Welcome to the weekly r/Nutrition feature post for questions related to your personal diet and circumstances. Wondering if you are eating too much of something, not enough of something, or if what you regularly eat has the nutritional content you want or need? Ask here.
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Hello,
I’d like to start off my saying that I typically eat 225g of protein a day. I just really love food that has a lot of protein in them. This being said, the way I usually plan out my meals is that I eat a couple of snack during the day then eat one big meal later in the evening. Around 60g of protein is eaten during the day through the different snacks I eat. Then the remaining 165g (approximately) is eaten in one big meal.
However, when I explained this to one of my gym bros he told me this was not a good idea as only 60g of protein can be processed for muscle protein synthesis (MPS) in one meal and that the rest is used for energy. He suggested I spread out the protein I eat so that ALL the protein goes to MPS instead of only a part of it.
I’m kinda panicking now cuz I’ve been doing this for quite some time. Is this true? The reason I set out my meal prep like this is mostly for 2 reasons:
But I’m willing to change my meal planning if that means all my protein will go to MPS instead of only a portion of it.
I tried researching online but when I read the different studies I don’t understand 80% of what they’re saying so I was wondering if someone could dumb it down for me. Do I need to change anything if I want all my protein to go to MPS?
I’m a medical student heading into a very busy term and I was looking to simplify what I cook/eat. I wanted one or two ideas for meals that are cheap and easy to make in large quantities that cover all my bases if I were to eat the same thing almost every day for a year or two.
I will eat other stuff on days time and energy permits so we don’t need to worry about micros that don’t need to be eaten frequently.
Main goals are basically: covers all my main nutrient needs, cheap (I’m already broke enough with loans) and, fast to make or easy to make in large quantities.
My wallet, grades, and waistline thank you for your help!
I have a problem with some food textures. It may sound like picky eating but it’s not, I really vomit when I chew some things, it makes it hard for me to eat some healthy important things that I want to eat.
- So I was wondering…is it ok if a blend my vegetables? Like kale + lime juice, or carrot + orange juice? Not really juice, just blending it with water, more like a smoothie.
- What about creams/soups? In Brazil we have what we call “caldo” which is a creamy soup with veggies, like potatoe, carrot, etc and I really enjoy it.
Will it be good for my health? Better than not eating those foods?
Question about Sheila G’s brownie brittle. Although it lists 0 trans fats, it has hydrogenated palm kernel oil
listed in the ingredients, which is a source of trans fat. Should I
avoid this product?
Should I continue to add a tablespoon of flaxseed meal to my oatmeal every morning? I originally read that eating flaxseed might help lower levels of bad cholesterol (I don’t know the correct terms. I just remember my doctor telling me my levels if “good” cholesterol was low and “bad” cholesterol was high.) I’ve been trying to eat healthier and improve my numbers. A tablespoon of flaxseed is 35~40 calories and costs roughly 7 cents. Neither of these is too bad. I’m just wondering if I should continue to add the flaxseed or if it’s really not adding anything, nutritionally?
Does anyone have or know where I can find a diet plan/program and or supplement regimen to get my recommended micronutrient intake. Micronutrients like calcium, collagen, zinc, selenium, d3, etc. I am perfectly with eating the same thing everyday as long my micronutrients intake is good.
Macros are easy because I can my fitness pal and plug in my bodyweight.
I’ve been trying to create my own diet plan with micros through chronometer but I am really struggling here.
Thank you all,
Any help would be appreciated
Can i study on 1200 calories diet ?
My nutritionist gave me a 1200 calories diet+1 hour brisk walk daily+20 minutes exercise, i have been following this plan for 2 day and have a mild headache in end of a day,my university is closed and i need to self study for like 6-7 hour a day to cover my course after reopening of my university, i told my nutritionist about this but i dont think she cared about it What do you guys say ?
Going over daily recommended intake of iron?
I’m making a shake every morning that’s about 1000 calories. It has:
According to chronometer, this is 81% of my daily iron intake already (6.5mg, as I’m a male).
I haven’t calculated what my intake looks like with all my other food intake, but I have to imagine I’m going over the daily recommended amount by a decent amount. I have heard that excess iron intake is kinda dangerous.
I think the hemp hearts add a lot of iron, so maybe I should drop them?
How is “ medical grade” cbd oil defined?
Seems like cbd everywhere these days.
Can my Local health food store help me out? Or am I better off getting at dispensary ?
( Seeking to address joint pain and inflammation . )
I’m a person that holds onto fat. Any amount it comes onto me. It collects on my arms, and my side hip, leg area, a circle at the top only; I have big arms
I wonder what would be better, to avoid fat or to change fat type? Should I eat things like avocado and coconut instead of vegetable fats, refined fats and fried foods (I don’t eat fried foods, but I know I might be mistaken)
Or should I avoid fat? What’s the normal thing for people to do? Do people avoid fat?
I figure that until I get to an acceptable size (I’m obese suddenly from noticing the house during covid it was FAST) things have to change. (I can not get more big. By body is at its limit.)
Furthermore, I am exercising every other day and eating less fats then would equal 100% eating more fiber and veg and I am maintaining exactly my weight. My weight was gained from meds and lifestyle laziness. I have a heart condition and so I was scared of covid
I have some plain Skyr yoghurt. No added sugar. Ingredients are skim milk, lactase, bacterial culture, microbial enzyme, in that order.
Product claims to be lactose free.
Nutrition table says it has 5g of sugars per 175g.
What is that sugar? I thought lactose but it’s lactose free.
Does most of my body have to be exposed to the sun to get my regular vitamin d3?
Im usually at my desk most of the day and I have a window to my left, whenever the sun shines, the sunlight only hits my arm.
Does this matter, would i have to expose more of my body to the sunlight?
TIL that the popular Quaker old fashioned oats are sprayed with glyphosate, a pesticide/herbicide that (in short term is fine) could cause health issues in long term like cancer. Think we’re better off avoiding this one? Or is it blown out of proportion? Costco also has another bulk oat (One Degree Organic Rolled Oats) which supposedly aren’t sprayed with glyphosate.
I’m confused about what amount of nutrients I should be consuming. Like how many grams of fat, carbs, and protein should I eat daily also how many vitamins and minerals I should be getting.
To add on I’m a pretty active multisport high school male athlete so I don’t know if I should be eating more k the recommend average or something and it’s really confusing for me.
How does low protein affect my exercise results? My goal is to lose weight.
I am 5’6 160 lbs of a BMI of 25.8, so I am overweight. I have been looking more into nutrition and am told I need about 90g of protein per day. However in my current diet I am only getting 40-50 per day. Will this affect my results any? I am oblivious when it comes to how protein and nutrition works.
I’ve become really overwhelmed with the conflicting information and need some help as I don’t know what to eat anymore.
One issue I’ve just come across is the issue of wholegrains being hard on the digestive system. There is a book called “The Mindspan Diet” by Preston Estep, and supposedly it says that blue zones tend to eat white rice and pasta rather than whole grains. It seems insane to me that white bread/pasta/rice could be healthier!
Everything I thought was objective fact is turning out to be questioned aswell.. I just have no idea what to eat anymore to be healthy:
The wholegrains issue I mention above
Should meat be eaten in small quantities, as a staple of the diet, or never at all. Depending on source you read (e.g. nutritionfacts.org) or others, some say humans digestive system is way better able to absorb nutrients like protein, zinc, iron, calcium etc. from meat than plants (due to antinutrients and such)
Dairy, particularly fermented dairy (some claim it is always harmful, others that it has a lot of benefits)
The issue of PUFAs in seed oils, but also in nuts/seeds/legumes.
The antinutrients like phytates in beans/lentils which mean bioavailability is less
Is anyone able to clear even some of this up for me? At this rate I feel like I can’t eat anything at all..
Hi all, how long do I need to be a certain weight before it’s my “official” weight? For example, I was 182, my goal weight was 175. I just hit that yesterday. So this is day two of being that weight. Can i alter my MyFitnessPal to reflect that already?
How could one get enough omega 3 dha and epa without fish oil supplements? Tried them many years ago even in the burpless form and had them coming up. Now I have GERD on top of that so I definitely don’t want to take a risk on them. I had a 9 oz salmon last night that had 6.48g omega-3, 2.23g EPA, 2.64g DHA. Is there a reasonable frequency that getting enough omega 3s from fish is possible? Would eating salmon just 1x a week be enough?
Currently due to different circumstances my appetite is really bad and I have very little energy or motivation to cook. Especially the first meal of the day. I know it’s probably not optimal, but is it bad to replace meals with smoothies a few days a week?
Here’s what I put into mine; yoghurt, a scoop of mass gainer, about a cup each of frozen blueberries and raspberries, about two teaspoons of peanut butter and some milk to thin it out.
Also, I have lost a lot of weight the latest month so I am not worried about there being to many calories.
I’m trying to add more protein to my diet, if I go off the 1g protein/1lb body weight I should be having roughly 170g of protein and In a day I do roughly 120-130. I’m on a tight budget so can’t just ‘add an extra scoop of protein’ etc. Any ideas on what I could do?
I’m supposed to be on a liver reduction diet so that I can eventually get bariatric surgery, and I’m wondering if veggie wraps are a good alternative to flour and corn tortillas and bread.
These are the veggie wraps in question: Tumaro’s carb wise garden veggie. 60 calories, 6 net carbs,4g protein, 0 sugar, 8g fiber.
I really suck with nutrition knowledge. Thanks for any help!
Hi all, I was wondering if these foods that I have been consuming are fine to my diet (Building muscle)
I eat 15-20g (0.5 - 0.7 ounce) of almonds, 150g-200g (5.29-7 oz) of yoghurt and anywhere between 150g-200g of boiled brown lentils everyday, I also eat other things but I read that foods high in calcium increase risk of prostate cancer so I am a bit worried about that.
I stopped eating tuna and drinking milk and replaced them with lentils and yoghurt. Almonds I only eat to add 100-150 calories everyday since I am trying to keep a clean bulk.
Should I up my carbs if I’m feeling super tired at my labor job?
So I work in a warehouse 4 days a week, 10 hr days. I find for the first couple days I’m OK, but by the third I start feeling horribly exhausted, depending on how busy we are. Then by a couple days into the weekend, my energy is back, then the cycle repeats ad nauseum.
For years I’ve subscribed to the, ‘maybe carbs aren’t all the great’ mentality. I eat sweet potatoes and often an entire frozen pizza a day, along with lots of protein from pork, beef, and chicken, and some veggies. The pizza isn’t that healthy but it gives me some carbs.
The other day I did the math and I often times am only eating like 100 grams carbs on a daily basis, even with the pizza. Is that causing me to be tired at work? Is it possible that 100 grams maybe is too low for someone who works a physically demanding job 10 hours a day? And, if so, how many carbs should I shoot for?
Should I up my carbs if I’m feeling super tired at my labor job?
So I work in a warehouse 4 days a week, 10 hr days. I find for the first couple days I’m OK, but by the third I start feeling horribly exhausted, depending on how busy we are. Then by a couple days into the weekend, my energy is back, then the cycle repeats ad nauseum.
For years I’ve subscribed to the, ‘maybe carbs aren’t all the great’ mentality. I eat sweet potatoes and often an entire frozen pizza a day, along with lots of protein from pork, beef, and chicken, and some veggies. The pizza isn’t that healthy but it gives me some carbs.
The other day I did the math and I often times am only eating like 100 grams carbs on a daily basis, even with the pizza. Is that causing me to be tired at work? Is it possible that 100 grams maybe is too low for someone who works a physically demanding job 10 hours a day? And, if so, how many carbs should I shoot for?
For my question I want to assume the worst case, that excess salt does have negative effects. If one wanted to “neutralize” 2 to 2.5g of salt intake per day (above 2,300 mg, so around 4.7g/day total) would the following likely do it:
If the answer is still no, would running 5 miles 2-3x/week also impact the non-running days? I’m sure it probably impacts the running days a lot.
Hey all,
How the hell would one (natty) become like Kratos from God of War?
I’m 32 years old, former military, 1 year on gym lifting, filling each day my app for calories checking. I’m at week 3 of Creeping Death II by John Meadows (thanks John for everything you’ve done for all of us bodybuilders). But at the end of the day, we all get that kind of “bloated” body, and I’m sure most of us would rather look like Kratos than some giant bloated hardworking bodybuilder on a stage (with all due respect for their achievements).
What is the philosophy to get an achievable body like Kratos for a natty? Help me understand, I’m super ultra dumb.
Thanks!
Struggling with diet and always feeling like crud…thinking maybe I should try cutting some processed foods out. I’ll be honest, I don’t typically eat lunch, and with today’s prices it’s usually a matter of what I can afford rather than what is good for me. I usually have a protein shake or maybe some scrambled eggs and sausage in the morning after working out, I usually skip lunch, and I usually eat whatever I can afford for dinner. For instance, last night it was whole grain noodles with butter and garlic powder. Not balanced.
I’m always feeling like crud, constantly having to take COVID-19 tests because I keep getting headaches and drainage/slight cough. I’m really seeking an affordable solution to healthy eating that won’t take me a lot of time since I have a lot of obligations (I’m affiliated with two different governments, have a full-time job, and attend grad school). If it helps, I’m 26 years old.
I value the experiences of everyone so please comment with your thoughts.
I am by no means obese. But I do want to quickly lose some weight. I was going to solely eat celery for the foreseeable future. But I figure that isn’t the most healthy. If you could take some simple things and throw them in a blender to drink once a day to get more nutrients and such what would it be? I don’t care if it tastes good or not. I’m really not into over complicating things I don’t want to make different things everyday or cook. At this point I do not make food or eat at home anyways.
3 years ago I stopped eating sugar. Since then I’ve only eaten it once a month. Lately, however, I’ve been craving sugar so bad! I always make sure to include grains, fruits, veggies, fish, and meat in my diet. I’ve tried everything - I’ve eaten lots of fruit, I’ve used sugar substitutes like date syrup, but I always end up craving sugar.
I have no idea why I still want it after 3 years of consuming it only once a month! Some say it’s because I engage in lots of mental activity during the day (every day I study Spanish, play chess, write articles in another language, and read). But I’m not really sure if that’s the case.
When I eat sugar I have more energy and I do 10 times more during the day. When I don’t eat it, I feel like I’m having an afternoon slump ALL THE TIME. Again, after 3 years of almost no sugar I come down to this… I’m so disappointed in myself. Any advice?
Why do nutritionists insist that type 1 diabetics (that’s the autoimmune variety that has no connection to lifestyle!) MUST get 50% of their calories from carbs? I’m no keto advocate, but as a type 1 diabetic, I limit my carb intake to ~150g because this profoundly improves blood sugar control. The difference is so drastic it is difficult to overstate. But no one seems to care. “50% carbs of you get heart disease guaranteed!” That’s essentially the mantra I got from all nutritionists I saw. What’s up with that? My lipid panel has always been fine, and I don’t eat tons of bacon, mostly avocados, fish, eggs, cheese (and large amounts of salad and veggies).
Someone pls help with my chicken question
I’m trying to meal prep for my body building but I’m aiming for 100g chicken breast per meal but the weight obviously changes when cooked. How should I go about weighing it? Doesn’t chicken lose a specific % of water weight every time or is it always different for each chicken
I’ve been out of high school for a year now and I stopped working out consistently. I have ONE 20lb dumbbell that I do light exercises with every once and while tho. I used to bench 335, squat 585, and deadlift about the same. Finally, I’ve lost 65 pounds and now I can barely get 230 up for 5. I look good and I feel good but I want to have a better diet. Should I still eat 180 grams of protein?
I’m an ectomorph looking to put on some weight and muscle. In body building, they always talk about eating in a calorie surplus which would require consuming a ton of food, eating multiple times a day. Even if i’m eating healthy, is eating so much food not going to affect my liver, kidney etc. Won’t it in the long run take its toll on my body? Looking forward to answers. thank you
Supplementing with sugary liquids and snacks to gain weight: is it always unhealthy?
I think most people have met at least one person who just can’t seem to gain weight even if they proclaim to eat a lot. In some cases they might be telling the truth, but in most cases when you start to count their daily calorie intake you discover that they hardly consume more than 2000 calories. Sometimes even significantly less!
The question then becomes: how can you help them gain weight in a healthy manner? If they are already eating as much as they are comfortable eating, it seems rather extreme to suggest forcing down more calories in solid form. That would just lead to physical discomfort and it’s not really sustainable long-term as the moment they quit they are likely to lose the weight again(unless it’s been several years).
The only conceivable way seems to be throwing in a lot of sugar and fat, preferably in liquid form. But is this actually a healthy way to gain weight? And if not: what about healthy and calorie-dense smoothies? I guess that might be hard for these people to force down too(not to mention a lot more work), but beyond this I see no other options.
Keep in mind that I’m only talking about “supplementation” here. The diet would still contain 80% good calories like lean meats, fish, eggs, vegetables, rice and whole grains. The last 20% would be junk like juice and chocolate just to get those extra 500 calories.
Maybe a bit of an odd question but I have an issue since I started taking antidepressants. Since this is my only real side effect, I’d rather try to deal with the side effect. I’ve been checked out for any thyroid issues, diabetes, etc., it’s all looking good, so I don’t think it’s a health issue that I need to be concerned about.
My issue: Even if I eat something right before bed, I wake up around 4 hours later because I am hungry. What would be the best thing to eat to actually stay full for at least 6 hours?
This has been going on for around 6 months now and I’m neither gaining nor losing weight. I am at a healthy BMI and not looking to lose weight. All recommendations I find are recs for people looking to lose weight. I am not concerned about my weight, I just want to not wake up and be starving. Any ideas?
Can someone help me out with a question about protein absorption?
So i have been digging through tons of data and discovered that in between a half our after workout you absorb the most protein, but what happens is also a lot of protein causes raising insuline levels. No i also found out that insuline is good for muscle development.
Can someone explain me the correlation? What i find in one study about to much protein causes insuline and insuline peaks make you fat. Another study says that insuline is necessary for muscle growth.
You might have guessed it i am building muscle in the gym i try to cut weight while building muscle and i want the most optimal way.
Also would adding a tablespoon of healthy fats and cinnamon lower the insuline spike, or is this insuline spike actually beneficial?
Would be glad to receive some tips and information.
Is it possible to have too much fibre in a health shake? I seem to recall reading on the Bodybuilding forums years ago that if you have too much fibre in a shake it’ll hinder your body’s ability to absorb all the nutrients of that shake. Given where it was posted I always took it with a grain of salt but it made some sense that other nutrients might get bound by the fibre and pass through my body without being full absorbed. Is there a point where too much fibre in a single meal becomes a negative?
Thanks