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 guess one concern that I've always had with regards to diets is what I've come to call "sustainability". In other words, can you do it for an extended period of time as you work, travel, go out with friends, have family gatherings, go to a ball game, etc.
I did the the super-low-fat approach years ago when I was active in martial arts and also going to the gym for lunch every day. It worked very well while it lasted but it was not sustainable. It is hard to eat like that every day regardless of the setting and circumstances.
The low carb diet, in some ways, seems to be a little more sustainable. You might not be able to avoid carbs 100%, but it would seem to me that it is relatively easy to go into just about any restaurant or fast-food joint and buy a meal that is reasonably close to the intent of the program.
What does concern me greatly in any diet these days it how hard it is to avoid all of the chemicals, corn products and, to generalize, "junk" that our industrialized food system feeds us. That is hard. If you eat out, good luck, it ain't gonna happen. At home you have to be careful where you shop and avoid nearly 90% of what is in supermarket shelves. Is this sustainable? I don't know.
I got to tell you though, I still love a nice, fat and greasy chili cheeseburger with chili fries once every month or two...
I guess one concern that I've always had with regards to diets is what I've come to call "sustainability". In other words, can you do it for an extended period of time as you work, travel, go out with friends, have family gatherings, go to a ball game, etc.
I did the the super-low-fat approach years ago when I was active in martial arts and also going to the gym for lunch every day. It worked very well while it lasted but it was not sustainable. It is hard to eat like that every day regardless of the setting and circumstances.
The low carb diet, in some ways, seems to be a little more sustainable. You might not be able to avoid carbs 100%, but it would seem to me that it is relatively easy to go into just about any restaurant or fast-food joint and buy a meal that is reasonably close to the intent of the program.
What does concern me greatly in any diet these days it how hard it is to avoid all of the chemicals, corn products and, to generalize, "junk" that our industrialized food system feeds us. That is hard. If you eat out, good luck, it ain't gonna happen. At home you have to be careful where you shop and avoid nearly 90% of what is in supermarket shelves. Is this sustainable? I don't know.
I got to tell you though, I still love a nice, fat and greasy chili cheeseburger with chili fries once every month or two...
