Is This good or bad?
 

Hello everyone.,

I was makeing my food plan for my workout today.

and I'm new to this site to. I'm eatting 3,654 Caloire a day on workout day and rest day 2,600-2,800. So I was looking Nutrition I'm trying to make sure this is safe about Sodium it say it at Sodium 6,422.5 mg 1,500.0 428.

So do 6,422.5 is caloire and 1,500 is mg? the 428 was green.

It means your sodium intake is 6422, and the 428 is the percentage of sodium. It means you are over your safe and healthy sodium intake by 328%. I think the 1500 is the amount of sodium you should be getting per day.

Ok there something not right that i'm doing with the adding. so it look like i was adding it up wrong. because I add up all the food that had sodium in it. and how much I eat it. I add up it at 1,370 so I seem to be fine. I workout last year for 6 month and I was fine.

this where I add up the sodium from butter,chicken breast,ground beef,peanut butter,turkey bacon,Wheat Bread.

Commercial Salt
The salt that you find in table salt and most processed foods is sodium chloride. Salt in this form has been processed at high temperatures, which changes the molecular structure and removes vital minerals from the salt. Table salt also contains additives, anticaking agents, and even sugar. Excess salt consumption is associated with high blood pressure, fluid retention, heart and kidney disease.
(Also check what salt is used in the preprepared foods you are eating, and what is done to the salt and the food insided processed foods)

Trash It: Dump out your salt shaker and toss out all other packaged or processed foods with a high sodium content. This should be pretty easy for most people.

Stash it: We have been told for years to avoid salt, but following this advice can lead to even more problems. We are all salty on the inside--our blood, sweat, tears, and even our urine--it's all salty. It's important to replenish the salt in our body, using the right salt is what makes all the difference in the world. The best way to put salt back into your body is to use Celtic sea salt. This high quality salt contains over 80 balanced minerals from the sea. Celtic sea salt is essential for maintaining proper fluid balance and utilization in the body. It also normalizes blood pressure, enhances digestion, and nourishes the adrenal glands. Celtic sea salt is available at many natural food stores or can be ordered through The Grain and Salt Society.


Kristine

Interesting. I was always curious to see how much sodium I was supposed to be getting per day. Thanks for the insight

I have a question about fibre. I am eating 900-1200 calories a day. I feel healthier and more energetic than I have in 10 years, I eat very little processed food and I make sure the calories I am eating pack a wholop. Here's the problem.... no matter how much vegetable matter I eat (and it is a lot), and Benefiber I take, I've never been able to get my RDA of fibre over 50%. Even though my calories appear low, I am eating a pile of food, I'm always satisfied and never hungry. I don't want to have to increase my calories in order to get more fibre. Any suggestions on high fibre. (On yea, I do eat oatmeal for breakfast)

You should be getting around 25g of fibre each day. Vegetables are a good source but you should try beans and pulses as a better source. Some beans are 30% fibre (broad beans). Nuts are a good source too, try eating the flesh from a coconut, its ~7% fibre - 100g of coconut = 7g of fibre. In Fruits Mango and Papaya are the best.

@jacqueline,

If you feel healthier and more energetic than you have over the last 10 years, why do you feel you need the extra fiber? Fiber has two functions in the body:
1) Help clear excess cholesterol from the bloodstream (soluble fiber)
2) Help keep things moving in your intestines (insoluble fiber)

If you don't have cholesterol issues, you're keeping regular, and you feel great, I wouldn't worry about what the RDA for fiber is. One problem with RDA is that it assumes a standardized "American diet" and a similar body chemistry for everyone. If you find a diet-lifestyle combination that works for you, don't feel pressure to change it.

-Nik

Thanks a lot for taking the time to post back. Your comments have been very helpful. I was told I could increase my weight loss by increasing fibre intake. My weight loss has stalled over the last couple of days and I don't know why. Although the dietary changes I made are for life, I still also have a goal I must meet. Any advice on how to get my weight loss revved up again?

I would not advocate any form of drastic change due to your weight loss slowing for "a couple of days". Your weight will fluctuate due to many things on a daily basis including how much water you might be retaining.

It's possible that you are eating too few calories. I know that this sounds counter intuitive but your body will start to burn muscle instead of fat if it isn't getting enough calories. Muscle consumes more energy so if the body can burn some it will preserve itself. 1000 calories of muscle burn will weigh a lot less than 1000 Calories of fat burn so burning muscle will slow down your weight loss. Eating just a few more calories might get you back into balance and start burning off fat instead. For me (and it seems from comments, this goes for others too) a calorie balance of more than around 1200 calories per day can lead to the body going into preservation mode.

Just to piggy back on jonr71's comments, women in particular may "stall out" for a couple of days naturally, then get back on track... periodically. It's not indicative of anything you're doing wrong per se, it's just bound to happen every now and then.

jonr71, muscle is technically heavier than fat, since it's mostly protein. You're still right that weight loss will slow if the body is burning muscle as it does so extremely slowly, since it's not an ideal situation and the body tries to preserve as much of itself as possible; furthermore, it's not a terribly efficient metabolic reaction. But from a physical standpoint, 1000 calories of protein weigh 250g, while 1000 calories of fat weigh about 112g.

-Nik

Thanks for all your support and advice, Jon....I'll try increasing my calories for 1 week to see if the scale starts moving again. I'm going to have a tough time with the concept of increasing calories to lose weight but I'm going to give it a shot. That means a jump from 900 cal per day to 1444. Gotta try something different....I can't stall after only 4 weeks. Thanks again...Any other advice would by appreciated.

@jacqueline,

I honestly think 900 calories is too few for anyone. 1200 calorie should be a minimum. If you're going to add around 500 calories though, might I suggest adding them as protein and fat? Furthermore, may I suggest altering your meals slightly such that you are not eating a quantity of carb and fat at the same time?

The rationale here is that when you eat carb in quantity, your insulin levels jump to try to shuttle away all that carb out of your bloodstream and into the tissues where it is used for energy. However, the body can only process one type of macronutrient at a time. Another function of insulin is to shuttle away the fat that you eat directly into your bodily fat stores, instead of to your liver to be processed into ketones, which are then used for energy. So just partitioning your carb and fat intake may provide an extra boost to fat loss — you won't be storing as much fat as you are burning.

Good luck!

-Nik

Thanks Nik....What great support. Thank you.This is all so confusing....If i understand correctly...Don't eat carbs and fat at the same sitting? ( I can't call it a meal because I'm kinda a grazer). I should keep them seperated by a couple hours? What about protein? Sorry for all the questions, I'm just a little confused. :o

Don't stress too much. You don't have to separate them 100%, just use your judgement. i.e., a roll with a hunk of butter, probably not good. Fatty steak and mashed potatoes? Probably not good either. But steak and a side of buttery asparagus, no problem. I consider veggies a "freebie," since they don't have enough starch/sugar to cause serious insulin disturbances; you can eat them till you're blue in the face and you still won't spike your insulin the way rice will. You could probably space cake and steak a few hours apart and be alright.

With protein, you can eat it with carb or fat, just be sure to eat it with something because the body has a hard time absorbing plain protein. It's called "rabbit starvation," and it comes from times when explorers in the arctic ate tons of lean rabbit meat and still managed to show signs of starvation.

I'm a grazer too but I've replaced all the cookies and crackers in my apartment with almonds, pumpkin seeds, peanut butter, and jerky. This stuff keeps me fairly not hungry (notice how I said not hungry, not "full") throughout the day.

-Nik

I hesitate to recommend a movie star's diet plan as many are not fact-based, however, Suzanne Sommers' book Eat Great, Lose Weight, discusses in detail the benefits of proper food combining as Nik mentioned above re: the dangers of combining fats and carbs in the same meal. Also has some great recipes in it. I believe Eat to Live also explains this, as well as countless others. Aside from proper digestion, I found that simply partitioning certain food groups aides in limiting overeating as well.

Thanks alot everyone. I will look into both of those books. I really appreciate all the help.
I will try to partition what I eat throughout the day to see if this gets my weight loss moving again. A "stall" is very frustrating and depressing especially when you think your doing everything right. Thanks again all.

Just another thing I thought of... you said your weight loss stalled after four weeks. My thinking is that even if you have everything in your weight loss program nailed down to a T, you might still experience monthly moments of stagnation... periodically. :o

So just wait for a couple days to see if your engine fires up again.

-Nik

Thanks Nik...love the subtlety. :rolleyes: lol

I completely get where you're coming from. Using Fitday I found out that certain foods keep me from losing weight and others actually cause me to gain weight even though I'm staying right on track with my fat-carb-pro balance & caloric intake. For me it's starchy foods & red meat, grains being the worse at causing weight gain. I've also read here that some people stall or gain with dairy, nuts & sweeteners.
Maybe you can experiment with avoiding certain types of foods for a week at a time to see if you'll get out of the stall or just look over your food journal to see if you've been eating more of something or maybe something new that could be the cause. I agree with the fiber concept b/c without enough fiber intake to keep things moving regularly I'm bloated, gain weight & sometimes feel downright yucky. I get my fiber by eating large amounts of raw veggies & salads everyday. If needed I'll take a fiber supplements but the ones with grains, like bran, only make it worse instead of better. I read one woman's post that she ups her protein and that breaks a stall for her. Lowering my caloric intake has never helped me break out of a stall.
Everyone's different but since I tend to stall-out a lot (ggrrrrr) I've been looking more closely at Fitday-tracking & finding foods that always cause a stall or a gain. Occasionally, I have no idea why I'm stalled, but when that happens it's always followed by a larger than usual weight loss for the week so I think it's just the body adjusting to this new lifestyle or resistant to let go of fat, or who knows what.
Good luck finding something that works for you Jacqueline.

Hi Jacqueline...
 

So it seems as if everyone has given you thorough advice on eating...may I suggest changing your exercise routine if you haven't yet? Our bodies tend to get used to what we do and become more efficient, so the same exercise doesn't burn as much. Mix it up a little and see what happens :).

Thanks everyone for the fantastic suggestions and amazing support. I have listend and taken all your suggestions to heart.

Cassie, Thank you for the exercise suggestion (this is gonna sound bad). I haven't started an exercise program yet. I work 12 days straight, 10-12 hour days. I know I have to start, but I just can't seem to find the time. I go for walks on my weekend off, but thats not consistent. The lack of regular exercise is gonna be my downfall. I'm not giving up though. Thanks alot Cassie.

Jacqueline,

What do you do at work? I've known people who work desk jobs but take breaks by just getting on the floor for a set of push-ups or stretching for a couple minutes, or take a walk around the floor. You can also do this just before heading out for lunch. You can get a decent amount of exercise in this way and it will help break up the monotony!

-Nik

Nik..No desk job here....I'm a Personal Support Worker in homecare. My job consists of travelling from house to house to take care of whatever needs my client has (ADL's, housekeeping, showers, meal prep etc...). Usually, other than the driving part, my job is very physical. Oh yeah...I don't usually get a set lunch...it's whatever I can grab while driving between clients. (It used to be potato chips or fast food, at least I'm making healthier choices now)

My job is far from body friendly, and I was hoping that by losing the weight and strengthening my core, I could ease some back pain. I was thinking yoga, but I just have to find the time. I know the "time" thing sounds like a cop-out but my day starts at 6 am and usually ends anywhere from 6-9 pm (with this job, you'd think i'd be skinny as a rail) at which time I usually grab something light to eat then fall into bed (if I don't have a night class at the college from 6-10).

I haven't given up on exercise. I know I have to make the time to do it EVERYDAY. That's the hard part.

Hi Jacqueline, your schedule sounds really challenging. I know from my long days that the last thing I felt like doing sometimes was exercising...just another chore to put into the day. Now I look forward to it and just don't feel right if I don't do it.

My thought would be to start slowly and build yourself into it. Just like making small changes with food, do so with working out also. For example, pick 3 days and do 15 minutes in the morning and 15 at night. As the weeks go by, you could add in days and then gradually extend the time. There are some AM/PM yoga dvds out there that you may want to check out.

What works for me is to print out a blank calendar every month, look at my workload and other activities for the upcoming week (some days are busier than others), then plan out what exercise to do each day and for how long, usually working around how busy the day is or how tired I think I'll be. I put the exercises in the blank spaces for the days and stick it on the fridge, and I do it in pencil so I can change if something comes up. They say if you schedule it, you're more likely to do it.

I know it is hard and you have a brutal schedule. But if you can do it long enough to develop the habit, you won't look back!

Thanks Cassie, I will pencil it onto me desk calendar here at home and maybe that will help and hopefully, like you, it'll become a habit and I just won't feel right without doing it. Gonna go buy a yoga video today. I do think I would like something I can do at home. God bless everyone that likes the gym, but I'm not one of them. And you hit the nail on the head...it just seems like another chore. Thanks again...When your all alone, it's very easy to get discouraged. It's great to have people to talk to and get advice from.(People that "get it") Thanks