Working at a Desk all day, and just gaining weight ...

discount81

Lean bison is also 1.5 grams saturated fat per 4 oz, and that is only if you get the lean 96% variety. Other ground is much higher.

The PUFA/SFA (good fat to bad fat) ratio is better in Bison.
Bison also has lower cholesterol, higher content of Iron, CLA and Vitamin B12.

If someone eats McDonalds each day, yes your recipe is healthier.

But for someone serious about nutrition I would not consider a beef and processed bread burger healthy.

Which is why I disagree with simple calorie counting dieting, you can justify eating a Big Mac if you calorie count, nutrition isn't about counting calories it is about getting the right nutrients in your body.

SteveLord

Ah, calories counters. Most of the ones I know are snots that have to push their eating/workout bro science on everyone else daily and check their calorie app every 5 minutes at the table. They remind me of the Prius drivers from years ago. They also happen to be the most irritable ones in the office. I want to leave a big fat burger on their desk sometimes just to put some joy in their lives.

Mike-Mike

I just ate half a pizza

nosoup4u wrote: »

Eating clean and WHOLE grain not just "brown" bread, 100% whole wheat will help greatly. Most breads these days are basically freaking cake without the frosting.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

xocity

Mike-Mike wrote: »

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

fiftyo

discount81 wrote: »

Which is why I disagree with simple calorie counting dieting, you can justify eating a Big Mac if you calorie count, nutrition isn't about counting calories it is about getting the right nutrients in your body.

Well you can, fact of the matter is, when you lose weight it's all about calories in<calories out. Nurtition is soley based around counting calories and making those fit in with your macro nutrients. Now obviously I am coming from a most likely different background as I powerlift/bodybuild if you will. The only true guidelines I use is hitting your macro nutrients as well as fibre, due to it's positive effects on digestion, that's it. Micronutrients comes by itself via the food, making sure every meal contains x amount of nutrient y will drive you insane and wont have much of any difference at all.
And in all honesty if you think your 'lean ground turkey' hasn't been processed you are pretty much uninformed.

Claymoore

Asif Dasl wrote: »

@Santa_ Why are sugar-free sodas and gum on the avoid list? Pepsi Max has practically 0 calories...

*Take the following studies and the websites that discuss them with a healthy dose of skepticism. One site refuting the study had article after article saying how great artificial sweeteners were and how every negative study was flawed. I bet they are funded by the aspartame cartel.

I have read a couple of studies regarding artificial sweeteners and weight gain. Here are some links:
Food Politics » Do artificial sweeteners make rats fat?
ScienceDirect.com - Appetite - Saccharin and aspartame, compared with sucrose, induce greater weight gain in adult Wistar rats, at similar total caloric intake levels

Aspartame has 32 times the calories of sugar, but it is 200 times as sweet. Therefore, a dose that generates the equivalent sweetness of the sugar for which it is substituting has so few calories that it can be rounded down to 0. Sucralose tastes sweet but relies on the fact that the majority of people cannot metabolize it so it passes through your body without being changed or consumed. However, some people can metabolize Sucralose so they will not be getting a Zero calorie benefit. Some of us (like me) are allergic to aspartame (it gives me terrible headaches) so we must avoid artificial sweeteners.

My theory on the weight gain is that consuming sweet things that have no dietary impact throws off our bodies' ability to regulate how we process regular food. Have you ever had a dessert so rich and sweet that you couldn't finish it? That's your body telling you to stop eating. If all you drink is diet soda, your body will not associate the sweetness with the metabolic effort required to process that dessert, so it won't stop you from eating the whole thing. Your body could also taste the sweetness, expect a large caloric intake, prepare for it, then be confused when the calories aren't there. Then it could be tricked into demanding the calories it expected, thus making you 'want' that triple cheeseburger to go with your vat of diet coke. These are only my theories, luckily I left the biochemistry field for IT before I would have to test something like this.

discount81

fiftyo wrote: »

Well you can, fact of the matter is, when you lose weight it's all about calories in<calories out. Nurtition is soley based around counting calories and making those fit in with your macro nutrients. Now obviously I am coming from a most likely different background as I powerlift/bodybuild if you will. The only true guidelines I use is hitting your macro nutrients as well as fibre, due to it's positive effects on digestion, that's it. Micronutrients comes by itself via the food, making sure every meal contains x amount of nutrient y will drive you insane and wont have much of any difference at all.
And in all honesty if you think your 'lean ground turkey' hasn't been processed you are pretty much uninformed.

I agree with all of your points, what I was saying is people who diet solely based on an iPhone/Android app that counts how many calories they consume, for me this is not real nutrition, as I said you can easily fit junk food into your day and still be under your calorie maintenance.

When I trained for a fight I was the same, I focused on nutrients rather than calories.
This is why I recommend John Berardi, as all of his meals macros are broken down for you, all you need to do is cook it and eat it.

As for ground turkey, well I buy all of my meat from a local organically certified store, so I know what I am getting.
Any meat from a supermarket is probably low quality and full of hormones/antiobiotics god knows what else.

gunbunnysoulja

discount81 wrote: »

what I was saying is people who diet solely based on an iPhone/Android app that counts how many calories they consume, for me this is not real nutrition, as I said you can easily fit junk food into your day and still be under your calorie maintenance.

No offense, but did you even read my post? I'll show you again:

gunbunnysoulja wrote: »

I will suggest 2 apps that I highly recommend:

LoseIt and Fooducate. I count all my calories (yes I have a food scale), and only eat healthy, non-processed food.

LoseIt is for tracking calories. Fooducate is to ensure there are no "bad" ingredients in the food, such as caramel color, partially hydronated vegetable oil, BHA (Butylated hydroxyanisole), BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene), Parabens, Sodium nitrite/ sodium nitrate, Sodium benzoate, Benzoic acid, Sulphites, Castoreum, Food dyes/artificial colors, Bleached white flour, POTASSIUM BROMATE, Artificial sweetener (except truvia), PROPYL GALLATE, MSG (monosodium glutamate, monosodium glutamate, maltodextrin, sodium caseinate, autolyzed yeast, autolyzed vegetable protein, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, yeast extract and citric acid).

I watch what I eat VERY carefully. I make my own products with 100% whole wheat flour. It's rather odd that you recommend John Beradi, as he agrees with me that 96% beef is healthy (he actually mentions he buys both organic as well as the regular stuff, due to cost and access reasons).

I am serious about nutrition. So maybe take my advice and find out what fooducate actually is, instead of putting words in my mouth.

discount81 wrote: »

If junk food is in front of me I eat it, I have the will power to not buy it and eat healthier at home, but if I am at a party and there is a pizza I will definitely have some.

For someone who acts so judgmental and elitist about about nutrition, I don't really understand the above...

LarryDaMan

Very interesting thread, thanks.

I'd suggest for people to do some research on "organic" before fully buying into what has become big business and a major industry fad. Often times "organic" products are not regulated or tested and any industry standards or best practices are very relaxed. People will pay extra for the perceived piece of mind that comes with having the "organic" label on the packaging, but often times it is a sham distinction.

Penn&Teller had a great episode of their show Bull$hit about this topic and there are other documentaries about companies capitalizing on the organic craze.

glenn_33

meh, I just eat fruit and drink water at work...and beer on the weekends...seems to be working okay

discount81

gunbunnysoulja wrote: »

For someone who acts so judgmental and elitist about about nutrition, I don't really understand the above...

I'm sorry I admit I do come off as a bit of an obnoxious prick, I don't intend it that way I apologize, I just take it rather serious as someone who use to compete in sports at an amateur level nutrition was quite important to me, and helped me achieve so many goals.
And you are right, like anyone I am definitely not perfect the last couple years since I was injured I have indulged wayyyy more than I should.

Weight watchers and similar type calorie counting programs annoy me, for example a woman I work with is easily 300+ pounds and always doing weight watchers, every time there is cake or donuts or other crap she always mentions "Oh this is blah calories I can fit this into my diet today"
I've been here for nearly 2 years and I doubt she has lost a single pound.

I personally know what it is like to work hard and lose a lot of weight and I don't like these programs that give justification to eat garbage regularly.
Once again sorry if I came off the wrong way, we should all be giving positive feedback and helping each other out.

LarryDaMan wrote: »

Very interesting thread, thanks.

I'd suggest for people to do some research on "organic" before fully buying into what has become big business and a major industry fad. Often times "organic" products are not regulated or tested and any industry standards or best practices are very relaxed.

I agree, and have personally seen at a supermarket someone swap stickers on bananas to show them as organic.

However there is an organic certification, if that organic company is certified it means an inspector comes regularly to make sure they follow regulations.
Certification Bodies Providing Organic Certification Services - Canada - Food - Canadian Food Inspection Agency

The problem with organic is supermarkets can seemingly claim products are organic, like the banana example I used, the supermarket chain puts a sticker on the bananas, but there is no certification anywhere, so really no way of truly knowing if they are or not.


A lot of people on bodybuilding forums don't seem to care, they will not spend the extra money on it, I'm a bit uneasy about the amount of hormones and antibiotics in use for large scale agriculture.

gunbunnysoulja

It's okay, I know I can come off the same way

I agree with you 100% on your logic that it's not solely about calories, and that the quality of the food matters very much. That is why I love fooducate so much, as they analyze the food to ensure it's the "right" food, with no junk in it. I monitor my nutrients, fiber, etc, and make sure I don't eat the processed junk. I use to be very athletic (Master Fitness in the Army, ran half-marathons, 50 mile bike rides, cross country runner, etc..), and now that I'm getting older, I want to get my health back at the peak it use to be. I've done Insanity which is a great program. But I know nutrition plays a very significant role when it comes to weight loss and overall health. I don't touch diet soda, only drink water, and I make sure my portions are the right size, along with the right ratios of protein/carbs/fat in each meal. After doing it for a while, it's a rather quick and normal process.

nevanerviss

I'm in for a TE Weight Loss Challenge!! Where do we sign up?

Santa_

Read more: Nutrition Myths - AskMen

W Stewart

I'd recommend bodyweight exercises if the gym isn't an option. You can do them pretty much anywhere and they're just as good for staying in shape and keeping pounds off. I would also recommend doing some cooking. I eat a lot healthier when I take the time to cook my own meals. My girlfriend occasionally cooks too when I'm working which helps since I don't always have time to prepare a meal. I've heard a few people say they like to cook a lot of food at the beginning of the week and freeze what they don't eat so they can just thaw it out throughout the week like a frozen dinner. I've also found that eating healthier has given me a lot more energy as well. It's not necessary for everybody but I've cut dairy products out of my diet and for the most part wheat. It turns out that a large percentage of the world is actually lactose intolerant. I've also cut out refined foods like white bread, white rice and white sugar. I use honey as a substitute in my tea and coffee and it's pretty good but water has been my main choice of drink lately. Basically when I get something from the store, the more simple the ingredients the better. Also if you can make time for the gym, you can probably find a good weightlifting routine that only takes up about 3 hours a week depending on commute time to the gym and such. I recently started doing a variation of the 5x5 weightlifting routine and I'm usually in and out of the gym in an hour.

ccnxjr wrote: »

Recent advances in technology have made it possible to work out at night if daytime workouts are difficult!


:ducks:

Yea I heard archaeologists recently discovered this thing called the 24 hour gym

xocity wrote: »

Waking up at 5:30/6:00am every morning to workout.......will take some getting used to.
Day 1... wake up at 5:30, get off my bed, mission accomplished i know I can get up at that time,
Day 2 ... wake up at 5:30 and go outside, mission accomplished i know i can get up at that time and go outside
this is how my brain functions at that time

That reminds me of my days in air force basic training. Wake up at like 4:30 in the morning, workout, shower then eat breakfast. We didn't get a lot of time for the last two.

MAC_Addy

Sounds like some people are doing a brilliant job of working out and keeping active. I believe that just because you have a desk job doesn't mean you're going to gain weight. Make healthy choices in your lifestyle and you'll see the benefits. Also, nice double copy and paste job up above!

I've found that when trying to lose weight, what works for me may not work for someone else. My brother is a nutritionist and works with different people everyday. I suggest if you're really interested in losing weight and being on a diet that works for you, go and see a nutritionist, you won't be disappointed.

Just for a note, if you eat less than 1200 calories a day, you're not doing yourself any good. Many people have either a slow RMR (resting metabolic rate), which means how many calories you burn just by doing nothing all day. Many people have a fast RMR. Now, there are calculators out on the web that you can look at. Some of these are quite accurate, but often not. For me, my RMR is around 1,500 a day. So, if I eat 1,200 calories in a day, and work out, I'm actually doing more harm than good. My body will go into starvation mode and I'll feel more terrible about working out than not. My workouts usually consist of full body cardio exercises and I typically burn around 500 - 750 calories per session. So, I'll to take in around 2,500 calories per day.

I urge anyone that's really interested in changing their life style to talk with your doctor/nutritionist about this, they are usually a very, very big help in these matters. I'm not just saying this because this runs in the family, but I've recommended this to a lot of co-workers and it has worked for them.

LarryDaMan

MAC_Addy wrote: »

Just for a note, if you eat less than 1200 calories a day, you're not doing yourself any good.

Everybody has studies which can support different views and not everyone has the same body/metabolism.Why would less than 1200 not be any good? There is a limit to how low you should go, but doctors actually put obese people on VLCDs (Very Low Calorie Diets) which can go as low as 800 calories. If you ate 3000-5000 a day to get in terrible shape, why would less than 1200 a day be any more harmful? 800-1200 nutrition rich calories spread out throughout the day with a lot of water and a daily multivitamin trumps 3000-5000 calories of McDonald's and Pizza any day.

Even on 1,000 calories you can exercise your butt off and be fine, just takes discipline.

1000 calories can go a long way, you couldn't go hungry or do harm on this for instance for 970 calories

Small bowl of FiberOne Cereal (1 serving) with Vanilla Silk (1/4 cup) - 70
2 Large Hard boiled Eggs 140
Greek Yogurt - 100
Entire Bag of Steam-ready Veggies - 120
Chicken Breast - 200
Big Omelet or Scrambled Egg Bowl (4 servings egg beaters, 2 turkey sausage patties, 1 slice fat free cheese, green peppers..etc) - 250
Fat Free Chocolate Pudding - 90

I am not a nutritionist and I respect everyone's opinion and advice, but you can eat healthy on less than 1200 calories and still work out strenuously. The 1200 just can't come from a Whopper and Fries in one meal.

**Edit - Of course I was coming from the original premise of losing weight and all the talk about 40+ inch waists, if you're near a normal weight or trying to put on muscle, this would not be enough calories to feed the beast**

snokerpoker

I gained some weight when I switched jobs a little while ago as well. M previous job had 7 different sites and I was always walking around working with people and on the move. Then I switched jobs, worked mainly on servers and network at a desk and gained some weight. Fortunately for me I've always been able to find time to go running or bike. Lately I've been cycling 3-4 times a week and that has really helped.

MAC_Addy

I agree with you LarryDaMan. I've often been on a 1,200 - 1,500 calorie diet and it does go a long way if you make the right choices. But also like I said, everyone is different. What works for me may not work for someone else.

MiikeB

1,200-1,500 calorie diets are fine if your goal is simply to lose weight. It is pretty detrimental to the preservation of lean body mass (muscle) but I would not call it harmful overall.

In order to stay in shape I have found weight lifting goes a long way. I do mostly compound exercises like squat, bench press, overhead press, deadlift and pullups with a little isolation thrown in.

Lifting and building muscle also increases your base metabolic rate, or the number of calories you need to maintain your current physique, which makes keeping the weight off easier.

Tackle

I put on 50 pounds in 3 years of IT. Combination of being less active, desk job, moving to an apt, drinking a lot of alcohol, and eating pretty much anything in sight without portion control.

Jan 1st I was 224. As of yesterday, 197. That's almost 30lbs in 3 months. My goal is to be at 185-180 by June 1st. At my going rate I think I'll make it. 30 pounds gone...lost in mostly my legs arms and face. Only 1 belt notch smaller. Waiting for the handles and moobs to shrink.

Pretty cool going to the bar and having good lookin ladies ask me if I've lost weight. (Made my GF jealous when her sister said it).

All I've done is stopped drinking during the week, eat more whole foods, vegetables, portion control, limited sweets, and basically cut out salt/sodium (I couldn't believe the amount in ramen, pizza, heck even a can of mushrooms had a ton!).

Using MyFitnessPal, I try to hit 1300 calories per day. This is all good through the week but on the weekend I normally hit 2-3k (too much beer and burgers). Still seems to be working so I won't change much.