jessejack’s BodyBlog

So the backstory on my diet is, I’m trying to keep the calories from each macronutrient in the 30-35% range of my total diet, so that they’re roughly balanced. What I’m finding is that it’s really difficult to get my protein intake up without surging either fat or carbs. One day I will have a day where my fats are astronomical, and then I’ll try to get it under control the next day by eating "lean" only to find I’ve scarfed down an amazing amount of carbs.

This missing piece here is protein; I haven’t been able to get my protein % out of the high-teens. I think this is the key: finding some high protein foods that are low-fat and low-carb that I can eat to balance my diet out. I’m guessing that this is where supplementation comes in. I’ve found a bag of whey protein laying around the house that, surprisingly, hasn’t expired. The only problem is that supplements are expensive. So I’m trying to find some "real food" alternatives, other than just eating plain turkey breast or something like that.

So that’s my hurdle. I think if I can overcome the diet portion of my plan, I’ll have the worst of it out of the way. I’ve worked out before but I have never seriously thought about eating a balanced diet…I’ve always just scarfed down whatever I was in the mood for. I think diet is going to be the #1 lifestyle change, and I also think it’s going to be the foundation of the rest of my fitness plan, because if I don’t have the nutrition that allows my training to succeed, it’s kind of pointless to even try. That’s why I’m working on tackling my diet first and foremost.

Step one in my fitness plan is to clean up my diet. I have been tracking my diet meticulously over the past couple days and I have come to one conclusion: my fat intake is through the roof.

I’m not persuaded that the ideal diet is one that excludes one nutrient or another. You get fat by eating too much and doing too little. I think that everyone is different, but a good starting place would be to balance my calories from each macronutrient so that they’re each within the 30-35% range. So, goal #1 is to shoot for that balance and stick with it.

So far my fats have been more like 50% and my proteins in the teens. That’s not so good, I think, if I’m trying to get into a weight training routine and build muscle. Plus there are obviously health risks with eating too much fatty stuff. I think the reason I’m having trouble, though, is that many things that pack protein also pack in the fats, so I’m doing some research to find low-fat alternatives to the high-protein foods I enjoy.

Just a side note, one day I drank a soda and my carbs went through the roof. I knew soda wasn’t so good for you but it was pretty wild to see exactly how much sugar (and how little of anything else) a little can of pop can pack. I’m definitely going to try and stay away from the soda as much as possible from now on.