Overview Of My Diet (Cronometer Results With Pics). Any Feedback Would Be Great!

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Thanks ahead for any feedback. As mentioned in my questioning of my magnesium deficiency thread, someone(some people?) suggested I use Cronometer to track micros and macros + electrolyes/etc. Since I didn't have a good handle of tracking all of this stuff, this advice was excellent for me. Ever since that day I installed Cronometer and logged nearly everything I ate/drank (but missed a few things). I'm going to post the results since then, day-by-day + everything I ate logged down. I know I still need some work, but I think I'm doing so-so overall. Feel free to post yours here too I guess, even if you don't have any specific feedback for me.

Here's the stuff (the PUFA numbers are all wrong -- I had multiple times more than what's shown):

August 15th (first day)

p1.jpg
p2.jpg


August 16th:

p1-2.jpg
p2-2.jpg


August 17th:

p1-3.jpg
p3-3.jpg


And as suspected in the magnesium concern thread, it appears I can't even get 100% of the daily RDA of magnesium naturally....

In case it's unknown (probably) I'm male and right under 5'10" barefoot at 155-160 lbs. and like 16-18% bodyfat, give or take (not half bad).
 
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YourUniverse

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Your PUFA is a bit high and your calories are quite low. I'm not sure what you're hoping to receive feedback on but those are the things staring at me first glance
 
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Your PUFA is a bit high and your calories are quite low. I'm not sure what you're hoping to receive feedback on but those are the things staring at me first glance

Just mostly general feedback on vitamin/mineral/macros totals on average. Since this is 3 days it reflects some sort of basis or idea on where I stand and what I could adjust or etc. when it comes to diet, supplementation, or anything in between really.

Actually, this is pretty low PUFA for me. I would easily get 20+ grams most days before (with peanuts/vegetable oils/etc.), so it's a huge improvement. Calories have no real need to be much higher than, say, the first or third day because my activity is kind of low. If I'm doing more exercise I tend to eat 500 or so more calories. No need to be downing 2,000 or even 3,000+ calories consistently if one is mostly sitting/inactive (unless maybe they're tall or something) -- that will contribute to slow fat accumulation.
 

Tenacity

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Just mostly general feedback on vitamin/mineral/macros totals on average. Since this is 3 days it reflects some sort of basis or idea on where I stand and what I could adjust or etc. when it comes to diet, supplementation, or anything in between really.

Actually, this is pretty low PUFA for me. I would easily get 20+ grams most days before (with peanuts/vegetable oils/etc.), so it's a huge improvement. Calories have no real need to be much higher than, say, the first or third day because my activity is kind of low. If I'm doing more exercise I tend to eat 500 or so more calories. No need to be downing 2,000 or even 3,000+ calories consistently if one is mostly sitting/inactive (unless maybe they're tall or something) -- that will contribute to slow fat accumulation.
I'm only an inch taller than you at the same weight, and I eat twice as much as you do without gaining weight. That would indicate to me that your metabolism is slow. How old are you?
 
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I'm only an inch taller than you at the same weight, and I eat twice as much as you do without gaining weight. That would indicate to me that your metabolism is slow. How old are you?

My metabolism has slowed, yeah. The reason why is because I've gone so long without steady, dedicated exercise, which has put me in a weaker/more easily exhausted state, other things aside. Eating too much more now with my slower metabolism and lack of exercise doesn't sound too good, but I guess a little more wouldn't hurt. I also came off of a bad/high PUFA diet with lots of anxiety/stress/depression/anger/etc. and lack of exercise motivation over the past 6 or so months -- so it's kind of like a slow recovery/change for the better (i.e. losing weight again; reshaping my thinking/mood; getting active again; changing foods/focusing on health overall & etc.).

You probably get away with eating more due to possible activity level differences + metabolic process/hormones/adrenals & thyroid differences. When I was fitter I could eat 3,000+ a day and would still keep slowly losing fat/doing a "recomp." Now I worry about steadily eating too much because I'm not prepared/conditioned enough so I keep it "safe" by just tending to eat lower calories for the most part (so I can slowly keep losing fat but not starving myself).

Until I get back in to proper shape/metabolism/health overall I can't see myself eating double what I do as a good thing in the long run (especially without more activity).

I'm 27. I don't do the "bulk and cut" stuff so I'd rather stay as lean as I can and workout than kick calories up way too much and end up getting fatter and undoing my whole body process. I do want metabolism to be good and thyroid and etc., but I can't picture myself eating too much more without impeding my lean-out process.
 
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Cut your pufa intake in half or more, add 2 quarts of milk and a quart of orange juice, and report back in 3 months

You think upping my milk and OJ intake that much alone would make any significant difference in metabolism/well-being? I'd think of this as a "whole diet approach" and not that only drinking more milk and OJ alone without any other dietary factors would suffice. I'm more focused on eating more fruits and vegetables and getting less iron and tryptophan/histidine/etc. But if you really think it'll make a bigger difference, I'll buy some some more OJ tomorrow and incorporate it back in to my diet (I was kind of avoiding due to its ability to influence serotonin), along with drinking more low-fat & whole fat milk. I do think my FFAs are generally low-ish though, but could be better.
 

somuch4food

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You're starving yourself! Calories are one of the most important factor in recovering your metabolism. If you don't want weight gain, maybe do it incrementally or find foods that don't fatten you, but don't remain at that level of calories, that alone will impede any attempt at making progress. The most important point is to eat whenever you're hungry since you don't want to send starvation signals to your body.

I inadvertently went too low calories when trying a whole food diet and I'm now still recovering from the damage it has done.

Macros: Proteins, ok, could be higher if your body needs healing. Fats, ok, depends on your aim. I personally need my fat and aim at 10g or less PUFA since I don't want to be orthorexic about it and end up not eating enough food. Carbs are way too low though.

For magnesium, I also find it hard to come by on my diet. I have been using magnesium oil and Epsom salts bath.

As for other vitamins and minerals, it's difficult to give specific advice since the requirements seem to vary from person to person depending on your own history.
 

tara

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Calories have no real need to be much higher than, say, the first or third day because my activity is kind of low. If I'm doing more exercise I tend to eat 500 or so more calories. No need to be downing 2,000 or even 3,000+ calories consistently if one is mostly sitting/inactive (unless maybe they're tall or something) -- that will contribute to slow fat accumulation
AIUI, very few people can sustain a healthy metabolism long term on less than 2000 cals. Normal for the average male is closer to 3000, and more is needed while still growing and maturing, up to about 25yrs.
Restricting calories/energy and other nutrition, especially during the growing and maturing phase, can have negative effects of the body and metabolism.
IIRC, and you are early 20s, you should not necessarily be maintaining weight at this age - the skeleton should still be broadening and thickening. While very active people do use more energy, a lot goes into growth, repair, and maintaining a healthy base metabolism.

If that is a true reflection of your habits, it looks like you may have been eating roughly half what the average healthy man your age would need in terms of calories.

You can see yourself that there are some other gaps too. Just eating more may help fill some of them, but you may want to widen the range to cover more micros too.
 

OceanSpray

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Often people get excited seeing their day broken into colourful charts and graphs as Cronometer does so well, and they want to show it off. I get that. But other than the obvious caloric deficit there isn’t much to comment on.

Speaking of the caloric deficit, I think it is way overrated. As long as the guy eats enough based on his actual hunger, he should be good.

Just imagine the world pre Cronometer, and pre MyFitnessPal. How did people measure burned vs consumed. They didn’t. And how do you then match your expenditures? With hunger.

These tools are pretty nifty, but they are clinical and unnatural. I bet you there are people gaining undesirable weight just by using them.

For example if your Cronometer says your expenditures are 2000kcal, and so you lower your calories to 1800 to lose weight, but in the absence of Cronometer, going just by your hunger you’d really only eat 1500... you will potentially get fat.

In general, prior to Cronometer, or even at present for people who do not use these tools, there is no way in hell to naturally match your intake and expenditure.
 
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somuch4food

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Often people get excited seeing their day broken into colourful charts and graphs as Cronometer does so well, and they want to show it off. I get that. But other than the obvious caloric deficit there isn’t much to comment on.

Speaking of the caloric deficit, I think it is way overrated. As long as the guy eats enough based on his actual hunger, he should be good.

Just imagine the world pre Cronometer, and pre MyFitnessPal. How did people measure burned vs consumed. They didn’t. And how do you then match your expenditures? With hunger.

These tools are pretty nifty, but they are clinical and unnatural. I bet you there are people gaining undesirable weight just by using them.

For example if your Cronometer says your expenditures are 2000kcal, and so you lower your calories to 1800 to lose weight, but in the absence of Cronometer, going just by your hunger you’d really only eat 1500... you will potentially get fat.

In general, prior to Cronometer, or even at present for people who do not use these tools, there is no way in hell to naturally match your intake and expenditure.

What you say is true, but most have developed unhealthy control over their hunger because they do not want to gain weight. I also didn't actually feel I wasn't eating enough last summer. I convinced myself it was all good, but once I liberated myself from those views and started to eat to my actual hunger. I started to eat way more than I was. I was portion-controlling myself and telling myself I had enough. The fibers I was consuming was helping keep hunger lower, but my body was showing many signs of being in distress.

Once I started having enough calories, I gain weight back and certainly did gain fat, but I recovered a part of my brain I was losing. I was having ADD/focus problems despite a history of having high focus.
 

milkboi

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Often people get excited seeing their day broken into colourful charts and graphs as Cronometer does so well, and they want to show it off. I get that. But other than the obvious caloric deficit there isn’t much to comment on.

Speaking of the caloric deficit, I think it is way overrated. As long as the guy eats enough based on his actual hunger, he should be good.

Just imagine the world pre Cronometer, and pre MyFitnessPal. How did people measure burned vs consumed. They didn’t. And how do you then match your expenditures? With hunger.

These tools are pretty nifty, but they are clinical and unnatural. I bet you there are people gaining undesirable weight just by using them.

For example if your Cronometer says your expenditures are 2000kcal, and so you lower your calories to 1800 to lose weight, but in the absence of Cronometer, going just by your hunger you’d really only eat 1500... you will potentially get fat.

In general, prior to Cronometer, or even at present for people who do not use these tools, there is no way in hell to naturally match your intake and expenditure.

Hmm, I don‘t know if anyone goes by the calorie expenditure suggested by Cronometer here. I think most of us (or rather that's what I do) eat to satiation and then check how much calories that equates to. If this amount is (too) low, I try to raise my metabolism. If it's already high, I'm satisfied with my metabolic rate and just watch for my weight not go through the roof.
 

Sheik

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People with eating disorders often don't feel like eating. It often goes hand in hand with PTSD; a person's autonomic nervous system is dysregulated and their digestion is shut down.
 
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People with eating disorders often don't feel like eating. It often goes hand in hand with PTSD; a person's autonomic nervous system is dysregulated and their digestion is shut down.

I really don't think that's my issue.

I eat less because I'm out of shape and not in optimal health. Eating too much when more inactive and metabolically subpar is just asking for fat gain.

But I am going to do refeeding again with higher calorie days based on carbs like once a week or so just to help combat some exhaustion/fatigue.
 

somuch4food

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I really don't think that's my issue.

I eat less because I'm out of shape and not in optimal health. Eating too much when more inactive and metabolically subpar is just asking for fat gain.

But I am going to do refeeding again with higher calorie days based on carbs like once a week or so just to help combat some exhaustion/fatigue.

You're stuck in a chicken-egg conundrum. You need more calories to promote a higher metabolism, but want to limit fat gain and so, you restrict calories.

I think you will just keep going in circles by having higher carbs days since you will send starvation signals to your body on the other days which will led to more weight gains on refeeding days.
 
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You're stuck in a chicken-egg conundrum. You need more calories to promote a higher metabolism, but want to limit fat gain and so, you restrict calories.

I think you will just keep going in circles by having higher carbs days since you will send starvation signals to your body on the other days which will led to more weight gains on refeeding days.

You make good points. I guess the calorie restriction on my part is a bit irrational. It isn't like I'm suddenly going to get fat all of a sudden from eating a little more.

But having been really obese my worries aren't entirely unjustified since I apparently have had the tendency to overeat excessively in the past.
 

somuch4food

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You make good points. I guess the calorie restriction on my part is a bit irrational. It isn't like I'm suddenly going to get fat all of a sudden from eating a little more.

But having been really obese my worries aren't entirely unjustified since I apparently have had the tendency to overeat excessively in the past.

That's understandable. I have never been obese, 20 lbs too heavy max when my diet was suboptimal with lots of PUFA.

I mentioned in a previous post that incrementing slowly might help keep the weight gain to a minimum since the metabolism should increase as well.

You can also try to identify what makes you gain the most weight and limit those while keeping calories high.
 
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danishispsychic

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Eyeroll. I love when people come on here with questions expecting us to help when clearly they have not read a stitch of Rays work. urgh.
 
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Eyeroll. I love when people come on here with questions expecting us to help when clearly they have not read a stitch of Rays work. urgh.

I've read some of his stuff, but it isn't black and white and doesn't perfectly apply to everyone.

I've followed Peat/protocol pretty decently for a beginner but still have had anxiety, indigestion, GERD-like symptoms, fatigue/adrenal issues likely, palpitations, chest zaps, belching and other issues even with more salt and going more saturated fat/less PUFA/better vitamin and mineral understanding and etc.

Some things even contradict Peat ideology at times.

Haven't tried thyroid but that is a bigger undertaking.
 
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