How to stay on track with diet/nutrition?

[Foggins]

So, having a hard time sticking to better eating habits...I am feeling very good on the exercise part of the equation (work out 3-4 times per week with good variety of cross training, jogging, weightlifting) but I am terrible with the nutrition side, and I know how important it is. I have tried way too many things that I felt (at the time) were going to stick: Paleo, slow carb, vegan, keto, etc...all last a few days and than I find myself right back to where I started.

For those of you that had bad eating habits but made a change that actually stuck, what was the trigger to make it stick? I ran my first ever full marathon this past Dec so I was pretty motivated to be ready for that, but I don't have anything else I signed up for so am feeling totally demotivated to eat healthy.

Help please, any and all input welcome.

[EnVe46]

Im by no means a dietician or bodybuilder but I enjoy lifting and seeing change. The thing that stuck with me is enjoying the cooking process if you're doing it yourself. It sounds cheesy but I enjoy cooking with my wife, its a bonding experience for us relatively newly married. I also am impatient and instant gratification type person. I can tell a difference in my body and appearance over a week of eating terrible. But at the same time, I love the grind to get back. So the answer is tough, but find a way to do it that you enjoy. Dont eat like a rabbit cause its healthy, eat the things you love but in proper portions. Fist full of protein to a full hand size veggies. Also, with my schedule change, I use a meal prep/delivery service. Its not that much more expensive then cooking on your own and it takes the guess work out of it. Paleo is what I do cause I love meat and you in Texas Im sure its the same! In synopsis, enjoy the process, embrace it and dont be so caught up on a cheat meal or two, just maintain a proper, consistent eating habit of foods you like. Also, brown rice, sweet potatoes are a good alternatives to throw in.

[vinylengraver]

In 2011 I took a picture of myself in underwear.
It was gross.
It took 2 years but I lost 55 pounds of fat and kept my weight and pant size for the last 5 years.
Every time I feel like "going back" to my old habits I look at that picture and I'm good.

[Foggins]

Originally Posted by vinylengraver

In 2011 I took a picture of myself in underwear.
It was gross.
It took 2 years but I lost 55 pounds of fat and kept my weight and pant size for the last 5 years.
Every time I feel like "going back" to my old habits I look at that picture and I'm good.

Thanks...if you don't mind me asking, what does your nutrition plan look like, at a high level?

[Foggins]

Originally Posted by EnVe46

Im by no means a dietician or bodybuilder but I enjoy lifting and seeing change. The thing that stuck with me is enjoying the cooking process if you're doing it yourself. It sounds cheesy but I enjoy cooking with my wife, its a bonding experience for us relatively newly married. I also am impatient and instant gratification type person. I can tell a difference in my body and appearance over a week of eating terrible. But at the same time, I love the grind to get back. So the answer is tough, but find a way to do it that you enjoy. Dont eat like a rabbit cause its healthy, eat the things you love but in proper portions. Fist full of protein to a full hand size veggies. Also, with my schedule change, I use a meal prep/delivery service. Its not that much more expensive then cooking on your own and it takes the guess work out of it. Paleo is what I do cause I love meat and you in Texas Im sure its the same! In synopsis, enjoy the process, embrace it and dont be so caught up on a cheat meal or two, just maintain a proper, consistent eating habit of foods you like. Also, brown rice, sweet potatoes are a good alternatives to throw in.

Great advice, I do hate all the plans I get into...never really thought about trying to find something that is somewhat enjoyable.

[overcoil]

Investigate artery clogging food then that might persuade you to eat clean.
If I forgo foods with artificial food-coloring and nix trans-fat, partially hydrogenated oils, cut down on added sugar (still like a chocolate egg cream every day) can tell by my skin that I'm doing something right.
First thing in the morning I like to jump rope, and If I'm over eating and feel my stomach bouncing while jumping then I know I'm eating too much.
Like to take a few minutes to relax in silence, try to slow my breathing and heart-rate and just sense my ability to calm down and feel clear headed, if I'm eating right, w/o too much salt or sweets in my system, I know.

[vinylengraver]

Originally Posted by FrozenAg

Thanks...if you don't mind me asking, what does your nutrition plan look like, at a high level?

I don't really have plan, at least I does not feel like a "plan" anymore.
But I can tell you what I do:
In general I eat less (much less than most people I guess...) - glass of water with apple cider vinegar upon waking, morning coffee with cream followed by two meals a day - breakfast/lunch at noon and dinner before 7:00PM. Plenty of water daily and PLENTY of sleep - 8hrs/day, longer on weekends.

I think you can classify what I do as Intermittent Fasting, as I get 16hr break from food every day.

Low to ultra-low carbs - I try for less than 50grams per day with weekly carb re-feeds - what that means I only have things like rice, bread or pasta on Saturdays.

I take vitamins on top of the fact that we consume copious amounts of vegetables in my family, but by no means we are vegetarians. Little fruit though - mostly berries.
My weekday routine contains lots of meat, eggs and dairy. I'd say 70% of what I eat... And I love mayo, lol... so by typical standards this is hardly "clean" - but it does wonders for me.

As strict as it all looks on first sight, I think my body is again able to process sugar properly, so I can take an odd break from this for special social occasions - like Christmas time etc. without suffering any consequences. Holiday season is no longer an issue. I will have cake and ice cream and beer and it leaves no mark - but that happens two, three times a year at the most.

I mean, after a while all of it became so natural I have no trouble continuing with this kind of lifestyle. It was hard for the first year, but now it really feels natural.

And I know that it works not only because it allows me to keep a healthy weight - it took care of many issues - GERD, high blood pressure, borderline diabetes, alarmingly high bad cholesterol levels, anxiety, trouble sleeping etc. and my immune system has been fully restored too - I have not been sick for years...
No colds, flus, nothing.
All that at 54 years of age - I am definitely in a better overall shape and state of health than 10 or 20 years ago.

[Hawkeye]

I was having trouble consistently planning and prepping meals each week and definitely not eating well for those weeks I did not.

After a lot of research I am on week 3 of a www.Huel.com "diet". I use Huel for breakfast and lunch (with some meat protein cause I love my meat... giggity)

I eat a normal dinner read: what I would normally eat before this, which is usually too much food and sometimes not good for you.

I have felt better, saved money, and am actually enjoying this new regimen. It is too early to tell real results yet but the scale and body fat comp machine seem to think it is trending in the right direction!

P.S. if you end up wanting to try Huel let me know. If someone refers you you get $10 off your first order and I think I would get $10 off my next months order as well.

[EnVe46]

Originally Posted by FrozenAg

Great advice, I do hate all the plans I get into...never really thought about trying to find something that is somewhat enjoyable.

Thats what a lot of people have issues with when "dieting". Paleo works for me cause it checks off all my likes, meat, veggies and besides breakfast, only carbs you ingest are from the veggies. I tend to not like restrictions in any part of life, hahaha, so diets aren't for me and Ill never be able to do one for that fact. So, I modify my paleo to eating a rather large amount of carbs in the am, after my workout, with large amounts of proteins. Im going to muscle growth/fat loss so modify to fit your needs. Paleo is a great way to eat great foods in healthy portions and avoid the undesirable ones.

[UncleWede]

I can tell you how NOT to do it

For me, if I don't go to work, I do OK. At work, wandering around from desk call to desk call, I know where all the fat bombs are located, and I have a difficult time detouring away from those.

Weekends I do pretty good because the snacks aren't as readily available. I have to walk 1/2 mile to the store to get them.

[Graves]

There are a million options out there. I am a certified personal trainer and dietitian and I can tell you it is never easy. You need to find what works for you and your body type. If you enjoy smashing a cheeseburger with bacon, calorie counting yourself to death is going to drive you insane. So there are options like, IF, which is intermittent fasting. Helps you lose weight, burn a lot of fat, but give you that big satisfying meal every day. Then again, that depends on your fitness level. Everything depends on your fitness level. Really, there are certain formulas out there that will help you calculate your macros and this will help you get yourself in check. Honestly, without sounding like an asshole, it comes down to discipline. If you want to change you have to make the change and stop coming up with excuses. If you need more help I'd be happy to help you via PM. I am pretty busy so if I do not respond right away, try not to kill me.

[Bt12]

The key to a really sustainable diet and lifestyle is not to diet too aggressively/restrictive and allow for cheat meals as they say. If it’s too restrictive you’ll fall off.

This is partly the reason I tend to carb and calorie cycle. I run with a static level of protein that stays steady. So basically hit your protein macros and oscillate carbs and fat to fill the rest of the calories.

On heavy days I tend to overeat pizza noodle junk food at a calorie surplus and such and eat less the rest of week on lighter or rest days. So I spike my calories and carbs essentially on the same days.

On average though, I average maintenance or lower calories unless I’m bulking. Yes I think about it as an average for the week vs day to day. Allows me to plan big days and low days... so I cheat about 2 days a week essentially.


Then when I want to be beach ready. I lower the average calories a little more aggressively.




The key is to never feel like you are depriving yourselves.

Ps. You will look fatter and weigh more after carving up or high sodium. When you have less carbs you’ll also be noticeably leaner... so my body weight occilates quite a bit throughout the week. But depending on what I’m doing focus on the average weight

[nujabes24]

Everything they are all saying man. Take pictures lots of pictures every week. You’ll see the change man. That’s going to motivate you. The first few weeks you won’t see too much change but eventually you will

[Hawkeye]

Just don't post said pictures on bodyspace unless you are sure you either have clothes on or mark it private somehow.

Just the other day I finish tracking a workout and hit submit (no #swelfie for me) and see some chick with lips blowin in the wind...

[Graves]

Originally Posted by Bt12

The key to a really sustainable diet and lifestyle is not to diet too aggressively/restrictive and allow for cheat meals as they say. If it's too restrictive you'll fall off.

This is partly the reason I tend to carb and calorie cycle. I run with a static level of protein that stays steady. So basically hit your protein macros and oscillate carbs and fat to fill the rest of the calories.

On heavy days I tend to overeat pizza noodle junk food at a calorie surplus and such and eat less the rest of week on lighter or rest days. So I spike my calories and carbs essentially on the same days.

On average though, I average maintenance or lower calories unless I'm bulking. Yes I think about it as an average for the week vs day to day. Allows me to plan big days and low days... so I cheat about 2 days a week essentially.


Then when I want to be beach ready. I lower the average calories a little more aggressively.




The key is to never feel like you are depriving yourselves.

Ps. You will look fatter and weigh more after carving up or high sodium. When you have less carbs you'll also be noticeably leaner... so my body weight occilates quite a bit throughout the week. But depending on what I'm doing focus on the average weight

I cheat on Fridays and Sunday's. Those are my big cardio days teamed with heavy weights (most of the time). Those two days alone I'll burn around 1,800 calories (each day) leaving me with tons of space to eat. I usually eat like a fat kid about 15-20 minutes after those workouts. Either way, works good for me and keeps me sane.

[1MOREMOD]

Gotta want the result more than the crap food, ie will

[Rmtt]

Originally Posted by 1MOREMOD

Gotta want the result more than the crap food, ie will

That's the beauty of it. Once you have the results, the more resilient your body is in tolerating more of the bad stuff!

[Really_fat_ninja]

I’ve been eating less...I’ve found it’s been easier to control my intake better at home.

That said once the lockdown is over...I promise I will never eat at home again

[AustraliaG20]

I train for various sporting events and need to drop weight and fat periodically, while building strength and cardio. It is tough, especially when getting < 10% body fat.

This is what I recommend.

1. Download myfitnesspal and input EVERYTHING you eat, and add every bit of exercise you do. Be honest, put it in accurately.
2. (Optional) Get your BMR and bone density, muscle mass measured. Otherwise just use an online calculator. Add it to myfitnesspal.
3. Note that 1kg of fat is approximately 30000kJ. Therefore, based on the above you must be in deficit by at least 30000kJ to lose 1kg of fat (not water!).
4. Try to maintain a diet that sees you about 1500kJ to 2000kJ in deficit a day, not consistently more in deficit otherwise you'll burn muscle or get too cranky. This way you'll drop about 1kg every 2 weeks. Take a multi vitamin.

Get your family / friends to help you stay on track. Your diet will sort itself by remaining in only slight deficit.

If you want to crash weight loss, consider carb cycling... but it's not a 'beginner' way to do it.

[sqwinny]

Fat secret in my experience is a better app than MFP these days. Less ads, just-food tracking without the need to combine/sync (MyFitnessPal, MapMyRun, anything Under Armor has bought under the sun)

[chassis]

As fast as possible, if not faster, jettison all “programs” such as paleo, keto, etc.

Eat anything that grows on the ground or in the ground.

Know you caloric intake needs, divide by 6, and eat 6 equally sized, evenly spaced meals per day.

Done.

[M_Six]

This all boils down to motivation and how that's affected by nutrition. (See also: Vicious circle)

An hour or so after a carb heavy meal earlier this week, I went out and set 4 Personal Records (PRs) on a course I ride all the time. After 20 miles, I felt like I could go 20 more. I tried the same course today on fewer carbs and zonked out after 16 miles. I was seriously disappointed in myself (I had planned on 33 or even 48 miles), but I was toast after 16. I attribute that to a poor choice of intake prior to the ride. Nutrition and exercise are inextricably linked.

If you fuel poorly, you'll feel like crap and lose motivation. You need to avoid that quicksand.

(Personal disclosure: I know I need to balance intake vs effort, but I'm lousy at it.)