fed up with fighting the flab alone

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karld70
karld70 Posts: 46 Member
in Getting Started
I'm starting my journey today (again). my family (wife and two kids)are sweet tooths and always have snacks around and i cook 2-3 meals every night to accommodate fussy eaters, usually involving chips, and ready meals as is their want plus my own food which normally involves real cooking. Temptation is all around and its a lonely battle to stay good and be healthy. any encouragement normally comes in the form of "thought you were being healthy, thats not very good is it, or just a rolling of the eyes" .

It would be great to have someone who is on the same wavelength and can be supportive in a constructive way and understands the struggle.
I have really come on since the early days of trying to shed some pounds and i hope i could be a great support in return. fingers crossed.

Replies

  • pixibombz
    pixibombz Posts: 110 Member
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    Hi...i hear ya! Im a lone dieter in a housefull of guys,my partner and 4 teen to twenties boys,food everywhere,so i know how hard it is.
  • InsertFunnyUsernameHere
    InsertFunnyUsernameHere Posts: 271 Member
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    There's no such thing as "healthy" or "unhealthy". Throw those words out. They are used by people with only a superficial understanding. Instead, think of food as being on a spectrum of how nutritious it is for its calorie content. If you have already met your nutritional goals for the day and have extra calories left over, it's perfectly fine to eat something like a small bowl of ice cream for dessert.

    This is the bigger picture that will allow you to "stick" to your dietary goals.

    1) Set your calorie goal
    2) Earn more calories with cardio exercise
    3) Strength training to shape your body
    4) Meet your macronutritional requirements by monitoring them
    5) Eat a good mix of foods to meet your micronutritional goals
    6) Take a multivitamin as a cheap micronutritional supplement (optional)

    The foods you choose to eat are whatever helps you meet 1), 4), and 5) while satisfying your daily appetite and occasional cravings.
  • karld70
    karld70 Posts: 46 Member
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    thanks, err.....insertfunnyusernamehere thats pretty much what i planned on doing. I don't really watch my macros that much to be honest, so long as I'm losing I'm happy. Perhaps if I start to plateau, that might be something i look at then.
  • InsertFunnyUsernameHere
    InsertFunnyUsernameHere Posts: 271 Member
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    The reason macros matter (somewhat) is that building muscle/retaining* muscle requires sufficient protein. You also need sufficient healthy fats in your diet. It's worth knowing the minimum amount of each you should be shooting for each day. Once you meet the minimum each day, then you can fill up your remaining calories with whatever mix of protein/fat/carbs you want. Obviously, for those of us in the west, we're talking about average daily intake. You don't have to meet your protein/fat goals (minimums) every day... so long as over the long run the average works out for you.

    *build muscle = calorie surplus + protein + strength training
    retain muscle = calorie deficit + protein + strength training

    Getting enough protein can also help with sticking to your diet because many protein-rich foods can satiate your hunger more than carb-rich foods.
  • karld70
    karld70 Posts: 46 Member
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    thanks, to be fair i always build meals around protein and veg, but ill keep an eye on it and see how it fares

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