The "Dieting" dilema; bad food, worse ideas.

arewethereyet

I'm working on it!!!

Im at work so I have to sneak it in...lol

Yeah! It's our dang jobs getting in the way!

I know! Mine's cutting into my gym time. :laugh:

Banks, I tried to read up on EPOC, but it made my brain hurt. Could you explain it like you were talking to a 5 year old? Thanks.

ETA: Apparently it's about the intensity with which one exercises? Working hard while exercising is most effective. I see people at the gym all the time who work out for 2 hours but never really get a good sweat going on. I work out for 45 min. Cardio, and am drenched at the end of it. I think the more intense the workout, the bigger the benefit, not the max time.

right, the concept is, if you work close to, or at maximal oxygen consumption, you burn more calories not only during, but for an extended period after you work out, so maybe you only work for 35 to 40 minutes, but it's equivalent to working at a moderate pace for say, an hour and a half. PLUS, it gives you benefits in that, you train your muscles to work harder and grow, AND your body recognizes the need for a more efficient oxygen delivery system, so your lungs increase capacity and your blood becomes more efficient at delivering oxygen to your muscles. It's a win-win (except it's far more painful than taking it easy at the gym)

turns out I was working to my max O2 levels.............I was just working at 60% all along. Good thing I went to the doc:drinker:

krhbutte

:flowerforyou:

NinaDawn79

Basically a lot of words saying "Exercise, good."

Nina I am also finding the exercise helps to de-stress me. Instead of eating, I rode my bike and felt 10x better. Thanks for bringing that to my attn.
[/quote]

Hot dog, you get it Jeannie, thank you!

Exercise makes wise food choices easier. I could have just said that, but I had to go and make it complicated, 'tis the way of the Nina. :laugh:

jtintx

bump....good info.

Phoenix_Rising

Thanks Banks, I needed to see that.
I mean, I knew it but I needed a swift verbal kick in the *kitten* kinda reminder. :flowerforyou:

SHBoss1673

Thanks Banks, I needed to see that.
I mean, I knew it but I needed a swift verbal kick in the *kitten* kinda reminder. :flowerforyou:

My specialty, verbal *kitten* kickings!

cardigirl

Banks, wanted to ask you about carbs. Heh. My trainer has suggested that I try to eat the following percentages for optimum weight loss:

50-55% carbs
20-25 % protein
20-25% essential fats

Which is a lot different from what I had been doing. I'm following it and giving it a chance, although it is difficult to get all the carbs in sometimes. Of course, I'm eating complex carbs, as much as possible, but wondered what your thoughts were on why carbs are considered so bad by so many people?

SHBoss1673

Banks, wanted to ask you about carbs. Heh. My trainer has suggested that I try to eat the following percentages for optimum weight loss:

50-55% carbs
20-25 % protein
20-25% essential fats

Which is a lot different from what I had been doing. I'm following it and giving it a chance, although it is difficult to get all the carbs in sometimes. Of course, I'm eating complex carbs, as much as possible, but wondered what your thoughts were on why carbs are considered so bad by so many people?

It's the latest fad. Like low fat was 20 years ago, and low calorie was 10 years ago, it's the next step in the game.
a 50-25-25 diet is fine for most people, especially if you're eating your fiber, and (as you said) eating the complex carbs that are better for the metabolic process.

Look, carbs are not the devil. WE are the devil (in this scenario). It doesn't matter what you eat, if you eat it to excess, you're GOING to be overweight. So whether your ratio is 40-35-25 (carb-protein-fat) or 20-50-30 or 50-25-25 as long as you're eating the correct amounts per meal, getting in all your micro nutrients (vitamins and minerals), and exercising, you're probably going to be fine. NOW, some people have an easier time with less carbs than others, and some people really do have carb sensitivities, but those are relatively rare cases. Sometimes a disease or improperly functioning body part can cause problems with one macronutrient, like a liver problem means protein issues, or a thyroid problem can cause carb issues, or diabetes can have serious consequences with your carbohydrate intake, or even someone with a gallbladder issue would have a very hard time with fats. These are all special cases that don't follow the norm. If you're relatively confident that you don't have a condition that requires special care, then find a ratio that you can mentally and physically handle (that may take a little trial and error), and stick to it. Once you get over the initial difficulties of startup, it's really not that hard to stick to a nutrition program.

cardigirl

Thanks for the reply...as I said, I wasn't always eating the amount of carbs MFP was giving me, so perhaps that was why my weight stalled. I'm going to go with these percentages for awhile and see what happens.

hiddensecant

When I hit my last plateau around 140 lbs, the best thing I did to break it was increase my calories. I was still at a deficit, just 250 calories instead of 500 .... I've been losing at least a pound per week since (about a month ago).

Some people will add calories and then cut back to where they were before. And that will break their plateau. That was my plan but I figured if I was losing now, there's no reason to try to cut the calories again.

totallytasha

I just want to say thank you for the inspirational post. Luckily I've never had an issue with not eating enough - even when I'm feeling semi-nautious from TOM I eat something, because I know my body needs it.

Now what I have to work through is eating only the good stuffs. I've certainly bumped up the fruits and veggies I consume, and thanks to the bf I've been eating more complex carbs. I've got to stop the "I deserve a treat and it fits into my calories' - everday - and get into the 'fueling my body with the best' mentality. I only fill my car with Chevron, so why not fill my body with only the goodies?

Again, thanks for the post!

And thanks to everyone for all the bumping! I never would have seen this otherwise.

arewethereyet

:glasses:

arewethereyet

just stopped by to bump

Jaymie

Thats another fantastic post BANKS!!
I find your topics very informative, motivational, realistic... Your doing a great job on MFP Hope you never stop!

Cheers

Jaymie

:flowerforyou:

SHBoss1673

Thats another fantastic post BANKS!!
I find your topics very informative, motivational, realistic... Your doing a great job on MFP Hope you never stop!

Cheers

Jaymie

:flowerforyou:

why thank you Jaymie! That was very kind of you to say! I appreciate the very nice words!

leeslim4life

Thank you for posting this, it helps slap things back into perspective. I always thought eating clean was eating Veggies, fruits, fish chicken & so forth but coming here & adding my weight info into the calculator I never thought about counting calories. In my clean eating style I am way over my proteins. I haven’t exercised in 3 months but, before that I would do P90X & play basketball. I know it will take me 2 weeks to get back into the hang of things with my workout programs but I have a question.
Am I supposed to burn the amount of calories I take in daily? What’s going to prevent my body from going into starvation mode? When I wasn’t exercising in that 3 month period I still proportioned my food. Granted it wasn’t the best foods but, I wasn’t out of control with the portions. I never suffered from high blood pressure, cholesterol & so forth.
I want to start my healthier life style off right & need guidance. I thank you again for the info!
~Leelee~

paulamma1

Banks

I just re-read this and it's great stuff!!!

Thanks so much.

I think I'll print it off and hang it in front of my sight line. May make getting stuff done during the day difficult but at least it'll be right there in front of me!

Seriously. Thanks
Paula

SHBoss1673

Thank you for posting this, it helps slap things back into perspective. I always thought eating clean was eating Veggies, fruits, fish chicken & so forth but coming here & adding my weight info into the calculator I never thought about counting calories. In my clean eating style I am way over my proteins. I haven’t exercised in 3 months but, before that I would do P90X & play basketball. I know it will take me 2 weeks to get back into the hang of things with my workout programs but I have a question.
Am I supposed to burn the amount of calories I take in daily? What’s going to prevent my body from going into starvation mode? When I wasn’t exercising in that 3 month period I still proportioned my food. Granted it wasn’t the best foods but, I wasn’t out of control with the portions. I never suffered from high blood pressure, cholesterol & so forth.
I want to start my healthier life style off right & need guidance. I thank you again for the info!
~Leelee~

you are supposed to eat the calories they give you to eat on MFP, that includes exercise calories, that is if you follow the MFP plan. Which isn't a requirement, there are many different and healthy ways to lose weight, MFP is just one of them. But if you choose to use the MFP way, then yes, you eat your exercise calories.

if you are still a little baffled (many are about this topic), click on the link in my sig. It has a lot of great posts to help you through it.

SHBoss1673

Banks

I just re-read this and it's great stuff!!!

Thanks so much.

I think I'll print it off and hang it in front of my sight line. May make getting stuff done during the day difficult but at least it'll be right there in front of me!

Seriously. Thanks
Paula

:blushing:

leeslim4life

Thanks Babe I appreciate the feedback & will read up on the post in your siggy! Have a great one!!