Nutrient targets

dengarrett

I have been watching my nutrient targets much closer and working to hit, or improve upon my targets. I talked with my doctor who said that on a restricted calorie diet, it can be hard to get all of the vitamins and minerals needed. He recommended a muti-vitamin and a calcium supplement.

I have seen that people choose different types of diets (saw a reference to the DASH diet) and/or different targets. Anyone have any thoughts or advice on this subject?

CassieLEO

I take three supplements / vitamins. I take a calcium / Vit D supplement, a womens energy supplement and a Complex B-Vitamin. I dont eat a lot of milk products so I need the calcium, and I am a woman so I need a womens multivitamin with 100% iron. I use the B-VItamins for energy and I feel much better taking them. There is no harm with takign a supplement if you arent getting what you need from the food you are eating...

dengarrett

Thanks - do you set and follow your nutrient targets in MFP? If so, do you just use what MFP says or do you set your own? If you set your own, what process do you follow to determine what they should be?

CassieLEO

I follow what the accepted daily allowance is of vitamins according to research, nutritionists and Doctors. Websites such as WebMD will tell you what you need. I also know that im not eating a lot of red meat anymore, (so I need iron) and im not eating much dairy products (so I need Calcium). Ive been known to have low levels of B-Vitamins when the doctor tested me before, so I make sure I take those.

If you are unsure of something like vitamins, you should make a appt to see a nutritionist or your doctor. Insurance will usually cover a few visits to see one, and they can guide you in what you need. But honestly, most people do fine with a complex multivitamin such as Centrum or whatnot...

dengarrett

I follow what the accepted daily allowence is of vitamins according to research, nutritionists and Doctors. Websites such as WebMD will tell you what you need. I also know that im not eating a lot of red meat anymore, (so I need iron) and im not eating much dairy products (so I need Calcium). Ive been known to have low levels of B-Vitamins when the doctor tested me before, so I make sure I take those.

If you are unsure of something like vitamins, you should make a appt to see a nutritionist or your doctor. Insurance will usually cover a few visits to see one, and they can guide you in what you need. But honestly, most people do fine with a complex multivitamin such as Centrum or whatnot...

Yeah, my dr recommended Centrum and a calcium supplement.

Still curious about the various types of diets I see people reference on MFP and how/why the choose the targets they do.

Pandorian

For me I have goals of 40% carbs 30% fat and 30% protein, I rarely hit the protein as I haven't bought my protein supplement yet, but it's a goal to aim for anyway.
I have seen those ratios referred to as I believe the south beach? I dunno. I chose them as I wanted to decrease my carbs in order to get my protein to where I wanted it 15% wasn't enough, 30% put me spot on for my chosen target of 0.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight.
I eat full-fat (and full-taste) versions of the condiments I choose to have (ie Miracle Whip, or salad dressing the very ODD time that I use it) if I really want a 30% less fat for whatever reason I use smaller portion of the condiment. I user butter. I refuse to touch margarine. I use olive oil from a bottle rather than an aerosol can (will eventually get around to buying a mister for spritzing my pans but I choose to do so without the butane / propane etc propellants) I refuse to touch soy products sticking to products that are less likely to be GMO, I grow my own vegetables and have raised my own meat so I know what they're eating before its their turn to be consumed.

dengarrett

... my chosen target of 0.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight ...

Thanks - how/why did you decide that you wanted to hit .5 grams of protein per pound of body weight?

Pandorian

It is a good number for me to feel like I'm eating in the day, when I get back to strength training more seriously I'll increase it closer to 1 gram per pound but for where I'm at now the 0.5 works for me. I don't have the book in front of me but it's something from the publishers of Men's Health which I read for ages until I got tired of their creatine pushing and cancelled my subscription. They still have good info and their "before and after" stuff really motivated me seeing that there were others in the same boat weight-wise and succeeding in losing in healthy ways (no surgery etc) just by putting in the hard-work and dedication.

So far I'm just getting the eating right part down and retraining myself as to what a portion is. Adding cardio in that I've seen change my resting heart rate pretty dramatically in 3 months. I have to push pretty hard to get heart-rate over 160 where before it seemed to get there just by starting the cardio. And my resting heart-rate after an hour on the machines goes back to what it was pre-workout in about 2 minutes. Another month with the eating and adding to cardio then I'll be looking at the strength-training.

dengarrett

That’s cool - I too am at a point that I find it hard to hit higher heart rates and my resting heart rate is now in the 50's! Last night I rode my recumbent bike for an hour at an average of 114 bpm with RPM at about 70. For the last 60 seconds or so I pushed RPM's up to 140+ and couldn't get my heart rate up past 150. And I know what you mean - climbing a flight of stairs would have had me huffing and puffing. What I find is that my resting heart rate is below 60, after warm-up I am at about 80-90, and I can return back to the 90's within a couple of minutes after exercise, but it takes me a few more minutes to get back to 60. I'm gonna talk to my doc about that.

I have done some resistance tubes, but have been focused on cardio here recently. I want to get back to that.

Gonna do more research on the ratios of nutrients to body weight.

Thanks a bunch for sharing the info!