Nutrition / My Fitness Pal

BRISTOL86

Miss Bristol and I are finally taking seriously the fact that we need to lose weight and get healthy and it made me realise that I don't know as much as I should about nutrition. 

I've been advised that for fat burning purposes then a good ratio of Protein / Fat / Carbs is around 50/30/20

I'm using my fitness pal to compare standard meals that I have now compared to alternatives and see the nutritional composition. 

I'm taking it one meal at a time and starting with breakfast.

My usual breakfast/morning snacking food comes in at 395 cals (about 20% of daily target) and is comprised of:

- 89g Carbs (78% of daily target - ouch!)
- 5g Fat (8% of daily target)
- 5g Protein (2% of daily target)

This is a banana, a couple of apples and a pack of Aldi knock off Belvita biscuits. 

I'm considering changing to a lower carb breakfast and thought about a 3 egg omelette and a banana. 

This comes in at around the same calories but very different composition:

- 28g Carbs (25% of daily target)
- 17g Fat (28% of daily target)
- 30g Protein (15% of daily target)

On the face of it it seems a no brainer - much reduced carbs and 6x the protein. Yet in my head it seems like breakfast A is the healthier. 

Probably over thinking things but keen to hear some views from the more nutritionally aware! 

celentium

Breakfast A without the Belvita would be fine but you'll have to watch your carbs throughout the rest of the day. Breakfast B would be much more filling and balanced, giving you a good start to the day.

However I'm starting intermittent fasting today so I haven't had any breakfast at all. I'm so hungry!

grungebob

how many calories  a day are you aiming for? how active are you going to be?

 Im quite active during the day and I currently do the insanity fitness program of an evening,  I'm aiming for 1980 calories split 50%carb 25% each  fat and protein, which for me is 248g carbs, 124g protein and 55g fat.

you will seriously struggle to for 50% protein without going over on your fat unless you're a fan of lean fish and boiled chicken? Or maybe you intend to have protein shakes etc?   you shouldn't really be consuming more than 1g of protein per Kg of your body weight unless your aiming to bulk up?

weight loss is 80% diet  but there's no need to go so severe so quick, small changes and consistency are the key to long term sustainable change. 
Better to make small changes a few weeks apart than a drastic diet.  Diets are unsustainable you'll feel like your missing out, better to make better choices than rule out entire food groups etc.

BRISTOL86

grungebob said:

how many calories  a day are you aiming for? how active are you going to be?

 Im quite active during the day and I currently do the insanity fitness program of an evening,  I'm aiming for 1980 calories split 50%carb 25% each  fat and protein, which for me is 248g carbs, 124g protein and 55g fat.

you will seriously struggle to for 50% protein without going over on your fat unless you're a fan of lean fish and boiled chicken? Or maybe you intend to have protein shakes etc?   you shouldn't really be consuming more than 1g of protein per Kg of your body weight unless your aiming to bulk up?

weight loss is 80% diet  but there's no need to go so severe so quick, small changes and consistency are the key to long term sustainable change. 
Better to make small changes a few weeks apart than a drastic diet.  Diets are unsustainable you'll feel like your missing out, better to make better choices than rule out entire food groups etc.

Calorie goal that MFP is spitting out is 1800 - I'm doing 4 instances of very intense exercise per week for 30 mins so I've put myself as 'active'. 

To be fair our diets, meal wise, are already quite clean. The big changes are drastically cutting down alcohol and cutting out unhealthy snacks like crisps, chocolate and cake as well a small increasing our activity levels. 

We eat eat quite a lot of fish and plain chicken (baked rather than boiled but assume it's relatively similar) but yeah maybe 50% carb is too high a goal. 

celentium

I'd recommend a 40P/30F/30C split personally but people handle carbs differently. You won't bulk eating more protein (you'll bulk eating more calories than you use) but it does seem overkill.

Best thing about this is you can tailor your numbers depending on your results. Either way it will work if you track accurately and consistently.

Also you can indulge in a bit of chocolate if it fits your macros and calories. Just don't overdo it because you'll be starving.

octatonic

I would ignore carbohydrate/protein/fat percentages and simply eat lean protein, low glycemic index carbohydrates and lots of fresh vegetables with a couple of pieces of fruit a day.
If you eat around 1700-2000 calories a day and exercise regularly (4 days a week) then the weight will fall off at around 1-2lbs a week.

BRISTOL86

Thanks chaps!

fretmeister

I aim for 1500 calories per day but I don't count the milk in my coffee - and for a full day I'm sure that's worth another 150.

Modulus_Amps

octatonic said:

I would ignore carbohydrate/protein/fat percentages and simply eat lean protein, low glycemic index carbohydrates and lots of fresh vegetables with a couple of pieces of fruit a day.
If you eat around 1700-2000 calories a day and exercise regularly (4 days a week) then the weight will fall off at around 1-2lbs a week.

^^^^ This exactly right and all you need to follow

Hi Protein food and healthy fats keep you feeling fuller for longer and gives a more consistent blood sugar level, so will make you feel better too probably.

I would ditch bread & defo any biscuits/crackers.

How to do it, only shop in the fruit and veg section and the meat/diary isle at the supermarket... the rest of the store is dangerous territory filled with all sorts on non-food foods.

If you don't do any exercise, start doing some walking, especially after any meal with lots of carbs

TheMarlin

LCHF works for me.

BRISTOL86

Modulus_Amps said:

octatonic said:

I would ignore carbohydrate/protein/fat percentages and simply eat lean protein, low glycemic index carbohydrates and lots of fresh vegetables with a couple of pieces of fruit a day.
If you eat around 1700-2000 calories a day and exercise regularly (4 days a week) then the weight will fall off at around 1-2lbs a week.

^^^^ This exactly right and all you need to follow

Hi Protein food and healthy fats keep you feeling fuller for longer and gives a more consistent blood sugar level, so will make you feel better too probably.

I would ditch bread & defo any biscuits/crackers.

How to do it, only shop in the fruit and veg section and the meat/diary isle at the supermarket... the rest of the store is dangerous territory filled with all sorts on non-food foods.

If you don't do any exercise, start doing some walking, especially after any meal with lots of carbs

Thanks both. Our diet i'd say is 90% of the way there, the biggest chunk of our shopping is meat and fruit and veg. It's more just understanding the differences between the various types of food that can be very similar in cals but vastly different nitritionally, like my breakfast example above. 

It's an interesting minefield!

celentium

No need to ditch any food group if you're willing to track. If tracking is a hassle though then it's a sensible approach.

DaveMon

Have a watch of Christian, he goes through how best to setup your macros and calorie intake. (Starting around 2m30)

celentium

Hmm is he a natty?

fretmeister

celentium said:

Hmm is he a natty?

What's a "natty"?

octatonic

fretmeister said:

celentium said:

Hmm is he a natty?

What's a "natty"?

Natural vs steroid user.
I'm going to go with 'NO'.

celentium

Yeah, I'm very happy with my progress on iifym but it's hard to take fitness advice off a juicer.

I'm not saying they don't know their stuff, it's more that I don't find the end result attainable.

Modulus_Amps

celentium said:

No need to ditch any food group if you're willing to track. If tracking is a hassle though then it's a sensible approach.

Don't think anyone has said to ditch a food group, unless biscuits and bread count as a food group

BRISTOL86 said:

Thanks both. Our diet i'd say is 90% of the way there, the biggest chunk of our shopping is meat and fruit and veg. It's more just understanding the differences between the various types of food that can be very similar in cals but vastly different nitritionally, like my breakfast example above. 

It's an interesting minefield!

yes it is tough and just because it is advertised as healthy does not mean it actually what you need, it may be healthier than something else, like your biscuits compared to sugar covered cereal.

I remember holiday we had in Prague a few years ago, stayed in a cheapo and nasty hotel and breakfast every morning was boiled carrot,  brocolli, boiled eggs and some fruit, no toast or anything like that, I lost some weight on the holiday and felt great afterwards too and was never hungry during the morning

Good Luck!