NOTE: After review it is obvious that my original calorie intake estimate was wrong. I've edited this post to revise it to 2,000 calories. I originally said that it was 1000, which makes no sense.
I am looking for dietary advice in order to maximize my results. Prior to getting into swimming I was consuming about 2,000 calories per day and trying to favor protein. Considering that I was sitting in front of a computer most of the day even 1,000 calories may have been too much. My weight pretty much stayed around the same 220lbs (lean weight target being somewhere around 185lbs).
Now that I am swimming I probably need to change my dietary intake. I do want to get rid of the extra pounds as soon as possible. However, with these 1 1/2 hour workouts and only 2000 calories I felt out of energy for the first couple of days. My lack of conditioning probably had a lot to do with it.
Some of the questions I have are:
Should I try to remain close to 2000 calories in order to expedite weight loss and then stabilize at a higher caloric intake?
My workouts are at 5:30AM. I can't have breakfast prior to the workout. This means that I am working off of energy from dinner and stored fat. Should I favor certain foods for dinner?
Also, what would be the best distribution of caloric intake throughout the day? Should I front load (heavy breakfast) or have a larger dinner to put some energy away for the morning workout?
Any other thoughts/advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Parents
Former Member
I agree with you to a point, but it seems as if the people who count calories are the ones most often complaining of hunger pangs (I was always hungry on a calorie-restricted diet). Now that I've incorporated a much higher proportion of saturated animal fats into my diet (butter, cream, cheese, bacon and other fatty meats, all from pastured animals), I'm almost never hungry and often go all day without eating between breakfast and dinner. Although much of the food I eat tends to be expensive, I eat a lot less of it, so it probably balances out in the end, cost-wise. Nowadays, when I think of what I used to eat, I can hardly believe the quantities I put away.
Interestingly, I experienced a lot of my initial weight loss when I stopped drinking Diet Coke (or any other soda). I used to drink probably six to eight cans a day. Obviously, at zero calories, the Coke itself wasn't responsible for putting on the pounds, but I noticed that whenever I drank a Coke, I immediately sought something to eat afterward. It may have been that the food was neutralizing the acid in my stomach.
Here's a story that I think is quite typical of a lot of people who join Weight Watchers to lose weight: www.marksdailyapple.com/.../
Count yourself lucky you found a method that works for you and doesn't make you hungry. For the majority of people (despite what diet advertisements led you to believe) being hungry from time to time while dieting is going to happen. For me personally, I find that calorie restriction is easier than worrying about healthy food/cutting carbs/etc. I can eat 1500 calories a day, but not if I can't satisfy my craving for a twix bar every once in a while. Besides, most diets that don't involve directly counting calories still work via calorie depletion. i.e. if you don't eat carbs you are probably eating much less calories as well. (Yes, ketogenic diets work on more than calorie depletion but people even on "ketogenic" diets rarely actually get into more than 'barely ketosis')
I agree with you to a point, but it seems as if the people who count calories are the ones most often complaining of hunger pangs (I was always hungry on a calorie-restricted diet). Now that I've incorporated a much higher proportion of saturated animal fats into my diet (butter, cream, cheese, bacon and other fatty meats, all from pastured animals), I'm almost never hungry and often go all day without eating between breakfast and dinner. Although much of the food I eat tends to be expensive, I eat a lot less of it, so it probably balances out in the end, cost-wise. Nowadays, when I think of what I used to eat, I can hardly believe the quantities I put away.
Interestingly, I experienced a lot of my initial weight loss when I stopped drinking Diet Coke (or any other soda). I used to drink probably six to eight cans a day. Obviously, at zero calories, the Coke itself wasn't responsible for putting on the pounds, but I noticed that whenever I drank a Coke, I immediately sought something to eat afterward. It may have been that the food was neutralizing the acid in my stomach.
Here's a story that I think is quite typical of a lot of people who join Weight Watchers to lose weight: www.marksdailyapple.com/.../
Count yourself lucky you found a method that works for you and doesn't make you hungry. For the majority of people (despite what diet advertisements led you to believe) being hungry from time to time while dieting is going to happen. For me personally, I find that calorie restriction is easier than worrying about healthy food/cutting carbs/etc. I can eat 1500 calories a day, but not if I can't satisfy my craving for a twix bar every once in a while. Besides, most diets that don't involve directly counting calories still work via calorie depletion. i.e. if you don't eat carbs you are probably eating much less calories as well. (Yes, ketogenic diets work on more than calorie depletion but people even on "ketogenic" diets rarely actually get into more than 'barely ketosis')
