Dieting Newbie Questions/Concerns

[Morrik]

Hello all,

First of all, thank you for taking some time to read my questions and answer them. I've been reading article after article about the proper way of eating and working out, but I've never really found a good medium for my "type" of lifestyle. Here are my questions/concerns:

1) I've heard it's best to document everything you eat over the course of the day. I'm not a note taker or like carrying around a pad to jot something down. For the most part I just kind of eyeball the nutrients and keep a semi-decent record in my head. Instead, I prefer to gauge my energy levels. That means I see how much more cardio or lifting I can compared to the last week. Over the past few weeks, I've noticed my energy level and the amount I can do go up. Is this an ok way of keeping track or bad? Should I start documenting everything?

2) My diet consists mostly of protein shakes, egg whites, sub sandwiches without mayo (mostly turkey breast), oatmeal, peanut butter, grilled chicken, white/brown rice and Clif Bars (for that snack to keep my metabolism going). Would it be wise for me to incorporate more vegetables? I've been meaning to do that in the form of making vegetable shakes (like adding veggies and some fruit for sweetness). Is that ok as well? Or should I just consume the veggies raw (I heard sometimes eating veggies raw does not yield the full benefits from them)?

3) I've been going to gym about 5 to 6 times a week and have been able to keep up that routine. My clothes are starting to fit a bit looser, but I have only lost about 5 lbs. I'm not really sure if I'm bulking up while losing weight or not because I'm overweight for my age and I mostly just see the body fat. People have told me I'm looking leaner due to my face shrinking. Is that a good sign I'm doing something right with my diet at exercise?

Thanks again all for reading and answering my questions/concerns. I'd prefer to just ask a community dedicated to becoming healthy and larger rather than endlessly searching articles from so-called "experts."

Have a great day!

[Joe Black]

Hello all,

First of all, thank you for taking some time to read my questions and answer them. I've been reading article after article about the proper way of eating and working out, but I've never really found a good medium for my "type" of lifestyle. Here are my questions/concerns:

1) I've heard it's best to document everything you eat over the course of the day. I'm not a note taker or like carrying around a pad to jot something down. For the most part I just kind of eyeball the nutrients and keep a semi-decent record in my head. Instead, I prefer to gauge my energy levels. That means I see how much more cardio or lifting I can compared to the last week. Over the past few weeks, I've noticed my energy level and the amount I can do go up. Is this an ok way of keeping track or bad? Should I start documenting everything?

You gotta find whats right for you really. I record everything I eat, but I don't write anything down. I plan it all out in advance and tend to eat the same type of things (I have a few options for each meal that I know contains the same macros/calories). Fitday.com is also a great tool for quickly keeping a log of whats your eating, in fact its amazing really.

Depends on how important diet is for you. If you have good genetics, stay kinda lean naturally its less important. I tend to hold fat easily and keeping my diet in check and being consistent with calories is important so I ensure they are counted.



2) My diet consists mostly of protein shakes, egg whites, sub sandwiches without mayo (mostly turkey breast), oatmeal, peanut butter, grilled chicken, white/brown rice and Clif Bars (for that snack to keep my metabolism going). Would it be wise for me to incorporate more vegetables? I've been meaning to do that in the form of making vegetable shakes (like adding veggies and some fruit for sweetness). Is that ok as well? Or should I just consume the veggies raw (I heard sometimes eating veggies raw does not yield the full benefits from them)?

Don't sweat this stuff too much. Veggies are good and you should try and eat some on a daily basis. Just try and make sure your lunch and/or evening meal has some in it and defiately don't worry about how you cook them just make sure its convenient and a tasty way to eat them.



3) I've been going to gym about 5 to 6 times a week and have been able to keep up that routine. My clothes are starting to fit a bit looser, but I have only lost about 5 lbs. I'm not really sure if I'm bulking up while losing weight or not because I'm overweight for my age and I mostly just see the body fat. People have told me I'm looking leaner due to my face shrinking. Is that a good sign I'm doing something right with my diet at exercise?

Thanks again all for reading and answering my questions/concerns. I'd prefer to just ask a community dedicated to becoming healthy and larger rather than endlessly searching articles from so-called "experts."

Have a great day!



Depends on your goal :) Pick a goal of either getting leaner OR getting bigger. Its incredibly hard to do both unless you are a complete beginner and are coming from an overweight starting point (or have great genetics).

Whats stands out from your post is you need more concrete goals and perhaps a more specific strategy for achieveing them. What you're doing at the moment is a little random. Which is ok to start with but as you get on you'll need to be more specific in what your doing.

read the articles on the site and also consider doing HCt-12 as it has everything all laid out for you - training, diet and supplementation.

[Morrik]

Thank you for the wonderful information! I completely forgot I posted this thread!

I just wanted to update (for anybody curious) my weight. I'm currently sitting at 224 pounds. I have lost a grand total of 126 pounds. I pretty much stumbled my way through weight loss the first 6 months working and then finally got smart about my nutrition and excercise plan. It's going much smoother now and I'm gaining lots of strength!

Thanks all for reading!

[Alex.V]

126 pounds? Congratulations! That's phenomenal, you must feel like a whole new person. Thanks for sharing the success, always great to hear.