My spreadsheet plan

[BugDude]

I'm back on the wagon, but with a structured plan. No special foods or diets, just a simple plan. Eat 1500 calories per day with 35-40% from protein, 15% from fat, and 45-50% from carbs (with over 50% of total carbs complex). Walk on the treadmill 30 minutes per day.

Sounds more difficult than it is, but made easy with an Excel spredsheet. I created a database of hundreds of food items and their values of the info above. On the next tab, I created a daily plan template and I just copy lines of items from the list to the template until I get close to the ranges I want. Sometimes I work around something specific.

I track my daily totals on another tab and also track my daily exercise, weekly weight (with conservative goals at once per month) and the nerd in me also has graphs of this stuff on another tab.

By buying a lot of fat free and light products, I am able to reach my percentages and actually eat a lot of food. I've also learned to get creative. Some examples of items I find I eat a lot of are:

Fat free hot dogs
fat free cheese
imitation crab meat
canned tuna and canned chicken
fat free cottage cheese
fat free yogurt
frozen fish filets
beans
egg beaters
fat free salad dressings and mayo
very lean sandwhich meats
veggie products by Boca and morning star
light bread
Wendy's chili
grape nuts cereal
honey comb cereal

By approaching it this way, I can buy normal food in the store. No special foods or programs, no expensive specialty meals, just everyday stuff. I can eat out at restaurants, and can even have fast food (pretty much Wendy's, which my kids love). A chili, baked potato plain, and a salad with fat free french dressing with grilled chicken on it. That fits into my daily planned percentages pretty good.

I just thought I would share my approach...spreadsheets aren't just for accountants anymore. They make it very easy to track stuff and make structured plans. Hope this might help someone else.

 

[AngelWings]

If only I was good in excell... and yes it does sound really complicated. I just read an amazing story about a man who did this though, and he is ripped like a bodybuilder now!

No cheating always wins... I don't know if you've heard of Tom Venutos Burn Fat Feed Muscle program.. but apparently it has a 100% success rate if you stick to it.

I got the e book.. so this is not an advertisement, but it piqued my interest and thought it might pique yours.

 

[BugDude]

I hadn't heard of that. Interestingly enough, my percentages are based on the principles of body building/low fat/low cholesterol/diabetic nutritional guidelines. Kind of a combination of all of those combined. I have several issues to contend with and this approach addresses them all. I am able to burn fat and build muscle at the same time, reduce cholesterol, and control my blood sugar (I'm hypoglycemic). I've lost 41 pounds since December 31, 2010 and I have seen significant muscle development in this short period of time (especially in the large muscles of my legs). More muscle mass increases metabolism making fat loss faster.

I figured out that the body builders have nutrition down to a freaking science like no one else. Thanks for the info...I'll have to check it out.