Am I in "starvation mode?"

[release the hounds]

not just the fruit, but MOSTLY the mac and cheese's of the world. That stuff is total junk. Organic Annies, or Kraft, if you need to lose weight you need to lose this stuff. Fettucini stuff??? Get rid of it.

that posted to fast so i'm adding. I talk about starvation mode, but it's mostly because people are starving their bodies of what they need and eating stuff that is going to stimulate weight gain.

Eat real foods, the more processed the worse it is for you as a general rule. Some fruit is ok, fruit in a cup with water or syrup, not as good. If you can eat grain from the stalk, go right ahead if it's processed into bread or pastas or whatever, ditch it for a while.

real veggies, real meats, not processed. No yogurt, that stuff is just sugar. I can't even believe it's still talked of as a health food. Not that it can't be, it can be a decent addition to a healthy diet. If it's dannon or yoplait it's most likely ****.

[Locke]

It's the "bad" carbs you are eating and the high bad fat (saturated and trans) and sugar from the processed foods that are causing problems. Cut down on the cheese (very high fat), eat whole wheat pasta or rice noodles instead of regular white pasta, increase veggie intake (especially dark green and orange ones), and eat lean meats or combine nuts, seeds and legumes for complete proteins.

High fibre, low sugar foods are very filling and nutritious. Whole grains, beans, dark greens and some fruit (berries, pears, and apricots for example) are really high in fibre and other nutrients that are good for your heart too!

[Panzerotti]

Originally Posted by ACooper

Mac and cheese has a TON of carbs and a TON of calories. The chicken fettucini has a TON of carbs. The burger king icee is basically ALL carbs.

Don't cut your fruit, cut the useless carbs down, add more veggies.......especially green ones Keep a food journal.....on the computer, in a notebook, whatever. It helps me quite a bit to see on paper what I'm putting in.

Total agreement! Of course you're going to get different advice from everyone, but it seems like you have your diet opposite of what it should be.

Eat more protein and veggies, fewer carbs (don't cut them out, but make them healthier ones), and zero garbage sugar. I eat fruit, but I haven't eaten crap sugar in over 2 years now.

If you use a calorie counter online, you can also see the breakdown of nutrients that you're taking in, that can give you an idea of what you're lacking.

[Beanie]

Originally Posted by Picklepaige

Beanie, yeah, it's mostly a convenience thing. I'm a college student, so cheap, quick food is pretty much what I live on.

Yup, totally understand that. I would get yourself a crockpot and look into crockpot cooking. Also look up once-a-month-cooking.
Since I only cooking for me, OAMC has actually turned out to be awesome. There aren't that many recipes just for one person, and sometimes even if I eat whatever I cooked for leftovers, even twice, there's STILL leftovers. I made lasagna once and I ate it for almost every meal for a week... I don't like eating the same thing that often. It was horrible LOL.

So now I will make a batch of something, or even a HUGE batch of something, and put individual portions into baggies or freezer-friendly tupperware stuff and freeze it. Then when I want some, I just pull it out of the freezer and microwave it. Sometimes I move stuff to the fridge that morning so it will thaw for dinner, but most often I just pull it straight from the freezer. I've also done a lot of dishes where you basically put all the ingredients in a baggie, freeze it, then dump the whole lot into a crockpot that morning/afternoon and let it go.


I know it's hard when you are pressed for time, and for me personally I don't really have a lot of money to spend on food either, so I'm limited to what I can buy... but eating REAL food is just so much better for you on the whole.

[Locke]

With animal protein, you don't actually need or want too much. It's high in cholesterol and can be fatty. You don't really need more than 40 or so grams of protein a day, and many people reach and more often exceed that number.

Excessive protein intake is bad for your kidneys.

[Lyzelle]

Originally Posted by Locke

With animal protein, you don't actually need or want too much. It's high in cholesterol and can be fatty. You don't really need more than 40 or so grams of protein a day, and many people reach and more often exceed that number.

Excessive protein intake is bad for your kidneys.

Pretty much all of that is a myth, based on "science" done back when tv was still black and white.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with animal protein or fat, and it is completely unrelated to cholesterol.

[Locke]

I didn't say there was anything wrong with it, just that excesses are not healthy. Truly, most anything in excess is not healthy.

Animal protein is high in LDL cholesterol which is bad for your heart. That's not a myth.

[Dekka]

Originally Posted by Locke

With animal protein, you don't actually need or want too much. It's high in cholesterol and can be fatty. You don't really need more than 40 or so grams of protein a day, and many people reach and more often exceed that number.

Excessive protein intake is bad for your kidneys.

This has all been fully debunked. Excessive protein does not hurt kidneys.. UNLESS you have kidney disease. Animal fats are just fine. In fact its has NEVER been proved that high blood cholesterol has any causative effect on heart disease. The fact there is now a distinct correlation between eating saturated animal fats and LOW bad cholesterol and high good cholesterol!!

I have taken a great interest in following some low carb forums. You would be very surprised at the number of people who's blood cholesterol improves drastically when they start eating (what by todays standards anyway) a high fat diet.'

Originally Posted by Locke

I didn't say there was anything wrong with it, just that excesses are not healthy. Truly, most anything in excess is not healthy.

Animal protein is high in LDL cholesterol which is bad for your heart. That's not a myth.

Yes it is a myth!! Imagine my shock lol. I had always thought that too. People forget that your body makes cholesterol. In fact you NEED it to live, every cell has a lot! Pretty much every (maybe every) hormone in your body is made from it. Your brain is mostly cholesterol too!! Even if you ate none you would still have it. Really high blood LDL is now not being showing to be influenced positively by diet.

[MericoX]

I really like using MyFitnessPal(.com) to track how many calories I should eat in a day. I still for the most part eat what I was eating before, just normal portions. I do make an effort to go for a healthier choice if that's available. I am MericoX on there if you join.

[Lyzelle]

Originally Posted by Locke

Animal protein is high in LDL cholesterol which is bad for your heart. That's not a myth.

Most definitely a myth.

This is an interesting video, just to put things in perspective:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8WA5wcaHp4