GauchoMark Member

This. If you eat it, you need to log it. You can get an extra few hundred calories/day just from fresh non-starchy vegetables if you eat a lot of salads. If you are eating starches (breads, potatoes, grains, etc), that number can be huge if you pretend they don't exist. x2 on the oils and packaged items, too.

So that link is a good one. That is pretty close to how I set my macros. However, your question is about how nutrition affects your body composition. In a very basic nutshell, protein gives your body the building blocks it needs (Amino Acids) to grow or repair muscle. If you don't get enough protein your body will start…

A couple of things - 1) Are you getting enough sleep? 6-7 hours/night for someone with sleep apnea sounds low. This can impede weight loss. 2) Like @chunky_pinup mentioned, prepping meals for the week works great. I do that. I don't know about the crock pot thing tho... I've never had a good crockpot meal! I usually just…

what supplements? Some are good and safe, others are useless and expensive.

I used the Fitbit Aria. It works good enough for me. It syncs to fitbit.com using wifi, then fitbit syncs with MFP. I think the thing to understand is that the scales just give you a measurement - weight and %bf in the case of the Aria. Neither are likely to be "correct", but rather just a measurement. Use the scale to…

I'm not a runner, per se, but I don't see why it wouldn't work to simply set your macros similar to most other athletes. 1g protein/lb LBM, 0.35g fat/lb body weight, and the balance carbs. Since you are exercising quite a bit, you should be able to use your extra calories to refuel on carbs.

Abso-freaking-lutely nothing... Early morning workouts are terrible. Plus, I tend to feel tired and sorry for myself for the rest of the day. Plus... increased hunger ALL DAY! For each their own, but I'm an evening workout kind of guy!

something else to consider - the BF% number itself is irrelevant for the most part. If you are going for a certain look, that look can be influenced by a lot of factors. Namely, if you want the look in that profile pic, you better start building some muscle - the more muscle you have, the easier it is to look good at…

If you choose to do a LCHF variation of some sort, I would probably focus less on how many grams of carbs/fat you eat and more on controlling insulin response. Not all carbs are "bad"

Oh... and I also suspect that being in better cardiovascular shape (like most people that lose weight) probably makes you colder since your bloodpressure drops, heart rate drops, etc. My resting heartrate is in the mid 40's, so my body isn't doing much when I'm just sitting.

While some of the coldness may be related to hormonal responses and loss of insulation, you can also probably attribute a big part of it to the fact that most people are overweight and places control to temperature to satisfy the majority, so the thermostats are simply set too low. Simple test - The EPA recommends…

if you are wearing your fitbit while you are using the elliptical, there is no need to log it unless you don't think it is accurate. However, if you choose to log it, log it from the fitbit website and enter the times that you exercised and it will replace the recorded data so you won't log it twice. You just have to be…

honestly, it sounds like a good plan. You will lose fat, retain more muscle mass, and be a lot more athletic looking than someone that just diets and does cardio. You just can't expect to gain muscle or increase strength much. I do a mix of strength and cardio on a small deficit while cutting and I can keep my lean muscle…

That decision is pretty much up to you and what your goals are. Since you have lost about 101 lbs (sorry, I can't think in stones! Kg's or Lbs only!), you might consider doing a clean bulk or recomp for a while just to give your body a break. However, if the weight is still coming off pretty easy, I'd just keep leaning out…

What does it matter if you are 123 vs 125? When you look in the mirror do you like what you see? Are you healthy? Do your clothes fit right? a number is meaningless.

There is a difference between "avoiding dehydration" and staying properly hydrated. Obviously, you never want to be dehydrated for any length of time for a myriad of reasons. As for staying properly hydrated, the benefits are just invaluable. As for boosting your metabolic rate? I have my doubts about the studies. Were…

when you say you are "always under for carbs and protein" - did you let MFP just set up your macros or did you do it manually? MFP tends to set protein way too low for preserving muscle mass in a caloric deficit and exercising. A high protein diet is not the "healthiest most effective way to go". Healthiest is balanced…

You can go to the gym or eat light if you want. It certainly won't hurt. You can write off the day, be moderate for the rest of the evening (as if nothing happened), and get back on the horse tomorrow. Don't punish yourself by starving for a week or pushing too hard. Don't go extreme the opposite way and say "well, today…

Yes, you can do it. I lost 125 lbs over the course of 2.5 years by keeping a reasonable caloric deficit, eating balanced macros, exercising, and eating back my cardio calories (I lifted weights too, but didn't eat those back). I've been maintaining for about 3 years now and I play around with different diets on occasion…

So, your main goal is to lose weight. As you probably know - as long as you keep a caloric deficit you will accomplish that. However, you more than likely also want to preserve muscle mass so you look toned and don't have to build as much back once you hit your goal. You do this with exercise and sufficient protein. As for…

Unless you have some type of health problem, the only reason your body is "protesting protein" is because you are going from one extreme to another. You are just getting a stomach ache because your body is always like "wtf!". Carb cycling is something you can look into, but even that is methodical and has some taper to…

I eat a salad almost every day. I log each ingredient separately. If I am in a really big hurry, I'll log a Panera Classic salad with no meat or dressing to cover the veggies then log the meat and whatever other calorie dense items separately. At the end of the day, if you screw up logging lettuce and celery, you probably…

you want to at least try to maintain your strength. Losing fat is going to make you lose the inches. You definitely want to try to avoid losing the muscle - you do that by eating enough protein and exercising. You lose the fat by eating in a caloric deficit.

OK, well first off, I would not pay much attention to the scale. I weigh every day, but I don't really care what the number says. What I care about is my fat percentage over a long term (averages only matter), how I look and feel, and how my clothes fit. Your weight is irrelevant especially if you are exercising a lot.…

Do a search on "protein quality of pork rinds".

What are your goals? Are you trying to lose weight? I'm a little confused by the title of the thread, but it seems as if you really want to lose weight/inches. If you are making progress in 5x5 (ie increasing weight regularly) then you are building muscle. This is a slow process and is difficult and slow on a deficit (but…

I'd probably look into some insulated container that you can put into your bag - that would open a lot of options like chicken, greek yogurt, low fat cheese, etc. Otherwise, I'd look into the P28 bagels and peanut butter. Expensive, but very good. Not exactly low cal though. Also, PB2 would be an option. I know you said no…

I re-read your original post and I did miss the fact that you are in maintenance right now. So, you are not having an issue eating at maintenance, but if you overeat one day, you try a 100-150 calorie deficit for a couple of weeks to compensate. However, you are having a tough time sticking to it? If that is the case, I'd…

If you are punishing yourself for a week or two going over on calories for one day, you are probably being too hard on yourself and this is why you are having a more difficult time now. Unless you are just absolutely binge eating and end up with 5500+ calories in a day, there is no reason for cutting back for a week or…

Why are you choosing low carb and what do you consider to be low carb? Low carb isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it has gotten WAY more hype than it deserves for a couple of reasons. First, you lose quite a bit of water weight in your first couple of weeks when you switch from a typical American diet to a low carb diet.…