I know this could be considered a diet question, but I would rather ask it here. I find myself not keeping track of my calories or protein intake, and instead just making sure to eat a large sized meal every couple of hours that includes meat and some veg or fruit. I know this isn't ideal, but I feel like it's a hassle to keep track of all the food I eat especially when I'm out and about.
How many of you guys keep track of everything you eat?
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I do. I use the "Lose it!" app on my iPhone. It's an incredibly convenient way to set up a calorie budget based on your current weight and target weight, and track all the food you consume and all the exercise you do, whether your goal is to lose weight, gain weight, or just maintain your weight.
It's really easy to track food with it, exercise is a little harder--I think some of the exercise is overestimated (it tells me I burn 838 calories per hour of jiu-jitsu, that seems high to me) so I take it with a grain of salt but overall I think it's a pretty good approximation and much better than I could do keeping a pen-and-paper log.
I also like that it gives me a daily breakdown of how many grams of fat, carbs and protein I ate and what % of my calories came from each. It's actually kind of challenging to get my protein up to 30% of calories or more without just pounding protein shakes.
It's really easy to track food with it, exercise is a little harder--I think some of the exercise is overestimated (it tells me I burn 838 calories per hour of jiu-jitsu, that seems high to me) so I take it with a grain of salt but overall I think it's a pretty good approximation and much better than I could do keeping a pen-and-paper log.
I also like that it gives me a daily breakdown of how many grams of fat, carbs and protein I ate and what % of my calories came from each. It's actually kind of challenging to get my protein up to 30% of calories or more without just pounding protein shakes.
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At the moment I'm trying to eat too much to keep track.
Is that a free app? I think I will try that. It's way easier than carrying around a little booklet or something. I'm not too worried about breaking down my exercise and how many calories I'm burning, I just need enough to make sure I'm getting enough food to recover, build muscle, and get stronger for my next lifting session.
KS said:
That's how I feel unfortunately
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I only keep track when I have a fight coming up
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Yeah it's free
dinpappa
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I just eat by followong guidelines:
-I keep my protein intake at minimum 2x Body Weight, everything above is a pluss
-I eat as clean as i can, i dont mind fat or carbs, but if i find it in nature i eat it alot, if not i limit it. Meaning Sweet potatoe is yes for carbs, noodles is no. You get the idea. Same with meat, beef yes, chicken nuggets no. Same with fats etc.
-I stay away from sugary drinks and coffee (avoid both the kcal and the dehydratrion)
Thats about it, given me good results so far. Im not ripped, and im not fat. 180lbs and a total of 1050 lbs on the big 3.
-I keep my protein intake at minimum 2x Body Weight, everything above is a pluss
-I eat as clean as i can, i dont mind fat or carbs, but if i find it in nature i eat it alot, if not i limit it. Meaning Sweet potatoe is yes for carbs, noodles is no. You get the idea. Same with meat, beef yes, chicken nuggets no. Same with fats etc.
-I stay away from sugary drinks and coffee (avoid both the kcal and the dehydratrion)
Thats about it, given me good results so far. Im not ripped, and im not fat. 180lbs and a total of 1050 lbs on the big 3.
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I just started doing this - I'm tracking carbs, protein & fat while I transition into a diet phase. I'm using All Things Food and Diet - FatSecret to track everything - its really easy. Also has apps for most phones that will link with the online site.
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I use fitday it works alright, havent used any other programs to compare it to. Tracking calories is a pain no matter how you do it. If you deal with home cooking its hard to estimate what and how much is in a slab of meatloaf or some tortellini for example. I guess i could refuse to eat that stuff but if its there and its not fried or a piece of cake im probably going to eat it.
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I used Fitday for a few weeks during a fat loss diet a few years ago. I found I started playing games with it trying to 'beat' the previous days or weeks in terms of eating less. Looking at those fucking bar charts and line graphs gave me super-depressing focus illusion, and I'd get impatient with my slow rate of weight loss and start skipping meals. Obviously this wasn't a healthy path to be going down.
Nowadays I just do low carb and stick to common sense diet guidelines and pay attention to what my body tells me. If I bring numbers and charts and spreadsheets into my eating habits it won't be long before I haven't got any eating habits.
Nowadays I just do low carb and stick to common sense diet guidelines and pay attention to what my body tells me. If I bring numbers and charts and spreadsheets into my eating habits it won't be long before I haven't got any eating habits.
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It is a little bit information overload. But it's good information to have as long as you have the discipline to keep logging your meals and workouts and also the restraint to keep yourself from getting all obsessive-compulsive about it.
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my thoughts exactly. free eating is the way to go. just set guidlines in order to reach your specific goals.
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To be honest, since i'm not competing in a weight class or anything, I just eat a lot.
I eat mostly clean, but a lot, probably around five thousand calories a day.
I eat mostly clean, but a lot, probably around five thousand calories a day.
I'm not worried about either. From a training standpoint though how do you know if you're getting enough food in you to properly recover and get stronger? You really wouldn't know exactly, but I suppose you could make an accurate guess.
I was planning on going the GOMAD route, but when i worked out how much drinking a gallon of milk a day would cost me, with the eggs, i think it's more for people with their own farm.
If i buy a pre-made sandwich or something like that, i just quickly look on back for fat and protein, 5 second glance. Calories don't bother me, i just don't want any more unecessary fat clogging up my arteries. However, having a totally fat free diet like some people is ridiculous and unhealthy, it's still needed in the body to some extent, it exists for a reason.
Still, i never understood the whole weight loss issue, as it is simply eating less calories than you burn. This is fact, not opinion, not research, science fact. Some people may struggle to burn calories as fast as others (such as me, i can add and lose weight at will). But the principle still applies. When i've been broke before, i can live happily off one meal a day - we are talking couple hundred calories total, some days not even eating at all, just fluids and that's just to save money. If i wanted to actually really lose weight, it wouldn't even need thinking about.
If i buy a pre-made sandwich or something like that, i just quickly look on back for fat and protein, 5 second glance. Calories don't bother me, i just don't want any more unecessary fat clogging up my arteries. However, having a totally fat free diet like some people is ridiculous and unhealthy, it's still needed in the body to some extent, it exists for a reason.
Still, i never understood the whole weight loss issue, as it is simply eating less calories than you burn. This is fact, not opinion, not research, science fact. Some people may struggle to burn calories as fast as others (such as me, i can add and lose weight at will). But the principle still applies. When i've been broke before, i can live happily off one meal a day - we are talking couple hundred calories total, some days not even eating at all, just fluids and that's just to save money. If i wanted to actually really lose weight, it wouldn't even need thinking about.
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I eat roughly the same thing every day.
I find sleep to be much more important for recovery.
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Most people can't make an accurate guess, that's the problem. Most people have no idea how many calories are in things they eat, and how many calories they burn exercising. Have you ever seen, on The Biggest Loser, the part where they make them compete to guess the amount of calories in a food item? They're almost always way off the mark.
