yea that is true

but here's the thing. do i HAVE to diet? i mean i've NEVER counted calories before. although i've never tried to lose weight before. but usually as long as i'm exercising i don't gain weight and can eat whatever i want. but i guess now that i'm actively trying to lose weight a food journal makes sense? SIGH. how much should i be eating a day?

i forgot to elaborate on something: forgot to mention that my weight gain of ummmmm 20+ lbs has all come in the last 6 months. well largely in the last 6 months, but 6-8 months total. last summer/early fall i weighed around 117. late last fall i gained a little but was hovering around 125. 128MAX. (could still fit into my jeans and everything fine. @ 128 pants were a little tight). then once i hit 130 it was like...all downhill. at one point i was 142. now i hover around 135 give or take a few lbs for water retention and what not. but its gross. 20+ lbs in that short of a time period. so it isn't like i've been inactive for YEARS or something. its all very recent. sigh.

so diets. i have to do one? i really hate dieting. but i guess if i'm trying to lose weight it makes sense. i don't feel like i eat that much though. i guess it isn't how much you eat but WHAT you eat that matters though?

HALP!

is plain popcorn really that bad for you? in 1cup of popped there are 15calories. 6g fiber. and 4g protein. and it has iron in it, too.

[Edited on June 12, 2010 at 1:10 PM. Reason : .]

6/12/2010 1:08:16 PM

you don't HAVE to diet

but if you want to achieve your goals and be healthy, you should limit your portions of what you take into your body

and keeping track of your calories won't hurt either and will give you a baseline of what you do eat contains




and you've got it backwards, too: HOW MUCH is more important than WHAT you eat

but they're equally important

Don't worry about fats or carbs as much as you worry about SUGAR (BAD). take it from me, I've been working out for a long time and never really worried about sugar, but you're not gonna get where you want to be if you get all of your calories from sweets (i've tried)

but you don't HAVE to do anything

[Edited on June 12, 2010 at 1:21 PM. Reason : sg]

6/12/2010 1:17:04 PM

anyone serious about dropping body fat should be tracking calories

especially someone who has never had to lose weight before

limiting portions is great, but at the end of the day you still don't know how much you're eating. Too little or too much and you'll have problems.

I'd aim for 10-12 calories per lb on NON-workout and cardio days

anywhere from 14-16 calories per lb on workout(weight training) days

as a further recommendation (although the hardest for people to do):

protein should be set at 1g per lb of bodyweight OR 1.5g per lb LBM (if you know body fat %)
fat should be set at .5g per lb of LBM (or higher)
carbs can fill in the rest (I tend to keep my carbs as low as possible)

6/12/2010 1:50:33 PM

Did another full body workout today followed by 40 minutes walking on an incline on the treadmill. Hopefully that makes up for last night's trip to the Japanese steakhouse

6/12/2010 1:51:05 PM

thanks peeps

luckily i'm not a sweets eater

salt is my nemesis haha

i love salt

so much

i mean portion control is obvious but i guess when i say "diet" i mean like some kind of special diet. do i need to do that? this is so hard. why did i let myself get fat.

6/12/2010 2:07:46 PM

these diet fads are crap, so no

just track what you eat so you know how much of it you can allow yourself to have and still be healthy

6/12/2010 2:21:24 PM

I hope I never have to "count calories." If I want to lose a couple pounds I just cut out some junk, lower my portions, and/or just watch when I eat. Counting calories seems like a humongous pain in the ass.

6/12/2010 2:26:10 PM

^it is but unfortunately some people have to

6/12/2010 2:31:13 PM

^^ for the general public, I'm sure that's fine


but when we're talking about maintaining lean body mass and trying to keep strength levels and performance up in the gym, counting is the way to go

and it really doesn't take up that much time

[Edited on June 12, 2010 at 2:38 PM. Reason : ]

6/12/2010 2:37:55 PM

ok so for lunch i had

1 can of light soup (the whole thing cause i'm a fatty) - 120cals
1 fruit bar - 80cals

total - 200cals

is that a decent lunch as far as calories go? or is it too many

6/12/2010 3:52:46 PM

definitely not too many

6/12/2010 4:03:26 PM

but like how many should i be eating a day is what i wanna know? like 1350 if i do the 10 cals per lb thing?!

is that good? or should i eat less if i'm trying to lose weight?

6/12/2010 4:05:31 PM

You're going to hear a lot of theories on calories. Personally, I don't count calories at all. I exercise vigorously at least once a day. I eat when I am hungry, and I stop eating when I am no longer hungry. I just make sure the calories I eat are good calories.... high protein/fiber, low simple carbs, low sodium. I drink only water or protein shakes. I try and eat 5 times a day (I count my protein shakes as a meal.)

I can tell you from experience, this approach works. A year and a half ago, I was 30 pounds heavier and quite lethargic. In that time frame, I have really changed my appearance and fitness level. Counting calories is just an extra pain in the ass I don't need. Your body will let you know when it needs fuel.

I would say that if you are right on the "cusp" of where you want to be, then perhaps at that time you should consider counting calories and stuff to "get over the hump". But honestly, from what you are saying, you are far from your goal weight/appearance, so counting calories is just a waste of time.

6/12/2010 4:10:50 PM

I have maintained a strict diet, and gotten results from it, but I can stay "close enough" for my purposes just by working out a good bit and not being an idiot when it comes to eating.

6/12/2010 4:45:54 PM

Quote :

"total - 200cals is that a decent lunch as far as calories go? or is it too many"

not only is the lunch you mentioned extremely poor in several macro and micro-nutrients, but the number of calories is also ridiculously low.

if you are eating 3 meals a day, you should get about 30% at bkfast, 40% at lunch, and 30% at dinner. or better still, 40-40-20.

6/12/2010 5:09:34 PM

well what quantity of micronutrients should be taken in with each meal?

i mean soup has micronutrients. fruit bar has micronutrients

i take a multi vitamin

i ate oatmeal for breakfast

there's no way i can eat 40% of what i'm going to eat in a day @ breakfast though. like no way. oatmeal is pretty much all i eat in the morning. or shredded wheat. i add fruit to both sometimes. but i can't eat anymore than that.

6/12/2010 5:29:40 PM

@kadwackle - srsly, go to http://www.livestrong.com/myplate and create an account

enter in your measurements and your goals and it will tell you exactly how much of what is in your diet

you should be about 40% protein, 40% carbs and 20% fat

it has a little pie chart even

try and limit your sugar and sodium

put in what you do for workouts and it will adjust your calories needed for that day from that


you only have to do it for a couple of weeks before you get the hang of it

6/12/2010 5:32:29 PM

Quote :

"i mean soup has micronutrients. fruit bar has micronutrients"

ok so even if you were to split the calories equally across the 3 meals, did you get a 1/3rd of your daily calories in that particular lunch?

1/3rd of daily protein?
1/3rd of daily fiber?
1/3rd of daily fat?
1/3rd of daily carbs?

of course not. hardly any protein, not more than a couple of grams of fiber... basically, not much of anything. and since you are saying you can't eat too much at bkfast, you should be getting more than a 1/3rd at lunch.

so does this mean you are going to have like a 1,000 calorie dinner? or do you also have a couple of snacks during the day? and the dinner? big or small? (your bkfast and lunch are tiny)

6/12/2010 5:43:26 PM

snacks. i don't eat big meals. so negative on the 1000 calorie dinner haha

i eat "breakfast" "lunch" and "dinner" i guess but they're not much bigger than my snacks and i have a lot of those in a day.

i'm weird

^^ i like that thing! thanks! i can already tell sodium AND sugar are going to be an issue though. it sucks that so much shit you wouldn't think has sugar does. like EVERYTHING does. i don't sit around and eat chocolate all day but damn. my sugar and sodium are already WAYYYY over the recommended amount and i've only eaten 620 calories today



[Edited on June 12, 2010 at 5:50 PM. Reason : .]

6/12/2010 5:47:48 PM

i dont enter in breakfast, lunch or dinner

i just put in what I eat during whatever hour it is

Thursday, I ate 7 times

6/12/2010 5:51:21 PM

Quote :

"I eat when I am hungry, and I stop eating when I am no longer hungry."

this should be the way to do things (imo), however there are a lot of factors that play into this.
leptin (and it's receptors), the brain's satiety center, and stress levels (read:cortisol) are just to name a few.
some people do not feel "full" as quickly as other people.
everyone is biologically different.

[Edited on June 12, 2010 at 5:58 PM. Reason : ^hehehe i too eat 7ish times on a normal day ]

Quote :

"I would say that if you are right on the "cusp" of where you want to be, then perhaps at that time you should consider counting calories and stuff to "get over the hump". But honestly, from what you are saying, you are far from your goal weight/appearance, so counting calories is just a waste of time."

after rereading this i think youre right actually



[Edited on June 12, 2010 at 6:02 PM. Reason : but i dont want to take down my orginial lol]

6/12/2010 5:57:53 PM

^^ yea that is more how i am. i mean i eat usually SOMETHING around the meal times but they aren't necessarily meals. i am a grazer i guess. i really like the myplate thing though, thanks

^ and i agree. i've been reading stuff that says to regulate your time between your meals and exercise. and its true - when i am done running i'm like ravenous. but it says to wait 45 minutes to eat cause then your body like calms down and you're less likely to overindulge.

what is a good way to get protein w/o eating much meat. i eat meat, but not a lot. i know beans - but what else mealwise? carbs are like taking over my world here. i guess i eat a lot of cheese and that has protein. and i love spinach and broccoli. it just seems hard to get the req'd amt of protein w/o eating meat.

[Edited on June 12, 2010 at 6:03 PM. Reason : .]

6/12/2010 6:00:14 PM

Aside from animal flesh, sources of protein:

Beans
Peas
Tofu
Lentils
Nuts
Seeds
Whole grains
Milk
Cheese
Yogurt
Eggs

Also, special high protein cereals, breads, pastas, bars, cookies, and other products. (but make sure they are low on sugar and saturated fat)


[Edited on June 12, 2010 at 6:15 PM. Reason : HOW COULD I FORGET EGGS???]

6/12/2010 6:11:19 PM

i also loooooovvvvvvvvvveeeeeee egg whites.

egg white omelets...omg

6/12/2010 6:13:30 PM

Perhaps consider protein powders. I (and most people on this site) am not a nutritionist, however I have been experimenting with a bunch of different protein powders, and this one is by far the best tasting/best disolver/decent price of any I have tried. It seems to have a good calorie to protein ratio, and it has several different types of protein. Additionally, the stuff I order from http://supplementwarehouse.com is reduced fat.

I know nothing about the female body (other than that it is way awesome), so I do not know for sure if protein powders are recommended for women. I imagine the answer is yes, but maybe someone on here will tell me how dumb I am. But if you should decide to go this route, this is the protein I recommend.

[Edited on June 12, 2010 at 6:17 PM. Reason : .]

6/12/2010 6:16:20 PM

^ I agree with that about Muscle Milk being the best tasting

just make sure you get a majority of your protein from real food, not just supplements, bars and shakes


tuna and fish are good sources also

[Edited on June 12, 2010 at 7:16 PM. Reason : fish]

6/12/2010 7:16:08 PM

yea i like seafood and meat i just don't eat a lot of it. i like seafood more than meat. but no canned tuna. i'd rather die.

if i can't get enough from what i eat i guess then i'll look into the supplements. but all of them seem super gross and i don't really like chocolately milky swirly thingies. so i think maybe i'll just eat a shit load of nuts and lentils or something.

6/12/2010 7:43:39 PM

i eat/drink protein powder all of the time!


i'm not a big fan of muscle milk though. i don't like the macros.
this is my jam






[Edited on June 12, 2010 at 8:00 PM. Reason : ]

6/12/2010 7:56:29 PM

ok so here is what i ate today, broken down by the myplate thing (just a summary)


WHAT I ACTUALLY CONSUMED
Cals - 960
Fat - 18g
Cholesterol - 45mg
Sodium - 3580mg
Carbs - 184g
Sugars - 81g
Fiber - 18g
Protein - 26g

RECOMMENDED DAILY ALLOWANCE
Cals - 1300
Fat - 42g
Chol - 195mg
Sodium - 1560mg
Carbs - 195g
Sugars - 26g
Fiber - 16g
Protein - 33g

i wish it had an iron counter and a vitamin d counter, bc those are things i have deficiencies in anyway. whoops. oh well.

to be honest i wasn't feeling well today so that is why i haven't eaten a lot. just been feeling kinda blah. but CLEARLY sugar and sodium is going to be a problem. those are out of control!

6/12/2010 9:09:43 PM

At least I can tell I'm getting somewhat of a tan so far.



two weeks ago - http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4009/4646381514_3a76a0ddd6_b.jpg



two weeks ago - http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/4646381888_df4ef49ebc_b.jpg





[Edited on June 12, 2010 at 9:36 PM. Reason : .]

6/12/2010 9:35:08 PM

thank god for cycling

check out my calories for today





my macos are meh for today but i survived a world cup viewing party & red robin

took my day off from insanity today instead of tomorrow. tomorrow i will do the routine and maybe squeeze in a run. i meant to do it today but the ride always wears me out and i ended up taking a nap until almost 9pm

6/12/2010 11:00:40 PM

damn guuuurl

how long was your ride? when you ride do you ride on the road (where cars are) or on a greenway loop thing?

6/12/2010 11:04:17 PM

to be fair, calories burned also includes the calories it takes to keep me alive.. i burnt about 1400 on the ride

i ride on the road with a cycling club in the area. did 30mi today and there was a crap ton of wind... good for more calorie burn! haa

6/12/2010 11:17:50 PM

I'm pretty sure she rides on the road.

@khcadwal: For dieting, like people said, there are going to be many prevailing theories for people.

Some people count calories like crazy, other people make different changes.

For me, I feel that common sense can make changes without having to go over the top.

Basically, as we know, these are USUALLY the rules:

The following things are BAD:
-Prepackaged or anything that needs preserved (90% of the grocery store)
-Anything served to you
-Anything that's considered a dessert or a sweet
-Soda
-Alcohol
-Anything made from an espresso machine besides straight espresso

And remember that the following things are GOOD:
-Water (drink a lot more of it)
-Fruit
-Vegetables
-Whole grains
-Low-fat proteins (fish, lean chicken, turkey, etc).

Like I said, common sense, right?

The first item on the BAD list is usually the hardest for people to do realistically, since it's both expensive and difficult to eat entirely from fresh food.

However, every other item on the list is rather easy (barring self-discipline) to cut out of your diet, and many people see big gains from simply cutting those.

My "dieting," when I needed to, involved cooking most of my own meals (INCLUDING LUNCH!) and cutting out soda and desserts. That made up a lot of my extra calories during the day, and it put me on a mostly healthy diet. It worked because I wasn't making a HUGE extreme change from fast food to like... soy tofu stew or something. I just made a small change and it was a difference.

Anyway, that's my position on dieting.

[Edited on June 12, 2010 at 11:21 PM. Reason : ]

6/12/2010 11:18:10 PM

YAY!!! katwackle is in this challenge!!! gg, lady!

6/12/2010 11:18:17 PM

gods post reminds me... that grocery list i posted last weekend that was $70 worth of food... turns out i think i might can squeeze another week out of it...might have to hit another trip to the g-sto but wouldn't be more than $15...

you asked ab protein...cottage cheese is great, but you have to like cottage cheese. if you dont want to actually count calories, you could just pay attention to the labels and make estimations.

however, if you're serious about losing that 20...you could just buckle down and do the calorie counting and "dieting" until you reach you goal then just spend your time maintaining and stop with the counting so much. fitday has a goal weight calculation that tells you how many calories you need to be short per day to lose your goal weight by your goal date. im sure livestrong has something similar. i did it for me and my deficit has to be like 650 calories a day..so i need to eat 650 less calories than i burn, basically. its not that hard.

6/12/2010 11:26:30 PM

^ yea i did the livestrong thing and to lose 2lbs a week with moderate exercise (i picked moderate because i feel like i mean exercising 7 days a week is more than moderate but if i fuck up i tried to pick a worst case scenario plan) and eating 1300 something calories a day. which is totally doable i realized today and not starving myself like i thought it would be.

i do love cottage cheese

and i rarely eat fast food so i'm definitely not going from that extreme to eating vegetables or something. vegetables and cheese are pretty much what i eat. and carbs (noodles). i love noodles.

the man is coming to fix my fridge on monday. SERIOUSLY that has been a huge hinderance (is that a word?) in coupling good diet WITH exercise because everything i have been eating is fucking frozen or from a restaurant (ie not good for you) or just like pasta cause that is easy. so...yea. once that sucker is fixed and i can get back to buying stuff that needs to be refrigerated i think (hope) that + exercising will start showing SOME results.

I DID lose like 10lbs really fast from cutting out soda, but gained some back (like 5lbs).

it is pretty much common sense i think too. but i am already a huge cheese, bean, veggie, grain eater so i think exercise and sticking to that is going to be my kicker, more so than food. i think i might actually have trouble eating enough calories on days that i run cause just looking at today's intake (granted i didn't do much cause i felt sick) - i thought i was eating like 3000 calories a day. and i think i'm really probably eating around 1500 on a good day. BUT too much sodium and sugar. like WAY too much. so i'll have to work on that.

THANKS PEOPLE. this is helping me a lot just figuring my shit out

[Edited on June 12, 2010 at 11:44 PM. Reason : .]

6/12/2010 11:42:38 PM

Just remember that "less calories" doesn't always mean better.

Professional athletes consume thousands more calories than most people, because their bodies are furnaces for food.

The more muscle you build and the leaner you become, the hungrier you will get. If you feed that hunger with GOOD fuel, it won't matter if you have a lot of calories.

6/12/2010 11:57:38 PM

you can do it kcad!!! dont obsess!

6/13/2010 12:13:58 AM

Quote :

"Just remember that "less calories" doesn't always mean better. Professional athletes consume thousands more calories than most people, because their bodies are furnaces for food. "

Exactly.

I have no idea how many calories I consume. I eat when I'm hungry and stop as soon as I feel full. However, I do eat 6-7 times a day, preferebly small meals, but after I swim, lift, or a finish a long distance run, I take down a massive plate.

And even though it's been mentioned before, it really is as simple as: calories in vs. calories out. Now, that is under the assumption that you are eating correctly, i.e. Lean protein, complex carbs, and fibrous carbs.

6/13/2010 1:22:45 AM

Quote :

" ^^ for the general public, I'm sure that's fine but when we're talking about maintaining lean body mass and trying to keep strength levels and performance up in the gym, counting is the way to go"

I do all of those things, and I've never counted calories.

Only thing I've ever done is look at carbs and sugars when buying certain products at the grocery store. But I don't even really do that anymore.

As someone stated earlier, I feel like it's all common sense. Although I do think certain people need the structure of counting calories. I am not that type of person.

6/13/2010 2:59:26 AM

[no homo] tww men are owning tww women in these picts

6/13/2010 3:28:47 AM

Not fair to compare men and women. We have hormone fluctuations and diff body composition in general.

And FYI, P90X is kicking my booty so hard. I wake up sore every day.

6/13/2010 7:43:51 AM

^totally right (this is joie)

it's natural! women are supposed to have higher bodyfat.

6/13/2010 8:14:31 AM

Quote :

"but i am already a huge cheese, bean, veggie, grain eater "

but the majority of your grain products you consume are from refined carbs and made from white flour (cereals, pasta, etc). (this is what i get from your posting history on tww)

you can and should switch to whole grains, and preferably whole (intact or broken) grains, not products made from whole grain flour.

brown rice
wild rice
wheat
oats
barley
quinoa
spelt
kamut
rye

grain products:

whole wheat pasta
grainy rough whole grain breads
whole grain cereals with no/low sugar (Raisin Wheats is one of the best I have ever had)

6/13/2010 9:52:16 AM

from my experience, I've lost the most weight on days I've eaten the most calories (keeping macros in check)

weird how that works

not saying you have to count calories every day, all day, just a week or two to actually see what you're taking in will really open your eyes

6/13/2010 12:13:56 PM

or maybe you were just not eating enough on the other days and your body was freaking out, holding on to it's fat stores in "preparation for the upcoming famine"

6/13/2010 1:49:30 PM

ugh i have been seriously slacking the last couple of weeks. i haven't had any time to work out because i've been dealing with renting out my condo. eating habits have been bad too and i really need to watch what i eat with my gluten allergy. i had slipped a bunch by eating processed carbs and i definitely paid for it with headaches and stomach aches the last few nights.

thankfully my body hasn't hated me too much i'm still around the same weight - 149 pounds. i'm heading to the grocery store now to stock up on good for me foods and then i'm hitting the lake for a good run (hopefully but definitely a good walk).

i still need to post pictures. i found my camera, will be posting today.

6/13/2010 1:52:23 PM

Quote :

"but the majority of your grain products you consume are from refined carbs and made from white flour (cereals, pasta, etc). (this is what i get from your posting history on tww) "

but i never post what the stuff i eat is made out of and rarely post brand names

you're right - i DO eat a lot of pasta/rice. but i eat brown or wild rice, whole wheat pasta, and rye bread is my fav bread, but i also eat other grainy breads sometimes spinach pasta (the green kind - i dunno if that is good or bad)

and shredded wheat cereal - i dunno if that is good or bad but that is the cereal i buy cause i can mix it up with any kind of fruit on top (outside of the occasional froot loops haha - that i don't eat for breakfast or to gain any nutritional value). and oatmeal, of course. i have plain oatmeal (again cause i can add whatever fruit i want) but i am also guilty of sometimes buying the apple cinnamon instant kind - i feel like i read somewhere the instant kind isn't as good for you but its easy on days i'm in a rush i can just bring it with me (the packet).

[Edited on June 13, 2010 at 2:05 PM. Reason : .]

6/13/2010 2:04:14 PM

Quote :

"or maybe you were just not eating enough on the other days and your body was freaking out, holding on to it's fat stores in "preparation for the upcoming famine""

I have yet to eat enough calories, according to myplate on livestrong, especially on work out days

6/13/2010 2:49:18 PM