Looking for some food advice... Public Diary

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brucedelaney
brucedelaney Posts: 433 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Title pretty much explains it... I'm hoping to get some honest critique of food choices. I've been losing steady and slow but was curious if anyone sees any glaringly bad things? PS - Saturday will be somewhat empty because I went to my brothers house for a BBQ for my Niece's 1st B-day and I have no Idea what kind of stuff was on the grill.

I purposely lowered my Carbs a bit and upped my protein as well.

Anyhow, Serious critiques are welcome. Regarding specific foods or meal distribution.

Regards,
Bruce

Replies

  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
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    Overall it looks pretty good! I would try to get some more vegetables worked in there. Some days you eat hardly any and others it may just be a little bit of broccoli and that's it. In order to get more vegetables in, I try to add lettuce and tomato to any sandwich, or instead of plain eggs I'll make an omelet with whatever veg I have on hand that sounds good. Your sodium trends towards the high side, but not outrageously so, due to the things like deli meats and packaged frozen foods.

    Keep up the good work!
  • CarolynB38
    CarolynB38 Posts: 553 Member
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    Looks good to me. The only thing I noticed was that there's not much fruit and veg, but I'm not much better on those either. It's better to go over on protein than carbs and that's what you are doing most days.

    What you're doing seems to be working for you so I don't think you really need to change much. Maybe try a little more fruit and/or veg?
  • smashleymcgee
    smashleymcgee Posts: 135 Member
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    It actually looks great to me! The only suggestion I have is to work in more fruits and vegetables- and fresh ones. I went back about a week and the only fruits I see you eating are prepackaged- so they have added sugar and not nearly the same vitamins. I could only find a few servings of vegetables, maybe try adding in a few with dinner or snacks. My doctor told me that eating vegetables with some kind of fat/protein will actually help you lose weight and absorb vitamins better- maybe try carrots with string cheese or celery with peanut butter.
  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
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    I didn't know ground beef had so many carbs? I would check again on that. Maybe add more veggies.
  • Dtho5159
    Dtho5159 Posts: 1,054 Member
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    I agree with the rest. Looks good other than not much fruits/veggies.
  • jessicasmith0840
    jessicasmith0840 Posts: 3 Member
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    I agree, overall you are doing really well. I would keep an eye on the sodium, but overall it's not bad. Are you able to work in a little more exercise? 10min at a time? I know that with most folks working an office job, even extra 10min here and there is hard to do. Those small, extra workouts, add up and burn more calories than you realize at the end of the day.
  • brucedelaney
    brucedelaney Posts: 433 Member
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    Yes I'm aware of my vegetable issues. Lettuce and Tomato unfortunately aren't an option as I don't like either. (Weird huh? since I eat tomato sauce and such) Thanks for reminding me, I need to add more green beans, peas and carrots since i do like them maybe some spinach in my omelets?

    I'm trying to do 2 servings of fruit a day, but that's the limit because I'm wanting to keep the carbs down. Not Atkins low but lower then MFP recommends.

    Carolyn, Where did you get your weight loss graphic that shows before and after?
  • sandislim
    sandislim Posts: 264
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    I think you are doing pretty well. Like others have said I would try to increase the vegetables, include at least 2 -3 different veggies (non-starchy) with your dinner and don't worry about calories because veggies take up hardly any.

    You can change your nutrient ratios in your goals tab to reflect any changes you have made to your diet.

    You could try cutting down on cheese as it stalls me (obviously everyones different) so it might slow yours, it could be worth a try. Sweeteners can also stall some people, so you could try cutting down on that to see if it makes a difference to the speed of your weight loss.

    However, if it ain't broken - don't fix it! If you're doing well you might not need to change too much too drastically.
  • brucedelaney
    brucedelaney Posts: 433 Member
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    I didn't know ground beef had so many carbs? I would check again on that. Maybe add more veggies.

    Are you sure you read the right line? I'm seeing 0 Carbs on my Ground beef.... The line above it is pasta which is where the carbs are kind of high.
  • sandislim
    sandislim Posts: 264
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    I'm going to jump in (apologise to caroline) and say that the graphic is probably from www.mvm.com
    The site is called my virtual model and I'm not sure that it has a male version - I've had a look and I don't think you can switch genders which is rather boring (and sexist)
  • mstorious
    mstorious Posts: 13 Member
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    As everyone mentioned you definitely need more fruit and veg. Also, you should try to get in more fiber (I don't think that they recommend high enough consumption for people on MFP) and calcium (both will increase with increased consumption of veg and fruit). Soluble fiber will help clean out cholesterol while the insoluble will help keep the digestive track in order. Just make sure to have it with some sort of fat(2% milk is good, fat free won't work) so that the liver secretes bile which the fiber then attaches to pulling cholesterol out with it (this is why cheerios are heart healthy). Also, increase consumption slowly to allow your system to adjust properly, otherwise you may have temporary yet uncomfortable bloating. You don't seem to eat a lot of foods with calcium (occasional milk and yogurt). While every woman generally worries about osteoporosis and osteopenia (they make commercials for it and its medications) very few men think about it, even though 5% of the population have it. Great job so far! Keep up the good work!
  • brucedelaney
    brucedelaney Posts: 433 Member
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    Hmm... What kind of fiber goal should I be looking at? I thought I was doing pretty good with my 20ish plus but seems that many are recommending more. As for the Calcium, you're right I haven't really been looking at that.

    I guess I need to eat more broccoli and green beans and put spinach back in my diet. Thanks for showing me a few more ways to improve!
  • mstorious
    mstorious Posts: 13 Member
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    I usually shoot for a minimum of 25g a day of fiber, according to one of my text books (Nutrition for sport and exercise) that is appropriate for women and men should consume 38g.

    As for the calcium.. those dark leafy greens are your best friend as are seeds (almonds, sesame, sunflower).
    I did some searching on the web and found some places with handy reference charts. A good place to start if you want some variety.
    http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/calcium/
    http://www.healthalternatives2000.com/minerals-nutrition-chart.html
  • cupotee
    cupotee Posts: 181 Member
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    Yes I'm aware of my vegetable issues. Lettuce and Tomato unfortunately aren't an option as I don't like either.

    Yeah, I'm not such a big fan of lettuce either either. But I like watercress, flat cabbage, zucchini, eggplant, onions, and mushrooms. There are plenty of awesome veggies outside of the standard lettuce, tomato, cucumber and salad greens.

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