Thread: Protein Sources
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Old 03-23-08 | 11:56 AM
  #41  
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El Julioso
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Joined: Jul 2007
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From: Canada

Bikes: 2000 Schwinn Moab 1, heavily modified

Trigger, looks like you have an excellent and very clean diet, bravo!

The reason you haven't noticed any loss of muscle since beginning your diet is because you've been exercising. If you ate 1,300-1,500 Calories/day and lead a sedentary lifestyle, your body would eat a fair bit of muscle. However, since you exercise, your body realizes a need to keep the muscle, and instead uses mostly fat for the extra energy it needs.

Since you've been losing just over a pound a week, it sounds like your average caloric deficit is just over 500 Calories/day, since 1lb. of fat contains 3500 Calories, and it sounds like you've managed to maintain your muscle mass. 7x500=3,500. So, when you reach your desired weight and want to maintain it, throttle up your caloric intake to about 2,000 Calories, probably a little more in the summer. Keep an eye on your weight after that; if you continue to lose weight or start gaining weight you'll know whether to eat more or less. It's a lot easier to keep fat off than lose it.

Don't feel guilty about drinking green and black tea; they're actually very good for you. They have certain antioxidants and other beneficial compounds that coffee doesn't. If you drink more than 3 cups/day however, decaffeinated tea would probably be best. There are ways to very easily decaffeinate your own tea, which you can find with a google search if you're interested.

It's good that you pay so much attention to how you feel. Your body can tell you a lot. If you aren't feeling hungry or weak, or getting sick very often, then you aren't eating dangerously little. I didn't think that many people could eat just 1,300 Calories/day without feeling hungry; but then, I'm a tall male in my 20s with a psychotic metabolism who's been know to eat that many Calories in a single sitting

The only other thing I can think of to recommend for your diet is that you keep vitamin solubility in mind. All vitamins and minerals except for vitamins A, D, E, and K are soluble in water; therefore, you can absorb them efficiently almost any time, since you always have water in abundance. However, A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble, so you need some fat in your digestive tract to absorb these vitamins properly. This is why carrot juice is often served with a little vegetable oil; carrots are nature's best source of vitamin A (well, technically beta-carotene, which is actually better than vitamin A because you cannot overdose on it; your body converts it into vitamin A only as it needs it). So when you eat a food that contains vitamins A, D, E, and/or K, also eat something with a little fat, like extra virgin olive oil, nuts, flaxseeds, 1% milk or something of the sort. It doesn't take much.

This is why I drink 1% milk. Both it and skim milk contain vitamins A and D, but if one were to only drink the skim milk, the A and D would not be absorbed. Note that calcium is pretty much useless without vitamin D as far as the bones are concerned; they need vitamin D in order to make use of calcium. This is especially important in winter, when your exposure to the most natural source of vitamin D (the sun) is limited. So I would suggest switching to 1% milk; the little bit of fat won't hurt you, it tastes better, and usually contains less salt than skim.

Those are recommendations for general health, though; looks like you have the weight control aspect of health well in hand. Well done, and keep it up!
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