My new way of eating.

[Damaramu 0]

So I've been busting my ass in the gym and at rugby practice. But, I haven't seen any real significant changes in my body fat or any sort of muscular definition.

 

Then I realized, it's probably what I'm eating. I read somewhere that your diet is 85% of your weightloss and fat loss. I've been filling myself with greasy food, processed foods and haven't been eating many veggies.

 

So I did some research and decided the best eating plan for me was a modified paleo-diet. Anyone ever tried this? Mine's a mixture of a low-glycemic foods diet and paleo.

 

Basically I have a list of foods I can eat because they're low in carbs and not processed. I also am avoiding any form of processed sugar.

 

So basically all I eat now is meat, vegetables and fruit. And some dairy.

 

It's kind of tough at first because bad food keeps calling to me. Food I never even ate before suddenly looks so good to me. But, when your dinner is a porkchop and a heap of broccoli and cauliflower I guess that happens. I'm just not used to eating this way.

 

Anybody tried similar diets? Anybody lose weight and see the significant changes coming when you changed the way you eat?

 

I'm still thinking about sneaking in a cheat meal once a week. Like maybe have a pizza during the Super Bowl or something. I don't know how much one meal is going to screw up any gains I make from basically eating clean all week. Any thoughts on cheat meals or days? I was told by someone at the Crossfit messageboards (good workout system, but those people are crazy) that cheating once a week basically makes a mediocre diet and I'm not helping myself.

 

Then again, I don't see how I can't lose weight on this diet. Anything processed, anything high in carbs, anything with sugar in it (aside from natural sugar) has been completely cut out of my diet. How could you not lose weight eating like this?

[BifEverchad 0]

I'll be honest, I have no real suggestions or tips for you but I do have to say, I respect your decision and wish you luck. Trying to eat right is one thing, but actually doing it and sticking to it is another. This is something I've been thinking of correcting in my own life. The cost of healthy foods right now aren't really ideal, along with laziness and the convenience of just popping something in the microwave, but I do plan on making some small changes, which will hopefully lead me on the road of an overall better diet.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

It can be difficult but the results will be huge. By changing my diet I dropped about 45-50 pounds since the middle of 2007. I always exercised but never really ate all that great so I never saw results till I started to eat right. It becomes very easy to stick with once you find stuff you like and start seeing the changes. Just experiment with different stuff, throw foods together, and see what you come up with.

[Angle-plex 0]

You'll need lots of carbs before and after you're rugby practice to achieve maximum performance. Cuts out as many carbs as you can besides that though.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

it's not that hard. eat less, run more.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

You'll need lots of carbs before and after you're rugby practice to achieve maximum performance. Cuts out as many carbs as you can besides that though.

 

also, this is crap. maybe if you're an elite level athlete, carbs will matter. but if you're just some random doug weekend warrior, you're never going to hit the point where the number of carbs you're eating will matter. if you want to lose weight, cut your caloric intake and increase your calorie burn. it's not as simple as calories in=calories out ftw, but it's not much harder than that. if you want help, www.sparkpeople.com is a good place to go. i lost 30 pounds in 3 months using it, but it's not rocket science; it's just all about personal accountability.

 

 

also, crossfit rocks faces, but you've got to run in addition to the WODs if you're trying to lose weight. keep in mind crossfit is designed for people who are already in shape, and most of the workouts -- while extremely difficult -- are short enough that your calorie burn isn't that extensive. rugby's good if you're running like, the entire time, but if you really want to lose weight, find a treadmill and pound out like 8 miles and repeat 5x a week.

[At Home 0]

Although I whole heartedly approve of cutting out the garbage in a diet, I tend to frown upon any measures that stray away from a balanced diet.

[dubq 0]

So I've been busting my ass in the gym and at rugby practice. But, I haven't seen any real significant changes in my body fat or any sort of muscular definition.

 

Then I realized, it's probably what I'm eating. I read somewhere that your diet is 85% of your weightloss and fat loss. I've been filling myself with greasy food, processed foods and haven't been eating many veggies.

 

So I did some research and decided the best eating plan for me was a modified paleo-diet. Anyone ever tried this? Mine's a mixture of a low-glycemic foods diet and paleo.

 

Basically I have a list of foods I can eat because they're low in carbs and not processed. I also am avoiding any form of processed sugar.

 

So basically all I eat now is meat, vegetables and fruit. And some dairy.

 

It's kind of tough at first because bad food keeps calling to me. Food I never even ate before suddenly looks so good to me. But, when your dinner is a porkchop and a heap of broccoli and cauliflower I guess that happens. I'm just not used to eating this way.

 

Anybody tried similar diets? Anybody lose weight and see the significant changes coming when you changed the way you eat?

 

I'm still thinking about sneaking in a cheat meal once a week. Like maybe have a pizza during the Super Bowl or something. I don't know how much one meal is going to screw up any gains I make from basically eating clean all week. Any thoughts on cheat meals or days? I was told by someone at the Crossfit messageboards (good workout system, but those people are crazy) that cheating once a week basically makes a mediocre diet and I'm not helping myself.

 

Then again, I don't see how I can't lose weight on this diet. Anything processed, anything high in carbs, anything with sugar in it (aside from natural sugar) has been completely cut out of my diet. How could you not lose weight eating like this?

 

Are you differentiating between good carbs (sweet potatoes) and bad carbs, though? Just curious as I had my trainer put together a food plan for me a while ago when I started to seriously work out and it sounds pretty much the same but with portions of good complex carbs in there.

 

Eating clean is fucking tough, though. Especially if you work in an office.. it's all sandwiches and burgers around here. So I pretty much go with fruit smoothies plus protein if I don't bring my own lunch.

 

Oh, mind if I see your food list dude?

[dubq 0]

it's not that hard. eat less, run more.

 

For weight loss, yes. Careful if you're trying to put on muscle mass, though. Interval training worked best for me with that. Otherwise I found I was just burning off the muscle I built the day before during my cardio routines.

 

EDIT: This is my penalty for replying to posts as I read them. I see you mentioned crossfit in your subsequent post.. so I'll shut my mouth now!

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

that's really not that true either, though, unless you're an elite athlete. don't get me wrong, because i'm as guilty as anyone in this regard, but we as a society make way too many excuses as to why we're fat. yeah, you might want to put on muscle mass, but if you're a fat turd, "muscle mass" hardly matters in the grand scheme. again, yeah, it's theoretically possible that running a lot will cut more muscle than fat, but the way you counter that is by a) keeping on a weight lifting program while you're running/expending the calories, and b) maintaining a reasonable diet that provides enough calories to support both your weight loss and your strength recovery. that's typically achieved by a high protein diet, but that's a misnomer in and of itself; eating a balanced diet, but just generally eating LESS of it, is the key to weight loss.

 

look, i'm not some 130 pound rail thin guy preaching this shit, this is coming from a guy who used to be a 5'10" 250 pound fat turd and ran his ass off until he was at 160. clearly, you're going to lose SOME muscle mass there, and i did particularly bad by not supplementing my workouts with strength training. but realistically, the idea that you can't gain muscle mass while you're losing weight is horseshit; you're not going to be able to gain muscle weight faster than you lose fat weight. it's just a physiological impossibility for someone with high body fat. it's much easier to use up your fat stores than it is to grow your muscles enough to gain weight. stop making excuses, it just is. do you know how freaking hard it is to put on a pound of muscle weight? it's insane.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

I just want to know what world it is where a porkchop and a pile of broccoli and cauliflower doesn't sound completely delicious. I guess it would suck if you boiled it all?

[Angle-plex 0]

But how can you gain muscle mass without carbs at the right time? How can strength go up (thus, building muscle) without carbs? How can you gain mass when you have NO carbs in your body and your body uses protein for fuel instead? Eating less isn't the answer, changing your micro-intake to a diet with more protein and eating the right stuff at the right time is much better for people in any athletic field.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

the idea that your body takes energy only from carbs is your problem.

 

your body takes energy from the calories you take in. you almost always eat more calories than you expend every day. you're waaaaaaaaay overestimating your own metabolism if you think playing an hour of rugby and lifting weights at the gym for two hours makes up for eating 3000 calories. i'm not talking about anything outrageous, but if you limit your calorie intake to 1600-2000 and run 30-45 minutes a day on top of your normal stuff, you're well on your way to losing weight. as long as you're still lifting weights and as long as you're resting enough inbetween lifting days, there's no reason why you can't lose weight and gain muscle at the same time. now, is it easier to lose weight and not worry about muscle? sure. but eating carbs isn't the panacea you think it is; the advantage of carbs is that they metabolize quickly; thus, when an elite athlete -- who already burns at or above his daily caloric intake just in training -- is preparing for an event, yes, he might eat carbs to give him an additional energy boost. but, you and i don't need anything even remotely resembling that.

[Damaramu 0]

So I've been busting my ass in the gym and at rugby practice. But, I haven't seen any real significant changes in my body fat or any sort of muscular definition.

 

Then I realized, it's probably what I'm eating. I read somewhere that your diet is 85% of your weightloss and fat loss. I've been filling myself with greasy food, processed foods and haven't been eating many veggies.

 

So I did some research and decided the best eating plan for me was a modified paleo-diet. Anyone ever tried this? Mine's a mixture of a low-glycemic foods diet and paleo.

 

Basically I have a list of foods I can eat because they're low in carbs and not processed. I also am avoiding any form of processed sugar.

 

So basically all I eat now is meat, vegetables and fruit. And some dairy.

 

It's kind of tough at first because bad food keeps calling to me. Food I never even ate before suddenly looks so good to me. But, when your dinner is a porkchop and a heap of broccoli and cauliflower I guess that happens. I'm just not used to eating this way.

 

Anybody tried similar diets? Anybody lose weight and see the significant changes coming when you changed the way you eat?

 

I'm still thinking about sneaking in a cheat meal once a week. Like maybe have a pizza during the Super Bowl or something. I don't know how much one meal is going to screw up any gains I make from basically eating clean all week. Any thoughts on cheat meals or days? I was told by someone at the Crossfit messageboards (good workout system, but those people are crazy) that cheating once a week basically makes a mediocre diet and I'm not helping myself.

 

Then again, I don't see how I can't lose weight on this diet. Anything processed, anything high in carbs, anything with sugar in it (aside from natural sugar) has been completely cut out of my diet. How could you not lose weight eating like this?

 

Are you differentiating between good carbs (sweet potatoes) and bad carbs, though? Just curious as I had my trainer put together a food plan for me a while ago when I started to seriously work out and it sounds pretty much the same but with portions of good complex carbs in there.

 

Eating clean is fucking tough, though. Especially if you work in an office.. it's all sandwiches and burgers around here. So I pretty much go with fruit smoothies plus protein if I don't bring my own lunch.

 

Oh, mind if I see your food list dude?

 

Yeah. Here it is:

 

• Oatmeal

• Light Natural Peanut Butter

Meats:

• Beef

• Ground Turkey

• Soy Sausage

• Turkey Sausage

• Chicken

• Salmon

• Deli Meat

• Ham

• Tuna

• Turkey

• Soy Burgers

• Tofu

• Pork

Fruits:

• Apples

• Grapes

• Plums

• Blueberries

• Oranges

• Pears

• Pineapples

• Cantaloupes

• Strawberries

• Peaches

Vegetables:

• Olives

• Avocado

• Tomatoes

• Lettuce

• Onions

• Mushrooms

• Cucumbers

• Spinach

• Broccoli

• Brussels Sprouts

• Zucchini

• Carrots

• Chickpeas

• Dill Pickles

• Asparagus

• Green Beans

Other Stuff:

• Hard Cheese

• Black Beans

• Light Mayo

• Soy Milk

• Virgin Olive Oil

• Cottage Cheese

• Almonds

• Macadamia Nuts

• 2% Milk

• Vinaigrette Dressing

• Balsamic Dressing

 

And here's what I've eaten this week:

 

Saturday

Lunch: 3 eggs, 2 piece bacon, small fruit salad, glass of milk

Dinner: 2 turkey hamburger patties with mushrooms, whole heaping of broccoli and cauliflower

Snack: Dill pickle

 

Sunday

Breakfast/Lunch: 3 eggs, 3 piece sausage, 1 orange

Dinner: 1 porkchop, a small side salad with green olives, green beans

(also the last day i worked out when i did that day's WoD scaled for buttercups)

 

Monday

Breakfast: 2 hardboiled eggs

Lunch: 3 eggs, 3 piece sausage, 3 piece bacon

Dinner: 1 piece chicken with garlic sliced on it, lots of broccoli, side of black beans (i know, not paleo)

 

Tuesday

Breakfast: Apple

Lunch: turkey and lettuce leaf sandwich(lettuce as bread), spinach salad with green and black olives, hard boiled egg, baby carrot sticks

Dinner: Veggie (baby carrots, bell pepper, onions, zuchinni, cauliflower) and turkey hamburger stew

 

Wednesday

Breakfast: Apple

Lunch: leftover stew, grapes, baby carrots

Dinner: 3 eggs, 2 piece bacon, 3 piece turkey sausage, 1 orange

 

 

I think it could use room for improvement. I was told I wasn't eating enough. I'm mentally psyching myself out though. Like the thought of healthy food is kind of making me sick while the thought of a greasy pizza sounds awesome. Gotta beat the mental block.

 

I wrote my goals down. Here it is:

 

To look lean and be fit. Never get tired on the rugby pitch. Weight 230 lbs. or less.

 

I need to slim down and improve my endurance. So yes in addition to crossfit I get on the treadmill and run a bangload. I also run a lot of sprints outside my gym.

 

I was down to like 250 when I was living in Dodge City. I've gotten back up to 275. In the 5 days I've been doing this I'm down to 268. Probably all water weight.

[The Niggardly King 0]

But how can you gain muscle mass without carbs at the right time? How can strength go up (thus, building muscle) without carbs? How can you gain mass when you have NO carbs in your body and your body uses protein for fuel instead?

 

Steroids can be your friend here.

[CBright7831 0]

Do what I do:

 

chain-smoke

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

that's good, but your focus with working out needs to be time rather than intensity. you should be working out at least 30-45 minutes at a RPE of like 75%, rather than 10 minutes with an RPE of 90%.

 

also, it doesn't matter how good the quality of your food is if you're eating a ton of it. portion sizes matter.

[dubq 0]

My trainer had me on 6-7 1cup (maybe a bit more) sized portions for my meals a day. I know it's the better way to eat.. especially since your body starts to prepare itself for starvation if you haven't eaten for over 3 hours.. but it's damn hard to keep up. I've now found myself back to a "three meal a day" (with some small snacks) plan which is much easier to maintain.

[Retard Girl 0]

see, when i read "my new way of eating", i thought you meant you were eating through your nose, or interveinisly, or something...

[Damaramu 0]

that's good, but your focus with working out needs to be time rather than intensity. you should be working out at least 30-45 minutes at a RPE of like 75%, rather than 10 minutes with an RPE of 90%.

 

also, it doesn't matter how good the quality of your food is if you're eating a ton of it. portion sizes matter.

 

See, now I was told on another MB that I wasn't eating enough each day and was going to end up losing not only fat, but muscle unless I increased my caloric intake.

[dubq 0]

Here's a good post about muscle building foods. I found it pretty helpful when I originally saw it.

 

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_27754.aspx

 

Fish: It contains protein, which helps build muscle, and Omega-3 acids.

Recommendation: 2-3 meals per week

 

Sweet potatoes: Great source of antioxidants, which help to rebuild muscle. Also an excellent source of potassium

Recommendation: 3 servings of potassium rich foods (like sweet potatoes) should go into your 5-9 servings of vegetables and produce a day

 

Low-fat yogurt: Contains calcium and Vitamin D, which help to build healthy bones; and also protein and potassium.

Recommendation: 6-8 oz a day

 

Quinoa: A complex carbohydrate, which fuels active muscles.

Recommendation: half a cup a day

 

Pumpkin seeds: Packed with magnesium, manganese, iron and copper which are all essential to build healthy muscle and to help it to function.

Recommendation: small handful a day.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

that's a common misconception. now, if you're feeling like you're sore a lot longer than you used to be and you're doing the same types of workout, you might need more food to handle recovery. but, in general, if you're eating a ton of food, you're eating more calories than your body needs. let me put it this way: if you're starting to experience catabolic muscle failure in the middle of workouts, or you're far too sore for too long to work out as much as you need, you might not be getting enough calories. that's a given. however, you might be surprised with how many calories you actually *need*. you don't need any particularly high number of calories to support muscle growth and development unless you're really an elite athlete.

[Damaramu 0]

Those people on the Crossfit messageboards are crazy elitists. They compared me eating junk food on a "cheat day" to a recovering alcoholic trying to have one drink or a recovering drug addict having one hit. WTF? Like I'm going to eat a piece of pizza and go crazy and start shoveling every piece of bad food into my mouth for the next week!?

 

Basically they're trying to say that the Paleo diet is the ONLY way to go and that I can never go off of it. That my diet from now till the day I die has to consist of fruit, vegetables, meat and nuts. And if I ever add grains or bread or anything back in, well then by god I'll gain 50 pounds and be back where I started.

 

It's kind of an absurd thought.

 

Like I said. I used to eat about 28 "cheat" meals a week. Now I'll only eat one. That's going to kill all my gains? Confusing.

 

 

Plus, when I'm in shape I think I'll have a few more things going for me that will help me stay in shape.

A) I'll have more muscle and less fat. So my muscle will be burning fat and I won't be storing as much.

 

B) I won't be eating crap EVERY meal like I did before. And if I do eat something "un-paleo" it'll be sparingly.

 

C) I'll be leaner and more muscular which means my endurance will probably be better (i'm working on it), thus I'll be able to workout much harder in the gym and lift much heavier. So, I'll be expending more calories and burning more when I workout because of my drive to keep the body I have and the capabilities of the new body I'll have. I almost feel like a robot getting an upgrade.

 

D) If I integrate something back into my diet and despite all my exercise I start to see negative changes, then I'll probably just cut it back out!

 

 

But, I really think once I'm lean and muscular that it'll be a lot easier to maintain. I always here it's easier to keep it than get it.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

i mean, you can cheat every once in a while, but don't fool yourself into thinking you're not working against yourself there. if you cheat, try to cheat small -- i.e. not a whole pizza, but a slice or two. people's problems come from when they "cheat", they down like 15 beers and a whole pizza. you need to be aware of just how many friggin calories that is: if you consider 200 cals for a regular bottle of beer and probably 1500-2000 cals for the pizza, congratulations, you ate TWO DAYS worth of food in that cheat. that's going to make it almost impossible to have a net calorie deficit for a week. so, yeah, cheat, that's fine. however, be smart about it.

 

the problem with the "when i'm lean and muscular" way of thinking is that it's so abstract and in the future, and you're thinking like it's not going to take a life change to stay thin. get over it, you're never going to be able to eat like michael phelps ever again. you might be able to sneak in a slice or two here and there, but you'll never be able to call up papa johns, order a pizza, kill it and say "ha! i gained no weight!"

 

 

[Damaramu 0]

 

I'm still trying to get over this stomach bug. Last night I puked after the gym and all I could keep down was 1 piece of chicken and I fought to keep that down.

 

This morning I ate real oatmeal and it's staying down, but I'm queasy.

 

I hope that's not me mentally psyching myself out. I had stew the first night I started getting sick. So now I keep thinking of stew when I'm about to puke. I guess that's ruined that stew for me forever. I have a friend that got his worst hangover ever off Guiness. Now he can't drink Guiness because he thinks of puking when he does. Just like me and the stew. It wasn't the stew's fault, but I'll always associate the taste and smell.

 

Anyway, I see what you're saying Tyler. Good points. I'm having pizza during the UFC. I'll try to keep it under control.

 

I do keep psyching myself out. I had a sinus infection Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday my stomach become upset and it's been that way for 3 days. I think it's from the sinuses draining or a bug. But for some reason my mind is playing tricks with me saying stuff like "Your body is rejecting what you're eating." and "You aren't getting enough calories." or "You're too weak from not eating enough."

 

I did feel abnormally tired last night after just running a mile on the treadmill, but that could be chalked up to being sick for a week and having not worked out since Sunday because of said sickness.

[Damaramu 0]

Oh yeah. And the CF nazi's are trying to sell me on intermittent fasting. I just don't see how not eating for long periods of time is supposed to help. But these people go on 12-24 hour fasts once or twice a week. They think it's great and claim it's the best thing for losing fat.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

My mother-in-law once went on a diet that featured only eating two bacon-lettuce sandwiches per day. That's it.

 

My mother-in-law passed about a week later.

 

My mother-in-law is not all up there.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

nah, you're probably just sick. stick with your diet and eat moderately, you'll be fine. you just have to make it a life commitment; that's why gimmick diets don't work, because if you've got the idea that you're gonna get down to x weight and then you can revert to your old ways, you're lying to yourself. you'll be able to increase your calories, but not by a ton, and you'll never be able to go back to where you were. that's sort of just the decision you've got to make when you decide you want to be skinny.

 

i'm a member of a crossfit group here at quantico, and a lot of them are pretty hardcore (i'm rather mediocre; for example, on yesterday's workout, i got in the 12 minute range and had to scale my squat cleans to 95# because i could only get to half of the second set with the rx'd weight with good form). they're marines, and all of them are in the 150-210 range in terms of weight with varying strength. we have one guy in particular who could compete in the crossfit games. i'll tell you right now that NONE of them do selective fasting or anything remotely resembling the hardcore, strict diet that the cf main site recommends.

 

just do your thing; eat generally healthier (sounds like you are, which is good). cut out greasy food as much as possible, eat a lot of baked/grilled proteins, supplement with veggies and fruits, reward yourself smartly (i.e. ice cream is fine, but if you've got the choice, just get the reduced fat... it doesn't taste that different). you'll be fine.

 

the other thing is that you need to have a tangible goal, or it's never gonna happen. my goal was from 190 to 160 between July and October, and I did it because i put that down on paper, i had a plan, and i followed it. sometimes i cheated, but i made up for it by doing more cardio the next day or by eating less the next day. i'm telling you, www.sparkpeople.com is a great way to count your calories and keep yourself accountable. give it a shot.

[Damaramu 0]

Well, I'm 269 right now. I want to be at 230 by the summer. So like July. That seems a little unattainable, but who knows? 40 pounds in 6 months?

 

The thing is, I haven't been skinny since 6th grade. So I don't know what a healthy weight would be. I could get down to 230 and realize that I need to be even thinner or leaner. You never know.

 

Eating just meat, vegetables and fruit seems hardcore to me. But I'm going to try it. And then I'm going to integrate grains back in there. My wife is hooked on this diet right now. She loves it. She never wants to go off of it. lol. I don't see the harm in after I'm down to my target weight intergrating whole wheat bread back in, or pasta. She doesn't think it's a good idea, and the hardcore CF mbers seem to think I'll get all huge and fat again if I intergrated that stuff into my diet sparingly. WTF?

 

I do think once I'm in better shape I will be able to work out harder and longer to burn more calories. And my testosterone levels will be higher so hopefully that'll do something good! lol

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

don't cut grains and carbs, that's silly. just don't go overboard with them. i never cut those out of my diet, and i never had problems. it's really just about accountability. look at the serving sizes on the packages and follow them; i.e. if you're eating spaghetti, use only a cup of noodles instead of the whole package.

 

do you do cf, by the way?