I eat terribly. I eat terribly. I don't know the first thing about food.

So, branching off from the discussion in the goals/weights thread, maybe this is a place for people to talk about how they eat and exercise and for other people to give pointers? I'll start, though today was a little extraordinary. I'll post again tomorrow just to get a better view, but I'll guess at it tonight.

I tend to go pretty carb-heavy. Today, I had a mushroom and cheese omelette for breakfast with toast. For lunch, I shared a ricotta and meatball pizza with my mother from a nice Italian restaurant, and then we had a slice of ricotta pie for dessert. Just now, I had a frozen tortellini alfredo and broccoli. I pretty much just drink water. I'm stuffed from lunch, so I don't forsee eating any more tonight, but if I get hungry (or boredom eat before bed) it'll probably be two cups of Cheerios.

On a usual day, I start off with yogurt. Later on, I might make a burrito out of canned refried beans and a tortilla, or microwave one or two. I don't really eat lunch or dinner, but I tend to have four or five smaller meals, about three or four hours apart, depending on when I get hungry, so I'd do that same thing again, or maybe microwave a frozen meal, or something like that. Usually for my last meal of the day, I make a larger amount of pasta or some macaroni and cheese.

My exercise is pretty much just walking in place when I watch Hulu, if I remember to do that. I've got an exercise bike but the seat is pretty uncomfortable and it's old and sorta janky, so it's not so great to use.

Things on the agenda: Include more fruits and vegetables. I feel like 70% or more of what I eat is either carbs or carb-centric. Do more exercise. Or at least more regular exercise, and maybe do more than just walking.

Things I think I'm doing okay at: I feel like just drinking water's become a solid lifestyle element. I might have a coke or a beer once every few weeks, but other than that, it's pretty much just water. Also, apparently starting the day off with protein is a good idea, so the yogurt is something I stumbled into that works.

Hey there!!

Well, the fact that you eat several times a day is a good thing. It's hard for me to remind myself that I need to eat every 3 hours, or I'll over-indulge in the following meals.

It kinda sounds like you have some sort of carb addiction. I get you. I love them to death D: What my nutrician recommended was to have 2 slices of turkey breast, half a fruit, and 2 nut halves (or 3 almonds) in-between meals to start killing off my bread cravings. Replace bad carbs with protein and good carbs, basically. I'm guessing in your case you'd need more than 2 slices of turkey breast (since you're taller, and stuff).
Also, if you're gonna have carbs, have them in the morning, NOT at night.

Also, you should definitely avoid buying delicious temptations. Out of sight, out of mind. Above everything, get rid of frozen dinners. Those things are terrible for you D: Oh oh, and avoid buying canned food. There's been some studies that the thing they use to preserve most canned goods prevents weight-loss.

As for exercise, you should look up what your ideal heart-rate is for fat burning. For example, mine is 125-150. If I do some sort of exercise that keeps my heart rate at that level for 20 minutes, I'll burn fat (people say after 20 minutes you start burning muscle, BUT WHAT DO YOU KNOW? I FOUND OUT I ACTUALLY KINDA LIKE EXERCISING, SO I JUST KEEP GOING AND DO 1 HOUR OF CARDIO).

Something I did that showed results REALLY fast was the Insanity work-out program, and I was just doing the warm-ups XP (I haven't been able to do them lately, though, because I've got an injured knee [I got injured while sitting down]). You can torrent them. They're fun, because you keep moving at all times, and it's a challenge, and you can tell everyone on the screen is suffering as much as you are.

The last time I got serious about losing weight I was eating eggs and refried beans for breakfast and LOTS of chicken at every other meal. For me I'm gonna have to replace my in between snacks from sweets to fruits and I dunno nuts I guess? Maybe I'll ween myself off candies and cookies(my weakness is oreos) with peanut butter.

I'm the saddest person. My weakness is "Quaker oatmeal cookies."

As in... like... sugar free stuff... I don't even like junk food, or eating out. My body just doesn't want to be thin D:

Just woke up, had a greek yogurt, and then fumbled around for about three minutes on my wrist trying to get my resting heart rate. Looks like 48 bpm, so which puts my target for fat burning between 85 and 100, roughly. At least, if I read this chart right. I'm a little nervous since when I exercise it's usually just 'yo move around you've been sitting in a chair for six hours' and I don't pay attention to heart rate, soooo I'm not really sure how hard I need to work to raise it to any given level.

Still, once I work this one, it'll maybe be fun. I'll check out Insanity and see if my busted old laptop can even still do video.

Edit: At the end of a 20 minute workout, I was up to 72 bpm, which I guess isn't bad for a first try.

Doc Aquatic wrote:Just woke up, had a greek yogurt, and then fumbled around for about three minutes on my wrist trying to get my resting heart rate. Looks like 48 bpm, so which puts my target for fat burning between 85 and 100, roughly. At least, if I read this chart right. I'm a little nervous since when I exercise it's usually just 'yo move around you've been sitting in a chair for six hours' and I don't pay attention to heart rate, soooo I'm not really sure how hard I need to work to raise it to any given level.

Still, once I work this one, it'll maybe be fun. I'll check out Insanity and see if my busted old laptop can even still do video.

Edit: At the end of a 20 minute workout, I was up to 72 bpm, which I guess isn't bad for a first try.

You can doooo eeeeet

...

I should get up and hit the gym myself...

My biggest problem is I keep saying "ugh, I'm so busy!!" And I get distracted by wanting to write and draw stuff... and dumblr...

jujujulieta wrote:
I should get up and hit the gym myself...

My biggest problem is I keep saying "ugh, I'm so busy!!" And I get distracted by wanting to write and draw stuff... and dumblr...

I'm hardly in a position to give advice, but walking in place when doing my internet stuff's pretty much the main way I can get stuff done. You can probably tumblr your ass off while getting some exercise in, and I know I've done it when I wrote in the past.

I love the idea of this section of the forum. As I mentioned in my intro/goal post, I met with a nutritionalist about a year and a half ago who taught me a lot about food and how your body uses it. Since then, I have made an (almost obsessive) effort to learn a lot of professional opinions and figure my shit out.

When I don't stick to my structured meal plan, I maintain or gain weight. There are a few rules I picked up that I have found no disputes against:

Drink your damn water! Coffee, tea, coke (even diet,) doesn't count! Your body processes it differently. Your body has to work for it. You need WATER. Your body (should) be made of about 50% water. You retain water when you don't drink enough of it, because your body doesn't trust that you're going to continue giving it enough. The best rule of thumb I have found is 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water. 160 lbs = 80 oz of water. 300 lbs = 150 oz of water. Yes, you will have to go to the bathroom a lot, but how do you think fat leaves your body?! Through your pee, people.

Start your day by eating no later than one hour after you wake up. If you don't feed your body in the morning, it will go into "starvation mode" which DOES NOT mean your body is eating fat. Your body will hoard any and every calorie you give it later and store it as fat.

Eat about every 3-4 hours throughout the day, spreading your calories out throughout the day.

Don't eat for at least three hours before going to sleep. Sleeping is a natural fasting time and your body doesn't need calories to function.

ONLY WEIGH YOURSELF ONCE A WEEK!! Ugh... this is a hard one for me. Your body will fluctuate for countless reasons. I have watched a scale go up 9lbs before dropping and ultimately losing over two pounds in a weeks time.

Everyone needs a balanced diet. You should be eating real vegetables, fruits, carbs, proteins, and fats every day. You don't need things like extra salt, mayonnaise, butter, etc.; but you do need some fat. Read food labels and know what you're eating.

I know these things, and I am by no means perfect with them. Every single day is an effort, but the longer I stick to my meal plan the easier it gets and the better I feel.

I went to the store today and remembered why I fell back into junk food. Healthy food is expensive! But I'm committed. I got grapes and apples to snack on and some peanut butter crackers to replace Oreos I was constantly eating.

PhilipL wrote:I went to the store today and remembered why I fell back into junk food. Healthy food is expensive! But I'm committed. I got grapes and apples to snack on and some peanut butter crackers to replace Oreos I was constantly eating.

LOL I remember someone on 4chan once saying something like
"If you think it's expensive then maybe you shouldn't be eating so much!!"
Or something like that.

Oh 4chan~

Haha yep. 4 apples and a bag of grapes. Somebody stop me! I'm out of control!

PhilipL wrote:Haha yep. 4 apples and a bag of grapes. Somebody stop me! I'm out of control!

Seriously, though I don't really know how much cheaper junk food is...

Healthy food is so expensive for me because I live in Alaska! It kind of sucks.

On the carb note, I'm also sort of a carb addict. What I've found helpful (weirdly) is eating the same meals I usually would and then trying to find a way to replace the carbs with a low/no-carb alternative, like spaghetti squash (which doesn't take the same but it kind of tricks my body), slices of cucumber instead of crackers, or low calorie bread. If you're really into sandwiches wraps are a great substitute, even though they generally have roughly the same calorie count you will be eating less carbs. And when you do choose to eat carbs, make sure it's 100% whole wheat.

Hope that helped!

It's also really useful to know what types of food your body can process.

I'm south Indian, so a lot of the food I grew up on was rice-based. Recently, I cut rice out of my diet, and I felt significantly better (less sluggish, digestion was better, not as bloated). Apparently I have a rice insensitivity, and cutting that out (even though rice is a huge comfort food) made a huge difference. I'm also lactose intolerant, and cutting milk, cheese, and other non-cultured dairy products out of my diet has aided weight-loss and overall well-being greatly.

I know sticking to specific foods that you know and love is comforting and easy, but it's definitely worth experimenting with your body to see what works and what doesn't. In the end, I have found it helps a lot.

here's a great tip I got from my employer, a nutritionist and diet coach; drink a high quality whey protein powder when you wake up and then again after you exercise. I have a chocolate flavored one mixed with coffee every morning and it helps me have energy for my morning bike ride, makes it possible for me to eat breakfast- I'm never really hungry at 6:30 when I wake up, keeps me fuller longer than a bowl of cereal would, helps build muscle and repair from exercise, and it replaces those mochas I was addicted to. And it doesn't feel like dieting but it's made a lot of difference for me.

I love this thread! You're all giving a lot of good tips here, which is awesome. As I've mentioned in the other thread, my diet is pretty carbtastic, and @eileenonyou, I love the idea of swapping in wraps for sandwiches , because, bread... ugh, I love it too much, I think. @Chiddycho, I'm intrigued by whey protein powder. Might give that a try at some point!

blargh. i just broke a cardinal rule of my diet and had a huge plate of chili cheese fries. and i feel like i just murdered a kitten.
*deep breath*
okay, start anew.