Looking for friends more interested in nutrition than extreme weight loss

AliciaHollywood

Hi, I’m normal weight and more interested in nutrition than extreme weight loss. I do like to remain slim and even lose a few pounds but my main interest is getting enough nutrition without having to eat a lot of food. I avoid junk food and have no interest in it or cravings for it. I do crave less unhealthy sweets though like dried fruit (Trader Joe’s spicy dried mango is my big calorie breaker!), raisins, dried cranberries and also when I crave sweets have Kashi granola bars or an organic cereal bar. Occasionally I will eat less healthy sugary sweets but keep it at a minimum and usually it will at least have some nutritional value like pumpkin pie (only on winter holidays) or dark chocolate. I sometimes make my own home-made frozen yogurt with stevia and healthy ingredients like chia seeds and flax seeds and even macha tea. I love superfoods!

Since the pandemic I’ve lost weight without trying because I used to be really social and drink at events and parties and eat food I didn’t purchase myself. I never drink alone (except a few times on Zoom or social VR) but maybe only one glass of wine compared to what I used to drink socially and extremely rarely. Unfortunately I will most likely go back to drinking more when things open up but in the meantime I want to remain extra healthy with a low calorie diet. I HATE working out but am starting to work out a bit in VR apps. I’m afraid of losing muscle mass and know I have to start working out but it’s much easier for me to have a very low cal diet than work out. I live alone and have always just snacked throughout the day on healthy snacks like nuts, fruit, veggies, Greek yogurt, frozen mango, frozen berries, organic popcorn kernels I pop in the microwave, small amounts of cheese, rather than eat actual meals. I get full super quickly and when I eat out always take half home. I don’t eat red meat.

Lately I often forget to eat so I started tracking again to make sure I get enough nutrition. I hate going to the grocery store now because of Covid and usually do a big shopping excursion about every 45 days, and when I run low on food, I eat too little because I don’t want to deal with food shopping. I never seem to get physically hungry and get full really quickly. I can go a long time without food and not even notice.

I know my situation is a lot different from many people on here so hoping to find friends in a similar situation or who don’t mind how different I am from the norm. I’m still wanting to lose about 5 lbs or maybe more in preparation for when I get social again so it will be OK to gain a few back. Although my current weight is actually technically 1 pound underweight according to charts so I guess it’s really more about toning and gaining muscle mass for me rather than just losing weight. I’m going to try to work out more because I really shouldn’t go lower on calories. I’m not sure why I hate working out so much but VR makes it more fun at least! My situation may be a bit rare, but I’m hoping to find some friends here.

MaltedTea

Sounds like you may need more calorically dense foods?

• Volume Eating - Nutrient Dense Eating
• A List of Calorie Dense Foods

For general maintenance, you may want to check some of these threads:

• Long time maintainers how do you do it
• Maintainers - how do you keep your head in the game?
• Recomposition: Maintaining weight while losing fat

PremGandhi

It's not too rare. I also lost a significant weight due the non social environment induced by the pandemic. I am now close to underweight category. But my fat % is still about 17%. I probably have a similar aim as you.. Need to recompose mu body fat and muscle. Right now I am trying to do that by strength exercise at the gym but I am far from where I want to be at.

AliciaHollywood

Gyms are still closed here and I think it will be a while before they reopen. I never really went when they were open because my gym is mostly very muscular men who grunt and sweat a lot and I have to drastically change weights each time I get on a machine and not sure how to even really use them all lol,

AliciaHollywood

I usually eat nuts, cashews, almonds and an omega trail mix from Trader Joe’s, also chia seeds and flax seed meal that add healthy calories but I’m out of them, have to go food shopping. It drives me crazy though when MFP chastises and punishes me whenever I go under the amount of calories they suggest or tells me my goal weight is too low. I eat organic and get way more nutrition than people who just count calories but eat a bunch of processed junk food filled with chemicals. Plus I take a ton of vitamins and supplements. I’m very healthy even when I go under 1,000 calories and not going to eat more just because MFP tells me to. I was eating higher calories pre-Covid when I was going out a lot but they were less healthy calories.

I have several friends who are gaining weight during Covid because they’re bored or depressed and even drinking alone more and they used to go the gym regularly but can’t now. It’s interesting that some people gain weight and others lose weight during Covid.

PremGandhi

AliciaHollywood wrote: »

Gyms are still closed here and I think it will be a while before they reopen. I never really went when they were open because my gym is mostly very muscular men who grunt and sweat a lot and I have to drastically change weights each time I get on a machine and not sure how to even really use them all lol,

Haha. I know that feeling. I felt so out of place initially when I started. I just stayed in the cardio sessions. But slowly but surely I found out they were quite helpful. So I am now trying to get more into it. But it makes the whole body sore. Can't do it everyday. Maybe every other day. If possible give it a shot.

I prefer to eat organic and local produce and home cooked stuff. I have been able to avoid the fast food 95% of the cases. But I think just ensuring that you are undereating calories will help you lose weight.. It may not be for long term as you have to ensure that your diet has enough nutrition and that makes you feel satiated.

Chemicals in food and supplement is a big issue. My friend started using this protein powder. He started gaining weight at an unprecedented pace in just 2 months. He realized something is wrong medically. Soon enough he found out that it was affecting the thyroid glands and so kept on gaining weight. He stopped using it and things returned to normal after 6 months. Since then he only goes for natural stuff even if it has slightly less protein than he would want. As a result I also prefer to use natural and unprocessed food as much as possible.

Also, i love nuts, I eat cashews, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, sunflower seeds 5g each everyday. And some days those no added sugar nut bars. Never needed any vitamin supplement though.

AliciaHollywood

PremGandhi wrote: »

AliciaHollywood wrote: »

Gyms are still closed here and I think it will be a while before they reopen. I never really went when they were open because my gym is mostly very muscular men who grunt and sweat a lot and I have to drastically change weights each time I get on a machine and not sure how to even really use them all lol,

Haha. I know that feeling. I felt so out of place initially when I started. I just stayed in the cardio sessions. But slowly but surely I found out they were quite helpful. So I am now trying to get more into it. But it makes the whole body sore. Can't do it everyday. Maybe every other day. If possible give it a shot.

I prefer to eat organic and local produce and home cooked stuff. I have been able to avoid the fast food 95% of the cases. But I think just ensuring that you are undereating calories will help you lose weight.. It may not be for long term as you have to ensure that your diet has enough nutrition and that makes you feel satiated.

Chemicals in food and supplement is a big issue. My friend started using this protein powder. He started gaining weight at an unprecedented pace in just 2 months. He realized something is wrong medically. Soon enough he found out that it was affecting the thyroid glands and so kept on gaining weight. He stopped using it and things returned to normal after 6 months. Since then he only goes for natural stuff even if it has slightly less protein than he would want. As a result I also prefer to use natural and unprocessed food as much as possible.

Also, i love nuts, I eat cashews, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, sunflower seeds 5g each everyday. And some days those no added sugar nut bars. Never needed any vitamin supplement though.

The other issue I have with the gym is the driving and parking. It’s not that far away but traffic is always bad getting there. Driving both ways and parking is an extra hour out of the day. And I swear every bodyguard and bouncer goes there! All huge bulky men grunting like they’re about to have an orgasm. Sometimes I start to giggle.

I have a different app that tracks more nutrients than here and the one nutrient I have a problem getting enough of is phosphorus. Mostly in meat, oysters, milk but it also says nuts which I eat pretty much daily but never get points for phosphorus. Also it’s hard to drink enough water. It’s too filling. I drink throughout the day but it’s really hard to get enough and I have to force myself.

I check all labels for chemicals and shop at Trader Joe’s which tends to have healthier food than regular supermarkets and buy mostly organic. I occasionally use protein powder but I get an organic kind and I don’t see any chemicals on the label.