Losing
I've decided to write this from a first-person perspective. Please feel free to contact us with any suggestions, comments, or concerns.
So you have decided to lose some weight or decrease some bodyfat (both happen correspondingly). I'm going to be completely honest right from the beginning. When it comes to proper nutrition all while trying to follow a calorie restricted diet...yes you can eat chicken, brown rice, broccoli, etc. But I promise you, if you try and eat these misconceived "ideal" diet foods, you will tire of them and eventually start slipping up and ultimately falling off course.
I've read a lot, and I mean a lot of literature on the science behind nutrition. Let me start with this. If you are going to follow a calorie restricted diet, please, please keep eating the foods you enjoy and love. In the grand scheme of things, a carb is a carb, and a fat is a fat. Yes some are processed differently and at different rates, and while this is important to an extent, you can still eat cookies, ice cream, cake, etc. It's really hard for me not to rant about misconceptions related to calorie deficit dieting, but I will do my best.
Next order of business, if you choose to ignore the above paragraph (please don't), please accept this one and try what works best for you. The ever-so popular question. How many meals should you eat a day? What was the first number that popped into your head? Five?....Six?.... There is no magical number, and time after time research has proven that there is not a significant increase in metabolic rate by eating more frequent, smaller meals. So if you feel like a "bro" or if you are just tired of carrying your tupperware around, you don't have to. Google search The Warrior Diet and Intermittent Fasting (IF). Both are research and community backed regimes in which users eat one or two meals a day, respectively. The reason they work and are I quite popular is the fact that they are convenient (no carrying food around), and leave you feeling completely full and satisfied (satiety is the key to maintaining a calorie deficit diet). I won't get into great detail, but just want to get the point across that you don't have to eat 5 or 6 meals a day...you can eat one, two, or even a normal breakfast, lunch and dinner. The only important factor (HUGE FACTOR), is that you meet your calorie and macro requirements for that day.
One more thing I would like to share. Meal timing is irrelevant. You do not have to load up on protein immediately post-workout and you do not have to eat dinner (or your last meal) by 7:00pm. My only recommendation, simply because I have acid re-flux, is that you at least eat dinner an hour before bed. So if you go to sleep at midnight, there is no harm in eating at 11:00pm. Your body will not store these "late night meals" any differently than they would those consumed at an earlier time. As long as you eat your target number of calories and hit your macros, MEAL TIMING IS IRRELEVANT.
Please, read some more on these techniques and the science behind them and try and be open. I've only written this to help you readers. These are the main misconceptions about calorie restrictive dieting and are the main factors leading to unsuccessful diets. I personally prefer eating when I feel like it, as long as I hit my daily requirements and do not go over nor under. If it's a weekday, I find it easier to just eat lunch and dinner. On the weekends, I find myself eating off and on all day and then having a legitimate sit-down supper. This is just personal preference and it's what fits my lifestyle. Find what fits yours and enjoy it...don't make it an inconvenience or hassle...this is what leads to frustration and eventually quitting.
So you have decided to lose some weight or decrease some bodyfat (both happen correspondingly). I'm going to be completely honest right from the beginning. When it comes to proper nutrition all while trying to follow a calorie restricted diet...yes you can eat chicken, brown rice, broccoli, etc. But I promise you, if you try and eat these misconceived "ideal" diet foods, you will tire of them and eventually start slipping up and ultimately falling off course.
I've read a lot, and I mean a lot of literature on the science behind nutrition. Let me start with this. If you are going to follow a calorie restricted diet, please, please keep eating the foods you enjoy and love. In the grand scheme of things, a carb is a carb, and a fat is a fat. Yes some are processed differently and at different rates, and while this is important to an extent, you can still eat cookies, ice cream, cake, etc. It's really hard for me not to rant about misconceptions related to calorie deficit dieting, but I will do my best.
Next order of business, if you choose to ignore the above paragraph (please don't), please accept this one and try what works best for you. The ever-so popular question. How many meals should you eat a day? What was the first number that popped into your head? Five?....Six?.... There is no magical number, and time after time research has proven that there is not a significant increase in metabolic rate by eating more frequent, smaller meals. So if you feel like a "bro" or if you are just tired of carrying your tupperware around, you don't have to. Google search The Warrior Diet and Intermittent Fasting (IF). Both are research and community backed regimes in which users eat one or two meals a day, respectively. The reason they work and are I quite popular is the fact that they are convenient (no carrying food around), and leave you feeling completely full and satisfied (satiety is the key to maintaining a calorie deficit diet). I won't get into great detail, but just want to get the point across that you don't have to eat 5 or 6 meals a day...you can eat one, two, or even a normal breakfast, lunch and dinner. The only important factor (HUGE FACTOR), is that you meet your calorie and macro requirements for that day.
One more thing I would like to share. Meal timing is irrelevant. You do not have to load up on protein immediately post-workout and you do not have to eat dinner (or your last meal) by 7:00pm. My only recommendation, simply because I have acid re-flux, is that you at least eat dinner an hour before bed. So if you go to sleep at midnight, there is no harm in eating at 11:00pm. Your body will not store these "late night meals" any differently than they would those consumed at an earlier time. As long as you eat your target number of calories and hit your macros, MEAL TIMING IS IRRELEVANT.
Please, read some more on these techniques and the science behind them and try and be open. I've only written this to help you readers. These are the main misconceptions about calorie restrictive dieting and are the main factors leading to unsuccessful diets. I personally prefer eating when I feel like it, as long as I hit my daily requirements and do not go over nor under. If it's a weekday, I find it easier to just eat lunch and dinner. On the weekends, I find myself eating off and on all day and then having a legitimate sit-down supper. This is just personal preference and it's what fits my lifestyle. Find what fits yours and enjoy it...don't make it an inconvenience or hassle...this is what leads to frustration and eventually quitting.
