One diet/fitness/health piece of advice. OK since its slow today…
What is one piece of advice related to diet/health/fitness you would give to someone who is starting out.
Try not to duplicate and answers already posted so we can see how many great ideas are out there.
Only positive thoughts. Encourage yourself the way you would encourage an infant learning to stand/walk.
learn serving sizes and calorie contents. of the foods you eat most often.
Its amazing how many extra calories you can consume because you thought 1/4 cup of sour cream was only 2 tablespoons…
find a reputable resource,. and read up on nutrition, because fad diets and quick fixes do NOT work in the long run!
One size does & doesn’t fit all. Losing weight and maintaining your loss is based on calories in & out, meaning what you eat/drink & how you use it. One size fits all.
Finding the right combination of eating, exercising, and motivation is different for everyone, particularly over the long-term. Therefore, it also doesn’t.
An additional tangential thought to this; try not to compare yourself to others. BellsOn mentions finding good resources, which can help you understand where you are. But don’t hold yourself to others’ outcomes, good or bad, or experiences. You got what you got.
I guess that’s 2 things, and awful preachy. But it’s what helps me….
It’s not just one thing. Since you’re restricting it to one, that’d have to be it.
It’s food, exercise, and living, and each of those elements gets expanded further.
There is a hell of a lot of bad information and advice floating around out there, including official US Government guidelines on obesity and its treatment (I just found out that the US policy guidelines for treatment, to medical practitioners, include 800 cal/day diets). Tons of suckitude.
Then there are the marketers and scammers shilling stuff. Old advice that’s no good. Old advice that is good. New advice that’s no good. New advice that is good.
And yet: the good advice and basic principles are out there and (once you clear the crap away) are pretty well known.
Liam Rosen’s copy of sean10mm’s primer is an excellent start: http://liamrosen.com/fitness.html
Thanks to the FitFo/DiFo regulars who first posted that, ‘coz I found it here. As I did…
The New Rules of Lifting / TNROL4W do a really nice job as well.
Cosgrove’s Hierarchy of Fat loss: http://www.alwyncosgrove.com/hierarchy-of-fat-loss.html
Tons of myths:
- Fat makes you fat.
- Carbs/sugar are better than fat.
- Meat is bad.
- You can spot reduce.
- Weights bulk you up.
- Cardio is all you need.
- LSD cardio is enough.
- 20 (or 30, or 40, or 50, or…) is too late to start.
- Food and supplement labels and statements are regulated and enforced.
- The food industry cares about nutrition and health.
A lot of my own journey has been unlearning stuff, recognizing the importance of various factors and activities. Not assuming “if it’s sold as food it’s OK”. Et cetera. I’m still learning.
I try to boil it down in my handle blurb: Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. Lift weights to build muscle. Do interval cardio for your heart and lungs. Sleep. Manage stress. After that it’s all details and execution.
So I guess that would be it, I changed my mind
YOU can do it. §.
Unoriginal, but. “Never, never, never give up.”
On a daily basis, continously move 30 mins. Walk briskly, slowly, run, jog, garden, weightlift, swim, tennis, housework (ugh), and so on…
Eat real, whole foods. Drink water. Go back to. the basics.
i’d say. you are the most accurate measure of your own success when it comes to your diet, weight loss, and phyiscal activity.
for example, don’t compare yourself to the person next to you at the gym that can do 100 push ups when you can only do 10. 10 is more than 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, etc. push ups, and 10 is more than you could do if you weren’t active at all.
Don’t believe anybody who says you’re. exercising too much. For most Americans, it’s not possible.
I’d have to disagree with this one. It’s not too likely among the general population. But be aware of the signs of overtraining.
Probably more a guy thing than a girl thing, but it can hit both.
If you’re lifting on consecutive days, you’d better be doing a split.
If you’re not taking a day off per week, you’re overtraining.
A rest/light week every few months is also a good idea.
And for a lot of people, insufficient sleep (not overtraining per se, but contributing to lack of adequate recovery) is an issue.
add greens greens greens.
And purples and yellows and reds. Dark-colored veggies are generally good to have.
nice thread. My favorite tip when learning to eat whole foods was to shop the outside isles of the grocery store. It’s where all the good stuff is, fruit, veggies, meats, dairy.
eat. a big breakfast with protein.
I think that’s what I love most about my diet. I feel full, energetic, and actually more confident when I have a big proteinacious breakfast.
stick to what works. there are tons of diet plans out there, many of which are effective… the important thing is finding what works for you, your lifestyle, your metabolism, your likes and dislikes, etc. nutrition science is terminally contradictory, and you can’t let that confuse or discourage you from your path.