The Official Nutrition Thread - Tips, Recommendations, Current Diets

[Kitten Mittons]

Yep, I am a very obsessive person and I have to take breaks off tracking every 2-3 months. It puts a lot of stress on me to count everything I need.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

I'm joining in

I've had a real rough 2016 and need to kick start the health process: I've been depressed like a teenager for a month and picked up some bad habits I thought I had gotten rid of.

Looking for recommendations on best way to track what you eat: any apps people recommend?

I am 32 years old, weigh 236 pounds, just shy of 6'3 and body fat is probably around 20-25% and have a major sweet tooth. I'm going through the thread to pick on what people have been talking about but I think focusing on nutrition for week 1 of "wake the **** up" is a good place to start.

 

[blue425]

As requested, cause I'm a reasonable guy.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

trying something new today. bought some costco black bean and chipotle veggie patties im going to chop them up and throw them in some rice, hope it comes out good

 

[kanuck87]

I'm joining in

I've had a real rough 2016 and need to kick start the health process: I've been depressed like a teenager for a month and picked up some bad habits I thought I had gotten rid of.

Looking for recommendations on best way to track what you eat: any apps people recommend?

I am 32 years old, weigh 236 pounds, just shy of 6'3 and body fat is probably around 20-25% and have a major sweet tooth. I'm going through the thread to pick on what people have been talking about but I think focusing on nutrition for week 1 of "wake the **** up" is a good place to start.

Personally, I wouldn't track calories yet. You're not severely overweight, so you don't need to take this drastic of an action. Tracking gets very tedious and exhausting at times, which as the last two posters before you have mentioned, it gets stressful after a while. The old saying "Sometimes it's better if you don't know" applies here.

Instead of tracking calories, just focus on good eating habits. Here's a few that I try to focus on myself and might help you(if you don't already do so):

- Eat only three meals a day. Some people might prefer to have 5 or 6 smaller meals a day, but that just increases the possibility of over-eating. If possible, I would just stick with breakfast, lunch and dinner.

- More veggies in your meals and less starchy foods (like rice, pasta and even potatoes). Starchy foods generally have more calories and you can eat a lot of veggies without packing on the calories.

- Eat more leaner meats (generally white meat) instead of red meat in your meals. White meat has fewer calories usually.

- Your snacks should be something low in calories like perhaps oatmeal, pudding, yogurt or some fruits and vegetables. For snacks, it may be a good idea to look at calories and limit snacks to less than 150 calories in total.

- And of course, eat fewer sweets. In general, you shouldn't have more than the equivalent of a chocolate bar a day, not that you should be anyways. If you're on a diet, it goes without saying that you probably should be eating sweets a lot less frequently than that. I have a massive sweet tooth just like you and I try to limit myself to sweets twice a week. The key for me is to not to have it around my apartment so I don't get tempted to eat it. That also means having the willpower to not buy it whenever I go grocery shopping and I feel like I've gotten pretty good at that.

These are just some rules that I follow for myself. Some people may disagree, but I'm trying to get off of counting calories and these rules have helped me stave off of gaining back the weight that I've lost without having to count calories.

 

[KapG]

I'm joining in

I've had a real rough 2016 and need to kick start the health process: I've been depressed like a teenager for a month and picked up some bad habits I thought I had gotten rid of.

Looking for recommendations on best way to track what you eat: any apps people recommend?

I am 32 years old, weigh 236 pounds, just shy of 6'3 and body fat is probably around 20-25% and have a major sweet tooth. I'm going through the thread to pick on what people have been talking about but I think focusing on nutrition for week 1 of "wake the **** up" is a good place to start.

MyFitnessPal is a great app to use

 

[VanillaCoke]

I use myfitnesspal everyday and couldn't disagree more that it's tedious or stressful.

Its so easy to scan Barcodes and Input foods that I find it vital to stay on track.
Take the guess work out and track everything for atells a few months until you have a good.grasp of the actual calories in foods.

Don't drink calories is a very astute guideline.

Things like pop, sauces, nuts, add up real quick if you're not.paying attention.

 

[ColePens]

I also use myfitnesspal. Super easy. Pretty much everything basic has already been added by other users. I am another one who loves myfitnesspal.

 

[the pen is mightier]

Yet another here for myfitnesspal. Am down 40 lbs using it. Though I have stopped recently in the peak mileage/taper/carb loading phase of my training. Will get back at it after my race.

 

[66-30-33]

Just got myfitnesspal, it's great and easy to use as a beginner.

 

[Gobias Industries]

Yeah, MyFitnessPal helped me for the first few weeks in wading out what a good day looks like vs. a bad day.

If you're a super nerd, try focusing on the macros once you get your calories in check. 40/40/20 (Carb/Protein/Fat) is the most popular split, but I'd recommend this page if you're looking to lose: http://www.healthylivingheavylifting.com/how-to-calculate-macros-for-cutting/

 

[Butchered]

Question: is my fitness pal accurate? I've moved into a desk job after working retail for a long time and I've ballooned. I want to lose some weight and I plug my info into MFP, it tells me my dailiy limit is 2200 calories. That seems like a ton to me?

I know calories aren't all there are to it since it tracks all the other stuff too, but if I strictly follow the numbers day by day in MFP, I'll be fine?

 

[the pen is mightier]

Question: is my fitness pal accurate? I've moved into a desk job after working retail for a long time and I've ballooned. I want to lose some weight and I plug my info into MFP, it tells me my dailiy limit is 2200 calories. That seems like a ton to me?

I know calories aren't all there are to it since it tracks all the other stuff too, but if I strictly follow the numbers day by day in MFP, I'll be fine?

It depends what you have your goal set at, mine is a 250 calorie deficit, so I'm at 1950 per day. And, yes it's fairly accurate, with it as part of my program I dropped 40 lbs.

 

[radicalcenter]

Some great advice in this video for people who wanna lose weight

 

[KaseMeOutside]

hey guys is it normal for me to start feeling hungry alot more when i am several weeks into a serious weight lifting regiment with some cardio mixed in? i feel hungry alot but i don't want to eat too much either

 

[KapG]

Yes because your body is craving fuel.

My appetite increased significantly once I started working out again after almost 10 years away from a gym

 

[FLYLine27*]

hey guys is it normal for me to start feeling hungry alot more when i am several weeks into a serious weight lifting regiment with some cardio mixed in? i feel hungry alot but i don't want to eat too much either

Yes it's normal and you better listen to your body and be eating more or your results will suffer.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

hey do you guys know any good shake recipes where yogurt is used instead of milk?

im thinking of an oats/berry/banana based shake with protein powder, plain yogurt, and some water. thoughts?

 

[Duck Off]

hey guys is it normal for me to start feeling hungry alot more when i am several weeks into a serious weight lifting regiment with some cardio mixed in? i feel hungry alot but i don't want to eat too much either

Yes. You need to listen to your body, but keep an eye on your calorie intake.

hey do you guys know any good shake recipes where yogurt is used instead of milk?

im thinking of an oats/berry/banana based shake with protein powder, plain yogurt, and some water. thoughts?

I've never used Yogurt, but I do whey, unsweetened almond milk, banana, and crushed ice, and it's terrific.

 

[VanillaCoke]

Half of a frozen banana
Half cup chocolate almond milk
2 scoop chocolate whey
Hand full ish of raspberries / 4 frozen strawberries
1 single serving vanilla Greek yogurt
Half cup water

 

[KaseMeOutside]

Yes. You need to listen to your body, but keep an eye on your calorie intake.




I've never used Yogurt, but I do whey, unsweetened almond milk, banana, and crushed ice, and it's terrific.

my protein shake:
about 10 oz of water
2 big spoon fulls of plain yogurt
about 5 strawberries
2-3 handfulls of oats
half to full banana
1 or 2 scoops of protein

i normally cannot stand mixing water with protein but this works, the oats and yogurt add a good flavor and consistency

this gets me about 2ish cups worth of shake i am hoping it's going to help curb me hunger so i don't fall into bad traps. take one before gym and one after

 

[Duck Off]

my protein shake:
about 10 oz of water
2 big spoon fulls of plain yogurt
about 5 strawberries
2-3 handfulls of oats
half to full banana
1 or 2 scoops of protein

i normally cannot stand mixing water with protein but this works, the oats and yogurt add a good flavor and consistency

this gets me about 2ish cups worth of shake i am hoping it's going to help curb me hunger so i don't fall into bad traps. take one before gym and one after

Yeah I can't stand mixing water in my protein shake. Although I do mix a small amount of crushed ice in it. If you haven't tried it, you should try unsweetened almond milk. Makes the texture 10x better, and it adds very little calories.

 

[KapG]

Water and protein powder does the trick for me lol


I put some ice cubes in to make it very cold though

 

[Kitten Mittons]

Water and protein powder does the trick for me lol


I put some ice cubes in to make it very cold though

Yeah seriously lol. Looking at some of the ingredients people put in their shakes, I would much rather drink protein powder with water and then eat everything else they put in their shakes. I'll feel a lot more fuller that way.

 

[Caeldan]

I'm fine with protein powder and water, though it depends on the powder.
Had a vanilla where I usually would add some cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves and cardamom to (ie pumpkin spice) because it made it a lot tastier.

Also regularly add a couple scoops of plain yogurt and frozen fruit to mix things up.