Need Help With Diet!

[RussianDangler15 0]

I really need help with my diet it's been very out of control lately. I'm not overwieght but i see myself slowy getting more and more out of shape and i want to stop this before it becomes a major problem. My biggest problem is the amount of fastfood I eat. In my opinion the only reason I'm still in relatively good shape because of the massive amount of hockey I play. So does anyone have suggestions, like stff to drink not to drink, stuff to eat. Ideas for quick meals I can make on the run before hockey would be much appreciated.

If it helps I'm 14 years old

[festering 0]

It's a good idea to keep track of your calorie intake throughout the day. Fitday.com is an excellent place to do so. You can input your own custom foods etc so you know actually how may calories, protein, carbs you eat during the day.

[starsfan71 9]

Stay away from high fructose drinks. To be honest it is best just to drink water through the day and have something like a 100% Juice in the morning.

With it being summer I find myself always grazing on food through out the day. Try and have a structured meal plan.

[hamstercaster 2]

One simple thing is to stay away from fast food joints. For quick meals, if you are always on the go, try and find some time where you can cook a few meals that you will only need to microwave a few minutes. You could also cook a full chicken and make some sandwiches out of it, pita, fajitas and such. Always keep veggies and fruits handy and do not buy any crap at the supermarket. You may allow yourself a treat here or there so not to go crazy but try and keep chips, candies and stuff out of the house. A balance meal should be consisted of a big portion of vegetables/fruits, a medium portion of good carbs (whole grain bread, pastas or brown rice) and a small portion of lean protein. Whole grain carbs take a while to digest so they don't mess with your blood sugars compared to white bread and such.

[Tubesteak 1]

Cmon dude. You said it yourself. Cut out the fast food. I don't know what your family situation is like but eat what mom/dad makes. When I was 14 we had to eat dinner as a family and that was a good thing. Again I don't know your situation but I was pretty strapped for cash at that age. Why spend your money on crappy food? Nutritional advice was good above. Maybe start making healthy dishes one night a week at home and take turns. Cooking is actually pretty fun. And you don't need to stick to tofu and sprouts. BBQ chicken, steak, fish, potatoes, salad...all good and taste way better than the value meal. Just eat things that look like they were not made in a lab or factory and keep up with your sports/excercise.

[tareatingrat 4]

If you're playing a ton of hockey, I'd definitely sign up for one of the calorie counting websites and input your stats and activity level. Figure out if you want to lose weight, maintain, or gain weight. If you have a high activity level, and you're a decent sized guy, you'd probably be surprised at how much you can eat just to maintain your weight.

For the first while, you're going to want to know the amount of calories you're putting in your body. You won't count them forever, as it becomes tedious after awhile, but do it enough in the beginning and you can start to estimate what you're eating.

Once you know how many calories you should be eating based on your height/weight/activity level, then you can start eating properly. Generally, 90% of the food out there is awful for you, but you should work to minimize the damage by eating simple. Lean meats, veggies, fruits, nuts, whole wheat breads/pastas, etc.

Staying away from fast food is obvious, but if you have to make that choice, and sometimes you do, my personal opinion is that you should get the burger or whatever, but skip the fries and drinks. Best bet is to order the grilled chicken or something similar. Salads aren't bad, just don't load up on the dressing or they're worse than the other meals. Subway is generally a good choice, because you can get a six inch roasted chicken or the like, load it up with veggies and small amounts of sauce and still have it taste good.

Don't drink your calories. Why waste 100 calories (or more) on a coke? I'd rather eat something filling than have a soft drink that does nothing for me but make me hungry. I gave up nearly all soft drinks almost 8 years ago now. I only drink 7-Up sometimes when I'm drinking, but otherwise it's mainly water, or black coffee. Of course I'll drink juice or beer here and there, but 90% of my fluid intake is water, which means I can use calories for something that's either useful for my body, or something I'll enjoy.

Also, timing is important. Six or seven smaller meals throughout the day instead of three big meals. Don't worry about "not eating after 6" or whatever. Listen to your body. If you're hungry at 12am, and you're within your calorie limit for the day, eat, just don't make it garbage.

You'll probably be more successful if you can find good foods you really like, and if you're the type of person who can eat the same thing every day. If you need variety, it can be a bit tougher.

Also, read. I started with Men's Health, and while I've come to realize it's not exactly the best tome for nutritional information, it's not bad when you're starting out, and there are a lot of articles that bring attention to the calorie amounts in various foods from fast food "restaurants". Start reading diet books, nutrition books and the like. Not all of it will be applicable, or useful, but knowledge is power. The more you understand about what you could possibly be putting into your body, the less of a chance there is that you'll make a bad decision. For example, after reading the calorie amounts in KFC, I don't think I've touched that stuff more than once or twice in the past decade.

Once you get to know more, you can really get into it by worrying about your macronutrient ratios, properly timing your protein/carb/fat intakes, etc. for both body composition and even hockey performance. Depends on your goals, though. For now, stick to the outside edges of the supermarket and try to eat under your calorie limit for the day, and you should be fine. For the majority of people, it goes like this: Watch what you're eating 90% of the time. The other 10% can be for enjoying the stuff you like, and won't matter.

That was way too long.

[RussianDangler15 0]

Thank you guys alot its been really helpfull and I've since talked to my parents about cooking more and volunteered to do so (go me lol) and I'm also working on totally eliminating the nasty fast crap plus it's also just too damn expensive.

[starsfan71 9]

Yea man, like someone said you can get meals cooked if you are on the go a lot too. What I did when I wanted to cut back on fast food, was I made some pasta and then put it in like a Tupperware in the fridge. I made enough for 4 or so sittings if I had hockey 4 times that week. I would eat it on the way there or right before I left eliminating the need for fast food. It also has a lot of carbs for energy.

[chippa13 1844]

Eating that close to hitting the ice won't give you energy. Your body hasn't had enough time to digest and process what you just ate. As a matter of fact, you will wind up with less energy because some of the blood you need to carry oxygen to cells is being used to digest what you just ate.

[TheGasman 0]

It's a good idea to keep track of your calorie intake throughout the day. Fitday.com is an excellent place to do so. You can input your own custom foods etc so you know actually how may calories, protein, carbs you eat during the day.

+1 to this. Keeping track of your calories really opens your eyes to some of the stuff your eating. Of course fast food is not good for you but you start to notice things at home you eat that are bad for you. Most of the Smartphones now a days have pretty good apps for this.

[ndlancer95 0]

Eating that close to hitting the ice won't give you energy. Your body hasn't had enough time to digest and process what you just ate. As a matter of fact, you will wind up with less energy because some of the blood you need to carry oxygen to cells is being used to digest what you just ate.

Between 3 1/2 and 2 1/2 hours before the ice time, eat a good sized meal with carbs, protein, and all that other good stuff. That's optimum timing for energy conversion

[starsfan71 9]

I have heard the best time frame is actually 3-5 hours before.

[AnthonyJTa 0]

That was way too long.

I basically followed most of the advice he offered and I've lost 85 pounds in the last year or so.. I'm plateauing bad now.... and I'm just straight ravenous after I go riding now.

[Trooper 8]

I have heard the best time frame is actually 3-5 hours before.

You're majoring in the minors. The kid has a horrible diet, let's focus on that first. Cut out the fast food, pretty simple. Eat normal meals, don't even get bogged down in counting calories. Throw a salad in once a day. Eat a yogurt or cottage cheese at night. Do several small meals instead of a couple large ones. This will increase your metabolism.

[raganblink 82]

If you ever get really fat you can do what my buddy is doing right now; He has a bowl of cherriors in the morning and about 2 hours before bed. 1 normal sized meal for dinner. Skips lunch. He's dropped 50 pounds so far this year.

For you CUT OUT SODA, and only eat pasta, breads, fruits, veggies mainly, little dairy and try to cut out sweets. If you're working out on top of it you can have steak it puts on the weight pretty good if you're working out.

[hamstercaster 2]

If you ever get really fat you can do what my buddy is doing right now; He has a bowl of cherriors in the morning and about 2 hours before bed. 1 normal sized meal for dinner. Skips lunch. He's dropped 50 pounds so far this year.

For you CUT OUT SODA, and only eat pasta, breads, fruits, veggies mainly, little dairy and try to cut out sweets. If you're working out on top of it you can have steak it puts on the weight pretty good if you're working out.

Skipping meals is the worst thing to do when you want to lose weight even if he has lost some flab. You need proteins at every meal even if in small quantity as they will help preserve your muscles and help you feel full for a longer period. Skipping meals puts your metabolism in a State where it wants to conserve energy and slows down in order to do so which in the end, ends up slowing or stopping weight loss altogether.

I have done many diets in my life and the only thing that really works is healthy eating habits and exercise. Sure, the pace at which you lose weight is much slower but it is also much better for your overall health. Ask any doctor or dietician worth their salt and they will tell you that you should aim to lose no more than 2 pounds a week. This is the safest way to lose weight and which you are to have most success keeping it off too. It takes alot more time to achieve your goal but it will reap the greater benefits overall. I have lost about 10 pounds in the last month in a half and counting. I still have about a 100 pounds to lose, more or less. It will be a long road to achieving this but I'm doing it the right way.

I have cut my portions, I choose what I eat more wisely and have cut most of the junk out of my diet, which is not to say that I don't treat myself once in a while which is a good way to keep sane in all of this. Restrictive diets of any kinds are worth shit in the end because depriving yourself of some of your favorite foods will eventually make you quite angry and you will eventually break down and binge and more often than not it's the beginning of the end right then and there. Trust me, I've been through all those cycles more often than one would want to.

Dieticians will tell you. There are no forbidden foods out there, only food that you should eat with moderation and only occasionaly. New researches are tending to prove that while you are on a healthy weight loss program, there should be a week here and there where you eat more than you are now used to in order to trick your metabolism into thinking that you are not under eating in order to lose weight. This way, your metabolism doesn't slow down and you can get back to your healthy eating habits the following week and keep losing weight at a moderate rate.

[raganblink 82]

he wakes up at ten, goes to bed late. if anything I think his breakfest is just lunch. Definately not a 6 to 11 kinda guy.

[saba 0]

2200 calories a day, 3 12oz glasses of water before you eat, no eating after 8PM, simple not complex carbs that should be consumed earlier than later. Output(i.e. exercise) greater than input. 1-2lbs per week is sustainable. I went from 300 to 197 and still hope to make my goal of 180

[iceman8310 105]

check out myfit.ca or i can email you a few worksouts and diets

[Speedz98 15]

Stop drinking sodas entirely. They contribute nothing to your body. If you have a smart phone, check out the "MyFitnessPal" app.

[AnthonyJTa 0]

I would echo a lot of sentiments here and take it one step further... eliminate drinking calories, with the exception of any "milk". I personally do not do dairy, because it's a higher fat content that most meats. I usually use almond milk for cereals, post activity recovery shakes. This means no more Starbucks; unless you're having a black coffee, soda, juices; which are pretty much determined to be just as bad for you as soda, and....... sh*tty "electrolite beverages" loaded with sugar/HFCS. Yes, that means Gatorade. Try a better alternative in your bottles during hockey like Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration mix, or GU Brew. Nowhere near as sugary and will give you what you need to fuel/hydrate.

Reduce any refined starches like white breads/rolls and switch to whole grains. They are more filling, and a better fitting fuel for an active lifestyle. Lots of fresh cut, raw fruits and veggies...lean meats; but try to subsitute if possible. I've ventured into meatless products, and while not "full blown" vegan, I at least have 3-5 nights of meat free meals which are just as tasty- minus boatloads of fat. Gardenburger Black Bean Patties, Gardein make a wonderful "beef tips" which you can sautee with peppers and onions and you don't know the difference. I'd also +1 on the use of calorie tracking. But first get an assessment on how many calories you need to function, then make a healthy reduction.

If you're really daring, and looking to lean up and change your lifestyle... look up "The Engine 2 Diet" and try and commit for 28 days. The website has some delicious receipes too.

[jds 20]

What's a soda?Do you mean "pop", eh?. Avoid processed foods. Multi-colored veggies and lots of them but watch your caloric intake. Westerners eat way more calories than they realize or need. If you want to lose weight, then calories in vs calories out is about as simple as it gets. All of that information about cortisol levels, and metabolism speed etc yields little difference in the grand scheme. Eat less than you expend. Simple. Eat good natural foods to avoid all the other crap that comes with eating crap. Outside aisles of the grocery store/market. It really is simple-the articles in fitness mags and blogs confuse the matter. Yes, increased muscle mass burns more calories at rest than fat but the number is tiny. Elevated cortisol levels increase fat storage but at minimal levels. Eat clean, eat healthy and eat less.

[Jason Harris 31]

Stop drinking sodas entirely. They contribute nothing to your body. If you have a smart phone, check out the "MyFitnessPal" app.

I was just going to suggest this, especially since it's free, then saw Speedz had mentioned it.

A guy who's gone from 255 to 228 had mentioned it a few times, and since I had finally found the time this summer to work out regularly again, but admittedly had too much ice cream or soda, I decided I would try it once I returned from our vacation. Wow, it's so easy to use the website (which I prefer versus the iPhone, although that works well, too). Just to let people know, it's not a diet. Once you've begun to populate the site with the foods you normally eat, it's sometimes just one click to add the same breakfast from two days earlier. (Or the same workout from last Wednesday.) Where it helps is you'll see where you stand for the day. Maybe you have 425 calories remaining after dinner, so you can decide whether having a particular treat is worth going over by 200 calories, since it would just slow down how long it takes to reach your goal.

I've dropped ten pounds in a week-and-a-half and have only been hungry maybe two times, but that was more a factor of not having access to food; had I been home, I would have had a small snack. Adding exercise really helps the cause, because my caloric allowance is around 2900 on days I work out, while it's over 3100 for days with hockey. It's actually kind of hard to go hungry with that many calories, and even if I hit the number on the nose, it's still set up so I'd lose a pound per week. On the other hand, my wife has been hungry at times, because she's been limited to 1200 calories, which has inspired her to exercise more, just so she can eat more. If you think about it, that's a win-win -- she's losing some weight and getting stronger in her body.

[IniNew 53]

You're 14. Don't mind what you eat so much as cut back on stuff that's useless. Soda's have been mentioned. Diet soda is fine, and a good trade off. What you do need to do is start lifting. At your age, you start lifting and you'll blow up with all that testosterone.

[Goonsquad 209]

With it being summer I find myself always grazing on food through out the day. Try and have a structured meal plan.

The messed up thing that ive noticed is that winter is when i eat the most and fatten up . must be my internal instinct to fatten up in the colder months.