"In general, mankind, since the improvement of cookery, eats about twice as much as nature requires."
- Benjamin Franklin
I'm getting sick of drinking so much water, but I think it's doing something for me. I feel like I'm being flushed out. I nearly forgot to have a second bottle at work today, but I pulled through.
Today was the first day I put everything I ate today in The Daily Plate. I did pretty well calorie-wise. I consumed 94% of my daily recommended calories for losing 2 pounds a week, 100% of my fat, 75% of my cholesterol, etc. As you can see, I really need to reign in my sugar intake. I also need to boost the amount of fiber I'm consuming. My diet was also high in protein and low in carbs today. I've heard protein is a good thing, but did I have too much?
I've definitely been feeling a little blah about losing weight. It was hard to get started at the gym tonight, and I'm getting hungrier and hungrier. I hope this is just because work has been tough this week and I'm worn out. It's too early and I've been too successful thus far to hit a slump already.
I'm exhausted and it's time for bed. You've got less than 24 hours to vote on if I will take the Plunge or not. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, click here.
I'm not trying to pick at your intake just trying to help.
ReplyDeleteyour protein i think is good or could be a little more. In my studying - i've found that a 2000 cal diet calls for around 125g of protein. (granted, I'm not a professional)
your fiber should be around 27-35 grams daily. fruits and veggies can give you a lot of this -- fruits also provide natural sugar to meet that sugar craving.
You sodium should be lower to about 2500mg -- if it gets too high than you will need to take in more water.
Stay focused and keep pushing!
Congrats on the discipline of writing everything down. I know how tough that can be. I highly suggest you get some sort of hand held electric calorie counter. Thaty may help the convenience factor. I agree that it is amazing how much of the hidden ingredients are in what we eat. I take fiber supplements and a multi-vitamin everday. Do you take any supplements?
ReplyDeleteTom
Come see my Weigh-in Today
www.ihategreenapples.com
Generally, about 25% of your total calories should be protein. If it gets as high as 35%, thats fine too if it's lean protein.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the sugar goes-it is sooo difficult to rein that in! Basically if you have one regular soda, your screwed for the day! This morning I had an orange and an apple for breakfast-35g of sugar. Even though it's natural, that is still pushing my daily limit! FDA recommends you eat less than 4 tablespoons of artificial sugars a day (so fruits are the new candy).
I think you're getting grumpy because tracking calories and seeing how difficult it is to do it 'perfectly' is tedious, boring and can be depressing. Just push through it and know that even if you didn't do it perfect, you did your best and positive results always come from that. And don't be surprised if you're obsessed with the nutritional info in your food for a few months just to get the hang of it. :)
I agree that a handheld device will help you. You can add the food as your eating it and know exactly what your eating-or else, enter what you'll eat before you do it-then if you notice you shouldn't eat something, or all of it, then you have that choice to modify it. :)
Sorry-I have more thoughts..
ReplyDeleteWorking out makes your body more hungry! Keep drinking your water. If it gets boring, I sometimes will add crystal light to it. A great snack is veggies and hummues-filling, low-fat, high fiber, low-sugar. Just don't eat a ton of it at once! It's ok if you eat something like this to curb hunger.
Time did a great, but misleading, article about how people who work out don't necessarily lose weight (when there isn't much to lose), but their shape changes and they usually eat more than someone who is just trying to diet to lose weight. I can't remember the title of it...I'm a prime example-once I started weight lifting, my pants fit me better, but I gained about 6 pounds! In the future you might want to invest in a body fat measurement system-or just take measurements to track the inches lost! There's also a whole other deal with how eating food helps your body burn more calories..It just needs to be the right foods and the right amount at the right times....Maybe we should get together and we can talk about it? :)
The more protein the better for weightloss. It keeps you full and helps protect your muscles.
ReplyDeleteI think you could go even higher on your protein, and definitely less on your carbs and sugar. I know it's tough to not feel really hungry all the time, so find some vegetables that you like and eat the hell out of them. They'll fill you up, but they have low calories, high fiber, and they're real.
ReplyDeleteThe more real food you can eat, the better. Don't worry too much about your fat content either. It's the carbs (processed ones anyway) and sugar that cause weight gain, not fat content.
That being said, you've had incredible success since January 1st, so keep doing what you're doing, just try to make one tiny change a week, build some momentum, and keep it going!
-Steve
I've posted to Daily Plate three days in a row, which has to be some kind of record for me. Not an easy habit to develop but I think it's probably a real good one to get into. Taking pictures of all my food has helped.
ReplyDeleteI can contribute this information as a nutrition student: .8g of protein per kg of body weight is as much as you need. (Even serious weight lifters(i.e. professional athletes)only need a trace more.) So your weight/2.2 = your kg x .8 will tell you how much protein you should be eating per day. Eating too much will a) provide more calories than you need (leading to storage) and b)can put extra stress on your kidneys.
ReplyDeleteSo....based on your current weight listed on the blog you're shooting for about 100g per day.