Thursday, December 6, 2007

My Daily Diet

Thank you to those of you who participated in my last poll. Well, I'm afraid that, like my workout routine, my diet is very simple. I mainly consume fresh cuts of meat, eggs, fresh green veggies, canned tuna (occasionally), nuts, and seeds. I eat shredded cheeses since I am, like most folks, lactose intolerant. I consume between 60 - 100 grams of carbs a day, and they mainly come from the veggies and nuts that I eat.

I don't eat grass fed meats or organic veggies. I shop at the local market and understand the arguments. I plan on growing my veggies hydroponically as soon as the new LED grow lights are available. I'll harvest my white button and portabella mushrooms in another week or so. I guess I'm really a gardener at heart.

I'm going to look into buying more grass fed beef; nevertheless, you can achieve serious results eating foods from the your local market that may not be the best or most healthiest of choices. I try to get my blood work done every six months, and I just received a thumbs up from my doctor's office the other day.

As far as supplements go, I take fish oil, CoQ10, a simple multi-vitamin/mineral, and an all natural energy supplement that Dr. Ellis sells, XCellR8. I would say that I drink 90% of my liquid intake is water, and I occasionally drink a diet soda (Coke Zero ain't too bad). Lately, I've found myself drinking low-carb Rockstar energy drinks to give me an extra boost, especially on my 45 minute commute each way to and from work!

One thing I do want to point out is that I have had adverse results from following a ketogenic diet, 20g or less of carbs per day, and working out 4-6 days a week using mainly resistance training. I found that my muscles were flat and that my limbs felt really heavy. Not only did I feel over-trained, but I was pretty lethargic as well. Now that I consume post-workout carbs and keep my carb intake at a level that keeps me out of ketosis, I find that I feel much more energetic and for the first time I think I understand what they mean by your muscles feeling full or having their glycogen stores replenished.

Nevertheless, the most important part of my daily diet is that I count my calories because you must create a calorie deficit if you want to lose weight, regardless of diet composition. So, even thought I follow a low-carb/paleo style diet, I do so because it keeps me full and helps me to retain more of my lean mass than following a low-fat or so-called balanced diet.

Well there you have it. No mysterious herbs or secret food combinations. Just basic calorie counting coupled with a diet that focuses on eating whole and fresh foods at least 80% of the time. Feel free to write me if you have any further questions about my diet or weight loss: kujifikiria@gmail.com

4 comments:

jasminesdad said...

Your diet post is great information. And, yes, it your diet is very simple.

You mentioned that it's necessary to create a calorie deficit in order to loose weight; does that apply to loosing body fat, i.e. changing body composition?

Or, put another way, can you lower your carb intake sufficiently to trigger fat burning without dropping pounds. Of course, that assumes a person is doing some resistance training to add muscle mass. I'm 174 lbs, and I would like to be less squishy... but I don't want to look like a twig.

Thanks

Muata said...

Thanks for your comment and question bro. No, to lose bodyweight/bodyfat one must create a calorie deficit. I know that many low-carb authors say that there is a metabolic advantage to following a low-carb way of eating (WOE); however, they don't have the sufficient evidence to back up their claims. When you create a calorie deficit and use a low-carb diet, then you'll start to see a change in body composition. However, calories are king and trumps diet composition every time.

Lowcarb_dave said...

Did you have hyperinsulinism before?

I have this problem where my body overproduces insulin.

I may have to eat lower carb always.

Muata said...

That's a good question D because I didn't get in measured; however, most, if not all, obese folks overproduce insulin. The good thing about losing weight is that the organs shrink and can heal themselves. Depending on the type of exercise you're doing will really determine how many carbs you eat. I'll be doing a post on this soon.