OK, what the hell. I give up

[agent709]

If I want to do something i like to do it right, but this is all confusing me at the moment.

Apparently no two sources seem to agree on how many calories my body burns a day, how the hell am I supposed to know what my heart rate is at a moment, and how exactly do I balance right foods?

I need somebody like Abrannan to help me please:

How are these foods?

Grilled Chicken Breast
Carrots
Salads (just a generic house salad, no cheese, maybe grilled chicken)
Milk (skim, sometimes 2%)
Kashi cereals
KAshibars/nutrigrains (I love these)
Mandarin oranges (come in a cup)
Pinapple (see above)
Tuna (starkist)

Those are the main foods I eat on a daily diet basis. Also:

Heart rate?
Daily Metabolism?

Abrannan seems to be the most reliable source I know, but anyone feel free to straighten me back out!

[abrannan]

agent709 said:

If I want to do something i like to do it right, but this is all confusing me at the moment.

Apparently no two sources seem to agree on how many calories my body burns a day, how the hell am I supposed to know what my heart rate is at a moment, and how exactly do I balance right foods?

I need somebody like Abrannan to help me please:

*sees the abrannan-signal shining in the night sky*

"Quick! To the Post-Mobile!"

How are these foods?

Grilled Chicken Breast

Skinless, very good. Most of the fat/cholesterol is in the skin, so as long as you remove that, you're golden.

Carrots

It's a vegetable, so it's got that going for it. The downside is that it is a bit high sugar for a vegetable. So it's good amongst all foods, but not as good as some other vegetables.

Salads (just a generic house salad, no cheese, maybe grilled chicken)

Really depends on the dressing. Some dressings can be very high in fat, some can be high in sugar, and some can be high in both. A good olive oil vinaigrette is a good choice, olive oil is high in polyunstaurated fats (the good fats) and has some great health benefits.

Milk (skim, sometimes 2%)

Jury's still out on this one, there are some studies that indicate that dairy products can help you lose weight, and there's another school of thought that humans aren't meant to drink cow's milk. Try and find some information from both sides of the issue and draw your own conclusions.

Kashi cereals

Tends to be very high in fiber and whole grains, while being low in sugar. One of the better breakfast cereals you can choose.

KAshibars/nutrigrains (I love these)

Watch the balance of fiber to sugar on these bars

Mandarin oranges (come in a cup)
Pinapple (see above)

Farily high sugar fruits, use in moderation and watch the amount of sugar in the syrup they're packed in

Tuna (starkist)

Good, low fat, fish. If you make tuna salad with this, watch the amount of fat in the mayonnaise.

Those are the main foods I eat on a daily diet basis. Also:

Heart rate?
Daily Metabolism?

Abrannan seems to be the most reliable source I know, but anyone feel free to straighten me back out!

Heart Rate - Find your pulse (Good spots are your Carotid Artery next to your Adam's apple or your radial pulse on your wrist just below the base of your thumb). Count the number of beats in a 10 second period and multiply this number by 6. That's your heart rate. If you do it while you're rested and haven't done any activity for a bit, it's your resting heart rate. The lower your resting heart rate, the better your overall level of fitness. For cardio exercise, you want to try and keep your heart rate in a target zone near 75% of your maximum heart rate. Maximum heart rate is usually figured as 220-your age, so your target would be (220-age)*.75. For people under 20, this works out to 150 beats per minute, or 25 beats in a 10 second count.