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Nutrition From Warrior Diet to Breakfast : A Journey

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As someone who is getting older (48 years) I can say I get fatter quicker so need to focus more on macronutrients and portion control and my joints prefer lighter weights so that naturally leads me to higher volume hypertrophy style workouts. All I have to do is look at a chocolate biscuit and I put on 1kg so I rarely consume sugar or high carb at all. And my joints start to play up from 75-80% RM so I tend to do sets of 10-15 reps (except for deadlifts where I can still manage sets of 1-5 reps at higher weight). I don't usually eat breakfast but when I do it has no effect on what I eat for the rest of the day (ie I eat the same for lunch and dinner whether I eat breakfast or not) so doing without breakfast is an easy way for me to reduce calories. When motivated I can get by without eating lunch but it is uncomfortable so two good sized meals are best for me. That fits comfortably with 16:8 Leangains style fasting but any weight I lose appears attributable entirely to calorie reduction, I have never experienced any other 'hack' weight loss
 
@ LukeV
I'm very similar in age and the other particulars re weight and rep ranges. In my case though, I love breads and other carbs (no candy or refined sugars except chocolate milk ). I always eat a breakfast and If I skip anything it will be lunch. Some days I won't even notice.
 
I'm not trying to recommend against the Warrior Diet. I just noticed that I took it far too extreme and my personality isn't fit for it. I found myself being afraid to eat and that's not sustainable.

I have been a WD follower for probably 15 years now, and I have never felt like it's a diet prescription but rather a diet attitude. The idea of it, and of getting used to it, is that it shouldn't feel extreme, it should feel good. It's not more complicated than that.

Speaking for myself, I don't follow any eating schedule religiously, and when I was first getting used to the WD, I would have days of my old way of eating at least twice a week. @Marcus Aurelius, it sounds like, much as one can overtrain, you over-WD-ed when you started, doing too much too soon.

Isn't lack of appetite a known issue with older people? Maybe that's their body trying to preserve itself?
I was born in 1955 and the loss of appetite in older people seems perfectly reasonable to me. One's appetite, if everything is working properly, ought to reflect one's needs. I remember my father's last years quite clearly - he had congestive heart failure, and his gradual weight loss made, in my admittedly non-medical opinion, sense to me. Being smaller meant less work for his failing heart to do.

So I think I personally will try to keep as much of my muscles as possible as I grow older. That means adequate eating. But I think it's also worth a thought that hypertrophy is much easier to come by when younger. From that I conclude that it's also very important to try to eat well and increase muscle mass when young so I have the muscle to keep when I grow older.
I will be the first to say that carrying around a lot of muscle is a choice, and if one chooses this path, then by all means, eat a lot. For me, it's not the right choice. My choice is to make the most of what I've got rather than try to add more, and also to have a training style that fits with the rest of my life. Having spent the years to acquire a certain level of skill at a fews lifts, I enjoy not having to practice them a lot, and minimalist training feels like the reward I get every day for the time I spent, and continue to spend, trying to lift better.

My approach is, I think, based on the model of PTTP. I love the fact that I can find a free half-hour in my day, and in that time warm up a little, do an exercise or two, take a shower, and return to the rest of my life. There have been days when I've got 10 minutes, so I'll do goblet-style squat to warmup, a half-dozen or so heavy deadlifts and that'll be my exercise for the day. And I do make a concerted effort to walk regularly - being fortunate enough to live in a small town with a nice downtown area, I walk to the library, the grocery store, the bank, the post office, and the like, almost every day. It's my main form of conditioning, and I like that I get the chores of life taken care of in a way that's healthy for me.

Or perhaps I can summarize my entire point of view in three words - form follows function. Or "form should follow function" but that would be four words. :) I find no reason to make a concerted attempt to add muscle to my frame. Neither, mind you, do I make any attempt to be thinner, either.

JMO, YMMV.

-S-
 
I just wanted to share something. I've started entering all the food I eat into my fitness pal just to get a general idea of where I'm at calorie and nutrient wise.

It is absolutely shocking how much food you can eat if you keep it healthy. Being formerly overweight, I'm very consicious now of portion sizes and don't want to eat to much. It turns out I wasn't eating nearly enough for my goals.

I challenge those of you just to download MyFitnessPal on your phones and just log what you eat. You may be shocked at how little you're eating. It was really eye-opening.

I'm not super into calorie counting but it really does help just to see where you fall.
 
This is a great thread. Logging and macronutrient management has always been a challenge for me as far as adhering to a way of eating. My hope right now is to learn my body better, learn the difference between appetite and hunger, and choose whole foods over processed ones when I can. At some point when my training plans get more advanced, I will probably be in a good place to start being more detailed with my nutrition breakdown. I am notorious for doing too much too soon. Could probably be in my signature! :)
 
I am notorious for doing too much too soon.
That's me, too.

Turned my life around in the last few years, changing nearly everything, from nearly sedentary to HIIT and IF with cold showers - way too much at once. Got sick, had sleep problems, overtraining... but also great progress in the beginning.

There is a great quote in ETKB:
As you know, it's your fault. Too much, too soon or too sloppy.

As it is mentioned already, everything turns around the ability to handle stress. Learned my lesson, now training S&S while listening to my body instead of watching at the clock ;-)
 
I'm over the IF thing. I used to do it weekly, it would stress me out. 3 squares is the way to go. Just eat the right food, limit the alcohol content, (15 drinks a week is 2250 calories) and be consistent.
 
I'm over the IF thing. I used to do it weekly, it would stress me out. 3 squares is the way to go. Just eat the right food, limit the alcohol content, (15 drinks a week is 2250 calories) and be consistent.
I've reached the same conclusion, IF doesn't suit everyone. I've tried many forms over the last 10 years and none have really sat well with me.
I can manage health, weight, strength and less stress more easily on 3 meals a day.
 
I just wanted to share something. I've started entering all the food I eat into my fitness pal just to get a general idea of where I'm at calorie and nutrient wise.

It is absolutely shocking how much food you can eat if you keep it healthy. Being formerly overweight, I'm very consicious now of portion sizes and don't want to eat to much. It turns out I wasn't eating nearly enough for my goals.

I challenge those of you just to download MyFitnessPal on your phones and just log what you eat. You may be shocked at how little you're eating. It was really eye-opening.

I'm not super into calorie counting but it really does help just to see where you fall.

This. Check out the SANE diet if you haven't heard of it. I used Slow Carb to drop from 24% bodyfat down to sub 15%. Heard about this SANE diet on a podcast and decided to check it out and instantly dropped another 5lbs in about 2 weeks and it is the LEAST restrictive diet I have ever been on. It is not really a diet, but more of a way of eating that takes the focus off of calories. It uses your palm size to judge portions. I decided to track my cals, even though they do not recommend and was surprised at how much food I was eating and how low the calorie count was. This was with even eating chocolate and peanut butter every day! I still fast twice a week Eat Stop Eat style.

They have a lot of free info out there and I think there is even a book out there called The Calorie Myth. It is good stuff and it is super easy to follow and implement. I swear I am not affiliated, I am just currently loving what I eat every day along with my body comp results.
 
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