New member seeking basic nutritional knowledge

[flyjinx]

Hello everyone,
I am 26, 5'5", 170lbs, softball player, martial artist, and military aviator. I have been consistently between 160-170 for the last few years now. I would like to get some basic info on nutrition and how to clean up my diet.
For the most part, I dont eat too bad. I just take in too many carbs for the most part and I dont drink enough water. My protein intake is pretty good and my sweet tooth has always been under pretty good control. I take Calcium everyday and I am about to start taking Flax again.
I am not really worried about weight loss although 170lbs is well over my weight max according to the military. But they dont take into account that I am a rather muscular chick! I would like to loose some body fat though and maintain a trim look. Keeping my body fat down will help me stay off the Fat-Girl program. My metabolism is really slow, but I attribute that to not enough water.
I am looking for a book or something like that on basic nutrition so I can answer my questions like: What's the difference between complex carbs and simple carbs, and what are the sources of both? What are some sources of fiber other than oatmeal? What about cheese if you are trying to loose fat? Do carrots really have too much sugar to benefit a low fat diet?
I have perused this site already and found some good info. Can anyone out there give me some more knowledge or at least point me in the right direction?

Thanx much!
Jinx

 

[spatts]

What are you eating now? What is your body fat %?

 

[jenscats5]

Hi & welcome!! I'm new here too & trying to figure out the same diet stuff you are. I posted what I ate the past 2 days, so you may want to read the replies for ideas.

 

[lucidblue]

Welcome and good luck!

 

[PBR]

oh.....the fat squad......you dont want to be there....holy shit....never was, however...several comrades were....daily inspections were always a nightmare for those people.....Spatts is your guru......welcome..

 

[flyjinx]

I dunno what my true body fat is. When it is measured by someone in the AF, it is usually around 26-28%. But, it is a tape method which I know is not very accurate because if you ask them to tape you more than once, each time you get a different measurement.
My Tanita scale at home says that I am anywhere between 32-36%. That changes from day to day! I dont know what's up with that.

My diet (if you wanna call it that) usually follows this plan:
Breakfast- 1 bowl of Special K Red Berries cereal with 2% milk

Snack- Chewy Granola Bar

Lunch- Usually a Subway sandwich, Turkey Breast on Honey Oat Bread, lettuce, onion, cucumber, no mayo/mustard

Snack- Chewy Granola Bar or beef jerky

Dinner- either Steak or Chicken Breast mostly, sometimes boneless lean pork chops, with corn or broccoli or spinach or green beans, and Jasmine or Uncle Bens rice, sometimes bread too.

I dont eat a lot of sweets. No ice cream in the house, no candy bars. Frozen fruit bars are about as close as I get. A bag of Skittles at work occasionally.

I know I need to cut carbs big time and eat more fruit. I dont drink a lot of soda or coffee either, but more water would help my metabolism.

I am not looking to loose a lot of body fat, but 20% would be a nice goal for now.

 

[FitFossil]

Check out this site: http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html

There's a great section on diet. Click "Eating", then "dieting 101". I especially like "part 4: ok, so what the hell am i supposed to eat?"

 

[flyjinx]

Yeah, exactly!
What tha hell am I supposed to eat?!

Thanks a lot. I'll check it out.

 

[bignate73]

My Tanita scale at home says that I am anywhere between 32-36%. That changes from day to day! I dont know what's up with that.

bioelectrical impedence type bodyfat testers can fluctuate like crazy based on your caffiene/water intake. basically if your water balance is off...those will be off. they have whats called a 7 day protocol when using those, which means no diuretics or fluctuations in your sodium/potassium level (from norm) to get you normalized. kindof worthless if you ask me.

also, if you carry a decent amount of muscle, your numbers will be off as well.

 

[flyjinx]

Check out this site: http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html

There's a great section on diet. Click "Eating", then "dieting 101". I especially like "part 4: ok, so what the hell am i supposed to eat?"

Thanks! That is a great site! Lot's of good info.