No doctor had ever recommended I try a healthy diet and exercise,
instead they mentioned I needed to lose weight (at one point when I was
heavy), but never advised how to do this.
I took their advice and lost weight, probably not the healthiest way because I wasn't eating much. Granted what I did eat was healthy, but it wasn't a balanced diet of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
I've read we should eat a low fat diet...but I don't get what that means. Don't we need healthy fats in our diet? I supplement with fish oil and flaxseed oil everyday to make sure I get enough omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Also because there's evidence which suggests that these fats help repair meylin and reduce inflammation (see this link here).
The other thing I find disturbing is no one states what a high fat or low fat diet means and how many grams of fat we should be consuming daily. Personally I consume 20 - 30% fat a day from my recommended caloric intake.
Do you know what your caloric intake should be? Its based on your height, body weight, age, sex and how active you are in a day.
Here's an excellent link which calculates your caloric intake for you.
Knowing how many calories I need a day to maintain my weight, helps me if I want to lose weight because I would consume less then I need. For example, if I figured out I need 1770 calories a day to maintain my weight, and if I wanted to lose a pound (which is 3200 calories) a week, I would eat 457 less calories a day, which is 1313 calories a day. Eating 457 calories less a day would mean a losing a pound a week for anyone.
However, figuring out my caloric intake is only one part of the equation because I need to have a balanced diet of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
To do this you can visit this link which is brilliant. It figures out the math for you, to the ratios you want. The zone diet is what I recommend, on that site. However, I consume 40% protein, 30% carbohydrates and 30% fats. I prefer higher protein because I weight lift and because the of amino acids in protein.
Then I'd think one gram of protein is equal to 4 calories, so I'd divide 4 into 520 (which is 40% of my total calories) to figure out how many grams of protein I should be eating, which is 130 grams of protein a day.
I would then do the same math I used to calculate for carbohydrates, at 4 calories per gram.
Then fats, at 10 calories per gram. So 30% of 1313 calories is 390 calories, which equals 39 grams of total fat for the day.
Example:
Ratio Total Calories Calories per Gram Consume a Day
proteins - 40% 1313 = 520 / 4 calories = 130 grams
carbohydrates - 30% 1313 = 390 / 4 calories = 98 grams
fats - 30% 1313 = 390 / 10 calories = 39 grams
I really hope this doesn't seem confusing and you're not overwhelmed by the math or frightened at the thought of keeping track of how many calories, fats, carbs and protein to consume.
In the beginning I wrote everything down in a notebook. I kept track not only of the numbers, but what I was eating. Its important to see what you are eating. However, I now don't find it necessary to write everything down like I use to because I know what to eat after writing it out like I use to.
Remember, having a balanced diet is essential to being energetic, healthy and happy.
Here's a link to my post, A Secret to Defeating MS
Here's a link to my post for, Healthy, Time Saving Ideas for Food
I took their advice and lost weight, probably not the healthiest way because I wasn't eating much. Granted what I did eat was healthy, but it wasn't a balanced diet of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
I've read we should eat a low fat diet...but I don't get what that means. Don't we need healthy fats in our diet? I supplement with fish oil and flaxseed oil everyday to make sure I get enough omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Also because there's evidence which suggests that these fats help repair meylin and reduce inflammation (see this link here).
The other thing I find disturbing is no one states what a high fat or low fat diet means and how many grams of fat we should be consuming daily. Personally I consume 20 - 30% fat a day from my recommended caloric intake.
Do you know what your caloric intake should be? Its based on your height, body weight, age, sex and how active you are in a day.
Here's an excellent link which calculates your caloric intake for you.
Knowing how many calories I need a day to maintain my weight, helps me if I want to lose weight because I would consume less then I need. For example, if I figured out I need 1770 calories a day to maintain my weight, and if I wanted to lose a pound (which is 3200 calories) a week, I would eat 457 less calories a day, which is 1313 calories a day. Eating 457 calories less a day would mean a losing a pound a week for anyone.
However, figuring out my caloric intake is only one part of the equation because I need to have a balanced diet of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
To do this you can visit this link which is brilliant. It figures out the math for you, to the ratios you want. The zone diet is what I recommend, on that site. However, I consume 40% protein, 30% carbohydrates and 30% fats. I prefer higher protein because I weight lift and because the of amino acids in protein.
Then I'd think one gram of protein is equal to 4 calories, so I'd divide 4 into 520 (which is 40% of my total calories) to figure out how many grams of protein I should be eating, which is 130 grams of protein a day.
I would then do the same math I used to calculate for carbohydrates, at 4 calories per gram.
Then fats, at 10 calories per gram. So 30% of 1313 calories is 390 calories, which equals 39 grams of total fat for the day.
Example:
Ratio Total Calories Calories per Gram Consume a Day
proteins - 40% 1313 = 520 / 4 calories = 130 grams
carbohydrates - 30% 1313 = 390 / 4 calories = 98 grams
fats - 30% 1313 = 390 / 10 calories = 39 grams
I really hope this doesn't seem confusing and you're not overwhelmed by the math or frightened at the thought of keeping track of how many calories, fats, carbs and protein to consume.
In the beginning I wrote everything down in a notebook. I kept track not only of the numbers, but what I was eating. Its important to see what you are eating. However, I now don't find it necessary to write everything down like I use to because I know what to eat after writing it out like I use to.
Remember, having a balanced diet is essential to being energetic, healthy and happy.
Here's a link to my post, A Secret to Defeating MS
Here's a link to my post for, Healthy, Time Saving Ideas for Food
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