Lilu Monkey's Journal, 11 September 2016

Hi Lilu, I hope my initial fears for you that I highlighted about a week ago have not come true and that you weigh yourself at the same time each day (I do it first thing in the morning). Basically skipping meals on a daily basis I feel will slow-down your metabolism at a stage when you do not need it. This means if you eat the same food as you did before you will get heavier beacuse of the slowed metabolism. Once your metabolism gets back to normal then weight gain will stop but you are now heavier than when you started. Personally I know that I am not that best dieter but there are a few items I use in my arsenal. 1. BCAAs when I am hungry I will drink this (Preserves muscle-breakdown) 2. If I am not eating a lot of fruit and veges I will take a multivitamin 3. If I have not had enough essential fats I will eat almonds 4. If I have not had enough yoghurt I will take a yakult/pill of good bacteria 5. Drinking plenty of Water. Basically in a diet you need to get the basics right. I think your effort so far is very commendable. Keep trying and learning it is a journey. I myself lost 30kg to gain it all back again plus more so this is why I am very careful in what I do now to lose weight. 

Aah yes that's right, I forgot about the fast. Plus I forgot to have breakfast and even lunch a couple times... It's a very bad habit I have and I'm thinking I might need to set an alarm to remind me. I just get so absorbed in things sometimes that I forget that I haven't had anything to eat. Is there a website you recommend that can help me with my diet? The other thing I'm having issues with is making sure I get the RDI of everything I need. I tend not to get enough of some and too much of others.  

For me it has been a culmination of many websites. Before you really start adjusting foods I recommend you read the Atkins Diet book. I thought it was absolutely the best thing I have in my dieting arsenal and this has made me diet cleverer. My suggestion now for food would be try to have each meal no less than 25g protein (Keeps you full for longer), 30g carbohydrates, watch the fat. You will see that this will start to work. In terms of websites www.bodybuilding.com has good advice. All the best 

Thanks eightpac, I'll check out Atkins. =) 

All good advice, I think when you are just starting off though, just cutting down on the junk is a good start, you can get into specifics and will start to naturally find things that work for you as you go on. Also, I think that until you are a few months into it, maybe just weigh yourself once or twice a week. Weighing in each day would be torture for me and especially for yourself just getting into it, I guess your weight will fluctuate wildly as you settle in to what suits you. Anywho, hope you had a good weekend and well done on all the exercise!! You are heading in the right direction - no matter what the scales say :-) <3 x