Feeling bad.

**nitromoose** · 06-Nov-03, 01:25 PM

I've been at university and been living on crap because it's cheap. So now I'm cutting out my alcohol (huge expense) and trying to buy healthier food, even tho it adds up.

The thing is I feel bad if I eat much at all. Not physically, but mentally.
I feel dirty somehow, like I'm damaging myself.

I'd like to live on just lettuce (hey hey 15 calories) and chicken so I can get my protein, and I'm also taking fat burners.

I can't afford much more, and I don't really want to eat more anyway. But that's gonna add up to be about 100 calories a day max, which feels fine to me, but ridiculous to the dieting world of 1500 or whatever it is.

I'm just confused what I should be eating with the whole pasta/carbs debata etc. If pasta/rice/potatoes/cereal is ok, that's not so bad because it's still fairly cheap to buy and lasts a while, but by eating normal amounts I'm sure that doesn't add up to 1500+. I don't see the benefit of buying cheese (altho I love it) coz if im getting the protein from the chicken..whats the point? Or is it vitamins and minerals in it or what? Oh god this is a mess.

I'm so confused how to sort myself out. I don't care what I have to eat, I just wanna get slimmer. Trouble is I'm not actually that fat, just want more muscle to show through...(need to reduce those layers). I'm about 165 lbs at 5 ft 7 (and male). Would be nice to lose a stone really.

Does anyone else have these same feelings of feeling bad after eating just normal food? And can anyone suggest the minimum I have to eat (and maybe a diet plan?) without this stupid metabolism thing kicking in that makes you gain weight??

Also--I spotted some herbal diet supplements in Superdrug that say they will sort out the metabolism when on low calorie diets. Is it worth using along with the fat burners, or will they conflict etc? They're still expensive tho.

thanks in advance
Daz

Raven · 06-Nov-03, 04:43 PM

nitro, listen closely, i know u don't wanna hear it and it may not make the most sense to you, but you HAVE TO EAT to lose weight. Its seems like it would be opposite but its not. Run any half-assed search on this forum for fat loss and you will realize this very soon. Do yourself a favor and eat at LEAST 1500 clean calories a day and youll be fine

Don't be ignorant about dieting like that, your body will think its starving and SEVERELY slow down your metobolism to the point where the exercise you do will be so much less effective it won't be worth it.

EAT TO SURVIVE

aaronajs · 06-Nov-03, 05:04 PM

yo bro you need to eat way more, and dont just worry about protien or allllll those cal in whatever your eating
dump the fat burners and start eating to gain muscle and turn your body into a fat burning machine
although protien is important its not the only macronutient your body needs
nothing is gonna happen overnight or this week even -----get your body on a regular clean diet and stick with it, its hard but you dont have to beat yourself up for being human

Jackal · 06-Nov-03, 06:05 PM

moose, check out this thread: http://discussfitness.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13402

Check out the links in the 2nd post, they should be of some help.

**nitromoose** · 07-Nov-03, 10:17 AM

But I don't get how to eat anywhere near that much unless having 5 mars bars a day.

Having a plate of pasta (which is healthy but heavy on calories?) still only amounts to 100-200. And surely u can't eat that X +10 in one day!!

And if you're eating that much then it's not much of a diet then, coz that's how I feel I'm binging if I ate all that, which makes it now a diet? Agh.

At the moment I can't do all that eggwhite and shake stuff, it's just not practical in our disgusting student kitchen.

Can you tell me which of these foods I should avoid and which I should eat lots of? I'm trying to lose weight mainly, but gaining muscle is a bonus.

Fish/Lean meat
Pasta/potatoes/rice/cereal
Fruit/Veg
(can't have nuts I'm allergic)
Cheese

I just feel lost. There's all these diet plans, but I need more of a general overview on dieting, and there seems to be different theories all over the net..ie (low carb/high carb debate)

qlharvey · 07-Nov-03, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nitromoose

But I don't get how to eat anywhere near that much unless having 5 mars bars a day.

Can you tell me which of these foods I should avoid and which I should eat lots of? I'm trying to lose weight mainly, but gaining muscle is a bonus.

Fish/Lean meat
Pasta/potatoes/rice/cereal
Fruit/Veg
(can't have nuts I'm allergic)
Cheese

I just feel lost. There's all these diet plans, but I need more of a general overview on dieting, and there seems to be different theories all over the net..ie (low carb/high carb debate)

Did you read the post link above as JACKAL suggested?

**nitromoose** · 07-Nov-03, 10:38 AM

I'm a bit lost in the information to be honest. I can't see anywhere it says about how to eat that much from normal food, ie non-shakes.

**Lady C** · 07-Nov-03, 11:16 AM

Plan out one day's worth of food using a reasonable mix like 40%P/40%C/20%f. Eat this everyday until you have a chance to plan out one day more. An example might be;
6:00am oatmeal with protein
9:00am boiled eggs with apple
Noon tuna sandwich
3:00pm cottage cheese with garden salad
6:00pm chicken breast with steamed broccoli
9:00pm protein shake

On your workout days add another post-workout shake.

You might get tired of all of this after a while but that will also give you the motivation to plan another day out. All of these items are relatively cheap, especially the oatmeal, eggs, cottage cheese and tuna.

**nitromoose** · 07-Nov-03, 11:22 AM

Lady C ta for the diet plan, but does that really add up to over 1500? I'm sure all that is hardly any calories, though that's the kind of thing I have been eating and I have been adding it up. Hmm, I'll eat summat similar and add it all up and see what I come up with.

One thing tho..pasta and rice --do or do not?

kronik · 07-Nov-03, 04:46 PM

Go for Whole meal pasta & Brown rice. Better then the white stuff.

Cort · 07-Nov-03, 06:29 PM

Uhm...

Quote:

The thing is I feel bad if I eat much at all. Not physically, but mentally.
I feel dirty somehow, like I'm damaging myself.

Get that out of your head...now...really...you gotta eat...and it isn't how much you are eating but what you are eating that can be damaging (though I admit eating too much is bad...but it is also very difficult to overeat if you are eating healthy since most healthy foods don't contain nearly as many calories as unhealthy foods...)

Really all you need to do is a little bit of research on what is a healthy diet. What is healthy for you really relies on how active you are and what kind of shape you are currently in. There aren't any short cuts to getting in shape though...the only way is to straighten up your diet and get realistic amounts of excercise.

**Lady C** · 07-Nov-03, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nitromoose

Lady C tanks for the diet plan, but does that really add up to over 1500?

Who knows? It can. I didn't include any quantities. Make the quantities of stuff add up to 1500.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nitromoose

Hmm, I'll eat summat similar and add it all up and see what I come up with. Great - Do that!

One thing tho..pasta and rice --do or do not?

I personally don't eat pasta anymore but there is nothing wrong with it. I prefer brown and wild rice instead.

**nitromoose** · 08-Nov-03, 09:34 AM

<<This is part of your misconception. How do you know how much you are eating if you don't add it up? >>

Because I used to add up a lot and now the basic amounts of things.

The meal that lady c suggested: I'll do a quick search on the net for the calories contained:

6:00am oatmeal with protein
Most protein foods don't have many calories in really as far as I'm aware. But: Oatmeal - 1 packet - Quaker Instant = 105 cal

9:00am boiled eggs with apple
eggs - 1, hard boiled = 75 cal
Not sure how many lady C meant, I'll guess 4?
apple - 1 medium, whole 80

12:00 tuna sandwich
- tuna 3oz, light, packed in water = 135
bread - whole wheat - 1 slice = 70 X 2 = 140

3:00pm cottage cheese with garden salad
cottage cheese - 1 cup, creamed, large curd = 235
I can't find a salad amount, but I remember the packaged ones being about 50 max for a big bag.

6:00pm chicken breast with steamed broccoli
chicken breast - 3 oz, roasted = 140
broccoli - 1 cup, raw, cooked, drained = 45

9:00pm protein shake
Ok I can't find an exact amount because it says it ranges from 100-1000, but I'm gonna exclude this coz it's not normal food..and not affordable right now lol

TOTAL COUNT:
1230

Hmm so with the protein shake it might add up, but by eating normally it doesn't quite add up to 1500, tho it's close. And to me that seems like eating a lot as it is. Of course my maths is pretty shocking so I might have done it wrong anyway. But even so, people have been saying that 1500's the bare minimum that should be eaten.

I'm not trying to get out of it or dismiss the diets by the way, just trying to learn more and wanting to fix myself

**Lady C** · 08-Nov-03, 09:54 AM

What is your goal? Loose fat, gain muscle or both? Maybe 1500 calories is not the right thing for you? What are your current stats? Height, weight, body fat, sex, target? Maybe we can help some with more information.

**nitromoose** · 08-Nov-03, 10:06 AM

Hey lady C

Cheers for the help so far everyone! You've been great as always!

Goal is to mainly lose weight, and then maybe once I'm slim enough, put on more muscle but not too much because I'm only 5 ft 7 and if I pack on huge muscles I'll look horrible, I just wanna be slim and toned. Ever seen brad pitt topless? That's my goal!! He's not huge, but looks great.
I want the whole washboard abs thing

I currently weight 12 stone..er..maths..um..168 lbs..I think.

I'm male. Not sure what my bodyfat is. And I'm 19.

Here's some pix of what I look like if it helps. Not that I really wanna show but it gives an idea of my problem!
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/chris.baker/yuck.jpg
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/chris.baker/yuck2.jpg
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/chris.baker/yuck3.jpg
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/chris.baker/yuck4.jpg
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/chris.baker/yuck5.jpg
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/chris.baker/yuck6.jpg