Opinions on my diet

robpett2001

I'm 5' 10" (179cm) and weigh 203lb (92.5kg). I'm aiming for 165lb (75kg). At my heaviest (2.5 months ago) i was 227lb (103kg).

Thanks for providing such great info, and being so open to suggestions! I think this particular topic has been a good example of what makes MFP so great!

As far as your situation is concerned, lots of people have encouraged you (correctly, I would say) to increase your net intake. I haven't noticed that anyone has put your numbers into a BMR calculator to see what your target really ought to be (I apologize if I missed it...). I plugged them into the calculator at http://www.fat2fitradio.com/bmr and here's what it tells me (and I suspect the MFP calculator would give you similar numbers):

At your current weight, your BMR is 2016. That's the amount of energy it takes to keep your body idling, if you didn't move and were in a coma. You should NEVER net (taking into account the energy burned exercising) less than that number...and really, you need more than that, cause, well, you're moving and stuff..

At your goal weight of 165 pounds, the calculator indicates you'll be able to net 2135 calories a day to maintain (imagine that! pretty cool, huh?!). You could eat at that level today and still lose weight. You could even eat a little under that, just as long as you stay above that BMR, so your body has the energy eat needs to operate properly.

Really, it sounds like you've got the right attitude for this, and are interested in doing the research to understand what it takes. And yes, I'm a big fan of the podcasts at fat2fitradio.com, so I'd suggest it as a good place to learn more.

Best wishes!

Oh...and PS:
http://www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/index1.html

GuybrushThreepw00d

At your current weight, your BMR is 2016. You should NEVER net less than that number

I'm confused. MFP takes in my information,
My current weight, height, my activity level, how much i want to lose a week and tells me how many net calories to consume a day.

Here's the figure
Net Calories Consumed* / Day 1,360 Calories / Day

What's up with that? I assume that MFP works it out by looking at my BMR and giving me a target defecit to achieve my desired weight loss of 2lb a week. Not trying to be flippant, but i'm just trying to gain a better understanding of what would be an optimum diet.

Thank you to everyone who's commented on my food diary (ie. eat more calories).. I've started by having a bigger breakfast today.

zoeluiisa

At your current weight, your BMR is 2016. You should NEVER net less than that number

I'm confused. MFP takes in my information,
My current weight, height, my activity level, how much i want to lose a week and tells me how many net calories to consume a day.

Here's the figure
Net Calories Consumed* / Day 1,360 Calories / Day

What's up with that? I assume that MFP works it out by looking at my BMR and giving me a target defecit to achieve my desired weight loss of 2lb a week. Not trying to be flippant, but i'm just trying to gain a better understanding of what would be an optimum diet.

Thank you to everyone who's commented on my food diary (ie. eat more calories).. I've started by having a bigger breakfast today.

But remember that's set up for you being sedentary. Which is fine, as long as you add in every bit of exercise you do and eat back the calories from it. So for example, if you walked to work and walked home again, and then you went to the gym... you'd end up eating more than 2,000 calories instead of 1,360.

If you don't want to log and eat back your exercise calories, you'd be better changing your activity level from sedentary to active.

GuybrushThreepw00d

If you don't want to log and eat back your exercise calories, you'd be better changing your activity level from sedentary to active.

I've tweaked it up 1 level, and now it says;
Net Calories Consumed* / Day 1,550 Calories / Day

Greenrun99

MFP doesn't really take into account BMR when it sets your calorie level, atleast not from anyone I have seen.. usually if you have 2lb a week set to lose it will give you the 1200 or around there calorie limit then it expects you to eat back your exercise calories.. which people sometimes do, others don't do...

Looking at your diary you will want to focus more on your Net calories and your protein number.. Both are really low for a guy, some days your netting below 1000 calories.. for someone running and doing weight lifting your not eating enough.. Going to want to get that protein number up so you don't lose lean muscle mass during your weight loss as well.. You said you weigh 203, I would aim for 160 in protein or higher.. plus this number will also help you eat better than what I see..
Onto the bad stuff, you need to start making some meals and eating cleaner with some fruits and veggies, all the packaged stuff is convenient but you will get better nutrition and probably feel fuller for longer eating some stuff your making from fresher ingredients.

GuybrushThreepw00d

Looking at your diary you will want to focus more on your Net calories and your protein number.. Both are really low for a guy, some days your netting below 1000 calories.. for someone running and doing weight lifting your not eating enough.. Going to want to get that protein number up so you don't lose lean muscle mass during your weight loss as well.. You said you weigh 203, I would aim for 160 in protein or higher.. plus this number will also help you eat better than what I see..
Onto the bad stuff, you need to start making some meals and eating cleaner with some fruits and veggies, all the packaged stuff is convenient but you will get better nutrition and probably feel fuller for longer eating some stuff your making from fresher ingredients.

If MFP doesn't take the BMR into account and recommend a healthy deficit then i'd question if it's goal setter is worth filling in.

I agree with the eating a bit more, it seems the general consensus. I'm still unconvinced about the protein (eg. http://www.mensfitness.com/nutrition/what-to-eat/protein-guide-maximum-muscle) "If you've been shooting for a gram of protein per pound of body weight--or more--you're overdoing it. Your body won't be able to process those extra calories, and they'll ultimately end up as just one thing: fat."

Unfortunately my eating for the past week hasn't been fantastic (been meeting friends out at restaurants etc). I normally eat more fruit and veggies, and cook a lot of meals from scratch. I'm going to make an extra effort to get that back on track.

WendyTerry420

It sounds like way too large of a deficit for the amount of exercise you are doing.


My daily goal is 1,370 calories/ day, I aim to eat that full allowance every day.
If i'm doing a run, it'll be around 500 calories i burn, otherwise if it's a weights day the easy cardio amounts to about 200 calories.

I'm a woman with more weight to lose and only 5'4" and I am eating 1800 calories per day. My cardio days burn half as much as yours. I think your food choices are great, but if you aren't having enough energy, try to eat a little more. Even just another 100-200 calories can make a difference in how you feel.

zoeluiisa

If MFP doesn't take the BMR into account and recommend a healthy deficit then i'd question if it's goal setter is worth filling in.

In defence of MFP, what it is recommending would be a healthy deficit if you ate back your exercise calories as the program was designed. It's because you're burning 500 cals in exercise that you're not replacing, IN ADDITION to the deficit MFP has already put you at, that people are saying your goal is too low.

Also - you told it you wanted to lose 2lb a week which is quite a lot unless you're significantly over weight.

LeenaRuns

You defintiely aren't eating enough! I'm 5'6", weigh 113 lbs, and I eat a heck of a lot more than you do!

GuybrushThreepw00d

Right, finished my food for today, and I've actually explorered some of the map goal options to tweak my carb/protein/fat percentages. I've eaten 1810 calories today, which leaves me 9 (and that's me eating my exercise calories).

If every day was like today .... I'd weigh 88kg is 5 weeks. That's 4.5kg loss in 5 weeks, which is 9.9lb, which is almost exactly 2lb a week loss.

I'd like to say thanks to e everyone for their opinions . I'll leave my diary open, so feel free to comment further.