Questions about portion control, macronutrients, and weighing your food page

[crash03002]

Hi Everyone,

I apologize in advance if this is like the 7,000th time this question has been asked here...but I did search for info on this in the forum, I just haven't hit the exact answer that I am looking for.

I see people posting about weighing their food and taking in so many oz of this or grams of that and I am trying to correlate all of that to my own intake. I am knee deep in The PB Book, and also have started with many recipes from both of the PB cookbooks, as well as the PB member created cookbook.

I look at the recipes and see that something will make four servings for example. And then I cook it up to wonder, Ok, this berry "pancake" souffle is basically a cup of berries and 4 eggs. I could eat all of that without pushing the limit of being full, but am I supposed to? Should I be weighing out my food to specific portions, or live by the 'eat when you're hungry and don't when you're not' rule, without pushing myself to feeling full? Do I only eat a quarter of the meal, even though that will hardly come close to sustaining my appetite?

I am only about a month into really cooking primal and being at least a 60%er towards really cutting out everything that I had grown accustomed to eating. Gotta admit, it is a change from the ingrained norm, but now that I am becoming more accustomed to the food choices I am making my wife and I have already started to see a difference. I am down 9 lbs so far in a month without killing myself to get there.

But that nagging question keeps presenting itself...am I eating too much? Too little? Just right? I really don't know.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!
Crash

[freqz]

I dunno...what are you trying to accomplish? If your weight loss has stalled, tracking things a little closer could help get everything squared away when you see where your problems are. (You're probably eating way more nuts than you think you are if you're eating them at all).

Otherwise, why stress about it? If you are progressing toward your goal and eating clean PB food then I wouldn't sweat it.

[Apex Predator]

I dunno...what are you trying to accomplish? If your weight loss has stalled, tracking things a little closer could help get everything squared away when you see where your problems are. (You're probably eating way more nuts than you think you are if you're eating them at all).

Otherwise, why stress about it? If you are progressing toward your goal and eating clean PB food then I wouldn't sweat it.

+1

[crash03002]

What am I trying to accomplish?...hmmmmm. I don't think there's enough room on the server for that post

Basics: I am a stocky, fairly muscular 36 year old (yep, I got some lovely fat that I am trying to get rid of)... Besides a current nasty on the job injury that has left me almost incapacitated for about the last 7 months..I am normally pretty active. However, I want to lose weight (I am at 221 right now..yes at 5'6"), get my BP lowered (on meds), get my cholesterol down the right way (on meds for that too), and get my triglycerides down naturally (yep, they make a pill for that!)

In a nutshell...I am 40lbs lighter than I was a year ago at this time, I was in the Marines and currently am in Law Enforcement. Being short, I need to keep weight/muscle behind me to do my job. (not that I like to fight - hence my injury, but it happens in LE).

So, long story short, I want to be here for my daughter, wife, and family. I have watched fad diets come and go, and never really took to any of them. I was always just very conscious about what and how I ate...trying to do the best thing....but my blood work never cooperated.

Now I am here. I have been following Mark's newsletters and such, as well as his site for over a year. A couple of months ago, I bought the books and something clicked. This makes the most sense out of anything I have ever seen or heard! So after my due diligence in researching and reading, here I am...cooking up a storm.

In a month and 9 lbs, my face looks slimmer, I can feel that progress is happening. My wife is often a stubborn mule with things like this, but there are physical aspects that even she is starting to see about herself that she is impressed by, and that's a first!

...stepping off soapbox now.

Thanks.

[Apex Predator]

As another stocky guy I'd say check you macro's every now and then, esp if you hit a long plateau, and make sure you aren't underfeeding either. As a bigger guy that wants/needs some muscle, don't get bogged down in what a lot of people here eat- it may not be enough for you. Most guys with your profile do fine with basic primal-meat, fat and veg. Keep your carbs on the lower side while you heal/lose weight, and you'll be at your goal before you know it.

[freqz]

In a month and 9 lbs, my face looks slimmer, I can feel that progress is happening. My wife is often a stubborn mule with things like this, but there are physical aspects that even she is starting to see about herself that she is impressed by, and that's a first!

9 lbs in a month? 40lbs in a year despite an injury? Sounds like you're doing it right to me. Don't stress out over it...just get the diet as clean as you can.

[crash03002]

9 lbs in a month? 40lbs in a year despite an injury? Sounds like you're doing it right to me. Don't stress out over it...just get the diet as clean as you can.

Thanks! And yes. I was at 260 this time last year...and shit - does it show in pictures. I plateaued for several months around 230, and since I've started on this, I am now down to 221 (as of 2 days ago). I would like to get down to no less than 180, as long as there's 100% strength and muscle behind it. But yes, in the last month, 9 lbs through diet...as my only exercise has pretty much been aquatic physical therapy, and an amoeba can do that without "exercising." I have been sleeping better...which I haven't been, due to my injury for several months. My digestion and such seems to be 'working' much better. And I am a person who commits to what I do, without going too nuts about it. I am trying to take each and every aspect in stride and look at the things I am doing today as being just a little better than what I was doing yesterday. And in that, I want to make sure I am heading in the right direction.

[crash03002]

As another stocky guy I'd say check you macro's every now and then, esp if you hit a long plateau, and make sure you aren't underfeeding either. As a bigger guy that wants/needs some muscle, don't get bogged down in what a lot of people here eat- it may not be enough for you. Most guys with your profile do fine with basic primal-meat, fat and veg. Keep your carbs on the lower side while you heal/lose weight, and you'll be at your goal before you know it.

Although I need a new Back and I have been a proponent of good nutrition and lifestyle being extremely important factors in healing, am I following you correctly in that the low carbs will help extensive muscle injury to heal (meanwhile, you're feeding your muscles all of the good stuff??)? I know you're probably not a Dr, but I am interested in your opinion on this. 7 months now...terrible sleep, terrible days, horrible pain; when I used to feel strong as an ox and was benching 350, leg-pressing over 800...now I can't pick up lint on the f*&king floor..... And the Doc's don't know what to do... Sometimes, either do I...and it is getting depressing.

[TigerLily]

As long as you're on the way towards accomplishing your goals (for you, primarily weight loss) with the way your food is right now, go for it. Eat until almost full, not totally full. In the beginning, you can get away with quite a lot and still lose weight. The trick comes later on down the line, when you are approaching goal weight. At that point, you may need to kick it into fifth and use everything in your bag of tricks (including portion control), but for now it's unnecessary. I have found that now (70 pounds down on a small 5' 0" frame) I DO have to utilize portion control and not eat the entire amount the recipe made, like before.

My triglycerides were 178 to start, now 66; blood pressure borderline high, now normal. So your other goals are also within reach for you. Welcome to the tribe.

[TigerLily]

What's the nature of your injury?