^This
^This
This whole thread is asking for a simple answer to a very complex question. If you eat 1800 calories daily, all at one time, a few hours before your workout, you are on your way to fat jogger syndrome, big time. If you space those 1800 calories properly and make sure you get proper carbs and protein after your workouts, it might be an optimum plan for weight loss. Asking for just a number of calories is asking for an incomplete answer to a very important question.
Go Kenya diet - no fats, almost no protein, lots of carbs (including plain sugar), nearly completely vegan diet. Just avoid highly refined food, eat healthy carbs and plenty of fiber - you'll be fine. Kenyans eat up to 5000 kcal daily and guess what? They are thin. It's not calories that make people fat, it's junk food.
Wrong. Kenyans eat lots of chicken (protein).
PhysMech wrote:
Wrong. Kenyans eat lots of chicken (protein).
No. they don't. They do eat SOME meat and dairy, still it's nil comparing to average American.
http://www.active.com/running/Articles/Eating_practices_of_the_best_endurance_athletes_in_the_world.htm?cmp=16-527675 grams of protein per day is not "almost no protein". And describing their diet as "almost vegan" is inacurate and again seems to be trying to find a simple category to put a complex topic. And almost all Americans, including the athletes, are complete idiots with their diets and I'm not sure why you put that in there.
Food prep is shown from 3:40 to 4:05. It is true they do have lots of carbs, including simple sugars.
Forgot to say: eat an afternoon snack at 4:00 to 4:30 p.m. This is a MUST. Otherwise you will be famished at dinnertime and grab the first/easiest thing near you, which is usually something bad. Ideas for snacks: apple or orange with handful of nuts, or one slice whole grain bread with 2 tbsp. peanut or almond butter and a little honey, or same thing I recommended for breakfast, but with strawberries instead of blueberries and a little less cereal.
If you just eat when you are hungry, stop when you are full, and mainly eat fruits/veggies/yogurt/beans/lean protein/salmon/whole grains/extremely low bad fat, you will lose weight.
I would also eliminate red meat (or any meat besides chicken/turkey breast and fish) b/c of the fat content. Also if you really want to get technical, even turkey and chicken have additives that will promote weight gain. Dr. Oz calls them "obesegens." Best to eat grass-fed chicken/turkey breast or very little. I mainly eat wild salmon on my salads, which you can buy at wholesale clubs like BJs for a decent price, and you can defrost in your microwave on 30% power for 2 min...then cook and saute in spray oil, add seasoning, and enjoy on salad everyday for lunch.
Ms. Been There wrote:
(1) never ever counted calories or "dieted," ate when hungry but always stopped when full, slightly reduced my portion sizes, again stopping when full.
(6) weigh yourself daily (they have studies now confirming this is the best way to lose weight even though old school thinking was once a week).
I whole-heartedly agree with #1 and #6. #6 can become obsessive, so no more than a check first thing in the a.m. and last thing in the p.m. And I'd add a #10, no snacking 2-3 hours before bed.
gym halpert wrote:
Haha nope not 250 just yet. My body seems pretty content to stay at the 185 mark (I'm 6'2"). And while I absolutely won't claim to be an expert nutritionist, I know a little about what I'm talking about. My senior year in hs I decided to see what dropping weight could do for my running (I was about 155-158 then). I started counting calories. Started dropping weight. Started getting faster. I became obsessed.
I went to college (D2) on a scholarship. During preseason physicals I weighed 135. By this time I had developed a full-fledged eating disorder. I obsessed about weight and eating. I hated myself whenever I ate something and skipped meals. I was antisocial, depressed, had few friends. It was absolute hell.
After I passed out in a practice, coach decided to redshirt me. He got me help with a school conselor. It took me the next 18 months to beat my disease. But with family, teammates, and faith I was able to slowly change my life. I stopped counting every little calorie. I stopped with the whole 'good food, bad food mindset.' Everything in moderation. I still remember the first time I actually let myself eat ice cream on a date with a super cute girl; I didn't know if I was prouder for getting a girl like that to go on a date with me or for letting myself enjoy a treat
I went on to post a 24:55 cross 8k time and a 14:28 track 5k. Nothin spectacular, but I was finally healthy, both mentally and physically (I weighed 168-170 lbs after eating well an adding strength training.)
Sorry about writing a book
When you consider an eating disorder a disease, you're classifying it as an addiction. You can't simply "beat it", you deal with it the best you can on a daily basis. Good luck to you.
It's important to note that if you eat too few calories, even though your performance is fine, your body will effectively be in starvation mode, running super-efficiently. That means that even though you're at a calorie deficit, you'll be putting on weight. I'm assuming you don't want that, so make sure your daily calorie deficit doesn't dip too far below 500 calories or so (meaning when you subtract your basal metabolic rate and your exercise expenditure from your caloric intake, you're not coming up with a number lower than -500).