Thread: Diet and energy problem

ooops sorry about the amount of protein to weight!!!
lol
i knew it sounded wroing thats why i put in the disclaimer
the actual message was kinda right though.:thumb

a good way to start is weigh yourself - then write down everything you eat for 3 days then weigh yourself again - (it's a pain but do it right once and your set for life!) - then if your weight has stayed the same you know what you need to maintain weight, so either start eating cleaner or train more or cut 300 to 500 calories to start loosing weight or add 300-500 calories to add weight (again should be clean protein & carbs and good fats either way to help keep energy up and feed muscles) then just adjust accoringly over time - if you do not figure your maintenance calories out you will spend the rest of your life guessing - and this makes life very complicated and frustrating for all concerned....also remember it will take about 6 weeks for your body to react to any new training and eating habits - so stop jumping on the scales/bodyfat calipers and messing about everyday /week - give your body time, be consistent and track everything this way you know what works and what does not instead of guessing mixing things up and wondering what it was that did or did not work - again it reduces guessing and driving yourself insane.:yes:

Originally Posted by Mandirigma

Yeah, a lot of people think muscle weighs more than fat, but that in itself doesnt make sense.
Its like asking, what weighs more, 1 ton of bricks or 1 ton of feathers?
The difference is the size per weight.
1 lb of muscle is smaller than 1 lb of fat.
If you had 2 people, same height, same weight, 1 person had 20% bodyfat, the other had 10% bodyfat, the 2nd person would be smaller.

Yeah it's quite logical when you think about it isn' it? It's amazing how many pre-conceptions people tend to just live their lives by. Which I'll come on to in a minute...

Originally Posted by Si-K

a good way to start is weigh yourself - then write down everything you eat for 3 days then weigh yourself again - (it's a pain but do it right once and your set for life!) - then if your weight has stayed the same you know what you need to maintain weight, so either start eating cleaner or train more or cut 300 to 500 calories to start loosing weight or add 300-500 calories to add weight (again should be clean protein & carbs and good fats either way to help keep energy up and feed muscles) then just adjust accoringly over time - if you do not figure your maintenance calories out you will spend the rest of your life guessing - and this makes life very complicated and frustrating for all concerned....also remember it will take about 6 weeks for your body to react to any new training and eating habits - so stop jumping on the scales/bodyfat calipers and messing about everyday /week - give your body time, be consistent and track everything this way you know what works and what does not instead of guessing mixing things up and wondering what it was that did or did not work - again it reduces guessing and driving yourself insane.:yes:

Great advice mate, I'm definitely going to do that. I think I'm going to mix up my routine a bit to keep my body guessing what's coming next. I have one of those devices from boots which measures your % body fat, BMI and maintenance calories. Don't know how accurate it was but the results weren't promising! Still, all the more reason for me to get my sh1t together and sort it

On another note, I mentioned to a friend about the advice to start using protein supplements as I'm not really getting enough. He said, yeah those supplements just make you fat! I knew a bloke...blah blah. I tried explaining that I'm just replacing something that's missing in my diet etc but he wouldn't have it. Just gonna get fatter he said! Like I said before, just pre-conceptions, no idea what his mate did with regards to training/diet.

Cheers guys.

in general a scoop of protein in water has about 20g protein and is approx 100 calories and is easily absorbed by your body where as, for example, a tin of tuna can take hours to be absorbed |(so your body will not get as much of the protein from it) has close to double the calories and you only get roughly 5g more protein...you do the maths:laugh:

I have lost 10% bodyfat and replaced with muscle in 4 months using 2-3 protein shakes a day - as a replacement for higher calorie food.

You can get fat on almost anything - this is why it's good to work out your calories (as per my 3 day suggestion), just as I could loose weight eating chips for everymeal - as long as I do not eat more calories than I need to maintain each day (will loose a shit load of energy and muscle doing this tho!, and my insides will not like me either).

Word of advice try an get more bodyfat measured by someone who knows what they are doing with calipers (and will tell you the truth!), my scales at home say I have a BMI of 24% (these shoot infer red through your body and can be effected by drinking water before you get on the scale - i.e this can change by 3% if I drink a pint of water before getting on the scale) - I have had my bodyfat measured by the same professional for 4 months now and am around 11% bodyfat (due to be measured in the next week or 2 after last 6 week measurement - so not sure where I stand at the moment - moral is big difference, I do not know anyone who has a good set of scales at home and some serious wedge has been spent on these things :thumb.

Hi Si,

Thanks very much for that info. That's exactly the sort of thing I need to be able to quote!

The good news is, I've been recording what I eat, eating smaller and more regular and getting more protein. I've lost just over a pound over the weekend, and am feeling stronger and have more energy! Thanks to everyone who chipped in with advice, I'll be sticking to this now until I hit my goal

We have a local doctor that comes in to our work once a week for general stuff, so I may well go see him and get measured properly.

In fact I've started logging everything in a spreadsheet to try and get a handle on what's happening and when! Definitely helping.

Thanks again everyone!

no worries mate...to be honest tho I would go to a good reputable personal trainer to get your measurements (if in liverpool look up Matt Ibbs - Matt and all his staff are spot on :thumb).

Doctors are normally useless at this type of thing and they have some very wierd views when it comes to health and fitness and diet....when I used to do powerlifting type movements (as bulked to 15 stone form 10.7st) my doctor was trying to get me to use very light weights for 100's of repititions to "stay fit"...and his complete lack of knowledge re proteins/carbs and fats etc was really embarrasing as well of his lack of knowledge on body types - I know that is not what he is their for but if he can't explain how protein/carbs and fats work in an "athlete's" body then he should not be giving me a lecture on things that superceed this...and this has been my experience for the past 25 years.

I'd think I would starve to death following your diet. Even without doing cardio I think I would have no energy. I think you are cutting way too many calories and missing a lot of important foods. The tuna is good but you're eating a lot of carbs with toast, potato and bread. You're missing out on lean meats and vegetables.

Originally Posted by JudZ

Currently eating (as a rough guide)

Morning: Toast, Tea
Mid morning: Fruit
Lunch: Tuna Salad or jacket potato
Evening Meal: Usually salad, or soup and bread

Any advice (good energy foods or patterns) would be greatly appreciated, thanks for reading

Cheers,

Judz

get some beans on toast down you for breakfast, you cant start the day on tea and toast, give your body some fuel and you wont be as buggered