Current Events > General diet tips for losing weight and getting fit?

(+) Yeah! (+)

So my total calorie intake today is 1130.

That was so damn easy.
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pinky0926 posted...

I don't know if I would recommend it to someone for the rest of their life because IMO it's a pretty miserable way to live, treating all food like nutrition and regimenting it all the goddamn time.

tbh I genuinely feel that I felt so horrible emotionally when I was at my most fit was because of this
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Don't live with your mother who buys junk food she tries to pass off as healthy and then wonders why she isn't losing weight.
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prince_leo posted...

pinky0926 posted...

I don't know if I would recommend it to someone for the rest of their life because IMO it's a pretty miserable way to live, treating all food like nutrition and regimenting it all the goddamn time.

tbh I genuinely feel that I felt so horrible emotionally when I was at my most fit was because of this

This is armchair quarterback science at this point but I reckon the behaviour increases your cortisol (stress) levels which has a knock-on negative impact on any fitness goals you want to achieve. That is, if you find counting calories every meal a stressful thing (I do).
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CALORIES IN

CALORIES OUT

it's as simple as that m8
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*goes to check if this joke was already use ad nauseum*

*literally post #2*

i'm weak lmfao
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I hear trying to get your sleep patterns under control can help make the process far less painful.
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Sphyx posted...

I hear trying to get your sleep patterns under control can help make the process far less painful.

For a lot of reasons, some lifestyle but others physiological. Athletes aim to get at least 8 hours sleep IIRC because it has a measurable effect on performance. From a lifestyle point of view you're less likely to have those midnight feasting binges if you're going to bed at a reasonable time.
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Cut carbs.
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What to eat besides carbs? Ate another burrito for breakfast again. One scrambled egg and one slice of deli honey ham in an 8" flour tortilla.
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3khc posted...

What to eat besides carbs? Ate another burrito for breakfast again. One scrambled egg and one slice of deli honey ham in an 8" flour tortilla.

Why not add in some peppers, onions, and spinach? That will get you some of your "micros" (vitamins, minerals, balanced breakfast basically) and more energy will come from it.
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3khc posted...

What to eat besides carbs? Ate another burrito for breakfast again. One scrambled egg and one slice of deli honey ham in an 8" flour tortilla.

add vegetables to everything and lean meat if you're going to add meat (skinless chicken, fish)
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I guess I'll get that for groceries. What else is good nutrients but low on calories.
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3khc posted...

I guess I'll get that for groceries. What else is good nutrients but low on calories.

Most vegetables are good nutrient wise and low on calories.

Add leafy/fibrous greens as much as you can. Spinach is great, so is stuff like Broccoli and Brussels Sprouts.

Find some fruit that you like too. I BELIEVE current research suggests Kiwi's are EXCELLENT for you, but almost any fruit is of benefit. Personally I love Raspberries and Bananas.
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I eat broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and zucchini almost every night for dinner. Steamed. Is that good enough or still buy spinach.
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Why flour tortillas? Get spinach or corn ones instead.
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3khc posted...

What to eat besides carbs? Ate another burrito for breakfast again. One scrambled egg and one slice of deli honey ham in an 8" flour tortilla.

Protein is what you want to be consuming. Eggs, beans, cheese, turkey, chicken, quinoa, greek yogurt, and protein powder should all be staples. You should balance these with foods like Kale, Broccoli, bananas, and other healthy foods.

One of the best tips I can give you is to "enhance" your standard meals with the addition of other ingredients. For instance, instead of having a burrito with just beans and eggs, add quinoa to the mix and you will have increased both the protein and fiber content of the burrito. These additions are not only good for your overall health, but can actually add quite a lot of taste to them. Also, foods like quinoa provide a triple whammy of protein, fiber, and will also make you feel fuller faster.

Another example: Instead of having just a quesadilla with cheese, add quinoa, pieces of kale, and a meat like chicken.

Further, you want to consume as little sugar as possible - but not go cold turkey. Instead, start adding water to whatever it is you drink (sorry, but if it is soda you will have to switch to iced tea or some other non-carbonated beverage). If you drink juice for instance, start by diluting it 1:1. Over time, you will find that your dependency on the sugar will fade and you can move to strictly water.

Finally, don't forget to get active and do activities YOU ENJOY. Switch it up and don't be afraid to look like a fool sometimes.

Cuz that's all i have. Bought them cuz taste better.
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Its all about finding something you can sustain for the rest of your life. Can you continue eating chicken, broccoli and rice for the rest of your life? If that sounds like a miserable existence to you then that way of losing weight won't work for you long term.

For a period of 1-2 weeks of normal eating figure out where your calories are coming from. When I got fat I had been eating a ton of fast food, soda, chips, sweets, basically total junk food. I found that I was able to cut out soda and sweets completely, fast food mostly but I couldn't cut out chips, when I would try I would binge on other stuff (nuts or the likes).

So when you find the bad foods you replace what you can and limit what you can't replace. So instead of 2-3 full sized bags of chips a week, I no get 1-2 3 oz bags of chips a week (those ones that sell for like $1.69).
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Don't cut carbs. 45% carbs, 35% protein, 20% fat is a good standard ratio.

You shouldn't be looking for food that's low in calories but food that fits your macros. Eating lettuce all day isn't good.

I'll check it out. Eight now I'm just proud that I'm taking in under 3000 calories.
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Dude thats why youre having trouble. Counting calories is the biggest myth to weight loss. Its like saying, I want to cut down on my gas mileage, so I will start putting less gas in my tank. You need energy to burn if you want to exercise (which everybody should).

You have one ingredient you need to watch out for: sugar.

Carbs = good
Sugar and sodium = makes you fat
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Is diet soda not okay? Even if it's just at meals?
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I was 240 lbs in September and I weigh around 195 lbs as of right now.

1). I measure my caloric intake and if I was going to be eating out or drinking that day I prepared my self caloric wise.

2). Exercise can be your biggest ally or biggest worst enemy. Exercise will cause you to be more hungry which will give you these urges to binge. DONT DO IT! One workout can burn 200 calories, but theres people that will justify their 700 calorie donut binge because they worked out on the treadmill. Your 30 minute treadmill run probably burned 150 calories, but you had 3 office donuts afterwards that was probably 800 calories that just killer your workout lol.

3). I like sweet stuff and alcohol, so it would have been futile to completely ban these from my diet. Instead, I worked my cut to include these items or I would lose my mind and binge.

4). Learn to avoid certain unhealthy dense calorie foods altogether like pizza, getting drunk off beer, eating fast food every day, and etc.
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Cardio, cut back on junk food, and try to eat lots of veggies and fruit.

never give up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX9FSZJu448" data-time="
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I've been eating ~250 to 350 calories every two hours or so. Is that supposed to be good for metabolism?
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Went over my calorie allowance today, but it was fixed with some exercise. So far I've been doing pretty well, if I must say so myself.
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Also been taking multi vitamin and fish oil. Nb4youdon'tneedtotakethoseifyoueatright
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3khc posted...

Is that supposed to be good for metabolism?

No different than eating ~3 times a day in ~600 calorie portions. Find whatever schemes works best in terms of both lifestyle and satiety for sticking with the deficit.
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DuranOfForcena posted...

gamestunner posted...

Is diet soda not okay? Even if it's just at meals?

it's not okay. it's probably even worse for you than regular soda in some ways. in regards to weight loss specifically, it's at the very least just as bad as regular soda.

Haha. No. Knew someone was gonna say this.

Colorahdo and Pinky have some good posts in here otherwise it just strikes me as people parroting things from me quickly skimming through.

Also lol at macro ratios. Go by actual numbers.
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Burn more calories than youre consuming
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I consume ~2200 calories a day. How do i burn that same amount?m
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Cardio and hit the weights
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Drink Water. If you change absolutely nothing else in your diet in the next month, drink exclusively water.
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3khc posted...

I consume ~2200 calories a day. How do i burn that same amount?m

tbh you need to reverse engineer that number. BMR/TDEE calculators and smart watches are ballpark at best.

You know how many calories you eat per day and you know how much you weigh (get a bathroom scale, imo). If your weight isn't really changing, you're either eating too much or moving too less. There's always a little bit of fluctuation because of sodium/carb intake plus hydration level and poop/pee, so to minimize that noise I suggest doing it at the same time (like... first thing in the morning, post pee).

Run with the estimates a bit, see how your weight changes, and adjust intake or activity until you're at your desired pace of fat loss (about -1 lb/week?)
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Go paleo bro
Plan meals
Do exercise

Ive recently had brain surgery and its resulted in my hormones being completely fucked and Ive gained hella weight & losing it is more difficult for me.

Reducing processed carbs is the best thing you can do imo, Ive lost 12lbs in 3 weeks doing that

DuranOfForcena posted...

EdgeMaster posted...

Haha. No. Knew someone was gonna say this.

"haha no" what? knew someone was going to say what? that soda, no matter what kind, is not healthy for you and you shouldn't be drinking it three times a fucking day if you want to lose weight? get the fuck out of here with your snippy, elitist bullshit.

Lol. Thats good you figured out you shouldnt drink 3 cans of soda a day, not that I ever recommended it. Funny how you call me an elitist. Youre a know nothing parrot and Id hazard a guess you look like shit too.
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3khc posted...

I've been eating ~250 to 350 calories every two hours or so. Is that supposed to be good for metabolism?

Honestly don't stress the minutiae like this. You have a general problem like a general lack of exercise and overeating and you don't fix that by worrying about small stuff like this.

Worry about meal timing when you're trying to get your mile run time down sub 5 minutes or something like that. For now, the goal is to change your habits in the long term in a manageable way, not burn yourself out in 2 months time because you're sick of measuring out your potatoes every meal.
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don't eat
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pinky0926 posted...

3khc posted...

I've been eating ~250 to 350 calories every two hours or so. Is that supposed to be good for metabolism?

Honestly don't stress the minutiae like this. You have a general problem like a general lack of exercise and overeating and you don't fix that by worrying about small stuff like this.

Worry about meal timing when you're trying to get your mile run time down sub 5 minutes or something like that. For now, the goal is to change your habits in the long term in a manageable way, not burn yourself out in 2 months time because you're sick of measuring out your potatoes every meal.

I'm not stressing. The calorie thing is a breeze. And I automatically eat every 2-3 hours because that is my work schedule. I'm literally just wondering if that is beneficial.
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3khc posted...

I'm not stressing. The calorie thing is a breeze. And I automatically eat every 2-3 hours because that is my work schedule. I'm literally just wondering if that is beneficial.

Short answer no (probably), long answer yes (probably). The critical factor here is not what happens to your body when it processes a small amount of food regularly vs a large amount of food less regularly, *but* whichever option is easier for your mentally to sustain and which option provides better habits.

Elite athletes worry about meal timing because yes, all things being equal things like this matter to get a small increase out of performance. You'll find that they'll focus on the timings of meals in the lead up to an event (like a marathon) so that they're at the optimum level of energy without being full of food, for example. Bodybuilders and elite strongmen focus on getting their meals spread out both because they need a lot of food and because they want to get the most out of the macros that they eat (because your body can only really process so much at a time).

If you were snacking regularly all day in an effort to keep your metabolism at an even keel but this resulted in you having an imbalanced diet (because you ate a disproportionate amount of nuts, for example) then it would be counter-productive.

Basically my answer to almost all of these questions is gonna be whichever results in more beneficial human behaviour instead of whichever could hypothetically result in a more optimum physiological response.
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the metabolism stuff is pretty negligible. yeah it matters for athletic performance. doesn't really matter for weight loss. eat small amounts every few hours, or fast and eat one big meal. or do the 'normal' 3 meals a day, etc. it won't make a difference as long as you're eating less calories than normal and you're eating nutrient rich food. eat filling foods and plenty of fiber. avoid sugar. just do what works for you, as long as you can do it healthily. personally I eat twice a day, with a delayed breakfast a few hours after waking up and then a dinner later. I've gone from a bit over 230 lb to a little over 200 lb in a couple of months by just eating better
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