Zima

Thank you! I'm noticing a lot of people love MFP for the mobile apps, which is totally understandable. I hope to delve into that eventually, but my familiarity with android/ios development is pretty limited. Hopefully one day!

I would second what other people said about simply focusing on caloric deficit if you're cutting weight. Keep it simple. It's true that liquid calories don't fill you up for as long, so personally I prefer to get those macros/calories from a solid source and opt for unsweetened almond milk (30 calories per cup). But if you love milk, there's nothing wrong with it.

Hey fellow nerds, I've recently built a nutrition tracking web app, and I would love your feedback. It's completely free - I mostly did it as a fun side project. You may like it if: - You want something that's simple and straightforward, with no need to load different pages or click around a lot. - You want something where you can log all your stuff REALLY fast - a few seconds and you're done - You focus on simply tracking macronutrients and calories - You're easily bothered by ads. I am, so there are none and never will be. You may not like it if: - You want a massive database(I used USDA data. MyFitnessPal also includes a lot of user generated data, so that's a great one to use for that) - You want an android/iphone app. Again, MFP is a good contender here. I mostly use my laptop, so I started with a web app. - You want a very high level of detail(Cronometer is good for that) I would be happy to build this out further - make it look nicer, include other data sources, add some more features, etc. I've been using it myself for some time now, and I'm quite happy with how it performs. But I'd love to hear what other people think/what they like and dislike. Link: http://www.nutrilly.com What it looks like: Disclaimers: - No profit for me in this - I'm just a regular guy who likes to lift and eat right - Tested on Chrome, Firefox, Safari(7.0.5). May not work on IE and some older browsers at the moment.

This one will be for PS3 and PC as well. I'm in the same boat as you, by the way. I tried XIV and only got up to around level 13. It was not very enjoyable at all. I did try Guild Wars 2 in the meantime, but that didn't keep me engaged for long. A Realm Reborn, however, is more promising than anything I've come across!

Not off topic at all. I use fitday. Other common ones are myfitnesspal, myplate at livestrong.com, and a few others. I can vouch for fitday being decent, and myfitnesspal mobile app is very well rated(and free) if you want something with a good mobile app.

Does anyone here meditate regularly? I've done it in the past, and recently got back to it, influenced by this in part - For those of you who meditate regularly - what sort of technique do you prefer? Counting your breath? Just focusing on it? Music/sound? A guided meditation audio/video?I remember going to yoga class that had meditation as part of it, and it was guided - a simple breathing/relaxation meditation, nothing fancy. It worked really well for me, but I have yet to find a particularly good guided meditation audio online.

Since there's an Elder Scrolls Online thread going, I figured I'd start one for FFXIV. Is anyone else excited for this? I've played the beta, and it's phenomenal! The original game was a disappointment. In fact, most MMOs over the past years have been short-lived and failed to capture my attention for long. But something about this game just has me hooked, and I can't wait to start playing. I think the open beta goes live around August 8 or 10. If you're playing, what race/class/server? I'll be an Elezen, likely on Balmung server.

Chaotic Good Human Wizard. (with chaotic neutral and chaotic evil trailing not too far behind) Doesn't surprise me much. I answered as honestly as possible. I'm no tank irl, no matter how much I might play one in RPGs

I think he was implying I may have an eating disorder, which is ridiculous. The thing is, I'm not at all concerned about my eating habits and lifestyle - in fact I'm very proud of it. I'm certainly not ashamed of tracking macros, so I hope I didn't imply I'm even considering the possibility that he had a point. He didn't. I just feel like I let him talk about it negatively about my choices and didn't do a thing about it. I must admit, part of me was worried that if I tried to stand up for it, he'd say "Oh yeah? Then why are you here with a health problem?"...and I wouldn't be able to think of a good response fast enough. It'd be just like being bullied in middle school all over again o.O

I went to speak to a doctor the other day about a health condition. I've been having trouble taking a full breath, yet have no health problems and lead a very healthy lifestyle, so I tried to go over any details that could possibly be related to that. That includes food intake - acid reflux is known to cause trouble breathing(though I don't have any of the other symptoms). Anyway, to get to the point - I track my macros every day, so I was able to answer his questions and give details regarding nutrition very precisely, as you might imagine. That was when he looked at me and said, "Do you even enjoy your food?" "...of course! I enjoy every single one of my meals" - I was dumbfounded by his question, and that was the only thing that came to mind - because that's the truth. "Really? Because I don't think you do. You're like a robot with these calculations. I don't know a single person who does that. When was the last time you just ate anything without thinking about that stuff?" "Last weekend at a Sushi buffet...You've got this all wrong, I absolutely love food. I love cooking nice meals, trying new recipes..." At that point he just dropped the subject, and as did I, since I was anxious to continue the discussion of the actual problem at hand. But thinking back, I think I should have argued with him more. It seems like he was completely unconvinced, and it's a really bad feeling to be wrongly accused and have done nothing about it. Fact of the matter is, I really do love food - both the occasional cheat meals, and every one of my every day meals too. I actually enjoy tracking my macros every day - I love the control it gives me, and the discipline has so many positive effects in my life. And if I "just ate whatever" like a "normal" person, I certainly wouldn't be in the shape that I'm in. I wish I had told him all THAT, and I'm embarrassed to have just let it slide. So, that's the story. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Simple answer: not all grains have gluten(i.e. buckwheat), so something can be gluten-free and not paleo. I think simply looking up those two terms on wikipedia will provide you with all the answers, if there's more you'd like to know. Also, something about the following two quotes strikes me as...contradictory. I would be wary of that poster's bias towards paleo. Do your own research, and make your own decision about what's actually good for your body.

He made his goal pretty clear, I think. He wants to do MMA, and is wondering what their nutrition looks like - to maximize his chances in the ring, I would assume. I doubt that varies substantially - you either eat for performance, or eat to cut weight.

I'd love to know this, too. From what I understand, it's NO different from any athlete. Eat a good balanced diet that will fuel strenuous training, unless you need to cut weight. I would guess the carbs would be pretty high considering the nature of the training, except for when you're cutting.

I know it's becoming common knowledge that meal frequency is not really important. People do equally well regardless of whether they eat one meal or 6. But for me it was very hard to get used to the idea that hunger was okay; When I first got into fitness 7 years ago, the prevalent philosophy was you must eat every 3 hours or you will go into catabolic state and lose hard-earned muscle. Silly, I know, but that's what people believed back then. So I wanted to share my experience, in case anyone faces a similar issue. Currently, I'm in excellent physical shape, and I eat usually 3 times a day, whenever is most convenient for me. Sometimes I'll eat more often if I feel like it, other times I'll eat only once like the intermittent fasting folks - works great for big feasts like thanksgiving or sushi buffets. But in general, frequency literally does not seem to matter. I also only do two heavy lifting sessions a week. That's it - though I go for an occasional run or hike. I'm in the same shape I was in when I was doing half marathon training - perhaps 30-40 miles a week + 2-3 lifting days. When I was eating 6 times a day, I thought about food a lot, which actually made me eat *more* because it was always on my mind. It does help with overall discipline, but it was doing more harm than good. On 3 meals a day, if I'm hungry I simply don't worry about it - over time it became something I don't even notice. This is perhaps the most helpful aspect, because if I'm looking to shed a few pounds, the hunger doesn't bring stress and concern about losing muscle. And my meals are bigger, so I actually get to feel full! Life is infinitely less stressful this way, and this eating pattern is a lot more pro-social - a more normal eating pattern means I don't have to sacrifice social life because it's time for meal 5. The way I switched to this pattern is by simply working my way down - 5, then 4, then 3...by 3, fears and concerns about frequency of meals and losing muscle are pretty much gone. 2 heavy lifting sessions a week seem to put enough stress on my muscles that they're certainly not dwindling away. It's a hell of a lot easier to maintain low body fat this way though! I'm around an honest 10% with minimal effort, and could reach peak condition in several weeks if desired. It should be noted that I've been living a healthy and active lifestyle for many years, and my main goal is to maintain good strength for my size and keep body fat low. I also track my macronutrients, and generally eat slightly below maintenance level(by lowering carbs to around 100-120g) on non-training days, and slightly above(300g carbs) when I lift. And of course, I get my nutrients from good, healthy sources. Though I do have 1-2 glasses of red wine on many nights, too! Anyway, everyone has different goals, and everyone prefers different methods of getting there. Some people simply prefer more meals, some prefer less. Just like some prefer crossfit and others just like lifting weights the regular way. What I think it boils down to is it all works the same - eat the right amount of (healthy) food, and put physical stress on your body through exercise/sport. It's a huge relief after years of experimenting with nutrition and exercise that the best answer also appears to be the simplest one. Note - I'm *not* naturally skinny or muscular or fit looking in general - I have rather poor genes, in my opinion, actually. So, I just thought I'd share this, in case anyone else has fallen trap to giving this too much thought like I used to. I hope this helps someone

Freshmen 15 is not a challenge whatsoever, in my opinion. It happens to people who were fed by their parents, then suddenly get to college and have no idea what to eat. They also drink a lot, which is a BIG part of the freshmen 15. As people already pointed out, be honest with how much you're eating at the dining hall. It's easy to load up your plate full of random things and eat 1500 calories in 1 meal. Instead, find the vegetables, fruit, nuts, meat that isn't breaded/covered with sauce/other bad stuff, whole wheat things(unless you're doing paleo), and create nice balanced meals of appropriate proportions. If your school has a decent salad bar, you should be able to do that with that alone. Don't snack on junk or drink excessively - but you already know that. The only issue is getting the hang of eyeballing nutrient values of foods in front of you, so that you CAN create appropriately sized meals - but you'll get better at that with time.