Nikihampton's Journal, 05 August 2014

It depends which diet church you go to. The people who want to sell beef will tell you that there is not enough beef on the planet for a healthy diet. You have your high carb people, your high protein people.... it's just my dime but I think ANY kind of packaged program stinks. Experiment and go with what works for Niki. Atkins, South Beach, Paleo... whatever. Those are designed to sell books and typically get short term results because people eventually stop doing the plan and revert to the double whoppers and gain their weight back. As I always preach, do not "go on a diet" that has a start and a stop. Change your eating habits for life. 

Diet church. LOL. 

I have to eat 150 grams of protein a day and that's only 37% of my calories. It's reasonable, especially if you follow a macro related program like IIFYM. However as Eddie says, prepackaged programs can be too rigid, you have to have fluidity in your diet. As well as you will find as you lose, you will end up constantly tweaking your numbers no matter what you pick.  

wanting to preserve muscle and start toning back up. I have gotten very soft. (girls are supposed to be soft, right? ) lol. maybe not mushy tho. :) being 43 is starting to show and I don't like it.  

I am an "all things in moderation" type person. I don't believe in changing what you eat (unless it is inherently unhealthy) so much as how much you eat. Having said that, I don't buy into any of the "fad" diets, whoever is pushing them. If you go to reputable sources (i.e. Mayo, NIH, etc), you will find that it is recommended that about 15% of a woman's daily caloric intake should be protein. I eat eggs, fish, chicken, beef, pork, and vegetables for my protein. Some are better conveyors of protein than others. Jerkys are highly efficient sources of protein (albeit a bit high on the sodium side), make a great low-calorie snack, and can be a quick-fix for a protein-deficient day. Try to eat most of your protein early in the day. You will feel the difference in energy and appetite satiation. 

Well, girls are supposed to be soft to the touch, but tough every other way! I HATE prepackaged diets. If one more person tells me "I have one more fruit left for today...." I once knew a girl who was so proud to tell me that she walked 5 miles every day "along the river". She did not lose ONE POUND and had legs like an elephant from walking 5 miles every day "along the river"..... Just walking won't do it. Just dieting won't do it. Just yoga won't do it. Just weights won't do it. You need to stress your systems beyond resting rate to get results. Your skeletal system, your muscular system, your respiratory system, your cardio-vascular system... all of them. They all work together. If you stand 4 people by a car and ask them to lift it, and one of those 4 can life 1000 pounds but the other 3 can only life 100, that car ain't goin' nowheres (to quote George Lopez)! All the guys need to have the same level of strength. Your heart, lungs, muscles, and bones all need to be working in concert. You are doing fine. Your body will not act the same way every day and you will see ebb and flow along the way. The worst thing you can do is panic because you weigh one pound more than yesterday, eat nothing, put on your rubber suit and run a marathon, and generally overreact. I see it every day here. Someone gains three pounds and then they want to fast. NO! Your body needs consistency. Weight TODAY means nothing. Weight trends over a week or two means everything. 

I really understand macros. I just want to keep what muscle I have and correct my metabolism. the hcg normally works great for me and stays off. last time stayed off 4 years with small variation- 10-15lbs. like I said before I think its an age thing. im not old. promise and most people think im about 10 years younger than I am but I can sure feel the difference.  

I don't think anything more than 0.8g/kg has been proven to be effective. However, some people consume more protein because it's satiating and there is a thermic effect when your body processes it - some people (Martin Berkhan, Alan Aragon - good people to read for in-depth info) think of it as 3-3.5 grams per calorie rather than 4. But you don't NEED to be eating that much, unless you're getting a sex change to compete in Mr. Olympia. In which case I'd just recommend anabolics ;) 

Right now I'm on a high protein liquid diet due to my gastric sleeve surgery. I have protein shakes and protein powder for chicken soup. I'm ranging around 110 grams of protein every day. Of course you can eat other things. The protein shakes are really good and keep me energized. I get Body Fortress Super Advanced Whey Protein it's at Walmart for $18. Its 2 scoops for 60 grams but I just use one scoop. I have one for my breakfast and lunch. There's also these protein bars I get that have 20 grams in each bar. They're called Pure Protein also at Walmart. Last is the protein chicken soup powder. Its for Unjury which you would have to order. This site also have tons of other things you could get for high protein. I liked these sites below for you to check out. Hope this helps you out in some way. Best of luck. One last thing I've been on a high protein low carb diet since March and I've lost 50 pounds. http://www.walmart.com/search/?query=body%20fortress%20whey%20protein&typeahead=body%20fortress http://www.walmart.com/search/?query=pure%20protein%20bars&typeahead=pure%20prot http://www.unjury.com/store/protein/  

as a woman you need no more than 70-90 grams of protein a day ..a majority of this information about 1:1 ratio with body weight is propaganda sold to you buy Muscle mags owned by Supplement companies 

Also remember while doing HCG is that EVERY extremely low calorie plan will result in weight loss. What is the sense of doing something for 8, 10, or 12 weeks for quick results and then going back to McDonald's? Whatever dietary lifestyle you choose, you are choosing it for life, so choose wisely. Good reading about HCG here. http://www.webmd.com/diet/hcg-and-weight-loss  

I've found that most of the Atkins bars are very high in protein, and of course low in carbs. They taste really good too! And I love the vanilla shake for breakfast. 15g protein and only 1 net carb.  

im really not much of a mcdonalds girl, I think that's why I keep my weight of once I loose it. I just had one hell of a winter emotionally and I gained no matter what I did. now I will admit. I like sweets. I love to bake. I have 6 kids so im always making something special for them. but I do try to be smart about those things too. I can walk away most of the time or eat a small portion. I have not had any sweets in 2 months. no coke or pasta or potatoes.. I did eat one bagel tho. was REALLY good. :) 

You are doing all the right things, Niki, and getting results to prove it. My main point was that diet plans have an end date and a very high percentage of people who "went on a diet" immediately revert to their old ways after the diet period ends. 

if your not hitting you protein marks incorporate protein shakes. I consume 230 grams by supplementing with shakes. I love the Isopure brand for many reason but mainly for various flavors that have NO carbs.  

daemon_7 how do you feel about herbalife or juice plus shakes. im sure they don't have the protein punch that some do but they do taste good. I do know when I ate one of these in past as meal replacements (lunch or breakfast) I felt like I gained weight so stopped after about a month. but this was also during a high stress time in my life.  

thanks everyone. will look. there used to be a liquid protein I would by at the health food store that I drank after workouts. I need to go look at it again and do some comparsions.