The healthier you eat....

YassSpartan
YassSpartan Posts: 1,195 Member
edited September 23 in Food and Nutrition
The healthier you eat, the more you have to eat. I've been working in my diet based on how many calories I need on a daily basis, specially since I do P90X. Well, the P90X formula state I should be eating somewhere around 2800 calories a day. Is that a lot? Yes it is, so after consulting with my coach and after doing some research I decided to go down to 2400 calories a day, still a lot but better than 2800. Everything seems to be getting better, but I was wrong.

When you start changing the way you eat, not only you start paying attention to calories intake, carbs (simple/complex), fats, proteins, and how often you eat; also you start paying attention to what you eat. Healthy food makes a huge difference in the amount of calories you eat. Knowing 1 gram of fat has 9 calories, 1 gram of carbohydrate is 4 calories and 1 gram of protein is 4 calories helps you understand that when you start start eating low in fats, medium in carbs and high in protein, it is hard to reach goals in calories unless you eat a lot. If my plan is to eat every 3 hours, giving once a day a margin of 4 hours at a certain time so I can digest food before working out, I've noticed that by the time I'm going to eat again I'm still full. I cannot eat more than I can handle just to make the numbers (calorie goal), therefore I'm always short in calories to a point that IF I make it to 1700 in a day, is basically a miracle.

Has anyone encounter the same issue with food? Feel free to share your experiences, opinions, etc.

Replies

  • YassSpartan
    YassSpartan Posts: 1,195 Member
    I want to make sure to mention I'm not in starvation mode. My muscle mass hasn't changed, actually it has increased.
  • Pinoy_Pal
    Pinoy_Pal Posts: 280 Member
    I hear you my friend!

    I'm trying to put on some lean mass, and my daily caloric intake is between 2500-3000cals. When they say that nutrition is the toughest part, they weren't kidding. I soon realized that it's not enough just to eat healthy or clean, but to eat the right amount of macro-nutrients for your specific goals. And even that's not enough! There's the "timing" factor...when to eat "what" and how much? I worship the supplement gods every day. Without my Whey and Casein, there's no way I meet my caloric goals. Sure, I can probably meet my caloric needs via fast-food or take-out easily, but to do it with healthy foods, now that's tough.
  • YassSpartan
    YassSpartan Posts: 1,195 Member
    Exactly, if it wasn't for the supplements, I don't think I would even get to the number I am. Right now my goal is to burn body fat, so a calories deficit is my goal, but when I'm done with this and I work on gaining muscle mass, that's when I'm going to struggle a lot. And yeah, fast food would be easy but definitely not the best for your health/fitness :D
  • edorice
    edorice Posts: 4,519 Member
    bump to read in a bit
  • fromaquasar
    fromaquasar Posts: 811 Member
    I had an interesting conversation with my flat mate last night who exclaimed in frustration as I sat down to dinner "How can you eat so much an be so skinny!" And I looked down at my plate and sure enough it was heaped with food - BUT the food on it included, sweet potato, carrots, corn, beans, mushrooms, chives, tofu, onion and some delicious soy honey garlic marinade - so yes it was a mountain of food but man it was good for me and I was pushing it to come in only 500 cals under that day (after my work out) and the same thing struck me, just how much I can eat when eating well. That "massive" dinner was only 400 calories. The old me would eat more than that in an afternoon snack with a chocolate berry muffin and a mocha!

    For me this is sweet - I'm trying to loose weight so I am excited by how much I can eat, all the delicious flavours I can mix up and still come under and shoot towards my goal. But I can see how hard it would be if I NEEDED to eat back all my exercise calories! I am pretty close to my maintance weight and am starting to look to building some muscle mass and work in that area now - so I'll be really interested to hear everyones thoughts too!
  • cataplexyfever
    cataplexyfever Posts: 49
    Are you familiar with the book Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman? In his book, he discusses the concept of nutrient density. Basically, the more nutrient dense the food, the more satisfied you will be on fewer calories. His formula is health = nutrients/calories.
  • IceTherapy
    IceTherapy Posts: 1
    Yass,

    I've had that issue in the past myself, and I've found a few ways around the issue by including smart healthy fats (nuts/olive oil/salmon), carefully crafting recipes around certain calorie targets, and decreasing the time between meals (2 hours instead of 3). Cooking your meals in advance helps a lot with this - I've got about 40 two cup sized Ziploc screw top tupperware containers:
    (http://www.amazon.com/Ziploc-Twist-Containers-Lids-Small/dp/B000LNY1D8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1296084984&sr=8-3)

    I can fill about 30 of them on a Sunday for food to eat throughout the week. It's an investment up front and a fair amount of work on the weekend, but doing so has worked out really well for me. I find I can swing the number of calories for a meal up or down just by adjusting the amount of single ingredients that go into the full recipe without adversely affecting flavor; it also gives you variety that helps to mix things up.

    The other answer is do more with less. Find a coach or program that can talk you through the specifics of going heavy (big weights on complex body lifts - Squats, Cleans, Snatches, etc.) less often - you won't have to eat as much since you're not burning as many calories. The issues here are you have a decent chance of increasing your risk to injury if you're not careful, and you need access to the equipment to make it work.
  • Pinoy_Pal
    Pinoy_Pal Posts: 280 Member
    ...For me this is sweet - I'm trying to loose weight so I am excited by how much I can eat, all the delicious flavours I can mix up and still come under and shoot towards my goal...

    ^^Beautiful!
  • edorice
    edorice Posts: 4,519 Member
    I am also having trouble eating over 1700 calories a day. Even on days that I have double workouts, running, doing plyometrics, etc., I don't have a big appetite. The higher protein kills hunger pain and cravings. I am trying to eat more calorie dense food, such as almonds. I am also supplementing my calories with a good whey protein shake by BSN. I tried Body Fortress protein with 52 grams, but I think i was taking in too much creatine with that product.
  • LivingFree
    LivingFree Posts: 69
    I was just going to ask a question related to this! I too have noticed the healthier I eat, the more is available. A lot of times I am coming in under the calories I am allotted. Should I push myself to eat more? I eat every 3 hours through the day and really try to make sure I have a variety.
    Every "diet" I've ever been on always says don't eat at night etc, but should I incorporate a healthy snack after supper?
  • Pinoy_Pal
    Pinoy_Pal Posts: 280 Member
    ...I've got about 40 two cup sized Ziploc screw top tupperware containers...

    ^^LOL...same boat here!
  • YassSpartan
    YassSpartan Posts: 1,195 Member
    For me this is sweet - I'm trying to loose weight so I am excited by how much I can eat, all the delicious flavours I can mix up and still come under and shoot towards my goal

    fromaquizer, exactly, but I'm guessing that eating every 3 hours is not helping me about eating so much, but instead medium to littler amounts =\ Frustrating for me lol
    Are you familiar with the book Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman? In his book, he discusses the concept of nutrient density.

    cataplexyfever, I'm not familiar with it, but I had an idea about that concept from when I went to massage school. It makes sense, and I would have to start eating less dense food so I can eat more maybe? I don't know lol
    I've got about 40 two cup sized Ziploc screw top tupperware containers.

    Find a coach or program that can talk you through the specifics of going heavy (big weights on complex body lifts - Squats, Cleans, Snatches, etc.) less often - you won't have to eat as much since you're not burning as many calories.

    IceTherapy, that's an excellent idea. I actually cook every Sunday for the rest of the week, I just didn't think about getting the containers and leaving everything ready for the week :)

    About the training, with P90X I'm more focus now about dropping body fat, than gaining muscle mass. I did it 2 years ago, and even though my diet back then was crazy and I still had amazing results, I'm trying to do a better diet this time. Because of the amount of calories you burn with P90X you need to eat a lot, otherwise you'll be way too low under the calorie goal. I really can't modify the workout, and I don't want to burn muscle fibers, so I guess I'll keep up checking my muscle mass/body fat % and see how it goes with how I'm eating :) thanks for the suggestion though.
    Even on days that I have double workouts, running, doing plyometrics, etc., I don't have a big appetite.

    edorice, exactly what happens with me, I don't have a big appetite, and if I try to eat more than what I am comfortable with then I feel like I'm going to explode @_@
    Should I push myself to eat more?

    Every "diet" I've ever been on always says don't eat at night etc, but should I incorporate a healthy snack after supper?

    LivingFree, as you might have noticed, I'm not a nutritionist, but my last snack is before going to bed at 10-11pm, I just keep that snack with 0 fats, minimum complex carbs possible and mainly protein, since protein is what muscles will use while I sleep to repair the tissue and the complex carbs will help take the protein to the muscle.
  • cataplexyfever
    cataplexyfever Posts: 49
    This chart might help you eat more: http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/article17.aspx
  • YassSpartan
    YassSpartan Posts: 1,195 Member
    This chart might help you eat more: http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/article17.aspx

    Sweet, thank you for the links :D
  • edorice
    edorice Posts: 4,519 Member
    I was just going to ask a question related to this! I too have noticed the healthier I eat, the more is available. A lot of times I am coming in under the calories I am allotted. Should I push myself to eat more? I eat every 3 hours through the day and really try to make sure I have a variety.
    Every "diet" I've ever been on always says don't eat at night etc, but should I incorporate a healthy snack after supper?

    What you might want to check out for a protein at night if needed is BSN Lean Dessert. It is made for just that, right before bed time. Clean protein and very low carb. I think it only has 8 carbs and about 150 calories per scoop. Great flavors.
  • Mobstang
    Mobstang Posts: 10 Member
    I too have the issue of eating enough on some days. I've got a couple of things that work pretty well for me.

    1) On workout days, I keep the fiber down so I am not as full and food passes quicker. I really do miss Fiber One on these days.
    2) Dried fruit mixes are WAY more calorie dense than their fresh and frozen counterparts. Watch out for added sugar though.
    3) Good Sense Dietary Snack Mix is 170 Calories/ounce or something similar. It is very easy to throw back a handful of this every couple of hours and still come out with great nutrients. They sell it at Wal-Mart and it is my favorite snack mix now. Good mix of nuts, seeds, and raisins.

    Also, I could be wrong here, but carbs are required to process protein into muscle, so it wouldn't hurt to add some to your pre-bedtime snack.
  • mtwd65
    mtwd65 Posts: 51
    yes, this is a constant struggle for me and the reason I joined. I cannot physically eat the amount of food required to keep my weight the same while on a low fat diet. I have had to reduce carbs as they are too filling and eat more protein to get close to my daily goal.

    ...and each day I get the message 'you were under your food goal' like its a good thing!
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