Nutrition Musings

This is all personal musings and should not be taken as medical or nutrition advice, nor as a statement about what other people should do. This is just me thinking out loud about what I've been doing for my health.

Every now and then I get on a little "I want to be healthy" kick. I get back into exercising, I start trying to eat healthier, etc. Sometimes it's fairly short, sometimes it lasts a few months before I fall off. I say this every time, but this time I am going to try to stick to it. A few days in and already I am noticing big improvements. Changes I have made include:

• Swapping unhealthy snacks for healthier ones (e.g. instead of popcorn, make a small tuna salad and use that as a chip dip; eat more apple slices with a small amount of peanut butter to dip it in; trying Greek yogurt)
• Calorie counting. I am fortunate in that I don't have an eating disorder triggered by calorie counting, and I am full aware of the potential risks and problems with it. That's why I am using it largely to make sure I am getting enough of my macros and micros and also to be more aware of how much I am snacking. The goal is with the awareness is not so much to eat less but to make sure I'm not doing the ADHD thing of eating because I am bored.
• Daily walks! I used to be a lot more consistent about this, but weather, depression, and moving have all done their part to knock me out of the habit every now and then. I generally go for a 10-ish minute walk every 2 hours, targeting about 1600 steps. Do this 5 times and I've walked 8000 steps in a day. It's an arbitrary goal, but it makes sure I am actually getting up and moving throughout the day.
• Heading to the gym! I am extremely fortunate to live in an apartment complex that has a pretty decent gym. Whenever my Fitbit's "Readiness Score" says "Excellent", I head to the gym that day at a consistent time of 4:30 pm, do 3 sets of 7 specific exercises (dumb bell curls, leg presses, bench press, shoulder press, standing weighted crunches, high rows, lat pulls), then finish it off with some cardio on the treadmill at about 4 mph for around 10-15 min.
• Drink one (1) 20 oz bottle of Gatorade only while at the gym, and eat one (1) protein bar only after finishing at the gym.
• Let myself sleep in! This... admittedly is hurting my routines, which is hurting my autism, but if I can go to sleep sooner this will be less of an issue.
• Lastly, I try to make sure that however much I eat in the day, I have burned at least that many calories as measured by my Fitbit. If it breaks even, that's fine! If I burn more than I eat, good! I am a little overweight. I don't think it is causing me any health issues, but I would like to lose some belly fat and (much more importantly to me) build some visible muscle. Purely for aesthetic reasons.

I am very fortunate that I think my goals are fairly reasonable and healthy. I am well aware of how easy it is to slip into eating disorders and body dysmorphia. I am very aware of how lucky I am that this doesn't seem to be something I am falling into.

I'm not that far into this nutrition kick, but so far I feel like I am seeing very positive results. My micronutrients are way up. My protein intake is up. My carb/fat/protein balance is pretty dang good, with low saturated fats and a good number of unsaturateds. I'm getting fish into my diet which means omega-3s. I feel much fuller after eating which is a very good change. It may be a placebo, but I am feeling a bit more alert and awake daily.

Of particularly huge note is my constipation is clearing up. I have a history of really bad constipation, but the addition of apples in particular back into my diet is giving me a much needed boost of fiber. Y'all, I can't begin to express how happy it makes me to have my constipation clearing up.

With the disclaimer in place that you should not take medical or nutrition advice from me, I'm a rando software developer with no medical credentials, a core personal philosophy I have about "dieting" is that you shouldn't be trying to cut food out of your diet. You should be trying first to add food to your diet specifically to ensure your dietary needs, your macros and micros, are being met. If you are getting enough of your macros and micros, hypothetically the body should feel more satiated and crave less food. This can then make it easier to cut "junk" food out of your diet and reduce your calorie intake to a more balanced level.

On top of that, "dieting" should always be paired with exercise. The body runs on the idea of "use it or lose it". If you're not using your muscles, your brain, etc, the body won't maintain it. So, exercise to whatever extent you can.

Never ever expect perfection. Make a good effort, and if you fail one day, try again the next. If you can't hit your goal right away, make a small bit of progress in that direction with each day. Don't worry about setbacks, pick yourself up and try again.

All of which is easier said than done. As I said, I rarely maintain this for more than a few months at best. But when I'm ready, I try again. And it's so much better than not trying at all.

I think I am rambling at this point so I'll leave it there. I am currently 103 kg (227 lb) and my eventual goal is 75 kg (165 lb). But that won't happen for a long time. As I get closer to that goal, I may even change what the goal even is as I add muscle mass to replace some the belly fat I lose. My ultimate goal is more of an aesthetic (butch buff lesbian) than a specific number, so I am very open to changing my goal weight. It's just a number I can track to give me a sense of progress in the meantime.