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After having my oatmeal thread partially derailed I thought it would be a good idea to make a dedicated diet thread. There are two schools of thought about diets, at least in the oatmeal thread.
One is that calories is the only thing that matter, paying no attention to the quality of food that you eat. I do not agree with this. I understand that in the short term it is possible to lose weight like this but I don't think it is actually healthy or sustainable
The other is the opposite. Calories do not matter, it's what you eat that matters. Obviously this will not work if you stick to the food pyramid model, there are far too many grain/carb calories involved. If one sticks to a protein, fat, fibrous veggie, low carb diet you won't have to count calories. As much at the very least.
The argument gets a little muddy when we start to talk about varying fitness goals. If your primary goal is to gain muscle mass, not necessarily worrying about gaining body fat, a high protein, fat, complex carb diet is for you (basically eat everything you can get your hands on). You'll also need to be an animal in the gym to attain this, obviously. And your routine should be centered around heavy complex movements in a slightly lower rep range. Gaining, or keeping, muscle while losing body fat is a bit trickier but still revolves around high protein and fat. You'll need to cut the carbs a bit but not completely and add ample amounts of fresh fruits and veggies. Every body is a bit different so experiment a little. Your routine should still be centered around the compound movements but raise the rep range and lower the recovery time between sets. As far as specialty training for an individual sport, consult someone with the requisite experience and/or the interwebs
Another area of concern is "cheat meals". If you're making pretty drastic changes to your diet you will have cravings for your old diet. This is absolutely normal and you should not try to suppress it. Start with cheat meals twice a week and try to eliminate one of those after a while. You need to have some willpower though, don't let them become a constant derail or you'll never make any progress
Now. This is my opinion, gathered from 20 years experience working out and experimenting with various routines and diet strategies. Also a fair amount of research on diet. Obviously I haven't been able to read everything, but this is what has worked for me. Everyone is different but there are some rules that are more broadly applied than others. Or in other word, ymmv.
So let's hear some more thoughts on the matter. And good luck to anyone who is going through a fitness goal. I know this shit can be hard but keep it up.
One is that calories is the only thing that matter, paying no attention to the quality of food that you eat. I do not agree with this. I understand that in the short term it is possible to lose weight like this but I don't think it is actually healthy or sustainable
The other is the opposite. Calories do not matter, it's what you eat that matters. Obviously this will not work if you stick to the food pyramid model, there are far too many grain/carb calories involved. If one sticks to a protein, fat, fibrous veggie, low carb diet you won't have to count calories. As much at the very least.
The argument gets a little muddy when we start to talk about varying fitness goals. If your primary goal is to gain muscle mass, not necessarily worrying about gaining body fat, a high protein, fat, complex carb diet is for you (basically eat everything you can get your hands on). You'll also need to be an animal in the gym to attain this, obviously. And your routine should be centered around heavy complex movements in a slightly lower rep range. Gaining, or keeping, muscle while losing body fat is a bit trickier but still revolves around high protein and fat. You'll need to cut the carbs a bit but not completely and add ample amounts of fresh fruits and veggies. Every body is a bit different so experiment a little. Your routine should still be centered around the compound movements but raise the rep range and lower the recovery time between sets. As far as specialty training for an individual sport, consult someone with the requisite experience and/or the interwebs
Another area of concern is "cheat meals". If you're making pretty drastic changes to your diet you will have cravings for your old diet. This is absolutely normal and you should not try to suppress it. Start with cheat meals twice a week and try to eliminate one of those after a while. You need to have some willpower though, don't let them become a constant derail or you'll never make any progress
Now. This is my opinion, gathered from 20 years experience working out and experimenting with various routines and diet strategies. Also a fair amount of research on diet. Obviously I haven't been able to read everything, but this is what has worked for me. Everyone is different but there are some rules that are more broadly applied than others. Or in other word, ymmv.
So let's hear some more thoughts on the matter. And good luck to anyone who is going through a fitness goal. I know this shit can be hard but keep it up.
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