can anybody suggest healthy veg diet paln ?

[dewakr]

i was searching on goggle about proper veg diet chart so that I can reduced 1-2 kgs and develop muscles more but i couldn't found it there , so can anyone suggest me that.....

[Dominique]

Welcome to the community, @dewakr! 

You don’t need a particular "chart", or to follow a particular "plan" in order to drop a couple of kilos. All you need is a suitable caloric deficit. If you want to do by eating a plant-based diet, that’s fine. Fruits and vegetables are inherently healthy, at least if you buy them fresh/raw and prepare them yourself.

As to muscle development, it’s achieved primarily by engaging in resistance training, whether using your own bodyweight, barbells/dumbbells or machines at the gym. Muscle growth is best supported by a caloric surplus, so don’t expect to gain much while dropping weight (although you shouldn’t need to be in a deficit for very long if you only want to lose 1-2 kg). Getting enough protein is also important. Sticking to an exclusively plant-based diet somewhat limits your options (if meat, eggs, fish, dairy and other animal-based products are excluded), but it can be done.

[Glenmcd]

I'm about to turn 60, and up until six months ago I was eating the equivalent of the SAD (but I'm down under).  I am now extra low fat, raw "Whole Plant Food Based".  Vegan is all about avoiding harm to animals, and so is based on ethics.  Better health in your average vegan is a side effect and not the primary intention. 

Losing "weight" is not necessarily a good thing.  I went through several phases of reducing meat/dairy and increasing plant intake, but when I hit 100% plant, my weight went up a kilo.  My body composition monitor told me fat was down and muscle was up.  So I just kind of ignored what the "scales" part of it was telling me and continued my health journey.  After about 3 weeks of WFPB extra low fat mostly raw with zero exercise and sedentary lifestyle, my weight was still 1KG up from what it had been for the previous year.  That's when I got an e-bike and had a **ahem** good workout on it every day (60 minutes, average HR around 130).  Note that I have my fill of food at all times, not skimping at all, even eating an hour before bed just like I've always done.  When I started riding my weight started coming down, but it was when I started on the ultra smoothies that it started reducing faster.  I'm talking 1KG/week plus.  A $25 blender can make a smoothie, sure.  But for the best release of nutrients (anti-oxidants for example), you need to reduce the particle size considerably.  My blender is an Optimum 9400, 2400 watts from memory.  There's so much power going into the blending operation that the food actually gets quite warm in the process.  So I add chilled water and ice cubes to counter this effect.

Talk of small or moderate amounts of animal protein come either from self-serving individuals, or those that assume that you couldn't handle going "all the way".  I like science, and the real science says that zero is the best amount of animal protein to have.  If you reduce your meat intake by one serving per week, it reduces your cancer chances by perhaps one percent?  But if you are having only one serving of meat per week and you reduce to zero, it reduces cancer risk by 26 percent.  Also, don't have processed anything.  Not even plant protein powder.  I've done my research (1000 hours plus), so if you need links to more info on any of above let me know.

Mis-information is all around, particularly in the very unhealthy countries that have a ton of dairy/meat.  Don't talk nutrition to anyone except those that have already demonstrated their openness to your advice and perhaps their recognition of the misinformation out there.  It's easy to lose friends otherwise and just now, there isn't enough eating super healthy to satisfy my social needs.  In time this will change.

Choice of plants to eat is actually fairly simple, but if you need to know reasons for the choices that's what takes the effort.  Most people need to know why otherwise any advice is not acted on.  Before you radically change your diet, get your bloods done.  And make sure you get a FULL iron test.  This is critical if for example you have hemochromotosis (the most undiagnosed genetic disorder globally).  I happen to have this, and went 12 years being mis-diagnosed and mis-treated by doctors pedalling as many meds to me as they dared.

If you get out in the sun regularly, the only "supplement" you need is Golden Flax, which is actually WFPB anyways.  But it does come in a packet.  You need only a small amount.  If you live in a cave, you'll need vitamin D supplement.  Get fruit and vegies that are packed with nutrients (especially anti-oxidants), and make smoothies from them most times (do NOT juice, blend!).  A good blender can mean absorption  of anti-oxidant rates >100 times as much, for the same quantity of same fruit/vegies.  Compare this with really thorough chewing, which only releases around twice as many anti-oxidants as just a quick chew and gulp.  Adding amla to your smoothie should double the total antioxidants.

Eating well makes a big difference to what you'll achieve through exercise.  I was sedentary until 16 days ago, my resting heart-rate is already down to around 43.  Each day my recovery from 150+ BPM to 55 BPM is around 40 percent less time.  Yesterday three and a half hours, today two hours.  And that's doing same distance (riding) in around ten percent less time each day.  Today I'm 121KG, aiming for <100KG, 80KG would be even better.  When I'm not on my one hour a day ride, I'm back to my sedentary lifestyle (love computer games).

[GershonSurge]

@dewakr,

The best source of information is www.drmcdougall.com. You can also search on YouTube for videos by Dr. McDougall. I suggest reading his book "The Starch Solution."

@Glenmcdmentioned a whole food plant-based diet. It's essentially the same way of eating. This term is used by Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Esselstyn. 

Don't worry about protein. If you are eating enough calories, it's impossible not to get enough while eating plant food as virtually all plants have enough. They all have all the essential proteins. 

If muscles came from eating protein, virtually everyone would have big ones. If you want big muscles, you will have to exercise in a way that builds them. 

If you transition to this way of eating, I suggest trying to maintain your weight or even gaining a kg or so. In the beginning, the biggest challenge is learning to eat enough food. Fortunately, it's about the least expensive way of eating there is.

[Dominique]

@Glenmcd: it’s great you have found new ways to eat and exercise that you feel will put you on track to better health and fitness! It’s also impressive you were able to figure it all out in just a few weeks/months. I’ve been on this journey for much longer (5.5 years), but I’m moving more slowly and in more incremental way, by adding small changes one at a time, trying to make them stick. I noticed you have been using your Fitbit since April 2016, so why did it take more than two years before you started to get serious about your diet and exercising regimen? I would think most people start as soon as they embark on the Fitbit lifestyle, at least it was the case for me.

When people embrace a given way of eating (whether it’s plant-based, keto etc.), they often think it’s the absolute best for everyone. In reality, there are many different ways to eat for health: in terms of macronutrients, the minimum requirement for each of them is relatively low; as long as you meet them, and your overall calories are in check, you can have very different mixes of macronutrients and reach similar health outcomes. I recently described my current way of eating, based on a full year’s experience. It’s different from the plant-based approach, though it does have a lot of common points (I eat lots of fruits and veggies and try to get my foods from whole/minimally processed sources whenever possible). I feel it aligns well with my goals, be it in terms of health, weight management, body composition and fitness.

Regarding claims related to cancer, I would point you to the expert report recently published by WCRF (World Cancer Research Fund) and AICF (American Institute for Cancer Research), mentioned in this other topic. Two of the main preventable risk factors for nearly all cancers are overweight and physical inactivity. Anyone interested in minimizing the risk of getting cancer should reach or maintain a healthy weight and make sure they’re active enough. What they eat and do to get there is less important.

As to claims related to meat and dairy, it’s not all black and white when you look at the actual scientific evidence. Here is a matrix from the relevant portion of the report:

There is strong/convincing evidence that processed meat increases the risk of one type of cancer (colorectum) and strong/probable (= weaker) evidence that red meat  increases the risk of two types of cancer. There is limited/suggestive (= even weaker) evidence that both red and processed meat increase the risk of a larger number of cancer types. Nothing is said of poultry and eggs, to mention two common sources of animal products. Fish is actually shown (albeit with limited/suggestive evidence) to decrease the risk of two types of cancer, and it only increases it if prepared in a very specific way (Cantonese-style salted). There is limited/suggestive evidence that dairy increases the risk of prostate cancers in men, but OTOH similar evidence it decreases premenopause breast cancer in women. Diets high in cancer also increases the risk for prostate cancer, but OTOH calcium has plenty of proven health benefits, so it’s a question of balancing out risks and benefits. As an older man consuming a large amount of dairy and calcium, I’m ready to take the risks related to prostate cancer, given that these risks are decreased by the fact I maintain a healty weight and I am physically active.

Regarding blenders: there was a discussion some time ago on the Nutribullet blender. Similar claims were made that because of its super-high speed and power, the blender "turns ordinary food into superfood", "accesses the hidden nutrition inside the foods that you eat" and "completely breaks down ingredients in to their most nutritious, most absorptive state!". I’m fine with people blending their food if they feel like it, but one shouldn’t think it’s a prerequisite in order to reap the full benefits from your fruits and veggies. Mankind has been doing fine without blenders for millions of years. I’ll continue enjoying my ratatouille, couscous and other meals with veggies unblended.

[Glenmcd]

>I noticed you have been using your Fitbit since April 2016, so why did it take more than two years before you started to get serious about your diet and exercising regimen?

In 2015 I got serious about exercise and was losing weight quickly, buying a fitbit somewhere along the line.  But I was not eating well.  Something happened to one of my balance sensors, also giving me a significant hearing impairment.  I believe this was diet related as my exercise level was just great.  This happened over a period of about two weeks, as I was having longer and longer bouts of hearing impairment in the right ear (different to menieres disease/tinitus).  The temporary hearing loss lasted longer each time, and drew closer together.  I was before this walking/jogging about 7km to 10km every day with weight coming off nicely.  Then one morning, I woke up and could not stand due to balance problems, and my right ear had a serious hearing impairment that did not go away at all.  The dizziness was so serious that I was helped back into bed, and ultimately an ambulance took me to the hospital.  Although after a short time I was able to drive a car and after two years could ride a motor cycle, walking was quite a problem, and I got by often by holding my arms out as if I was walking a tightrope.  Over the next year and more, my brain eventually got used to finding balance even with the sensor issue.  This is what the specialist told me would happen. I went from 108KG to 120KG in the next two years.  By 2018, Although I rarely had to put my arms out to walk straight, I was still not going for walks or runs outside for exercise.  I was very upset about this, borrowed a treadmill, but found that it wasn't as good as being outdoors and keeping balance enough to stay on the middle of the mat was not easy.  Very discouraging.

So then I got the idea of buying an e-bike, as I knew from riding friends motorcycles (mid 2018) that I was okay balancing on them.  In fact it seemed to help the balance thing if anything.  But before actually buying an e-bike, a friend got me interested in nutrition, specifically differences between animal and plant consumption.  So I made a plan that involved going fully plant based while still in sedentary lifestyle, for long enough to test differences separately to increasing my exercise levels.  Many things improved, too many to mention here.  When I finally bought the e-bike, I hit it pretty hard just about every day, starting 3rd September 2018.  I only missed a couple of days, due to 3(!) flat tyres, apparently due to under-inflated tyres (for my body weight).  Only six days later on 9th Sep 2018, around 5 minutes after coming back from a really good hard ride, suddenly something popped in my right ear and I got most of my hearing back.  Later that night, it popped again and I got further improvement.  I now can't detect any difference in hearing between left and right.  I don't know whether my broken balance sensor came good, but perhaps I'll find out tomorrow as I'll be going for a walk with a neighboor that has averaged 20K to 25K steps per day for several years.  The only dizziness I've had in last month or two is that caused from the rapid decrease in my blood pressure.  Only happens when laying on bed and when getting up from bed.  When my GP is ready he'll lower my BP meds (again).

>As to claims related to meat and dairy, it’s not all black and white when you look at the actual scientific evidence. Here is a matrix from the relevant portion of the report:

Scientific evidence is accepted only when it comes with references to good scientific studies/clinical trials (randomized, double blind, placebo controlled etc).  The American Institute of Cancer Research (AICR) have references to good scientific studies for *all* the foods on their "Foods that Fight Cancer" page.  Apples, blueberries, broccoli, carrots, cherries, coffee, cranberries, "dark green leafy vegetables", Dry Beans and Peas, Flaxseed, Garlic, Grapefruit, Grapes, Soy, Squash, Tea, Tomatoes and "Whole Grains" are both in their list of "Foods that Fight Cancer" and have appropriate references.  I see no mention of any animal product on this list.  I find no references at all on the entire AICR website to any scientific studies related to anything but plants.  Given sufficient time researching, I think most people will find that if they filter out the unfounded claims and their own personal bias that the risks of meat and dairy consumption are indeed black and white.

>but OTOH similar evidence it decreases premenopause breast cancer in women

I find no references for this finding on the AICR website.  I did find the following:

Of the top 10 dairy consuming countries, 7 of these are in the top 1/3 of countries with highest deaths from breast cancer.

References:

https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/breast-cancer/by-country/female

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_meat_consumption

Blending:

There is information complete with ample references to nutritional benefits of blending in the "Are good smoothies good for you?" video on nutrutionfacts.org  At 00:02:19, you'll find a study that shows the B-Carotene bioaccessibility of carrots increasing by a factor of >100 when comparing typical particle for chewing (2-4mm) to high speed blender (<0.125 mm).  You'll find most if not all of the "nutrition facts" on this website are complete with references.

[GershonSurge]

@Glenmcd,

That was quite an experience you had with the balance issue. It almost sounds like a manifestation of MS. Don't panic. There is no direct diagnosis for MS, and it is only inferred by eliminating other causes. You might be interested in reading "The Multiple Sclerosis Diet Book" by Dr. Roy Swank. The key point is sticking to the way of eating for life without cheating is essential to a cure. A sudden cure of symptoms is not unusual.

If you haven't already read them, I suggest reading "The China Study" and "Whole" by Dr. T. Colin Campbell.  His research is meticulous and he only draws conclusions supported by the facts. He gives great explanations about the conclusions that can be drawn from different types of research. The book "Whole" explains how the medical, pharmaceutical, and food industries, as well as politicians, slant the research. Towards the end of "Whole" you will see why AICR's research can no longer be trusted.

Dr. Campbell brought up the concept of depth and breadth for treatment. Depth is the percentage of people who are cured by a course of treatment. Breadth is the extent of side effects. The cancer report may have some depth, but I'm sure you can see that some of the recommendations will exacerbate other diseases. There are no negative side effects to a whole food plant based diet except possibly a vitamin B-12 deficiency after five years of strict compliance. The frequency is much less than that experienced by meat eaters.

Dr. Esselstyn treated patients nearly dead from heart disease with a WFPB diet. I suggest reading his book "How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease." It's somewhat reductionist, but heart disease is a marker for the possibility of experiencing the other degenerative diseases. He recommends strict compliance.

Dr. Gregor is on Dr. Joel Fuhrman's research team. Dr. Fuhrman slants his recommendations towards eating mostly leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, beans, onions, and nuts. He doesn't make it completely clear this is for people trying to lose weight. For those who burn many calories, they may need to add some starches to their diet. I Dr. Fuhrman's book "Fast Food Genocide." 

I've recommended Dr. McDougall's book "The Starch Solution" in a previous post.

All of these doctors say essentially the same thing, and they provide good research references. 

You should be experiencing more weight loss if you are following the way of eating correctly. The most likely culprit given your source of information is extra calories from nuts and avocados. I suggest counting calories for a couple weeks to find out if this is the case. Your macros should be close to 80% carbs, 10% fat and 10% proteins. I usually have about 77/8/13. 

I'd write more, but it's time for my morning run. Good luck in your journey.

[Glenmcd]

thanks for your very considered reply @GershonSurge

I already own The China Study, Whole:... as well as "how not to die" by Dr Michael Gregor.  There are hundreds of videos on Gregors website "NutritionFacts.org", and I've watched most already.  I mentioned that diet probably caused my deafness / balance sensor issue, however that's when I was on a terrible M.A.D. diet, some two years ago. Burgers, fries, cheese, pizza, coke, greasy noodles.  I only got serious about diet some 6 months ago, but even then it's been a gradual progression towards my current diet.  I currently believe that it was the combination of good diet and exercise that fixed up the ear problem.

I put so many ingredients in my smoothies, it's difficult for me to know what percentage calories I'm getting from protein and starch.  The thing I do have a good handle on is fat, and that's around 5 percent.  Yes, I'm serious.  My main (only?) source of processed foods at moment is white bread, but that's changing to multigrain.  Given my current weight, I'm assuming that I can survive fine on very low fat intake at least until I lose say another 20KG, at which time I'll consider eating things like peanut butter again.  I really don't believe that there would be a problem until you get under say 4% anyways.  I have some nuts in my smoothies, but they are only a token few and the least fatty ones.  I don't think my starch intake is high as I have few potatoes, although apparently grains have starch and I have plenty of those.  The thing that puts me off potatoes most is the requirement to cook them.

MS: I already have Meniere's disease (genetic), but have had few symptoms since reducing salt some 20 years ago.  But it seems plausible that fluid drainage from my inner/middle ears is challenged due to genes, and so reducing the flow with fat in the blood ultimately lead to the hearing/balance problem above.  Today I had one of my better workouts, and my right ear popped for third time again some 5 or 10 minutes into my recovery, this time giving me just a very slight hearing improvement, only barely enough to notice.  But the pop that preceded it was quite loud.  It encourages me to push even harder in workouts.

I'm retired, and currently spend around 8 hours a day in nutrition research.  Why?  I've been an inventor for decades, with a strong focus on solving the biggest problems in the world.  One of my solutions I named "drag negation".  It uses energy transforms to create an opposing force to drag, the thing that prevents transport vehicles from achieving 1000+ MPG.  But I realised that even if I was able to get it funded, developed and marketed and even if it achieved excellent efficiency, it could not possibly achieve as much globally as significantly decreasing consumption of M.A.D. (Meat And Dairy).  The potential is there for massive world change, and I decided I want in the moment I watched "What The Health".  So it's not just an effort to achieve better health for myself, I want to see first hand just what is possible (within limits).

I've ready TCS once, and re-read the first few chapters twice again, as the tests using rats and the peanut protein thing was the turning point for someone that IMO deserves far more accolades than he's already received.  And I mean right now, not after he's gone.  Michael Gregor is onboard and is probably one of the movements better public speakers.

Weight loss: it's happening nicely now, thanks to exercise I started a few weeks ago.

[GershonSurge]

@Glenmcd,

I'm short on time, so I'll just pass on a couple of research ideas for you. In every field, there are what I call an information nexus who puts together research from past and present. Nathan Pritikin is one of these. He is the one who treated Dr. Gregor's grandmother at the Pritikin Longevity Center.

In these Lost Lectures, Nathan Pritikin explained how he discovered the Pritikin Diet. It is essentially WFPB with one exception. He did allow a tiny amount of meat. 

In 1988, he published only 50 copies of "A Review of Medical Literature on the Relationship of Various Degenerative Diseases to Diet and Act... 

Buried in those, you will find he was treating cancer with diet as early as 1955. What isn't clear is it was his own leukemia. 

He also coached six athletes for the Ironman Triathalon. They took the first six places. 

I consider Dr. McDougall the current nexus. His website is www.drmcdougall.com. Look for the educational material tab. 

[Glenmcd]

Thanks @GershonSurge, am going through those starting with Pritiken.

[GershonSurge]

@Glenmcd,

As you listen to the Pritikin lectures, keep in mind he began his journey in 1955. This means all the studies he referenced occurred before then. I know he and Dr. McDougall were close friends. Dr. McDougall's wife Mary created all of Nathan Pritikin's recipes not long after the Pritikin Longevity Center opened. 

If you go back in time, you can see that Dr. Kellogg recommended an early version of the diet back in 1905. His approach did include dairy products. He substituted nuts for meat. He lived to be 95, so it worked well for him. This reading can come later in your research. 

The important thing to realize is a WFPB way of eating is not a recent discovery. There is solid data going back well over 100 years. You can go back even farther by referencing the Vegetarian Magazine from the late 1800's. They are in www.archive.org.

If you read many books, you can create what I call "The Brain." You can use the online Kindle reader to copy all your highlights into a single file. When you want to research a topic, search for key words in the file. I have about 200 books on many topics in my brain. I often use it to generate ideas for novels. (I do give attribution for quotes and even paraphrasing of ideas).

It's important for me to get a steady flow of information. I do this by listening to books, podcasts and videos while I run/walk in the morning. This is no different than those who eat the Standard American Diet who get their flow of information from advertisements. I also have a friend who I meet for lunch almost every week.

I suggest weighing yourself almost every day and linking www.trendweight.com to your Fitbit account. Using a scale like the Aria 2 can send the data right to Fitbit. You will appreciate having the data in a couple years. If you choose to make your Trendweight account public, your success can motivate others.

If you have a bunch of money, consider one of the live-in programs by Dr. McDougall, Rip Esselstyn or the Pritikin Longevity Center. It can be a great shortcut to figure out a menu plan that works for you. There is plenty of room for individual tastes.

[Glenmcd]

All info very much appreciated @GershonSurge .  I will however need considerable time to get through what you've shared with me already.  I like reading every word, googling anything that I'm not 100% sure of along the way.  Thanks for info on trendweight, I may use that.  I checked yours out and my first thoughts were how can you see in KGs rather than pounds?  In case I didn't mention it above I'm Australian.  My body composition monitor gives me total weight, fat percentage, muscle percentage, basal metabolic rate and visceral fat percentage.  Of these, the visceral fat percentage is the most useful to me.  I really couldn't care of I weight just as much as I do now, if most of the mass of fat is instead bone and muscle.  Not to take anything away from the usefulness, convenience and practicalness of just hopping on the scales and noting a single number.  If there was a practical way to measure my *volume* regularly (immersing in a vessel half filled with water and measure the water level before and after?) I'd be most interested in that.  Although I paid quite a sum for my body composition monitor, it's actually fairly difficult to get consistent readings.  For example if you use it just after a really hot shower, your results can be different enough, that achieving same difference through diet or overeating could take you a month or two.  I will make a bit of an exception with visceral fat here, as that for me seems quite consistent and in line with what I thought has been happening to my body.

[Dominique]

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@Glenmcd wrote:

Thanks for info on trendweight, I may use that.  I checked yours out and my first thoughts were how can you see in KGs rather than pounds? 

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TrendWeight works by pulling your weight and body fat data off your Fitbit account. It will use whatever unit for weight you have elected to use in Fitbit. Just check the link in my signature and you will see my TrendWeight uses kilograms.

The most convenient way to use TrendWeight is to have a scale capable of automatically syncing to your Fitbit account. Scales from Fitbit (Aria, Aria2) do it directly, some scales from third-party vendors do it indirectly. If your body composition analysis device doesn’t link to Fitbit in some way, you will have to manually enter your weigh-ins in Fitbit in order to be able to use TrendWeight.

[Glenmcd]

Thanks @Dominique !!

[GershonSurge]

@Glenmcd,

You mentioned having a practical way to measure body volume. The actual number isn't important. The trend is all we need.  We can tease out the information from data we have. Total volume should be a function of weight x percentage body fat. Body fat as measured by scales can easily fluctuate by a couple percent in the short term (say from daily to a month or two). It will mostly be a function of your weight.

Don't worry about losing lean mass as you lose weight. I've not seen a Trendweight where this didn't happen. If you want muscles, you will have to do training that builds muscles. The idea of maintaining weight and losing only fat doesn't seem to work. I haven't seen any evidence of cutting and bulking affecting the lean mass at any given weight by a statistically significant amount. 

[Dominique]

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@GershonSurge wrote:

Body fat as measured by scales can easily fluctuate by a couple percent in the short term (say from daily to a month or two). 

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There seems to be a lot of individual variation in that respect. For some people (for instance, yourself and @Baltoscott ), BF% indeed fluctuates a lot day to day:

For others (e.g. @lavabelle and myself), daily fluctuations are nearly inexistant or very minor:

 

Not sure what is causing these differences. Speaking for myself, I always weight myself in the same conditions (first thing in the morning) and I tend to have very regular eating patterns: I eat more or less the same items at the same times everyday. My exercising and overall activity level also tend to be similar everyday. 

[Baltoscott]

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@Dominique wrote:

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@GershonSurge wrote:

Body fat as measured by scales can easily fluctuate by a couple percent in the short term (say from daily to a month or two). 

---

There seems to be a lot of individual variation in that respect. For some people (for instance, yourself and @Baltoscott ), BF% indeed fluctuates a lot day to day:

For others (e.g. @lavabelle and myself), daily fluctuations are nearly inexistant or very minor:

 

Not sure what is causing these differences. Speaking for myself, I always weight myself in the same conditions (first thing in the morning) and I tend to have very regular eating patterns: I eat more or less the same items at the same times everyday. My exercising and overall activity level also tend to be similar everyday. 

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I’ll add one more graph.  The one @Dominique pulled for me is from my Withings scale.  This one, from my Aria 2 scale shows less body fat % difference from day to day (though still more than @Dominique and @lavabelle).  I suspect Aria references prior readings if they are close in time and holds fat relatively steady because most daily change is due to water weight change or food that has not fully passed over the several days. 

I agree that to get useful readings over time you need to weigh in the same time every day and that morning after waking up and going to the bathroom is probably the best because your body has had more time to process your last meal.

Aria 2

[lavabelle]

To explain my graph a bit more...I weight myself first thing every morning, except for 10 days I was away. I am fairly strict with my diet and eat about the same thing everyday, but will follow my hunger cues on days I know I need to eat more (high activity), especially now that I have added strength training to my routine...I noticed the fluctuations are a bit more erratic...I am assuming my body is shocked because of the change in exercise routine (hurt my foot hiking and added more strength and cut back on cardio) and fluctuating a bit more due to water, I am also assuming the higher water retention is from inflammation from injury and strength routine, or could also be hormonal for me being a lady...

I take my waist measurements and don't really look at the fluctuation on the scale as anything significant as long as my measurements are steady or going down. I also take into account how my clothes fit instead of the number on the scale.

[GershonSurge]

@Dominique wrote:

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@GershonSurge wrote:

I can lose weight easily but have to work hard to maintain it. That's only because my diet is different.

@GershonSurge: can you expand on the above? Why would your diet make it easy to lose weight, but difficult to maintain it? Generally speaking, I would think for most people it’s easier to eat at maintenance than in a deficit, just because eating more food is usually considered a more attractive proposition.

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@Dominique

I'm not sure I can give a scientific answer. Part of it is my exercise cycle. I wake up and eat oatmeal with a banana. I think that's about 300 calories. Then I go for my morning run/walk at 3:30 am. This morning, I burned 1,000 calories by 5:30 am and only consumed 300. This mean I have to catch up by 700 calories. My normal meals are about 400 calories. I had a 400 calorie meal after my run which still leaves me 300 calories behind. At about 7:00, I'll go for my second run/walk that will put me farther behind.

Think of it this way. To go from a 500 calorie deficit to a 500 calorie surplus, I need to eat the equivalent of about eleven medium size potatoes extra each day. I don't increase my percentage fat by much when I'm trying to gain weight.

My fluctuating body fat percentage is easy to explain. I weigh whenever I get around to taking a shower in the morning. 

[gomeshelen]

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