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jmparis65 · March 2013

My diary should be open.

I am wondering if anyone might have a look and perhaps make some dietary suggestions.

I'm always looking to eat cleaner but keeping my goals and expectations realistic as well.

jmparis65 · March 2013

Bump

JesterMFP · March 2013

That's quite a vague request.

There are so many different approaches to diet - what are you trying to achieve?

If you want to eat "cleaner" - well according to most definitions of that concept, you should just eat less processed food. Processed meat, Special K, Powerbars, chips... (I am not a "clean" eater, but I believe those kinds of things are not considered clean.)

Otherwise... what changes do you want to make? What are you not happy with? You seem to go over your sugar goal quite often - if that bothers you, then that would be a place to start. Same with sodium.

You also seem to be ending each day with a lot of calories left over, which would be a concern to me, but I guess it depends on how big your calorie deficit is to start with.

jmparis65 · March 2013

You're right, that is kind of an open ended question

The sugar is "somewhat" of a concern, however a large chunk comes from fruit and a bit from yogurt, which has some sweetener, I know. It also has lactose and fruit, so the majority is coming from natural sources. I do try to avoid almost all other "added" sweeteners. The powerbars are a quick hot snack that does add protein

The sodium is one thing I would like to handle on for sure, it seems to creep into almost everything.

SO I guess overall I am asking perhaps how people deal with those things in some way

As far as leftover calories, I am using the BMR/TDEE settings, so I am mainly concerned with net calories at the end of the day, however, if more knowledgeable people know better, I admit I am still learning, that I should be eating a higher net, by all eans I am open to suggestions.

majope · March 2013

Some thoughts: you're way under your calorie goals most of the time--netting in the neighborhood of 1300-1400, which is very low for a man. That might have been more reasonable when you had more weight to lose, but I would definitely consider upping calories now. So my first suggestion is eat more--especially protein. You're always very short of your goal there.

Adding calories doesn't have to be hard: get regular yogurt instead of light (go Greek if you can, it's got more protein), full-fat or 2% cheese and milk instead of light or skim, bigger servings of meat, saute your chicken in olive oil to add healthy fat, snack on more nuts, add more peanut butter to your English muffins. On days when I want more protein, I often add chicken and/or hard boiled eggs to my side salad at lunch or dinner.

Beans are a healthy way to add calories and protein--baked beans on the side with your burgers, refried beans with your tacos. Garbanzo beans are good on salads. Hummus is an awesome snack.

Another place you could add is veggies--you eat salad sometimes, how do you feel about baby spinach salads? Mix things up and try sweet potato fries instead of regular fries. Asparagus is coming into season. Sliced tomato goes great with eggs, avocado with the Mexican foods you eat. Just try adding in another couple of servings per day.

JesterMFP · March 2013

With sodium, I find that eating out at restaurants, and eating very processed foods (especially, for example, where you get an entire meal in a package) really ramps up the sodium. Things in cans are often bad too. Making as much food as you can yourself can really help you lower those levels. My sodium is usually under 1,500, and most of mine now comes from cheese and small amounts of cured meats. If I eat at a restaurant, then it's way higher. Another thing you could consider is tracking your potassium levels alongside sodium. It's important to try to balance the two, but most people get far more sodium than potassium. Fruits and vegetables tend to be good sources or potassium.

With the calories - I'm not quite sure what you mean. Have you customised your own goal based on your TDEE? And if so, does that include all your exercise? If so, you wouldn't be eating back calories and shouldn't be concerned with "net" values. The "net" thing comes in when you are not including exercise calories in your original goal, but adding those on later. So, I'm not really sure where you are at with actual numbers. In general, it's best not to have too large of a calorie deficit as you risk losing more lean mass than you would really want to. If you've got about 30-ish lbs to go until a healthy weight (that's what I'm getting from your ticker) then your body doesn't have as much fat stored than it did 60 lbs ago (stating the obvious

) so you can't support such a big deficit as you could then. Hopefully, you are aiming to lose a little more slowly than you did in the beginning. If you're losing, say, 1 lb a week at the moment, then that's probably a reasonable level for you to be at.

jmparis65 · March 2013

The 2539 TDEE setting that I have in the app, takes into consideration my moderate activity level, I do get to the gym and do cardio 6 days a week. I do want to start some circuit work but have not as yet. SO I may need to increase that to the actual 5-6 hours a week from the 3-5 currently using

I would be happy at a 1-1.2lbs a week. As I have been stuck for a month which is what lead to my switching to using the BMR/TDEE method of calculating calories

looking at the settings, I may need to increase my calories by about 500 a day just to hit my BMR level

I've seen some good ideas there already.

So much of this goes against the the nature that I and I'm sure many others have been told for long, the old "eat less, eat less, eat less" But I do keep many of the thinks suggested in the house already, just a matter of adding them to my plate.

THis

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/#projectedweightloss

Has me projected at

BMR @ 1805
TDEE @ 3115

To lose 1.2lbs/wk @ 2492

So I guess even though I have been eating more, I really need to be eating even more,

JesterMFP · March 2013

The 2539 TDEE setting that I have in the app, takes into consideration my moderate activity level, I do get to the gym and do cardio 6 days a week. I do want to start some circuit work but have not as yet. SO I may need to increase that to the actual 5-6 hours a week from the 3-5 currently using

I would be happy at a 1-1.2lbs a week. As I have been stuck for a month which is what lead to my switching to using the BMR/TDEE method of calculating calories

looking at the settings, I may need to increase my calories by about 500 a day just to hit my BMR level

I've seen some good ideas there already.

So much of this goes against the the nature that I and I'm sure many others have been told for long, the old "eat less, eat less, eat less" But I do keep many of the thinks suggested in the house already, just a matter of adding them to my plate.

THis

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/#projectedweightloss

Has me projected at

BMR @ 1805
TDEE @ 3115

To lose 1.2lbs/wk @ 2492

So I guess even though I have been eating more, I really need to be eating even more,

That sounds like you would benefit from eating more. It can be hard at first, as it does seem to go against the grain. Just take it slowly, add maybe 100 or so each week, and monitor your weight. You may well gain a little as you go up due to water weight and more food being in your system, but that should quickly stabilise. If you get to the point where you're gaining true fat (and it sounds like you're a long way from that point) you can easily drop it down again.

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