Healthy Diet

[JetFan1983]

Eating before bed time is a myth

True, good point. Now I remember some baseball friends from college who would wake up at 4am just to cook something to eat. It was pretty crazy. I still make a point to not eat anything before bed though since I don't exercise nearly enough to justify the extra calories there.

[Jell0b0y]

My work has invested in Weight Watchers at work program and I have to say its been the best program i have been on to lose weight. Its actually helps you change you eating habits and they don't like to say the word diet. I have been up and down for years on diets and this actually helps me change my habits. To date I have lost 42lbs in the last 16 weeks by just following the point system. They just went up with a change that I like that helps cut out bad carbs that company's just added fiber to make the points low. THe new system prevents that.

[Danattherock]

What do you eat to keep healthy? I have been exercising for about 2 weeks straight walking and running at least 2 miles a day and eating healthy meals. cutting back on carbs and eating more fruits and vegetables, snacking on soy bean snacks.

I should preface my recommendation with admitting to being a 283 lb 100% BBQ eating redneck from NC. I like meat. However, a few months ago I was listening to Peter Kessler on the XM PGA show and he had Gary Player on. Gary spoke at length about nutrition and specifically mentioned a dvd "Eating" ($9 on Amazon) that would "change your life". Coming from Gary, I gave it a try and ordered the dvd. As a ER nurse of 8 years with a father who is a family physician, I have been pretty well informed on nutrition. Granted, I didn't live by it, but I was aware. However, there were many eye opening moments in the dvd. My BS meter was up and I was skeptical prior to watching. In fact, the dvd sat on the kitchen counter for weeks as I had little interest in seeing it. Upon watching the dvd, I could better appreciate Gary's claim about it changing my life. Soon after, my wife and I decided to become flexitarians, essentially part time vegetarians. More so than typical granola eating, liberal, braid wearing, etc.. vegetarians, we are simply reducing our amount of calories from animal fats. There are no political, social, or moral reasons for us doing so. We are simply reducing our calories from animal fats, nothing more, nothing less. In doing so, we eat no cheese, milk, meat, etc.. during the week. On weekends (including Fri nights) we eat what we want but try to eat reasonable portions. It is easy to stay the course during the week when you know you can have a steak on Sat night. Point being, I don't feel like I am going without things I enjoy in life. With no exercise my wife and I have both lost 30+ lbs each and the weight is continually dropping. We have not drastically restricted our calories and we eat more than we should. As I said, this is not a strict starvation 1,000 calorie a day "diet". We have no intention of changing the way we eat. This is more of a lifestyle change than a diet. Diets suck and folks don't stick with it often. My primary goal with this diet is to reduce the risk of coronary artery disease, stroke, complications from diabetes (I have) etc.. as I get into my 50's and 60's. I am 37 now, but deal with folks most every day in the ER that wish they would have made these changes back when they were my age. I am taking a very pro-active stance on this. So in the short term, it is impossible not to lose weight. But as stated, the real benefits will be reaped in 2-3 decades. Gary player made me buy the dvd and I am thankful for it. Anyone reading this with interest, shoot me a PM. Happy to discuss it in further detail and share some foods that my wife and I cook to stay compliant with this lifestyle change (not diet). We eat well and keep getting smaller. That is the point after all, right? http://www.amazon.com/Eating-3rd-Mik...1584893&sr;=8-1 -Dan

[TN94z]

First things first, don't buy into all the myths about every 2 hours, nothing before bed, blah blah blah.....I know many many people that have done very well with the Warrior Diet for instance. You basically fast all day and then get all of your calories in a 4 hour window or so with your feast meal at night, so that blows the whole every 2 hours and before bed thing up. I am not saying that those ways of eating aren't beneficial. I am just saying they aren't the only way.

As far as calories, the absolute best way to determine how many calories YOU need is to log everything YOU eat (Use Fitday.com). Take however many calories YOU average over a few days or a week and then ask YOUrself, am I losing weight...am I gaining weight...am I staying the same. Then adjust YOUr calories from there.

You need to take your BMR into consideration when figuring up your calories as well. Just google it. You don't want to cut your calories out a lot at a time either because that is a good way to wreck your metabolism. A good way to check your metabolism is to take your temp. You should be no lower than 97.2 or so daily (some people are different). If you notice your temp starts dropping, then it is a safe bet that your metabolism is going with it.

As far as eating, just use common sense really. Fruits, veggies, and lean meats. Stay away from simple carbs and utilize complex carbs. Exercise will for sure speed the process and like someone else said, don't be afraid to lift.

If you are into lifting, the supplements can be very beneficial. I read someone saying they don't believe in supplements. Well, if your are lifting and require 250g of protein....try eating that in food only and then get back to me on the supplements issue. You just don't want to rely on supplements, they are called supplements for a reason.

The main thing is to figure out what calories you need to lose weight, and hit those calories daily. I wouldn't worry so much about the timing of them at this point.

And yeah, 1400 calories is LOW!! But I am sure his trainer had a reason for this. I would think that 1400 for an active person is a wrecked metabolism waiting to happen.....but then again, I am not a nutritionist, so I will not argue. I know some people that are fairly active that are on a diet right now where the wife is eating 1000 and the husband is eating 1200. Every person that goes to this diet center loses a ton of weight, so it's hard to argue with proof.


If I could add one main key to this entire thread, it would be:

You need to find what works for YOU. What works for everyone else, may not work for YOU. And it will take time to find what works for YOU, so stick with it.

[zeg]

To be honest, I haven't eaten real whole wheat bread in quite sometime. Your best bet at finding some is either at your nearest health food store or just simply at a bakery. But I personally tend to get fiber from other sources in my diet.

There are a few brands at the local grocery that have good ingredients lists. "Wheat, water, yeast" and sometimes salt. None of these are big name brands, though, and I'd expect a lot to be local. Part of the reason for all the processed ingredients is that they produce a more consistent product with a longer shelf life. That's important if you're shipping bread around the state or around the country.

I used to love baking bread, because that way you knew for sure what went into it. It's a lot of work at first, but if you enjoy kneading (very therapeutic) and invest some time to get good at it you can make a loaf of bread in less than an hour of active time (i.e., not including rising or baking time, during which you can do other chores). At first you get some nasty stuff that's not fit for anything, but after a few iterations you can get sandwich-worthy stuff. There's nothing quite like a sandwich on fresh homemade bread. Unfortunately, for now our son has a wheat allergy, so no more bread baking for us (we did use a machine to make gluten-free stuff, but it's by necessity more of a chemistry project and not as enjoyable a process). Hopefully he outgrows it....

[CassinoNorth]

Currently on my bulk portion of my fitness journey.

I started out at 5'11", 210 lbs probably 30%+ body fat. Literally had barely any muscle and the first few weeks in the gym were definitely struggles. From March to July I dropped 30 lbs and was a rather skinny/lean 180. My lifts went up quite a bit (started benching 95 lbs, got up to 150).

Since the summer has gone, its the perfect time to bulk up for me. I want to get up to 210 again (around 20% body fat) then cut when March rolls around and be lean for the summer again with alot more muscle to show after.

My bulk diet:

Breakfast:
4 whole eggs
2 cups of milk
2 slices of wheat bread

Snack:
protein bar
Cashews (greattttttttt source of good fats/proteins)

Lunch:
Breaded chicken
Turkey/cheese sandwich

post workout:
2 scoops ON Whey
3 strawberries
2 bananas
(really awesome shake)

and for dinner:
grilled chicken
broccoli
mashed potatoes


I personally find bulking 10x harder than cutting. Keeping my calories under 1800 was a breeze compared to trying to get them up to 4000 on a daily basis. My lifts since I've been eating a ton have improved vastly (up to 190 bench) and I can finally feel my pecs forming nicely so it's worth it.

Its not quite for my golf game but I'm sure it doesn't hurt to be able to swing a little quicker.

[saevel25]

I can't touch eggs, to much cholesterol, 1 egg = daily recommended cholesterol amount.

Breakfast:
Wild Harvest Cerial (Rolled Oats & Dried BlueBerries) one of the only cereals were i found had just oats, big +, especially rolled oats.
1 cup non-homogonized milk (helps the body process the fats better and the calcium and vitemin D)
1 v-8 fusion can (8-oz)
1 carton orange juice (8-oz)

Snack
1 Banana

Lunch:
Roasted Chicken (usually dark meat)
1/2 cup rice (white or brown)
assorted veggies

Dinner
Roasted chicken breast
Roasted potatoe
assorted veggies


Thats about 90% what i eat most of the time. It comes out to about 1800 calories

[TN94z]

I personally find bulking 10x harder than cutting. Keeping my calories under 1800 was a breeze compared to trying to get them up to 4000 on a daily basis. My lifts since I've been eating a ton have improved vastly (up to 190 bench) and I can finally feel my pecs forming nicely so it's worth it.

Bulking is tough. Too many people think that bulking means you can just eat as much of whatever you want, and then they wonder what went wrong when they put on a lot of fat. Even though you are bulking and eating a lot more calories....they still need to be clean calories.

[saevel25]

I find bulking over rated, to me i rather have functional strength. I found that when i was just doing weight lifting i wasn't as strong as i am now doing curcuit training.

[CassinoNorth]

Bulking is tough. Too many people think that bulking means you can just eat as much of whatever you want, and then they wonder what went wrong when they put on a lot of fat. Even though you are bulking and eating a lot more calories....they still need to be clean calories.

Yep.

Unless you want to cover all your muscle gained with fat, you need to eat prett well, just a lot of it.

[newtogolf]

Bulking is tough. Too many people think that bulking means you can just eat as much of whatever you want, and then they wonder what went wrong when they put on a lot of fat. Even though you are bulking and eating a lot more calories....they still need to be clean calories.

Clean calories and only enough to promote the growth of muscle, not to cause significant fat storage. I used to be a personal trainer, and many people would gain 30 lbs during bulk phases (mostly fat) then starve themselve during a cut phase which would eliminate most of the muscle gains they made. Adding muscle and keeping it isn't easy if your diet isn't right, no matter how hard you work at the gym.

[saevel25]

Adding muscle and keeping it isn't easy if your diet isn't right, no matter how hard you work at the gym.

What would you recommend the correct diet would be to,

Bulk up? Gain lean muscle?

[TN94z]

Clean calories and only enough to promote the growth of muscle, not to cause significant fat storage. I used to be a personal trainer, and many people would gain 30 lbs during bulk phases (mostly fat) then starve themselve during a cut phase which would eliminate most of the muscle gains they made. Adding muscle and keeping it isn't easy if your diet isn't right, no matter how hard you work at the gym.

Agreed!!

What would you recommend the correct diet would be to,

I think the basics are pretty much:

1. Protein at 1.5 grams per lb of bodyweight unless you are over 20% bodyfat. If you are over 20% bodyfat you should not be massing and should lose the fat first. 2. Complex carbs and fats make up the rest of the diet. Complex carbs should be 60 or under on the GI scale. If you are an ecto, mesomorph, teen or in your early 20’s you may do well on 40% or even more carbs. If you are and endomorph, or 23+ you will likely do better on 20-35% carbs. 3. You need essential fatty acids. 5-8 grams of fish oil will do. The rest of the calories will come from fats, these can be mono, poly, or saturated depending on what you believe about saturated fats. 4. You need a caloric surplus of 200-400 calories a day depending on how long you have been lifting. If you are a newbie, you may be able to eat 500-700 extra calories a day—I said MAY—not can. Most people will just get fat doing this. Muscle is built relatively slowly and adding ½ lb of muscle a week will result in gaining 24 lbs in a year. How many people other than pure beginners actually do this?

The above is a quote from IA, one of the most brilliant trainers I have ever seen.

[newtogolf]

What would you recommend the correct diet would be to,

The key is to ensure you take in enough calories mostly through proteins to promote muscle growth during your "bulking" phase. During both cutting and bulking I use a I use a 40-40-20 split 40% calories from carbs and proteins, 20% from fat. Proteins are not the preferred energy of your body, but they are required to build muscle. The key during this phase is to eat clean calories, and keep your calories within 125% of BMR. Rough calculation for BMR is 10x your body weight. You can find calculators online that will give you a more accurate number, but I typically use 10x. As stated by others, most people think the bulking phase means eat anything you want and just lift heavy. The goal is to add quality pounds, muscle, not fat.

Of course this all changes if you're using PED's. ;) On the cut, keep your calorie intake to around 80% of BMR but not much beyond 500 less calories a day or below 1200 total. Keep your protein high to minimize muscle breakdown. Again eat clean foods, avoid drinking your calories if you can, as you will feel less hungry. Some people have a tough time taking in that much protein without going over in the other areas or total calories, so if you have to supplement with protein shakes, use high quality whey protein during the day or casein protein at night. I believe in timing my protein intake an hour before working out, and within a 1/2 hour of finishing the workout. It's also good to take in some casein protein at night to reduce muscle catabolism. Here's where you need to pay attention to your body, and adjust if you don't feel right. Take in plenty of water as well. Some people may get constipated taking in this much protein, so you should ensure you have alot of fiber in your diet or even consider supplementing if you find your affected by the extra protein.

[newtogolf]

I think the basics are pretty much:

This is pretty much dead on except the over 20% bodyfat cutting first. Most people at 20% - 25% bodyfat can maintain BMR, lift heavy, and find their bodyfat percentage drop just as quickly as a result of the increased workload. It's hard to add or even maintain muscle during a "good" cut and most people cut more severely than they should to get faster results. The chemical process to breakdown muscle for energy is simpler than for fat and your body will go after muscle first if there is a severe calorie deficit.

[TN94z]

This is pretty much dead on except the over 20% bodyfat cutting first. Most people at 20% - 25% bodyfat can maintain BMR, lift heavy, and find their bodyfat percentage drop just as quickly as a result of the increased workload. It's hard to add or even maintain muscle during a "good" cut and most people cut more severely than they should to get faster results. The chemical process to breakdown muscle for energy is simpler than for fat and your body will go after muscle first if there is a severe calorie deficit.

You are correct in dropping body fat, but the quote above was for massing, not cutting. Dropping body fat, is basically a cut (I know it may not be as strict as a "cut" is perceived in bodybuilding), but it is not considered massing either, which is what my quote pertained to. I am 23%BF now and there is NO WAY I would ever mass from this point.

[newtogolf]

I am 23%BF now and there is NO WAY I would ever mass from this point.

Makes more sense now, thanks. At 23% BF I'd suggest you maintain BMR and just lift and add some cardio. You'll add muscle faster and the cardio will help shed the fat.

[TN94z]

Makes more sense now, thanks. At 23% BF I'd suggest you maintain BMR and just lift and add some cardio. You'll add muscle faster and the cardio will help shed the fat.

I just started last Thursday on my weight loss. My goal is 30lbs. I weighed 190 when I started. My goal is to drop the 30 and then add around 10lb of lean muscle to put me around 170. We will see how it goes.