Nutrition Advise

Chrissy82885

I've been struggling to make a lifestyle change from sedentary activities and processed food to more active and healthy eating. The motivation just wasnt there.

In preparation for my brother's wedding in March, (and my bridesmaid's dress) I feel very motivated, but I'm not sure where to start. I'm going to start working out on my lunch breaks (yay for an office park with a gym!) But I'd like to jumpstart my new eating habbits (hate the word "diet") buy doing a bit of detox first. I was thinking no meat, dairy, or processed foods for a bit, then gradually adding back in normal foods.

Any guidance on the best way to do something like this would be very appreciated!

MKEgal

Here's a newbie help post, which includes links to useful info such as sexypants (go read it now, then come back to the rest of the thread), healthy goal setting (weight, calories, macros), accurate logging of food, motivation...

Detox is a myth. Your kidneys, liver, skin, & lungs remove toxins from your body, and if they're not working no change of diet is going to help you.
Avoiding/reducing processed foods could be beneficial, primarily because you'd go to more low-cal low-fat low-sodium higher-fiber whole-food choices.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/detox-diets/faq-20058040
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-detox-scam-how-to-spot-it-and-how-to-avoid-it/
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/_Zardoz_/view/you-can-t-detox-your-body-it-s-a-myth-712898

The way to see the biggest change in the next month would be to increase your weightlifting (frequency, weight, reps, sets), try for the upper end of a healthy macro range for protein (helps with muscle building/repair, keeps you un-hungry longer), keep eating modestly under your maintenance calories & doing cardio at least 30 min/day.

monty619

track your food for a week on MFP eating what you normally would just to see where your at, then set macros to generic recomp numbers like 40% Carb 40% Pro 20% fat and lower calories by 250 and if you lose weight keep it there and if you don't then drop it by another hundred.. these are very loose guidelines

MKEgal

monty wrote:

set macros to generic recomp numbers like 40% Carb 40% Pro 20% fat and lower calories by 250 and if you lose weight keep it there and if you don't then drop it by another hundred.. these are very loose guidelines

Except that your suggestions are outside the healthy ranges for both carbohydrates (40% is too low) and protein (40% is too high).

Here's a table which explains the healthy ranges:
http://www.iom.edu/Global/News%20Announcements/~/media/C5CD2DD7840544979A549EC47E56A02B.ashx

page 1, carbs, 45 - 65% of calories (4 cal per gram)
page 2, fat, 20 - 35% of calories (9 cal per gram)
page 4, protein, 10 - 35% of calories (4 cal per gram)

monty619

... except ur talking about a 5% fluctuation on each and ur talking to a female so u need to take bodyweight into consideration as well... and there are no such thing as 'healthy ranges' eating too many carbs proteins or fats wont kill you.. its over or under consumption

monty619

.. and that article recommends that you don't eat saturated fats? that's ridiculous.

kimny72

OP, don't make it more complicated than it is . There is nothing to jumpstart and detoxes don't do anything. Read these, they will help!

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants#latest

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101#latest

Good luck!

hangnail666

Flexible "dieting"* I'm rated #1 bro scientists on this app, honestly just do iifym http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/
(Link to macro calculator)
You don't need to be eating kale if you don't like it (I do kale is the *kitten*) message me if you have anymore questions. Just track your macros and exercise for now.