Sub 10% BF and eating disorders

[Mister Sandman]

Am I on the road to having an eating disorder?

You see, the most common question I get, in particular from overweight people, is "What do you eat? What is your diet?", hoping I might have some kind of magic nutrition plan, tasty and delicious, that can help them achieve the body they wish.

Even if it means sounding like a d**k, my response is : what is your goal and most of all how far are you willing to go to reach it?

Unless you are genetically gifted, and I assume they are not if they're asking me about losing weight, for me achieving a six-pack and sub 10%bf and, even more, maintaining it, was a trip to nutrition hell.

I put on fat very easily, and have a hard time losing.
In my case, getting low BF, meant (means) constant hunger, it meant (still means) being mocked by my friends while they are going through chicken wings and beer and I am having a grilled chicken salad, barely any condiment, with a unsweetened ice tea.
It means drinking as much water as I can to try not to feel hunger and going to the bathroom 10 times at night.
It means forgetting about that multigrain bread, cheese, sugars, alcohol, treats. Agonizing over that slice of cheesecake and taking only one teaspoon to it for the flavor and pushing the plate with the rest away.
It's calorie counting all the time, looking at what you are about to eat and figuring out how much additional cardio you are going to have to do to burn that cocktail that you could have done without.
It's feeling guilty every meal that does not fit within the macros that you have set for your goal. Scraping off the BBQ sauce from your steak, asking your wife for a huge salad before your meal to try to fill you up.

And I know I will lose my visible abs, if I am not absolutely strict with my nutrition, because I am NOT genetically gifted.
So now I have a food scale, I weigh everything I can. I try to figure out how to compose my next meal, based on what I ate the rest of the day, to compensate.
I started weighing myself everyday, to make sure my caloric intake is correct and am respecting my macros. While running on the treadmill I calculate the additional minutes needed to keep my metabolic rate up and burn the excess calories.

"What is your nutrition?" It sucks, that is what it is.
It's not fun with friends, it's not tasty at restaurants, it's not pleasurable at clubs.

Maybe those trying to lose wight should just try to set some realistic expectations, forget about single digit BF and simply work to reach a normal weight - or just close - without going crazy, and still be able once in a while to enjoy a slice of pizza and a beer. Which I haven't had in over a year....

Just venting

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

Yeah...fuck that
Carry on

 

[Perrin Aybara]

Yeah, I'm good in the 13-15% range. I respect the dedication though.

 

[Ozzy619]

Am I on the road to having an eating disorder?

You see, the most common question I get, in particular from overweight people, is "What do you eat? What is your diet?", hoping I might have some kind of magic nutrition plan, tasty and delicious, that can help them achieve the body they wish.

Even if it means sounding like a d**k, my response is : what is your goal and most of all how far are you willing to go to reach it?

Unless you are genetically gifted, and I assume they are not if they're asking me about losing weight, for me achieving a six-pack and sub 10%bf and, even more, maintaining it, was a trip to nutrition hell.

I put on fat very easily, and have a hard time losing.
In my case, getting low BF, meant (means) constant hunger, it meant (still means) being mocked by my friends while they are going through chicken wings and beer and I am having a grilled chicken salad, barely any condiment, with a unsweetened ice tea.
It means drinking as much water as I can to try not to feel hunger and going to the bathroom 10 times at night.
It means forgetting about that multigrain bread, cheese, sugars, alcohol, treats. Agonizing over that slice of cheesecake and taking only one teaspoon to it for the flavor and pushing the plate with the rest away.
It's calorie counting all the time, looking at what you are about to eat and figuring out how much additional cardio you are going to have to do to burn that cocktail that you could have done without.
It's feeling guilty every meal that does not fit within the macros that you have set for your goal. Scraping off the BBQ sauce from your steak, asking your wife for a huge salad before your meal to try to fill you up.

And I know I will lose my visible abs, if I am not absolutely strict with my nutrition, because I am NOT genetically gifted.
So now I have a food scale, I weigh everything I can. I try to figure out how to compose my next meal, based on what I ate the rest of the day, to compensate.
I started weighing myself everyday, to make sure my caloric intake is correct and am respecting my macros. While running on the treadmill I calculate the additional minutes needed to keep my metabolic rate up and burn the excess calories.

"What is your nutrition?" It sucks, that is what it is.
It's not fun with friends, it's not tasty at restaurants, it's not pleasurable at clubs.

Maybe those trying to lose wight should just try to set some realistic expectations, forget about single digit BF and simply work to reach a normal weight - or just close - without going crazy, and still be able once in a while to enjoy a slice of pizza and a beer. Which I haven't had in over a year....

Just venting

There's a lot worse things in life, such as being an alcoholic or drug addict. Yes, you are to the extreme but I don't see a problem with exceptional healthy living as long as it doesn't interfere with your work or family life.

I will say you are or are on the verge of being OCD or possibly even worse. If it's affecting you life in a negative manner I would suggest a change. If not, then you're good.

 

[KingAlfred]

As a bit of an ectomorph I could always eat what I want. Then again I was skinny. I can cut easily, loose 5% bodyfat in a week if I want to even faster. But that makes bulking hard. I have to stuff myself till I'm sick just to be at the 180lbs 14%bf I am. And that's with lifting 4 to 5 days a week and aas. I guess my point is the flip side isn't any better. If you use aas then you shouldn't have any moral obligation against using prescription amphetamines to cut. You won't be hungy. Just make sure your protein intake is very high so you don't loose muscle.

 

[RodgerThat]

Weigh your pros and cons for things like this. I was in the same spot you are and probably the most OCD eater I always hit exactly my macros tracked every gram in my body and used calorie tracking devices for real time expenditures. I was on the leaner side in the powerlifting world for sure but there was issues. I didn't care for if I had a 6pack I just wanted to be lean to be LB for LB the strongest but eventually I decided that wasn't the best for me. I wasn't able to enjoy my grandmas cooking and who knows how much longer I'll get that on holidays, I refused to go to family events cause I was ridiculed by my food loving family as they prepaired gourmet meals. Couldn't enjoy a beer with my dad on a golf course, couldn't endulge in things with my girlfriend all so I could maintain my leanness. I stopped that and found my happy homeostasis which is about 14% BF, now this isn't impressive by any feat but I'm a hell of a lot happier and I would consider myself fitter then 99.99% of the population and now am the strongest version of myself. My girlfriend loves it because I'm not anal about what I eat even though I still track everything I don't have to be in a deficit every day of the week sorta thing I can have McDonald's fries and icecream with her when she's feeling down and that makes her happy.

So ask yourself is your 6 pack worth it? I know you are a family man so see if maybe you'll be happier on a fuller stomach therfor having the energy to make your wife happier and in turn she makes you happier lots to process for that one. If the sacrifices are worth it for your though then good on ya man and you really are in the top % of this game

 

[benchyourmom]

10% is crazy if you're huge!

I'd tell them you only eat meth!

 

[benchyourmom]

Am I on the road to having an eating disorder?

You see, the most common question I get, in particular from overweight people, is "What do you eat? What is your diet?", hoping I might have some kind of magic nutrition plan, tasty and delicious, that can help them achieve the body they wish.

Even if it means sounding like a d**k, my response is : what is your goal and most of all how far are you willing to go to reach it?

Unless you are genetically gifted, and I assume they are not if they're asking me about losing weight, for me achieving a six-pack and sub 10%bf and, even more, maintaining it, was a trip to nutrition hell.

I put on fat very easily, and have a hard time losing.
In my case, getting low BF, meant (means) constant hunger, it meant (still means) being mocked by my friends while they are going through chicken wings and beer and I am having a grilled chicken salad, barely any condiment, with a unsweetened ice tea.
It means drinking as much water as I can to try not to feel hunger and going to the bathroom 10 times at night.
It means forgetting about that multigrain bread, cheese, sugars, alcohol, treats. Agonizing over that slice of cheesecake and taking only one teaspoon to it for the flavor and pushing the plate with the rest away.
It's calorie counting all the time, looking at what you are about to eat and figuring out how much additional cardio you are going to have to do to burn that cocktail that you could have done without.
It's feeling guilty every meal that does not fit within the macros that you have set for your goal. Scraping off the BBQ sauce from your steak, asking your wife for a huge salad before your meal to try to fill you up.

And I know I will lose my visible abs, if I am not absolutely strict with my nutrition, because I am NOT genetically gifted.
So now I have a food scale, I weigh everything I can. I try to figure out how to compose my next meal, based on what I ate the rest of the day, to compensate.
I started weighing myself everyday, to make sure my caloric intake is correct and am respecting my macros. While running on the treadmill I calculate the additional minutes needed to keep my metabolic rate up and burn the excess calories.

"What is your nutrition?" It sucks, that is what it is.
It's not fun with friends, it's not tasty at restaurants, it's not pleasurable at clubs.

Maybe those trying to lose wight should just try to set some realistic expectations, forget about single digit BF and simply work to reach a normal weight - or just close - without going crazy, and still be able once in a while to enjoy a slice of pizza and a beer. Which I haven't had in over a year....

Just venting

Dude, you should cycle eating at deficit and surplus! It works good for me! Few days you over eat then you eat only green veggies and just enough protein until you have hunger pains then resume your regular diet for a few 3-5 days... I seem to get even leaner tricking my body like this! I'm Endomorph by the way. I gain weight by seeing food!

 

[benchyourmom]

Weigh your pros and cons for things like this. I was in the same spot you are and probably the most OCD eater I always hit exactly my macros tracked every gram in my body and used calorie tracking devices for real time expenditures. I was on the leaner side in the powerlifting world for sure but there was issues. I didn't care for if I had a 6pack I just wanted to be lean to be LB for LB the strongest but eventually I decided that wasn't the best for me. I wasn't able to enjoy my grandmas cooking and who knows how much longer I'll get that on holidays, I refused to go to family events cause I was ridiculed by my food loving family as they prepaired gourmet meals. Couldn't enjoy a beer with my dad on a golf course, couldn't endulge in things with my girlfriend all so I could maintain my leanness. I stopped that and found my happy homeostasis which is about 14% BF, now this isn't impressive by any feat but I'm a hell of a lot happier and I would consider myself fitter then 99.99% of the population and now am the strongest version of myself. My girlfriend loves it because I'm not anal about what I eat even though I still track everything I don't have to be in a deficit every day of the week sorta thing I can have McDonald's fries and icecream with her when she's feeling down and that makes her happy.

So ask yourself is your 6 pack worth it? I know you are a family man so see if maybe you'll be happier on a fuller stomach therfor having the energy to make your wife happier and in turn she makes you happier lots to process for that one. If the sacrifices are worth it for your though then good on ya man and you really are in the top % of this game

Supposedly women like the dad bod better anyway! Ha!

 

[ergomaniac]

Dude, you should cycle eating at deficit and surplus! It works good for me! Few days you over eat then you eat only green veggies and just enough protein until you have hunger pains then resume your regular diet for a few 3-5 days... I seem to get even leaner tricking my body like this! I'm Endomorph by the way. I gain weight by seeing food!

this is a good idea. this is how I eat.
you could also try intermittent fasting or something similar.
I like to workout late in the day. during the day I eat mostly protein, low carb, low fat. if you use fat burners or drink coffee (and @Mister Sandman i think i remember you do), it should suppress your appetite a little. then you can eat more in the evening.

i like to over eat a little and under eat a little, because in a deficit i don't like being just a little hungry all the time.

 

[Demondosage]

One thing that has helped me maintain sub 10% bf levels almost year round is the "meal of the day" , this goes beyond buying all of your groceries for the week and is a little more costly but it works for me. Basically what I do is go to either the seafood section or meat department of a grocery store on a daily basis. I buy 1 lb of whatever I'm feeling that day, so if I'm sick of eating salmon then tonight it'll be a sirloin steak, tomm might be chicken. This takes the monotony and repetiveness out of part of the dieting process.

You still feel like u have choices on the "meal of the day" diet, and if I purchase 1 lb of meat I can eat off it twice. Throw in a couple shakes, some eggs, and healthy fats like flaxseed oil, olive oil, coconut oil, and going low carb for 4-5 days in a row gets easier, but you MUST have healthy fats high enough, the oils are an essential part of my diet until I get to carb refeeds.

 

[jJjburton]

If its working for you you are big and shredded stop bitching lol. Thats like complaining your too rich.

 

[Brandaddy]

I used to NEVER eat any junk food. I never went out to eat or to parties with friends, I ate the same shit everyday for months and walked around at 7% no problem. I have found that I actually enjoy hanging around 12-15% a lot more thougn. at 12ish% you still look decently lean, have good vascularity, and in the right light you almost look like you have a 6 pack. Ha.I will admit I do think about getting shredded again quite often. Then I just remind myself, "Hey, that dude might have a 6 pack, but can he deadlift 600lbs? I didn't think so!" Ha.

 

[benchyourmom]

I used to NEVER eat any junk food. I never went out to eat or to parties with friends, I ate the same shit everyday for months and walked around at 7% no problem. I have found that I actually enjoy hanging around 12-15% a lot more thougn. at 12ish% you still look decently lean, have good vascularity, and in the right light you almost look like you have a 6 pack. Ha.I will admit I do think about getting shredded again quite often. Then I just remind myself, "Hey, that dude might have a 6 pack, but can he deadlift 600lbs? I didn't think so!" Ha.

12% is a perfect maintenance weight!