Worry, Obsession and perfection are your greatest threats.

I see a LOT of posts on here talking about minuscule amounts of calories, people worried about HITTING! their daily set values for calories, or people drastically undereating and STILL being afraid to hit those calories.


*PREFACE:
I understand that I may be in a different situation that many of you, but regardless of composition - the human body and nutrient reaction mechanisms are the same basic principle.

I just get so angry when I see people eating so little, thinking that they are helping themselves, but are just hurting themselves. When they don't lose weight, or even gain it - they get discouraged, sad and eat more. Some people may even become ill or suffer complications due to undereating or nutrient imbalance.

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The key to a good diet: DO NOT OBSESS ABOUT IT!
So many people worry about 100 calories here, or 5g of sugar here. These are not what will sabotage your diet plans. Worrying about these amounts will.

Look at my log for example. I'm consistently over/under values I set, but the general breakdowns of macro nutrients is largely consistent to 2-3%. Why? I may take 1/8 cup of cheese, I may take that and a pinch. I may decide to have a little more protein and that may bump my calories up. Sometimes I want some more veggies, so I eat more.

Setting your goal:
Pick a calorie limit about 500 calories under your MAINTENANCE caloric level. This may be higher/lower depending on body weight, height, lean body mass, etc. But it's called MAINTENANCE for a reason! I promise, a lot of you could be losing more FAT if you just ate MORE.

DO NOT SHORT CHANGE YOUR PROTEIN! No one here should be eating less than 35% of their daily calories in protein...NO ONE!!!!! The body is very versatile. It breaks protein down to help muscle building, and *not exact* 20% or so of your protein intake is broken down into glycogen (body's energy source). So don't be afraid to up your protein!

Fats: FATS DO NOT MAKE YOU FAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Simplifying it, when the body has an excess of blood sugar, it uses insulin to combat the excess sugars, and the body uses that sugar as well to fuel itself. What happens to the fat you ate? Stores itself now. Get around 20% of your daily calories from fat. YUP. Oils are best (coconut, olive, walnut, etc). I don't like nuts - why? They don't fill you up, but are PACKED with calories. Better to snack on something with substance!

Carbs: On my most hardcore of lifting days, I'd reach upwards of 500g of carbs. On lesser days, I'd get 300g and that's still high! Are carbs bad? NO! Are processed carbs bad? Generally. All relates back to insulin levels and fat storage. Have REAL oatmeal, instant if you don't have time (or don't prepare/freeze it). Have berries, don't eat dried fruits, eat apples instead of oranges, eat lots of veggies. Aim for 35-40% of your calories from carbs.


EXERCISE:

Cardio: When people want to lose weight, they do cardio. Problem: Cardio is highly catabolic, it breaks down muscle after a certain time period. With the low amounts of protein generally consumed at MFP, you can guess the result. Muscle breakdown, weight loss but high BF%. Marathon runners are skinny...sure, but when you have 3% BF, and just enough muscle to keep your heart beating...well...no thank you.

Weight training: Gotta lift heavy right? Wrong. ANY weight training, that offers a reasonable amount of resistance will help build muscle. Lean body mass (LBM) requires more calories than fat, and when it burns those calories, produces more heat (thermogenesis) which in turn, also helps burn body fat for various reasons. Hormonally, it releases endorphins at a quicker rate than cardio...so you'll physically feel better as well. Testosterone is the main hormone in regards to muscle growth (that we'll be concerned with)...guess what helps with that? Saturated fats! Will this give you mustaches and deepen your voice? no..., but smoking will.

Worried about going to a gym and lifting light weights, worried about self image? DON'T BE! Believe me, no one cares that you're at the gym. Aside from some straight up *kitten* (1% of all gym goes or less), no one will say anything to you. Some people may even try to help. The funny thing is - everyone is at the gym, because they have self image problems. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. So some guy deadlifting 500lbs will think he's never good enough, just as someone walking on a treadmill will think they aren't good enough. Self-image is relevant to one's self, and that's your biggest fear.

Anyway, I realize this is a rant - somewhat unorganized and quite lengthy. But I needed to get it off my chest. Especially when I see some younger females on here trying to starve themselves or not eating enough cause they want to lose weight - and already look fine.