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Pistachio's thoughts on diet / nutrition

My problem aswell- my missus dosent want a bar of counting ecct.

I wont eat it unless it all weights. Hence why i cook for my self :)

I do cook enough for her but do it the same as my portion.

if i could eat the shit like my siblings do each night. belvie me i would.

here me weighting 60g of dryed pasta, and they stroll in with take away chinese
 
Pistachio, really enjoying these two threads you've written (nutrition & training).

I find reading the thoughts and practices of someone who has achieved a good physique much more relevant than reading regurgitated dogma from people who haven't yet achieved the physique. Would be good to see some others follow suit with details on what's worked for them.

I found your comments on calorie counting, and the success you had from it, most interesting. Can I ask how you managed to do this for meals that you didn't prepare yourself? You live with your folks is that right? Was it a hassle counting calories when Mum prepares meals? This is what I would find a hassle with the calorie counting...the whingeing from my wife when she prepares dinner lol. She cbf listening to me go on about macros, she just wants to cook without listening to that stuff.

Thanks mate.

That is a good question. This was probably one of the most challenging things for me, seeing as in my family, I am the only one who has any interest whatsoever in health and fitness. So yes it was definitely a hassle.

The answer is compromise and a lot of patience! Obviously my mum didn't want to cook for everyone else and then cook for me separately. But the reality was that I couldn't have the food that she was making most nights (and I wouldn't know exactly what I was eating either). So, I basically prepared my diet to make it as easy as possible. But in doing so, I compromised considerably on taste, variety etc. But I don't mind, because when I am living by myself and preparing my own meals, I will have more control over this.

Basically, the only thing my mum needs to make is the mashed potatoes (which I have conveniently made into 500g, so all she needs to do is buy a fixed number of kilos), carrots and green beans (conveniently at 200g, so that 1kg can be split into 5 containers) and a salad in the morning (which the quantities don't really matter so much as they are all low calorie). There is also my meat at night, but again, this is easy as I have 333g (so a kilo pack will be for 3 days).

Basically, all she has to do is BUY the food in wholo kilo quantities. This doesn't require her to weigh anything at home. There is no special meals to make. Just every 3-4 days, a new batch of mash, carrots and beans needs to be prepared. And the meat every night (which is easy to cook).

The rest of my food I take care of. Eggs, tuna, protein shakes and nuts, all easy for me to weigh and prepare.

Obviously, most people wouldn't be willing to have such a bland diet however.

Unless you are very persuasive, I think it is nearly impossible to convince a spouse to measure all the food they use when they prepare this dinner. I'd say the answer here is one step at a time. First work on getting them to at least tell you what they are putting in, particularly the high calorie items (so how much meat is used, how much cheese etc). Generally trying to inform them about the benefits of health and nutrition will help to get them interested as well.

Mainly, you should make sure you have control of MOST of your daily intake. If you can count all your calories, except dinner, you should still be able to count say 80%. If you are still gaining fat, simply lower the calories in that 80%. After calorie counting for a while, you will get a good idea of what any one meal contains, and so should be able to form an educated guess about dinner anyway. It's not so much about knowing the exact calorie content, more about knowing whether it is a high calorie dinner or a low calorie dinner. If you are going to have a high calorie dinner, then eat less during the day.

Sorry for the long winded response!

G, this is my problem when I'm cooking for everyone too.
I have my plate and a set of scales on the bench and it annoys the crap out of everyone with me measuring etc instead of just cooking :(

and totally agree, these two threads are the biz!

As mentioned in my response above, you don't really need to measure everything. You can do it on the sly by, say, buying 1kg packets of meat and dividing it up (approximately) into 4 portions to get 250g lots. Or dividing it up into 5 portions if you want 200g. Basically, know what you want BEFORE buying the ingredients, and then you can buy it in close to the quantities you need.

For other stuff like butter etc, you should already have an idea of how much one tablespoon weighs etc, so you don't need to strictly measure these things. I guess what I'm saying, is that you can do most of the measuring outside of the kitchen. You can know exactly what you are putting in without actually measuring very much of it. Does that make sense?

I really had to make things as easy as possible for my mum, as there was no way in hell she was going to sit around all day measuring everything for me!

It was good though, because in doing so, I came up with techniques to make it much easier for me when I'm doing it all for myself (eventually haha)
 
you dont like to cook? there should be no reason to eat bland food or even similar meals within the same week. But if you can and it works when why the hell not huh.

ive been cooking for myself and the family up untill a about 2 years ago since i was about 13ish i think, Best thing i ever did :)


Though if you ahve my fitness pal set up, You can have everything logged in a few minutes. I dont do the vegies. Just the meat and high cal stuff, starchy vegs, oils, grains ect.

Once you get in the rutine its just natural.
 
you dont like to cook? there should be no reason to eat bland food or even similar meals within the same week. But if you can and it works when why the hell not huh.

ive been cooking for myself and the family up untill a about 2 years ago since i was about 13ish i think, Best thing i ever did :)


Though if you ahve my fitness pal set up, You can have everything logged in a few minutes. I dont do the vegies. Just the meat and high cal stuff, starchy vegs, oils, grains ect.

Once you get in the rutine its just natural.

Mate, I've been studying full time the last 2.5 years, whilst working full time, plus training plus trying to maintain a relationship (at least most of that time). Plus I need to look for jobs and get myself my own place.

I just don't have time.

I'm not suggesting that anybody should eat bland food or the same food all the time, but it works for me, because I'd rather eat bland food but have at least a little bit of free time, rather than spend that extra little bit of free time cooking something a bit more exciting. Plus, although my food is basic, I still enjoy it :)
 
i agree on the time situation, Breakfast takes me a good 35 min, and dinner about a hour + eating litreally takes my 10 min, ITs the dam prep, cooking and cleaing that takes forever.

really want a maid when i can afford it. House works takes so long each week and it never ends. Clothes are keeping the house tidy is dam never ending mate.

I admit having the missus living with me helps with the dishes ect, But shes a dam mess in the bedroom and everywere else. probly adds about 2 hours to my chores each week huh, and even messier then when i was living alone haha

Ive had to stop my study as i just cant do it all at once with full time work aswell, Hence having to lift wiehgts during my lunch break. Going to ge the diet/training/health in check before any more load on work and study. End of the day beign fit and traing makes he happy.

OT i know, End rant/

what do you do for work/study??
 
I'm studying to become an actuary.

Work is mainly policy advice and modelling / analysis. Hoping to get into pure actuarial work in the near future.
 
thx for your reponse mate. U seem to me to have your head screwed on properly....good luck with the studies.

Incidentally, how do you manage the nutrition whilst out of the house i.e. at uni. Do you just bring tupperware with meat, mash etc and hoe in with fork and knife? Or sandwiches?

I don't think i eat particularly well whilst at work and am interested in better alternatives. I tried bringing pre-cooked stir-fried beef to work once....fork that...the meat juice was leaking before i even got to work...nice ol mess.
 
I'm studying to become an actuary.

Work is mainly policy advice and modelling / analysis. Hoping to get into pure actuarial work in the near future.

Superman and a nerd! You get my vote, sir :)

As mentioned in my response above, you don't really need to measure everything.

Yeah, years of baking and cooking has pretty much taught me to measure out things pretty well "by eye" just through experience.
Fish I had to relearn but got it down pat now.
I tend not to worry too much about that now as i know roughly how much of anything I need to have with the meals I plan.
I remember doing it initially as (like you mentioned in the original post), I was over-estimating my intake by a country mile ... was a bit shocked at how little I was eating at the start of this year!
:)
 
thx for your reponse mate. U seem to me to have your head screwed on properly....good luck with the studies.

Incidentally, how do you manage the nutrition whilst out of the house i.e. at uni. Do you just bring tupperware with meat, mash etc and hoe in with fork and knife? Or sandwiches?

I don't think i eat particularly well whilst at work and am interested in better alternatives. I tried bringing pre-cooked stir-fried beef to work once....fork that...the meat juice was leaking before i even got to work...nice ol mess.

That's actually the easy part. I've just structured my meals to make it very easy to eat away from home.

I bring the same stuff to work every day - Two pre packed protein shakes, a tin of tuna and 500g of mash.

Meal 1) Protein shake and a third of the mash
Meal 2) Tuna and a third of the mash
Meal 3) Protein shake and a third of the mash

Very easy to do the above no matter where you go. The only thing that needs to be refridgerated is the mash. If this isn't available, then there are other carb options that don't require refridgerating instead (eg muesli). Everything else I eat at home.

Meat is best left for a meal at home IMO
 
eggs or salmon would work too instead of the tuna, for variety.
salad instead of mash or you could take those steam fresh bags of veg to zap in a microwave at work then add to the salmon/tuna/eggs.

I usually take one of those three to work too.
Usually with some grilled or steamed veg or a big salad.
 
Superman and a nerd! You get my vote, sir :)



Yeah, years of baking and cooking has pretty much taught me to measure out things pretty well "by eye" just through experience.
Fish I had to relearn but got it down pat now.
I tend not to worry too much about that now as i know roughly how much of anything I need to have with the meals I plan.
I remember doing it initially as (like you mentioned in the original post), I was over-estimating my intake by a country mile ... was a bit shocked at how little I was eating at the start of this year!
:)

Must have missed this the first time, thanks viv :)

Yup, everyone should calorie count at least once, just to get that initial feel for it.

eggs or salmon would work too instead of the tuna, for variety.
salad instead of mash or you could take those steam fresh bags of veg to zap in a microwave at work then add to the salmon/tuna/eggs.

I usually take one of those three to work too.
Usually with some grilled or steamed veg or a big salad.

Oh yes, and hard boiled eggs work well :)

I do that too with the veggies sometimes

Fuck.... and this is why you have such good results, that is fucking dedication lol...

Haha, thanks mate

Honestly though, it's not that hard for me because I love my cacao protein shakes, the mash isn't too bad, and i really enjoy my tuna :)
 
Awesome thread mate! Especially for someone like me who tends to get bogged down by excessive details and doing things the "right" way.

What protein shake do you use/recommend?

Also, what calculation do you use for working out BMR and daily calorie needs? (There are so many variations out there and I get so many conflicting numbers.)
 
Sorry for the late reply guys, had a busy weekend.

Awesome thread mate! Especially for someone like me who tends to get bogged down by excessive details and doing things the "right" way.

What protein shake do you use/recommend?

Also, what calculation do you use for working out BMR and daily calorie needs? (There are so many variations out there and I get so many conflicting numbers.)

Thanks mate.

Protein shake, just use a cheap bulk protein. I use bulk nutrients, but any of them will do. WPC is fine, no need for WPI, unless you have issues with WPC (apparently some people do).

Personally I buy it unflavoured and flavour it myself with cacao and a bit of sweetener. Alternatively, just buy the already flavoured stuff.

I don't calculate BMR or daily calorie needs. All you have to do is pick a number that seems about right (use the internet to get an idea). Then it is all about monitoring. If you don't get the results you want with that number, change it accordingly. You will pretty quickly get an idea of whether you have the right number of not.

Good stuff. Pistachio. Your dedication is inspiring.

Thanks mate, I appreciate that.
 
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