Eating Healthy

[Dave Gray]

I've been of somewhat of a diet the last couple of weeks.  For me, when I let myself go, I get weight in my belly and my neck.  My family just gets fat necks as we age, so dieting is only going to help so much.  Mostly, eating healthy consists in eliminating simple carbs and focusing more on proteins.  I also find that by restricting my diet (however it is), I just end up eating less, since I have fewer choices.

What do you guys do to eat healthy, when you do?  Are you doing it now?

[dolphins4life]

I have a craving for bad food that I haven't been able to overcome and it's starting to affect my health 

[Sunstroke]

I am absolutely horrible at making healthy eating choices, as I prioritize taste and convenience much higher than I do health. When I do go on a very short-term "eat healthier" kick, it usually means more eating of fish and chicken, rather than beef and bacon, and drinking more water than iced coffee and tea.

My health kicks are so short that they couldn't even qualify as extra points though. Maybe I should just go for two, as in a big juicy double cheeseburger.  Yum!

[dolphins4life]

I started running on the treadmill at the gym to try to lose some weight, but then I found that doing that interfered with my weightlifting.

[Rich]

I've been of somewhat of a diet the last couple of weeks.  For me, when I let myself go, I get weight in my belly and my neck.  My family just gets fat necks as we age, so dieting is only going to help so much.  Mostly, eating healthy consists in eliminating simple carbs and focusing more on proteins.  I also find that by restricting my diet (however it is), I just end up eating less, since I have fewer choices.

What do you guys do to eat healthy, when you do?  Are you doing it now?

I recommend this app: MyFitnessPal

I've been using it for almost two months and have lost almost 10 lbs. Stomach is flatter.

All you have to do is put in your measureables, tell it how much weight you want to lose (I recommend 1 lb per week) and count your calories.

[Dolphster]

I'm experiencing the ugly truth of middle age. I've played sports and lifted weights, etc. all my life and had truly horrible eating habits.  But my eating habits never seemed to adversely affect the way I looked and felt.  Hit my mid 40s........aw crap......where did this gut come from??  I'm still working out and playing sports.  Screw you, aging metabolism.  For me (and everyone is different), I can't eat only healthy food.  So I try to get the proper amount of healthy food mixed in with my usual "guy food" but I have just learned to cut way back on portions. 

[Rich]

I'm experiencing the ugly truth of middle age. I've played sports and lifted weights, etc. all my life and had truly horrible eating habits.  But my eating habits never seemed to adversely affect the way I looked and felt.  Hit my mid 40s........aw crap......where did this gut come from??  I'm still working out and playing sports.  Screw you, aging metabolism.  For me (and everyone is different), I can't eat only healthy food.  So I try to get the proper amount of healthy food mixed in with my usual "guy food" but I have just learned to cut way back on portions. 

Portion control is the key. A couple of tips:

Mashed potatoes are a good food to eat if you're looking to control portions. As long as they aren't loaded with cheese. If you make them from scratch, use skim milk. A serving of mashed potatoes (not loaded) is about 140 calories. A bag of chips is about 220 calories. Mashed potatoes fill you up better.

Whole grains fill you up and keep you full.

[BuccaneerBrad]

I've cut out foods that have just empty calories and don't really give you any nutritional value.  Big case in point, I love to order a hamburger or sandwich when I go out to eat.  Most restaurants serve those things with french fries.  I will always substitute something different, preferably vegetables or a side salad.

[TonyB0D]

I have always traditionally eaten pretty healthy, because I love vegetables and good food.  I really never ate much fast food, never drank sugar sodas, make sure I got proper nutrients, etc.

However, I was always pretty chubby - 200-210 @ 6ft.  I always wanted to lose some weight but don't really have time to work out, and never really wanted to anyways.  I am an avid Redditor and stumbled upon r/keto and after a lot of research decided to give it a shot.  Ketosis is a high-fat, zero-carb diet.  It works on the principle that when deprived of all carbs, your body is able to start burning fat for energy instead of sugar.

I have been doing this diet for 10 months.  I have lost almost 50 pounds with ZERO exercise.  Most of that weight was lost within the first 6 months.  The results are spectacular and speak for themselves.  I feel great across the board.  I used to get bad gas and heartburn all the time; I have had zero of both within one week of starting diet.  Energy levels are through the roof - I have easily double the wind that I used to.  I stopped getting hunger pangs and cravings; because my blood sugar and insulin is not spiking from eating carbs, I can skip a meal or 2 without even thinking about it.  I get to eat delicious things like all the meat, bacon, and cheese I want. 

The only downfalls to the diet are that it's expensive, and can be a pain in the ass to learn and monitor.  Picky eaters will also struggle with the diet.  Carbs are hidden in EVERYTHING and you need to be very diligent monitoring ingredients.  My Fitness Pal is a great app for that.  Also, a lot of people in the healthcare field think that it is bad for you because it goes so against conventional wisdom, but all the new in-depth medical studies coming out say that it's actually great for the body.

So that's my plug for dietary Ketosis.

[Rich]

I have always traditionally eaten pretty healthy, because I love vegetables and good food.  I really never ate much fast food, never drank sugar sodas, make sure I got proper nutrients, etc.

However, I was always pretty chubby - 200-210 @ 6ft.  I always wanted to lose some weight but don't really have time to work out, and never really wanted to anyways.  I am an avid Redditor and stumbled upon r/keto and after a lot of research decided to give it a shot.  Ketosis is a high-fat, zero-carb diet.  It works on the principle that when deprived of all carbs, your body is able to start burning fat for energy instead of sugar.

I have been doing this diet for 10 months.  I have lost almost 50 pounds with ZERO exercise.  Most of that weight was lost within the first 6 months.  The results are spectacular and speak for themselves.  I feel great across the board.  I used to get bad gas and heartburn all the time; I have had zero of both within one week of starting diet.  Energy levels are through the roof - I have easily double the wind that I used to.  I stopped getting hunger pangs and cravings; because my blood sugar and insulin is not spiking from eating carbs, I can skip a meal or 2 without even thinking about it.  I get to eat delicious things like all the meat, bacon, and cheese I want. 

The only downfalls to the diet are that it's expensive, and can be a pain in the ass to learn and monitor.  Picky eaters will also struggle with the diet.  Carbs are hidden in EVERYTHING and you need to be very diligent monitoring ingredients.  My Fitness Pal is a great app for that.  Also, a lot of people in the healthcare field think that it is bad for you because it goes so against conventional wisdom, but all the new in-depth medical studies coming out say that it's actually great for the body.

So that's my plug for dietary Ketosis.

This is what the original Atkins Diet was based on (they have since modified it to include simple carbs). I did this for a while and am now paying the price for it in my kidneys. It's fine to do as a boost diet for a short period of time but over the longterm, you will build up significant amounts of uric acid in your kidneys that lead to kidney infections, or even worse, kidney stones.

I will admit I did lose significant weight on it and fast, but be careful when you get off it. The weight comes back and then some. You still need carbs, I think a more prudent diet would focus on the types of carbs rather than eliminating carbs altogether. There are significant longterm risks to no-carb diets.

[TonyB0D]

You still need carbs, I think a more prudent diet would focus on the types of carbs rather than eliminating carbs altogether. There are significant longterm risks to no-carb diets.

This is the kind of anti-keto conventional wisdom I'm talking about.  The human body does not "need carbs".  It can function fine without carbs.  There are populations of people in parts of the world who have been eating similar diets with no issues.  There are no medical studies that show long-term damage to your kidneys.  Your kidneys DO get stressed while in Ketosis, so those prone to Gout and kidney stones might see increased risk for those.  However, I have had some pretty bad gout in my life, but since eliminating beer and shellfish entirely 3 years ago, I have had no more attacks nor even a twinge in my big toes.  I have been monitoring my uric acid levels while in ketosis and have not seen them increase.  Drinking tons of water is key.

I am going to quit at the 1 year mark (June), and start working out and lifting so that I can start eating carbs again...I miss them too much to give them up forever.

[Rich]

This is the kind of anti-keto conventional wisdom I'm talking about.

This is not conventional wisdom. This is personal experience. I've done the diet you're on. I've preached it, believed in it, lived it. And then experienced the adverse results years later.

Fiber is a carb, your body needs fiber. Lack of fiber on a high protein, high fat diet can lead to constipation or a slowdown of your digestive system, which leads to the toxins that your body needs to remove staying in your body longer and being absorbed more by your organ. It is not just a matter of needing more water to keep your kidneys clean, it is a matter of ensuring your body removes the toxins to keep the workload of your liver reasonable.

If you want to do a protein/fat diet that keeps your SIMPLE carbs (these are the bad carbs) low, go Paleo. You'll still get the necessary dietary fiber to keep your digestive system functioning and avoid the simple carbs that your body doesn't know how to handle, so it just stores them as fat.

Another thing to consider when dieting is that everyone has a different body type. Some people simply cannot go on high protein diets because they have adverse affects to animal proteins and animal fats. I guess they could just eat Boca Burgers for the rest of the lives, but that just doesn't seem reasonable. Different blood types and digestive systems react differently to different types of food. You mentioned that you experience inflammation from eating certain carbs. This is common with things like dairy, corn, certain legumes and things like nuts. Some people need to do an elimination diet to figure out what inflammatory allergies they have to certain foods. I know people that have had to go vegeterian because meat, even fish or chicken, have adverse affects on them that do not go away while they continue to eat these... one of them even started eating organic grass fed beef and organic cage free vegeterian fed chickens and... same results.

Dieting is not one size fits all.

[pondwater]

I've tried keto several times and never really liked it. I always felt run down, had horrible keto breath, and wanted to skip workouts. In my 20 years working out, I find portion control the biggest factor. It's basic calories in vs calories out. It really is that simple. I usually eat most of my carbs for breakfast and taper the rest down over the rest of the day. Unless it's a workout day, then my PWO is 30-40g of protein and 60g of fast acting carbs. My daily macro breakdown is 40% protein/30%carbs/30%fats. As I lean out during the summer months I drop the carbs pretty low for a few days and do a reload a couple times a week. Everyone's different, but that's pretty much what works for me.

[Rich]

I've tried keto several times and never really liked it. I always felt run down, had horrible keto breath, and wanted to skip workouts. In my 20 years working out, I find portion control the biggest factor. It's basic calories in vs calories out. It really is that simple. I usually eat most of my carbs for breakfast and taper the rest down over the rest of the day. Unless it's a workout day, then my PWO is 30-40g of protein and 60g of fast acting carbs. My daily macro breakdown is 40% protein/30%carbs/30%fats. As I lean out during the summer months I drop the carbs pretty low for a few days and do a reload a couple times a week. Everyone's different, but that's pretty much what works for me.

When I did the no carb diets, I did go through withdrawals, but once I went into ketosis, my energy levels were pretty good. I didn't get tired at the gym. But like I said before, I paid the price later with kidney issues.

I agree portion control is a more stable and much better longterm option. When you get off the no carb diets, you're at risk of gaining all the weight back and more. With portion control, you actually train yourself to eat less. It is a more consistent approach.

The only thing I would recommend you do differently is to try to have more of your protein in the morning and your carbs for lunch. But, as long as you're under your calorie goal, it doesn't really matter that much. It is just that proteins are more filling and make it easier throughout the rest of the day.

[Phishfan]

since eliminating beer ... entirely 3 years ago,

Blasphemer!

I had beers and a Philly cheeseteak for dinner last night. That is my version of eating a healthy diet.