What a way to put it when it could have been simply described as ‘cake’ 
Delicious looking omlette there!
Well, I guess I eat 4 eggs a day based on the pictures, 2 eggs in the morning and a rather tasty looking omelette after dinner.
Eggs are an interesting food for my taste buds. Store bought ones can come in two flavors, needs salt and needs more salt. Fresh eggs from my parents come in barely needs salt and have an awesome texture. Duck eggs come in go away do bad things to my guts and you sometimes taste fishy.
Just a random thought came to me when I saw ‘duck eggs’.
I love salted duck eggs when it’s paired with plain porridge 
These days where I live, absolutely everything made with salted egg yolks seems to be a hit.
Exercise is King and nutrition is queen: together, you have a kingdom.
How did you ultimately determine your optimum weight, when it turned out it was different from what you thought? Did you use some metrics? And if so, what kind? Performance numbers? other health numbers such as HR or blood pressure, etc?
Well, my goal is to see my abs again. Still not there. 
It’s a good goal to have though!
Well, I started with the MyFitnessPal app and have logged two days. Will try to keep doing it a day at a time. Easier now that I know I can scan bar codes. At least for normal days. Dining out will be a different matter.
Can’t stress this enough. Once you start accurately recording everything you quickly realise what is sufficient and what is too much.
For a serious/pro athlete, I think the gold standard is percentage body fat. Secondary things like HR and BP are relatively insensitive to that once you’re at a reasonably healthy weight, which can still be significantly above the seriously optimum weight. I’m kinda like Sir_Brain_M in that I’m mainly looking at flab. It’s easy to see in the mirror and by pinching it. So, I aim for losing most of the flab, and from experience, know the weight I’d be once I’ve done that, so that’s what I am for.
Yeah, I get that. And prior to kids, did have access to that test at my gym. May look at getting access to that somehow again, post kids. I was serious in the meantime in two areas, alpine skiing, and mountain biking. I tended to be heavier during winter, and some of that was muscle mass, some beer. The bike slimmed me down during riding season. Now my metabolism and set weight doesn’t allow for that slimming down just from riding more. So, starting with the calorie tracking/myfitnesspal, exercise tracking, learning about intermittent fasting as I speak, and blood sugar/insulin/set weight, and will make adjustments there, and look toward body fat percentage as well.
If you’re in the USA, there are a number of companies popping up that offer DEX scans and other testing, if you can’t find (or aren’t close to) a sports lab. I had a body composition scan, VO2 and RMR testing done this spring as a package deal.
It was informative…though a reality check to the ego.
@sunvalleylaw you are climbing a hill familiar to many of us. For a long time, I’ve wanted to get rid of my “Dad bod”. My dream is to have defined upper body muscles and a six pack. Can it be done? Sure. But I’m 59 and don’t trim down like I used to. I started the journey following typical advice: more lean protein & good fats, control my blood sugar levels with complex carbohydrates, eat more fruits and veggies, exercise regularly. It wasn’t enough. I counted calories and used MFP (MyFitnessPlan) and several others. It wasn’t enough.
A turning point happened during the lockdown in 2020. I got myself a KICKR and a training plan designed by a Wahoo coach. It was then, when exercise became a real focus, that I started paying close attention to everything that I put in my body and how it affected my performance. The needed dietary changes happened effortlessly. I drank less because it messed with my exercise the next day. I ate a very clean diet because I had time to research and cook. Many parts of the puzzle started to come together for the first time. Although I trimmed down, my BF% was frustratingly stuck in the mid 20’s. I want to be at 15%.
Earlier this year, I asked myself why I wasn’t managing my body like I manage my cycling training. With SYSTEM, I have a detailed plan of action provided by very experienced people. So I went looking and discovered body builders. More than any other discipline, they know how to shed fat and put on muscle. But I also have issues with sustained high performance, my 4DP weakness. And that led me to endurance athletes and how they fuel themselves before, during and after training and racing. I found my mentors and I started another learning journey.
With all that knowledge, I still couldn’t get my BF% down. Then I stumbled on a diet app called Carbon, created by a natural (no drugs) body builder. Instead of focusing primarily on calories like MFP and most other diet apps, it gives importance to protein, carbs and fats. Calories are still critical, but I now can see my body transform as I eat the optimum (for me) grams of protein and % of carbs and fats (along with exercise).
The marketplace and the media talk and talk about cutting calories to get a beach body, but no one is talking about body recomposition. I realised I didn’t just want to lose belly fat, I wanted a different kind of body. Then it dawned on me. This situation was similar to cycling where everyone is taking about FTP. But thanks to Sir Neal and team, we have 4DP. With 4DP we Sufferlandrians understand that FTP is reliant on MAP, AC and NM, and ALL must be measured and trained if we’re to get the best results. I love SYSTM. It’s become a passion. And perhaps because of that and the link I made to it with my approach to eating, losing that stubborn belly fat has become fun.
I have a couple of recommendations that will hopefully get you to your desired body type faster.
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In addition to tracking the number of calories eaten, also track your macros. You’ll need to calculate the optimal macro levels for your objectives.
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Monitor and measure what you eat. It’s a bit of extra work in the beginning as you educate yourself, but it gets super easy after a couple of weeks.
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Food databases can be all over the place, with multiple entries for the same item, each with a different set of macros. MFP is the worst. Check a couple of institutional databases for your food macros, then choose an item from your app database that most closely matches the numbers you pulled from the institutional databases.
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The data on food labels can be off by as much as 20%. Don’t get OCD with measuring the macros. Just keep using the ones you identify as correct per your own research, and keep using those. Don’t jump around. It only creates uncertainty and stress. You don’t need that.
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Find your go-to foods or supplements for when you need to make up macros towards the end of the day. When I’m short on protein, I’ve got favorite protein powders, protein bars and egg whites that help me easily top up my protein. MCT oil is my fall back for days when I don’t get enough fats.
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An aside: I never liked MFP’s addition of exercise calories in the daily calculation. It only adds complexity and uncertainty (are the number of calories shown correct?). Instead, stick to your weekly macros and adjust at the end of the week depending on your weight loss numbers. Shoot for 500-700 grams (1-1.5 lbs) of weight loss. Keep in mind that losing weight too fast is unsustainable, plus you’ll lose also muscle mass, which in our later years is already an issue.
You might be thinking “Wah, so complicated!” It’s actually not, it’s just new to you and your brain is protesting. The difficulty of this approach is probably 90% mental /emotional. Seriously. Food is deeply intertwined with our psyche and mental health.
If you’ve been using SYSTM for a while and have been doing your HM and 4DP testing, you are ready to apply this approach to your body recomposition efforts. Set goals, follow a system designed by experienced professionals, test regularly, keep your Big Mountain in view and get a coach when you want to up your game!
Oof. sounds daunting. However, I am just getting started on the system and may as well develop a program that is actually going to help. So I will work through the emotional protest in my brain and come up with something I can follow practically. Perhaps with help from a coach. I don’t have my bike dialed quite on my Kickr yet (Adjusting the barrel games on an old bike) so I have not done the 4DP test yet. Was kind of waiting for that before I talked to a coach. and also, the weather is beautiful for riding outside right now and have been notching some outside rides, plus I am heading up to Bozeman to see my daughter for parents weekend up at MSU. So obviously some distractions.
But meanwhile I have just started tracking food and getting my exercise recorded to get used to doing that on a daily basis no matter what is going on and will add macro tracking, I am currently listening to the book the obesity code with its discussion of insulin and blood sugar drops that will also provide some insight.
Amen to the outside. Squeeze out the last of the outdoor season! And hey Bozeman! Have family that live at the base of Hyalite Canyon in the valley. Retired CompSci prof from MSU. LOVE the riding (and brewing) scene in Bozeman!
Thanks for the rec on carbon, have been considering switching away from MyFitnessPal to Carbon for a long time, but couldn’t bring myself to losing all my custom foods and meals despite problems I have with MFP.
Signed up for carbon today, so let’s see if it can help me…
As I am just getting started I might as well check that one out now and see if it works better for me then MFP despite MFP‘s connection with Garman connect.
Ok, signed up for Carbon and starting over counting there. I like the approach better than MFP anyway, which I was just using to try counting at all, as I never really have, and at least it got me started on that. Carbon already looks better for me though.