What is a "good diet"?

dozer3 · 02-28-2006, 10:08 AM

thanks grunt, this is great information and exactly the stuff i enjoy learning about and trying to put to use. it's hard to gather all the required information just by reading posts though. a trip to the book store usually results a bunch of useless diet fad books. i was wondering if anyone has read a good book that puts this information together for us and is geared toward the athlete/bodybuilder?

Ripped1 · 02-28-2006, 10:22 AM

The best book I have ever used was the Arnold Encyclopedia it is the freaken bible to me and my friends

4everbulking · 03-01-2006, 01:49 AM

if someone has lifted for a long time with no hormones they just might be close to their natural potential peak no?

mildain · 03-24-2006, 07:04 PM

you said we should know our maintainance calories but how do we figure that out, i've read that bodywieght X 12 is how many calories you need. does that sound about right? is it to low or to high? thanks

Grunt76 · 03-24-2006, 08:14 PM

Basically maintenance is the amount of calories that you eat without gaining or losing weight over weeks. Of course your weight will normally fluctuate by a couple pounds over the course of a day or 2, so it is best to assess wether or not you are gaining weight on a multiple-week basis.

Tools, such as fitday, let you enter bodyweight, lifestyle, activity levels, as well as specific activities and give a fairly accurate estimate of maintenance level. Of course, fitday also lets you log your bodyweight and all the foods you take in, so you can see how your bodyweight fluctuates over time on a graphic chart, as well as average daily calorie deficit or excess over weeks and months. This is a very valuable FREE tool that IMO no one interested in their diet and general fitness should be without.

**jonny21** · 03-24-2006, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mildain

you said we should know our maintainance calories but how do we figure that out, i've read that bodywieght X 12 is how many calories you need. does that sound about right? is it to low or to high? thanks

First you need to estimate your BMR. Indirect Calorimetry being the more precise method. Formulas are helpful but are really estimations (most based/compared with indirect calorimetry for accuracy) and most likely need to be adjusted.

Next you will need to add in your activity factor. Various ways to do this also. I like using MET's personally.

I'll start you off with a couple of BMR formulas to research, Cunningham equation, Mifflin St. Jeor equations.

**bpmartyr** · 12-08-2006, 10:58 AM

Bump to a great thread.

Grunt76 · 12-08-2006, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonny21

First you need to estimate your BMR. Indirect Calorimetry being the more precise method. Formulas are helpful but are really estimations (most based/compared with indirect calorimetry for accuracy) and most likely need to be adjusted.

Next you will need to add in your activity factor. Various ways to do this also. I like using MET's personally.

I'll start you off with a couple of BMR formulas to research, Cunningham equation, Mifflin St. Jeor equations.

I use fitday, but to make it accurate I have to change my lifestyle to "bedridden" and then add my workouts... It works. You will notice that all my logs show calories expended as well as calories absorbed. It is just one more way in which I am so wonderful...

**TeamSavage** · 12-09-2006, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grunt76

How many times have I met people in my gyms who complain that "gaining muscle is SO hard" and even that they are "steroid non-responders"

Your diet has to be B.A.D. to be a "steroid non-responder". LOL.

Great post, Grunt. "You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Grunt76 again."

massarmor · 12-14-2006, 06:41 AM

are carbs everything that is not protein or fat?

Grunt76 · 12-14-2006, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by massarmor

are carbs everything that is not protein or fat?

That would be a no. You may have fibers which are considered carbohydrates and have no nutritional value, and I'm sure there are plenty of other things you find in food that have no calorie value, except I can't think of 'em right now I guess... Gelatin maybe? What else?

massarmor · 12-17-2006, 03:42 PM

so everything that has caloric value and is not fat or protien is a carb?

Grunt76 · 12-17-2006, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by massarmor

so everything that has caloric value and is not fat or protien is a carb?

Yeah

**TeamSavage** · 12-17-2006, 08:29 PM

Or an alcohol. But yeah, for foods pretty much what Grunt said. (Except for those booze-loaded desserts people sometimes make around the holidays.)

Grunt76 · 12-18-2006, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TeamSavage

Or an alcohol. But yeah, for foods pretty much what Grunt said. (Except for those booze-loaded desserts people sometimes make around the holidays.)

Yeh you're right, that is one exception. I'm sure there may be other things that are neither a fat, a protein, a carbohydrate or an alcohol that might have some kind of calorie value. It would be synthetic though.

PhilABowl · 06-03-2007, 11:00 AM

I'm 6'2 and 199, I have just downloaded and installed the FitDay deal. Why is it telling me I am overweight? Granted, I want to turn some of my fat into muscle, but I want my weight to go UP. Is there some kind of setting for this, or do I just have to ignore that?

Fantastic post by the way! Reps to you. I'm one of those people who having been thinking "I should really look at my diet" for a couple of months now, without ever actually bothering to look at my diet

I'm still making mass and strength gains, and I'm proud to say I've stacked several inches of fat around my midsection

**yeahright** · 06-03-2007, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilABowl

I'm 6'2 and 199, I have just downloaded and installed the FitDay deal. Why is it telling me I am overweight? Granted, I want to turn some of my fat into muscle, but I want my weight to go UP. Is there some kind of setting for this, or do I just have to ignore that?

Most of the standard models for determining height/weight proportionality assume an average amount of muscle for your frame. If you have more than average muscle (muscle is denser/heavier than fat), this will skew the results and make you appear overweight in the formula.

PhilABowl · 06-03-2007, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yeahright

Most of the standard models for determining height/weight proportionality assume an average amount of muscle for your frame. If you have more than average muscle (muscle is denser/heavier than fat), this will skew the results and make you appear overweight in the formula.

Makes sense... so should I just ignore that screen?