So it's pretty clear that diet is one of the most important part of keeping fit and looking good - if you have a shit diet then it doesn't matter how much you hit the gym.
How do you guys set your diets out? I try my best to track everything I eat but this is only really straight forward when eating extremely basic meals like chicken breast and veggies. The second you start cooking anything more complicated (curries, pasta dishes, etc) then it becomes more difficult to accurately track your calorie intake.
I love to cook from scratch and I know you can adapt the above to be relatively clean but it's also super easy to underestimate your calorie intake.
So how do you keep an accurate diary of your calories without sticking to really simple dishes?
Also, can anybody recommend a website that has decent fit recipes? I've tried to google but most of the "low fat" recipes are very high in sugar.
When you cook from scratch, you're literally applying the exact same principles. Suppose I make stir fry (I do this a lot so I can freeze it and bring it to lunch). I use rice, Safflower Oil, tons of vegetables, beef, chicken breasts, and typically a lot of cumin. What you have to do is lay out all of your ingredients and log them in the diary proportionate to how much you put in.
This is typically what I eat:
Greek yogurt Stir Fry Salmon Burgers Turkey Burgers Organic vegetables Some Fruits McCann's Oatmeal Peanut Butter Beef Tips Chicken breasts If I eat bread ( for my burgers), it has to actually be bread Fresh Spinach Sometimes I eat cheese (if I need the calories) Dark chocolate (if I need the calories) Sometimes I Fridays I go out and get something to eat that isn't
And of course, I only drink water.
After about three months of that, you won't even need to keep track anymore because you'll know what your intake is. The best thing to do is plan all your meals up front.
I just use myfitnesspal and count every gram that I eat. It's annoying sometimes but it's the only thing that makes me lose weight.
Caleb Adams
That works if you're attached to your smart phone. I just use a little green notebook. It's the same book where I track my gains.
Brandon Clark
>take steroids >i can now do iifym since steroids let me stay lean no matter what
sure worked well for this guy, didn't it?
Nathan Richardson
This is brilliant - thanks so much for your reply. It totally seems like common sense because you've put it so well. I'll definitely check out the link as well, it looks like the exact thing I'm looking for.
Yeah this is the app I usually use. It's wonderful for tracking branded food or set meals, but it makes thing a bit more difficult when you're bashing up your own recipes. I say difficult...just a slightly longer process I guess.
I just see so many people on here complaining about eating right and not seeing a difference. I don't want to leave anything to chance by accidentally underestimating my food and losing enthusiasm in the process.
Jordan James
I plan my meals on mfp in advance at work on my computer.
Jaxson Collins
just told my mom what to buy and what not and its apparently working. Anyways, you could buy one those weekly sets of containers to bring around and eat them outside, this also allows you to prepare meals before hand and already stock them into the fridge ready to be eaten
Adam Allen
Don't mention it! Scooby has a lot more meals than the ones on that page.
One of the big things I noticed about fit is that it's a lot of fatass Americans who like to overeat and then justify it by lifting. If you eat clean and plan your meals (as it looks like you're doing), you're body is going to actually crave healthy food. Eating junk food like the crap people post here (lawl im bulking time for McDonaldshahahaha) will make you sick if you just eat clean for like three months.
Ryan Richardson
On my days off (typically Sat/Sunday) I will spend a good hour or so in the kitchen making lots of bulk meals, so on my actual work days I don't get distracted I can just grab one of my meals from the fridge/freezer and eat it cold or microwave it at work.
I don't really make curries although I'm a sucker for chilli con carne. You said it yourself, counting calories is an estimate, and unless you're on a very strict cut I wouldn't worry a great deal on how many calories making a raw curry from scratch will be. Just avoid the ones that come in the Jar as they tend to be full of sugar and other bullshit.
Personally I like to add seasoning and raw spices to my meat and veggies as opposed to making sauces. Cajun, Jamacian Jerk, Garlic, Ginger, Cayenne Peppers, Turmeric etc. I very rarely get bored of my meals.
Hunter Parker
Blaha doesn't even lift
Jason Murphy
Oh OP, I forgot to mention, the best way to count you calories if you're going for super precision is to just get a hyper accurate scale. Get the kind they use for measuring weed.
Ryder Mitchell
backtracking : the post
Austin Ramirez
Yeah definitely, although I can't judge too much. My biggest downfall is eating amazingly through the week and ending up drinking a bottle of vodka on the weekend. Complete waste of calories and terrible for my body overall. That has been more of a recent thing over Christmas but still absolutely pointless. Although I very rarely eat takeaway or fastfood anyway and don't drink soda so this isn't a huge problem.
Great idea about making meals in advance - I usually have left overs but they end up staying in the fridge until they're no good anymore. If I purposefully planned my meals, it'd make life easier and probably cut down on a lot of waste.
Definitely agree with the spices as well - a chicken breast or piece of salmon can taste amazing with just a few additions.
Lincoln Martin
blahino doesn't do IIFYM, he just overeats
just weigh your food and estimate the calories based on what you find on the internet
this shouldn't even matter too much while bulking, when cutting just eat things that you can estimate calories more easily on
don't go overboard with orthorexic muh clean food only memery, at the end of the day it's much more important that you hit your macros
(this doesn't mean eat potato chips and whey protein only, but don't freak out about having a burger once in a while)
you should not even be asking this here, go read anything by lyle mcdonald and alan aragon
Robert Campbell
I know I'll have people disagree me, but I firmly believe that tracking calories and grams in an anal manner is detrimental.
I believe that if you don't have the inherent knowledge and discipline to maintain a proper diet without tracking it, means you're extremely prone to falling backwards.
Obviously you need to build a knowledge base of general calorie and gram amounts, but it should only be used in introductory periods.
Andrew Turner
For the last time, diet does not matter at all aside from getting your protein, having a good diversity of veggies, and counting your calories to your target.
AT ALL
In other words, don't stuff yourself with brown rice because of memes
Jaxon Clark
That's my first post in the thread.
Blaha gave up a long time ago. He is a terrible example.
Nicholas Martinez
some people operate better tracking everything, some operate better avoiding certain food groups
anybody who achieves contest shape (not anyone here) is tracking things anally
i've been counting macros for 8 years, it's now second nature to do so
Adam Gomez
>microwave-re-heated oil grilled green vegetables the vegetables is the reason i don't prep like this. i have the time to cook vegetables and rice fresh every day. i might batch cook meats/stews/chilli whatever as that is more economical, but i want my veg fresh.
Brandon Morris
Yeah, that's why george farah who is a nutrition guru helped like 1/3rd of all professional bodybuilders make it to the top and even the rock pays him 5000$ for a one month nutrition plan.
>b-b-b-but it'\s just steroids! o-o-obviously he has SUPER special steroids that are diffferent from the ones readily available on the internet!
