OT: Diets

[temery]

Bravo, Tom.

That was very funny.

Personally, though, I only consume ipecac as a mixer for my first drink on bachelor-party, heavy-drinking nights that are destined to end with me praying at the porcelain alter anyway—might as well start early and get it over with.

Amateur. 8 oz of water between drinks and you're good the next morning.

 

[Kitaman]

Good for you Scrappy. I need to do the same. 2 month sago my Doc labeled me Diabetic. My AC1 or 1AC (whatever) was 7.0 But the ceiling was 6.5. So exerciser and try to diet. Other than that see you in six months. NOW, the gurus in the sky decide to drop the tops to 5.8. Now all kinds of bells and whistles went off. Carbs, Carbs.Watch your carbs. Everything is good, liver, heart,kidneys, Cholesterol. All is great. One gal told me to deduct Dietary Fiber grams from Carb grams, and that will give you the correct carb intake. I don't know.I am getting tired of it. I asked.."okay I am diabetic, how am I supposed to feel. Faint? Throw up? Grow an additional toe? Nobody can explain it to me. So, I quit soft drinks. Used to drink V8 Veggie juice and 50 50 Orange juice. Nope all juice is sugar. Frankly I am very tied of this BS.

My diabetic wife thinks of such food as poison. That helps her with discipline along with acceptance.

 

[temery]

Good for you Scrappy. I need to do the same. 2 month sago my Doc labeled me Diabetic. My AC1 or 1AC (whatever) was 7.0 But the ceiling was 6.5. So exerciser and try to diet. Other than that see you in six months. NOW, the gurus in the sky decide to drop the tops to 5.8. Now all kinds of bells and whistles went off. Carbs, Carbs.Watch your carbs. Everything is good, liver, heart,kidneys, Cholesterol. All is great. One gal told me to deduct Dietary Fiber grams from Carb grams, and that will give you the correct carb intake. I don't know.I am getting tired of it. I asked.."okay I am diabetic, how am I supposed to feel. Faint? Throw up? Grow an additional toe? Nobody can explain it to me. So, I quit soft drinks. Used to drink V8 Veggie juice and 50 50 Orange juice. Nope all juice is sugar. Frankly I am very tied of this BS.

My doctor explained to me the benefits of being a diabetic unwilling to manage his disease, "the good news is you won't have to save for a long retirement."

Message received.

 

[temery]

Look at a portion of pasta on the box snd then what you eat. Holy . Big difference.

The good news is a serving size is also very small for food that's good for you, but you don't want to eat.

I get my servings of fruits and vegetables in a smoothie: Avocado, banana, berries, mango, carrots, kale, powered green tea, and sweet potato. I hate kale and green tea, but I don't taste either one bit.

 

[tzznandrew]

Look at a portion of pasta on the box snd then what you eat. Holy . Big difference.

Seriously. I've dropped almost 30 pounds since January by switching to whole grains and eating portion sizes. It doesn't feel like I'm on a diet or anything since I'm full from the whole grain.

 

[temery]

Seriously. I've dropped almost 30 pounds since January by switching to whole grains and eating portion sizes. It doesn't feel like I'm on a diet or anything since I'm full from the whole grain.

Stay away from school lunches. That stuff will kill you.

 

[DaddyChoc]

tl;dr I personally appreciate the short-term benefits of that kind of diet, but in the end the long-term health and moral implications of a diet that requires the macro-nutrient profile it does, I'm now plant-based and it's really changed how I see food and nutrition.

I did exactly what you're talking about for a few years when I was about 22-25 and lifting a lot, kicking grad school's ass, and banging college girls all over Boston in the three years I lived there. Arguably the best years of my life so far. High-carb, low-fat on working days; low-carb, high-fat on rest days; high protein throughout. I was eating up to 6 servings of peanut butter each rest day by the spoon. I certainly felt great, got in to the shape I still essentially am in 18 months later, and was the strongest I've ever been thus far. I should say that I was also doing this quite "cleanly" in the sense that my carbs mostly came from navy beans out the can.

I lost my strength and have been slowly crawling back ever since after a bad case of mono I caught in Chicago but that's a whole other story. Just making that point so that it's made clear I didn't lose strength because of my diet change.

The way I transitioned is to vegetarian first then eventually to a plant-based diet. Meeting a lot of vegetarian girls helped for sure but I started, over my last year or so in Boston, by not buying meat at the store. I substituted soy and seitan and used them as substitutes. I would still order meat dishes at/from from restaurants whenever I wanted. Then after a while of that, and falling in love with Thai, Vietnamese, and Indian cuisines while in Boston, I realized how easy being vegetarian actually is. I also watched "Earthlings" thanks to one of those veggie chicks, and then that kicked off me watching like 4 more documentaries about the farm and food industries. That's when I had to give up meat. Then I did essentially the same process with eggs and dairy when I moved out to Vegas and figured I cut out meat easily enough, and knew how cruel the egg and dairy industries are, so I no longer had an excuse to consume those. I have kept it going, quite easily now, in San Diego.

The only real difference at baseline now I've noticed is no GI symptoms from one sphincter to the other at all, unless I overdo the spiciness. I will say that I remember initially caving in the past after like 6 weeks and getting a meat-lovers pizza or something ridiculous, I could immediately feel my blood pressure rise. And my core would be markedly weaker in the gym the next morning. And my farts all reeked again. And, as I mentioned, the bloating and feeling of grossness

surprised you didn't catch anything else with all the "college girls" and "veggie chicks" you slayed

 

[8893]

Nutritionist wasn't covered under my old plan. New one just started yesterday, so I'll have to check. But, using an app like MyFitnessPal gave me a ton of info on where I needed to change, which was mostly TV-watching snacks after dinner.

Check preventative care coverage. It was my understanding that it was required to be covered under most plans per the Affordable Care Act.

In any event, I couldn't agree more about slow and steady. My mantra this time was "lose weight slow."

 

[huskyrob1]

That's great for you, eliminating bad carbs. Now I'm not a doctor, but I do believe the accepted wisdom in cardiology is that high (or really any) intake of saturated fat and cholesterol is really not good.

And are you telling me you are avoiding fruit...?

The high fat is not good, but the high protein is worse and in a very sneaky way. If all you Boneyarders want to lose weight SAFELY, eat a balanced diet of fats, protein, and yes the dreaded carbs. Skip breakfast each morning except for maybe a cup of java, and instead just drink lots of water while you sweat bullets on the treadmill or stepper while at the gym before work. Eat a fairly large lunch and pig out at dinner if you want, eat a high fiber snack before bed. Carbs, in the long run are good for you, been like that for thousands of years, what's not good you is a sedentary lifestyle. Trying to cheat your lifestyle with high fat and high protein diets just puts so much at risk with respect to your heart and your kidneys.

 

[Doginaus]

Strange post for a college basketball thread, but since we're all humans and pretty much go through the same things and have the same type of problems, it is probably more necessary than we would like to admit. So, I'll jump in.

Great to hear about all the dieting going on, I'm doing on one as well for health reasons. The diet I'm using is called the blood type diet and it is designed to work with those type of foods that are most beneficial with each individual blood type.

Unfortunately, my blood type doesn't allow me to eat any wheat, potatoes or corn, which makes it very hard to eat out. But that's okay because I've learned to adjust my diet to eat those foods that are beneficial to my blood type.

I've done this diet several years ago and lost 32 lbs in 2 months, but, the added benefit to this diet is that along with losing the 32 lbs, all my levels; blood sugar, cholesterol, etc..., which were way out of whack, all came back to normal levels. I am currently on this diet again and in just over 3 weeks, I've lost 18 lbs.

Another benefit is that I'm feeling better, health wise.

 

[chiller99.5]

Intermittent fasting has worked great for me down 35 lbs and last checkup was amazing.

 

[husky99]

The real solution is a good old fashion stomach bug. 7 pounds in 3 days. Sure most of it is water weight. But still.

 

[nomar]

Someone parse this for me.

He's eating 3/4ths of a veggie sub every day? What's he doing with the other quarter of a sub? That routine seems a little rough long term - you will eventually need protein and fat, my boy.

I think maybe he buys a bunch of them, cuts them into quarters, eats 3 a day, and thus builds up a supply of wet, slimy veggie sub quarters?

I lost 25 pounds in a year once despite not changing my diet. I'm pretty sure I had a tapeworm once. Esophagitis also works like a charm

 

[Rocktheworld]

So there is being "plant-based" and then there is being full-on vegan. One is a diet, the other is an entire lifestyle. But yes I avoid that whenever I can but I don't do so to call myself a vegan.

Regardless, we're all hypocrites anyway!

 

[8893]

Anyone looking to get in more regular exercise: Keep a packed gym bag in your car every day, even on days when you have plans that would otherwise prevent you from getting to the gym or getting out for a run or walk. You'll be amazed when you start to appreciate how often plans change, and instead of killing time at a desk, in a bar or in your recliner, etc. you are able to take advantage of it and get in another 30 minutes or more of exercise.

I was just reminded of this, as we were supposed to go out for a family dinner tonight as a belated birthday dinner for one of our daughters, which would have prevented my evening exercise. I packed the gym bag nonetheless--always with both gym clothes and running clothes so I can decide based on weather and how I feel--and my wife just texted to say she has the flu and dinner is off. So...now I am prepared for whichever option I want.

Planet Fitness Black Card helps, too, as I can use any of them. I travel around the state often and that allows me to jump into nearby gyms when I have time to spare in between where I am and when I head home.

As Father Mychal Judge said, "Do you want to make God laugh? Tell Him what you have planned for tomorrow!"

 

[HuskyHawk]

Regardless of through evolution or not, the point is that we are herbivores. That's not the only piece of evidence. You look at human dentition, you look at our salivary and digestive enzymes... if anything we defied our nature by consuming animals out of desperation for calories. Imagine what they caught tasted like, cooked (if at all) with hunter-gatherer technology?

Is this supposed to be some justification for continued consumption in modern society?



Well that's what this all boils down to so I don't even know how to answer that question. Do you mean I think it makes it somehow feel less wrong if I know that that patty of ground up flesh came from a cow that lived a comfortable life? Not particularly, see below


Well on top of that, one could argue it's quite the betrayal to bring up a cow from an infant calf, showing it love and good treatment, all for you to slaughter and butcher and consume it. Wouldn't it feel like eating a pet to you?

Edit I guess harvesting milk/eggs from well-treated cows/chickens isn't the worst

I'm cool with people believing this, and acting accordingly, as long as they don't try to impose those views on the rest of us. My sister is a vegetarian, and a conservation biologist who studies animals. So that makes sense to me.

The reality is that we aren't herbivores, and brain development is slowed among herbivores compared to animals that eat meat. Humans are omnivores. Here's some more data, from vegan scientists.

 

[temery]

The real solution is a good old fashion stomach bug. 7 pounds in 3 days. Sure most of it is water weight. But still.

Nah, few things beat advanced kidney disease. Sure, the steroids may cause 100 pounds in weight gain, but you'll lose more than that toward the end.

 

[temery]

brain development is slowed among herbivores compared to animals that eat meat

Wher the hell did you get that from?

 

[HuskyHawk]

Wher the hell did you get that from?

NPR. It relates to brain development of infants.

 

[Lefty2one]

I'm cool with people believing this, and acting accordingly, as long as they don't try to impose those views on the rest of us. My sister is a vegetarian, and a conservation biologist who studies animals. So that makes sense to me.

The reality is that we aren't herbivores, and brain development is slowed among herbivores compared to animals that eat meat. Humans are omnivores. Here's some more data, from vegan scientists.

I agree that humans are omnivores. I'm also a firm believer in doing what you feel is best for your body and never projecting this kind of big lifestyle decision on to others. As I said earlier, I've been a vegetarian for six months and have never once told a friend/family/colleague to try vegetarianism. It's worked great for me, doesn't mean it'll work for others.

Re: brain development - I don't know if what you stated is true but brain development is believed to stop around 25. So after that age I'm not sure that there will be many negatives of avoiding meat. I'm well past 25 so I'm not concerned with this, especially since I've had much more energy and my ability to focus has improved quite a bit.

Another improvement I noticed since going vegetarian is that my energy is far more stable/consistent in addition to being better. I didn't realize how many protein/meat crashes I had. I used to have a propensity to nap far too often, much to my wife's dismay. Those little 20-30 minute cat naps on the couch in the evening. I've taken one nap in the last six months and it was after a night of getting four hours of sleep.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I'm cool with people believing this, and acting accordingly, as long as they don't try to impose those views on the rest of us. My sister is a vegetarian, and a conservation biologist who studies animals. So that makes sense to me.

The reality is that we aren't herbivores, and brain development is slowed among herbivores compared to animals that eat meat. Humans are omnivores. Here's some more data, from vegan scientists.

Can omnivores develop atherosclerosis? The editor of the American Journal of Cardiology states that only herbivores can develop it, thus humans must be herbivores.

 

[Giscombe12]

I can also vouch for the simplicity of counting your calories with MyFitnessPal, exercise (basketball a couple times a week, walking) and just sticking to it. I used to snack on chips or candy while watching TV at night and have eliminated that. I was at 240 last March 1, dropped most of that quickly and have been hovering at the 200-205 mark consistently for the past eight months.

 

[temery]

NPR. It relates to brain development of infants.

That explains the viability of a species, not the health of an individual. Vegetarians live longer than omnivores. That doesn't mean it's solely due to diet, but if you want to live longer, eating more fruits and vegetables is best.

 

[8893]

Speaking of atherosclerosis and NPR, I caught a bit of a report this past week that was talking about a study of the Tsimane population in the Amazon, who apparently have the lowest rates ever recorded on the planet. Interesting stuff. No firm conclusions yet, but regular, low-intensity exercise certainly seems to be a big part: they walk an average of 7 1/2 miles a day.

Good read or listen:

 

[HuskyHawk]

That explains the viability of a species, not the health of an individual. Vegetarians live longer than omnivores. That doesn't mean it's solely due to diet, but if you want to live longer, eating more fruits and vegetables is best.

Sure. And when we are talking about "are humans omnivores" the species, not the individual, is what is relevant. I'm not saying becoming a vegetarian as an adult human is unhealthy. And it is certainly the case that omnivores like us need a lot of fruits and vegetables, more than most Americans probably consume. No argument there.