You need to feed to succeed! repost from my blog

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Newfiedan
Newfiedan Posts: 1,517 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
This is a foreign concept for a lot of ppl on here, men and women alike. The programming of eat as little as possible and work out as much as possible probably has not worked for you, and a lot of you may have plateaued for a while using that formula. I am not surprised and teaching ppl to trust food again is hard at the best of times. I think the worst cases I have seen on here is with younger women whom have been brainwashed to believe the scale is king and that the "model" role model is the way to go. That is not to say that men are not susceptible to that glorious 6 pack abs ideal that gets advertised as well, we are and in truth its hard to get past that mentality. I was once one whom believed that if I wanted to be that greek adonis I needed to eat like a rabbit to shed fat. I failed miserably until this last go around where I was searching for a better way. Shedding fat does not mean starving yourself and I had to learn that for myself. I got talking to a member on here whom was pretty smart and I looked over his diary and he ate like a horse but had that elusive 6 pack abs that I wanted, (not that it was my original goal, my original was to just get to 175 pounds). Well I asked him what his secret was and he told me simply "you need to feed to succeed" which stunned me. I needed to eat more than I was before I started my lifestyle change to shed fat. That is right I said MORE! not less. Now with that said I do not mean more crap, I mean real nutrition, real veggies, real fruits and as little processed crap as possible. My diary is public so feel free to look at it.

Here is a typical day for me:
Breakfast
4 whole eggs
1 cup baby spinach
4 cooked mushrooms
blended and fried
2 slices of turkey bacon (processed I know but its my 1 vice)

Snack
Larabar apple & nut (an ingredient list I understand yay)
Or an apple

Lunch
Veggie soup homemade blended or 1 cup homemade chili

Snack
Orange or manadarin orange

Dinner
Steak or other meat and veggies the real ones not those instant packs.

Snack
protein shake or smoothie depending on protein needs.

I monitor my protein, fat, fiber and carb intakes pretty closely (90% of my sugar is from fruits I do not use any sweeteners or artificial sweeteners. I have come to believe that he was bang on the money with the clean eating idea and eating more to shed fat and retain muscle as I have done so throughout my journey. So I wanted to pass this along to those and pay it forward so to speak. I have dropped 27 pounds with ease, and still going till I hit my goal of a 6 pack just for kicks, and want to pass that message along to those whom do not understand it yet. Best of all is that its going to be a permanent thing for me, not some quick fix. Yes it took work at the gym but I trusted mfp ate my cals and it does work. So trust it, work with your body and educate yourself.
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Replies

  • kvr414
    kvr414 Posts: 111
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    thank you for posting this. coouldn't agree more! *applause*:smile:
  • Nadyasmom
    Nadyasmom Posts: 281
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    I am one of those "younger women" and you are so right--it's been SO hard for me to break away from the mindset of eating so little. I've been up/down 5lbs for about 4 months (sat at the higher side for literally 3 1/2 months straight). Today is my first day of REALLY pushing myself to eat more, but healthier foods. While I generally stay at my calorie goal, it's been a mix of good and bad. My problem though is that I literally have to FORCE the food into me as I just don't feel hungry when I eat how you recommended (seriously--today's diary is pretty much what you posted).

    So I'm trying ot find a healthy way getting higher calories. Never thought I'd say that. ;)

    But thank you for your post and putting it in a simplified way.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
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    AGREE!!! And when you are at a healthy weight (according to all the charts out there) but trying to shed body fat this is very, very important. I started out here thinking I had to eat little and run that treadmill until I was red in the face. And yes I dropped some weight but I still worry about how much of that was muscle mass. Jillian's little 3lb weights will not preserve muscle mass. I'm now doing P90X (not following it to a 'T'. I have no interest in 6 days of exercise). I do the strength/resistance and will sometimes throw in a bit of cardio on other days. I took a week off the strength last week and had a couple of cardio days. Monday I was back to strength and I dropped 2.2lbs in 2 days.

    I do everything in my power to get the word out to the newbies and the not so newbies who have yet to figure this out. All it takes a little digging here in the message boards and online.

    My fave is: "I don't eat back my exercise calories and I'm losing." YOU ARE LOSING MUSCLE MASS NOT FAT. YOUR BODY WANTS TO PROTECT THAT FAT. AND IF YOU ARE DOING ALL CARDIO AND LOTS OF IT ALONG WITH THAT CALORIE RESTRCITION YOU ARE DEFINITELY LOSING MUSCLE MASS.
  • TonysMiss
    TonysMiss Posts: 128 Member
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    Awesome.....thank you for sharing. :smile:
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
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    I am one of those "younger women" and you are so right--it's been SO hard for me to break away from the mindset of eating so little. I've been up/down 5lbs for about 4 months (sat at the higher side for literally 3 1/2 months straight). Today is my first day of REALLY pushing myself to eat more, but healthier foods. While I generally stay at my calorie goal, it's been a mix of good and bad. My problem though is that I literally have to FORCE the food into me as I just don't feel hungry when I eat how you recommended (seriously--today's diary is pretty much what you posted).

    So I'm trying ot find a healthy way getting higher calories. Never thought I'd say that. ;)

    But thank you for your post and putting it in a simplified way.

    Nuts, peanut butter (or nut butters), olive oil. Even real butter is good for you (better than all that fake crap). And your body will get used to the new calorie numbers. I had to go from eating only dinner and munching at night to eating 3 meals and some snacks. It was rough in the beginning but my body is happier and now I get hungry right before each meal.
  • Celo24
    Celo24 Posts: 566 Member
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    Bump for an awesome message that MANY people need to hear!!!
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
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    Bump - well said
  • mamedic
    mamedic Posts: 5
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    What a fantastic post! I joined this site for that information specifically. I am having a hard time meeting my calorie requirement each day. I can barely get 1300 calories a day let alone 1700. Yesterday I barely hit 1000 and I had to force myself to eat a little more. I am not really hungry either. I am chasing my 2 year old around all day and cleaning, I also have a physical job. It is hard to find time to eat.

    Anyone have ideas of things that are not processed that I can add in to help me get there? I eat a ton of veggies everyday and fruits. will my body get used to this smaller amount of calories? Will I stop losing weight because of it? I have lost 30 lbs in 2 months and have another 75 to go. It seems to have slowed down now, but I have been sick the last week or so and have not worked out. But what can I do besides eat junk to get my calories?
  • blondie1238
    blondie1238 Posts: 182
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    Thanks for the food example :)
  • suzieqdiva
    suzieqdiva Posts: 183 Member
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    You are right it is a HARD lesson to learn... but it seems I do not have any other option than to listen to this sage advice... curb my instincts to eat less & eat healthier:) Thanks for persisting in sharing this message. I always told my mom I need to make my own mistakes.. as I just get it when i try to learn from others.LOL!
  • suzieqdiva
    suzieqdiva Posts: 183 Member
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    bump
  • maryloo2011
    maryloo2011 Posts: 446
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    Great post!
  • marielenrdz
    marielenrdz Posts: 52 Member
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    I SO want to believe this, but I'm at a loss! I had a few cheat days this weekend and managed to lose 3lbs according to the scale monday morning. I weighed and re-weighed to make sure the number was right, and four times in a row it was! So, I thought, there IS something to the whole feed your body theory. BUT! Stepping up my exercise routine in a major way....so out of my comfort zone to the point of tears and prayers.....and eating over 1500 calories each day.....I've GAINED four pounds!!!!

    What's that about??? I realize that I do tend to eat more convenience/proccessed food than necessary. But I try my best to squeeze in Fiber rich foods and Veggies. I guess it really isn't just about calories in and calories out. But, eating only fresh, clean food and I'll never be able to get in as many calories as I'm burning! Clean food is too low calories and I'd have to eat wheelbarrows of vegetables and fruits to get them in! And as hard as I'm working, I know the weight gain is not muscle...not this soon, right??

    I'm still trying to understand this weight loss process. It's been trial and error for me for the last year!
  • NavyWifeag
    NavyWifeag Posts: 36 Member
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    I've been eating back my calories and my weight loss has stopped. It was going really well in the beginning and I was meeting my goals of 2 lbs a week. Now I haven't lost in two weeks. I have been really pushing myself. 60 min of intervals and sprints on the treadmill, weights and elliptical. Help please.
  • Newfiedan
    Newfiedan Posts: 1,517 Member
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    what many do not realize with the whole scale deal is that its not just about the number, its about the measurements, you can gain muscle and weighing every day is not advisable, my weight can fluctuate by up to 8 pounds depending on my water intake, its about how your clothes fit and how you feel as well. So long as the clothes are getting looser that is what matters. When you start to train hard you need to be highly diligent on intake to compliment that training, diet is 80-90% of the equation. In your case it may be water weight, it may be muscle weight. Take me as an example, I started out at 198 pounds, for all intents and purposes I should be ideally 158 pounds for a 6 pack, but I will more than likely end up being 165ish for that by the time its all said and done. Yep I got some more fat to go but I am adding muscle at the same time and the closer you are to that goal the more diligent you need to be, having a 2 pound a week goal with 10 left to lose is not realistic, the body will fight back, it does not like long term deficits which is why you may have dropped marielenrdz, I have been through this time and again with many women and men and it always works never fails, but you need to stop stressing about the scale you may look a million times better at a slightly higher weight than you thought, only time will tell. Its about keeping that muscle and working with your body to shed the fat, not starving it as you will shed more muscle than fat just like someone who over trains. If your weight loss has stopped then its time to start looking at measurements and how your clothes fit.
  • paintedladyrn
    paintedladyrn Posts: 4 Member
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    I'm having a hard time figuring out how to put a meal plan together. Menus for a day, a week or more, just trying to figure out what to eat is overwhelming for me. I am trying more fruits and vegetables but I need help trying to put together whole meals. Suggestions? Thank, Laura
  • Newfiedan
    Newfiedan Posts: 1,517 Member
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    start small, you are not going to climb a mountain by looking at the peak from the base, its to much work, so start with smaller changes at first one new habit a week, so week 1 more fruit in place of added sugars/sugary snacks, week 2 more veggies, find what you like (faux mashed potatoes using cauliflower for example) or try 1 meal every day in which you get a good serving of veggies. That is how you tackle and make this a permanent thing, small steps each week or 2 so that you can adapt and work with it in manageable parts.
  • xraychick77
    xraychick77 Posts: 1,775 Member
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    um...ok...so?
  • xraychick77
    xraychick77 Posts: 1,775 Member
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    I've been eating back my calories and my weight loss has stopped. It was going really well in the beginning and I was meeting my goals of 2 lbs a week. Now I haven't lost in two weeks. I have been really pushing myself. 60 min of intervals and sprints on the treadmill, weights and elliptical. Help please.

    as i've always said..dont believe the diet myths people spew on here..there are no rules saying you need to eat back. there is no starvation mode..1200 cals is just some made up number.

    i stalled, but i was already pretty small. i had to bump up my workouts..i kept at eating only 1300 cals a day. i didnt eat back. i lifted for 40 mins and cardio for 50..EVERY day..i also took a fat burner..lipo 6 black hers. i then started losing again and lost those last 4 lbs.
  • marielenrdz
    marielenrdz Posts: 52 Member
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    Newfiedan, Thanks for the advice. I'm getting so close to goal, and I see now that is why I'm slowing down in weight loss. And I am training so much harder now. You're right....my clothes are fitting me so much looser too. It just boggles my mind that I still have a muffin top and saddlebags and I just can't imagine them ever shrinking!!! At about 5'2" and 144#, I'm wearing a size 8 (and some stretchy size 6) and everyone is starting to tell me I look sick...ugh...hate when they say crap like that!! But I look down at my jelly roll and thigh tumors and think I probably have another 20 pounds to lose. I'm 40 years old and wonder if it's possible to go that low at this point in my life without looking old and sickly!! I wish I could find my happy weight!

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