your body will enter "starvation mode" and hold onto every calorie it can... If you can, try to move dinner back a hour or so.. This will give your body time to process dinner before you go to bed. I don't eat after 7:00 pm if I can help it, sometimes this is undoable tho.

What to eat

Lunch Meat - Better than fast food, but be careful, the cheapo, pressed Ball-O-Turkey is full of fillers, (bad)fats, and who knows what else. With your family being the grocery business, as your Mom or Dad knows who makes the best deli meats. The good stuff has a higher per lb price, but still ceaper than fast food. I like Boars Head..

If you like to cook / grill - Costco has family-size bags of boneless, skinless chicken breast on the cheap. I usually grill up 6-8 at a time, with just some salt & pepper for seasoning. Then I can use them as I like. One day I may chop one or two up in a salad, another day I add a tablespoon or two of BBQ sauce or Italian Dressing to a tupperware container with the chicken in it. This works great if you prepare it the night before for lunch - The chicken really has time to absorb the flavors. Grill some chicken, let it cool, chop/shred it up, add some light mayo, touch of garlic (minced- in jar), some salt & pepper (or red pepper flake- if you like heat), and some chopped celery for an extra crunch, for a great sandwhich filling, or a big scoop on a salad!

Fish is really good for you, tuna, salmon, etc.. you can't go wrong.. If you make tuna salad use light/fat free mayo..

Eggs - Grab an 18 pack of eggs and boil the whole thing, very handy snack! Just eat one yoke for every 2-3 eggs you have. This will help reduce your fat and cholesterol intake. I make egg salad with 4 egg whites, and 1 yoke for flavor, little onion(dried flakes) little spicy brown mustard, light mayo, dash of salt and a healthy amount of pepper works for me..

Do what you can to add flavor - I'm a spice hound, this help to remove the "boringness"/sameness/blandness of eating healthy. Don't be afraid to experiment!!

I'll post more later when I can.. lunch break is over..