Nutrition and eating well group

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note: Please feel free to fact check, make corrections, etc. I'll do my best to keep up but I apologize if I miss anything.

Related threads:
Weight loss group
Goodjer Chefs (hit em up for tasty healthy recipes)

Tools:
web based
-checking or tracking nutrients, calories, etc; Entirely too much information if you just want to count calories but I like it: http://nutritiondata.self.com/

iOS
Cronometer
Menu Planner
Nom Nom Paleo

Resources
More Broccoli less chips blog
General guidelines:
-Eat plenty of fruits and veggies from a wide selection. For some locations this may be harder than others, don't be afraid to buy frozen if you need to.
-Protein: leans meats, fish, legumes

Accounability crew
Clover starting here
Me starting here

Other stuff:
-Specific to some anti-cancer diets out there; acidity of food and sugar don't matter nearly as much as some of these diets make out. There are other reasons to avoid mass intake of refined sugar but this isn't directly one of them. See here, here, and here.

-

KingGorilla wrote:

3. Avoid binges. If you feel like pizza one day, eat it. But tomorrow when you want ice cream, or the birthday at work is giving out cupcakes, pass.

This is fairly important for your sanity, especially as you're transitioning diets.

Oh sure why not. I would direct folks to the Chef's Thread we have good recipes that are healthy in there.

It is a funny place. What has bugged me, and you can look over Netflix on this, are the documentaries out there pushing a particular product, a food agenda. That fad seems to be over and it is moving to BS on energy science.

I would like to think with collective work, we of the GWJer collective might craft a solid body of advice.

For myself, my fiancee, people I know who put on weight, fall into unhealthy habits, a big part of the solution is resolving your relationship with food. For so many of us junk food is something we go to after a rough day, it is how we reward hard work, it is how we celebrate. When you are a kid, pizza parties celebrate baseball wins, a trip to McDonalds is a reward for a good report card. When we are poor, a dinner out or take-out is a treat for when we save up. When we have money a restaurant, pizza delivery, chinese take out is what we do when we have worked a 12 hour day and have no energy to cook.

And then there is the simple truth, that as we get older metabolism slows down, and things we could do in College or High School are not lifestyles we can keep in our 30's.

What we have found works for us, my fiancee/wife and myself.
1. Sunday we prepare food for the week-a lunch menu, dinner. She preps healthy snacks too, mini kebabs of turkey, zucchini, cheese. She made a large bowl of tuna salad. She portions out yogurt and honey, also oatmeal with fruits.
-We will have one or two dinner options. I made a pot roast last night of pork and veggies, the rest is in the fridge. Presently a lentil soup is in the crock pot (last week was a turkey chili and we had grilled chicken breasts).
-When we get bored of that fare, we also have Tilapia, Salmon, Shrimp, chicken sausages in the freezer (things we do not have to thaw and prep too much). This lasts us a week (usually til saturday).
2. Friday is date night, right now we are on a sushi kick, before that was Thai.
-This is a night of treats. Now If you prefer pizza or bbq or fried chicken, get it. We walk to the Sushi Restaurant, about a mile there and a mile back.
-Walking places whenever possible is a great way to enjoy the bad foods, and you can even do it in the winter if it is about a mile (that is a 20-30 minute walk). Absent that, we will drive to a restaurant in a larger downtown area, and park a few blocks away.
3. Avoid binges. If you feel like pizza one day, eat it. But tomorrow when you want ice cream, or the birthday at work is giving out cupcakes, pass.
4. Double up on vegetables. Eat your chicken breast with dinner, or steak, your potato or rice. If you need to fill up more, get a nice big salad on the table, or steam some veggies. (no ranch you cheaters). We stick with a USDA recommended protein serving (6-8 oz), and pile on the carrots, mushrooms, etc.

Simple, but relevant: A core lesson from my upbringing was that the more variety of (natural) colors on your plate, the better. Whites, browns, and reds are a given with the usual meat/starch/tomato/cheese laden fare. (Yellow cheese is added color, doesn't count.) It's only in the fruits and vegetables that you'll find the greens (duh), and the more exotic oranges, yellow, and purples.

I'm interested in the accountability part. I'm maintaining a stable weight but have a few medications that are precluding actual weight loss, so I'm just focusing on improving my diet right now. I have possessed all manner of good habits at various times, but I need to assemble them into something that jives with my current health issues (difficult because I need to steer clear of a lot of things that are typically "good for you").

A tip I've heard for those limiting types of food (especially dairy or gluten) is to make sure to mix in days when you do ingest the off-limits foods. Intolerance is something your body will learn if it doesn't have to break something down for a while.

KingGorilla wrote:

What we have found works for us, my fiancee/wife and myself.
1. Sunday we prepare food for the week-a lunch menu, dinner. She preps healthy snacks too, mini kebabs of turkey, zucchini, cheese. She made a large bowl of tuna salad. She portions out yogurt and honey, also oatmeal with fruits.
-We will have one or two dinner options. I made a pot roast last night of pork and veggies, the rest is in the fridge. Presently a lentil soup is in the crock pot (last week was a turkey chili and we had grilled chicken breasts).
-When we get bored of that fare, we also have Tilapia, Salmon, Shrimp, chicken sausages in the freezer (things we do not have to thaw and prep too much). This lasts us a week (usually til saturday).
2. Friday is date night, right now we are on a sushi kick, before that was Thai.
-This is a night of treats. Now If you prefer pizza or bbq or fried chicken, get it. We walk to the Sushi Restaurant, about a mile there and a mile back.
-Walking places whenever possible is a great way to enjoy the bad foods, and you can even do it in the winter if it is about a mile (that is a 20-30 minute walk). Absent that, we will drive to a restaurant in a larger downtown area, and park a few blocks away.
3. Avoid binges. If you feel like pizza one day, eat it. But tomorrow when you want ice cream, or the birthday at work is giving out cupcakes, pass.
4. Double up on vegetables. Eat your chicken breast with dinner, or steak, your potato or rice. If you need to fill up more, get a nice big salad on the table, or steam some veggies. (no ranch you cheaters). We stick with a USDA recommended protein serving (6-8 oz), and pile on the carrots, mushrooms, etc.

This is exactly what I do. Sunday is my day off from weights/cardio...I use that time to go grocery shopping and then prepare my meals/snacks for the week. The only thing that really sucks is that if you live in a city, you'll end up spending more on fresh food then you will on take out. In some cases, a lot more. Anyway, last Sunday I made a stir fry for lunch and raw energy bars for a snack. Dinner is a spinach salad and fajitas (I season/saute the chicken but leave the veggies raw)....or some variation of that. Friday night is date night for us as well. Last week was italian, this week will probably be sushi.

And I second the walking part. My gym is a mile from my house and the train I take is a 1/2 block up from there. So thats 2 miles of walking every day plus whatever cardio I get in during the week.

If you're interested in tracking your food intake, myfitnesspal is quick and easy. You can add friends to your account so that you can check up on each other...the hardest part is just taking the time to fill it out.

Quick question for folks. Do you notice junk food fighting back a bit? I notice that pepperoni or sausage on a pizza gives me major heartburn if I eat more than a slice.

I too notice that the longer I go without junk the bigger it hits me if I cave and readd it to my diet, not so much heartburn but certainly I end up feeling 'less well'. This combined with how subjective taste seem to respond to not having so much sugar and salt for a while are thankfully helping in going a little longer each time and fighting off the extinction burst.

Man I clicked on this scared of finding largely incorrect/out of date / unproven advice, but everything so far is awesome.

One thing I struggle with is finding cheap, healthy sources of protein that are sustainable. "Cheap protein" to me means eggs, milk, and tuna. Eggs are either healthy or deadly depending on the month, and I've largely cut out milk from my diet.

My protein lately consists in part of canned chicken, sardines, and mixed nuts, with eggs thrown in as a snack.

I *love* quinoa, but the pricepoint still makes it more of an ocassional meal than a staple.

Seth wrote:

One thing I struggle with is finding cheap, healthy sources of protein that are sustainable.

Spelt is another protein rich grain option. I really like it.

However, you missed out the King Of Proteins - beans!. They're cheap, versatile, low-fat and high in protein and fiber. Take garbonzos and make hummus. Whip up a big batch of red beans and (brown) rice. Chilli! Heinz Baked Beans with a poached egg on toast is the bomb-diggedy of breakfasts.

Seth wrote:

Man I clicked on this scared of finding largely incorrect/out of date / unproven advice, but everything so far is awesome.

One thing I struggle with is finding cheap, healthy sources of protein that are sustainable. "Cheap protein" to me means eggs, milk, and tuna. Eggs are either healthy or deadly depending on the month, and I've largely cut out milk from my diet.

My protein lately consists in part of canned chicken, sardines, and mixed nuts, with eggs thrown in as a snack.

I *love* quinoa, but the pricepoint still makes it more of an ocassional meal than a staple.

Beans. Canned/dried/whatever...always dirt cheap, especially bags of dry beans. Brown rice as well. Most nuts/seeds are always expensive in this area with the exception of raw sunflower. I eat them as a snack or put them through a coffee grinder and add them to a smoothie. Spinach is another cheap protein, right now bags are going for $1.50 at the local store. Eggs were $2.49 for 18 extra large. Most stores have at least 1 kind of chicken that is on sale every week so stock the freezer. Same with tuna and peanut butter...there are so many brands that most of the time one of them is on sale.

Edit: didn't see Jonman's post. Spelt is great for making pizzas and flat breads.

Seth, maybe you can try different vegetable sources, mixed with others so they are a complete protein. For example, beans by themselves have protein, but not all the amino acids. They are not complete, like eggs. But if you combine the beans with rice, you will get them all -- rice has the ones the beans lack.

An easy shorthand way to remember is if you combine a legume with a grain, you're in good shape. So experiment with combinations. There's a lot of ideas out there if you search on "complete protein". Here's a starting list without a bunch of snake-oil from someone hyping their version of a vegetarian diet.

edit: somewhat Tannhausered. And now I have decided to make split pea soup for dinner.

Jonman wrote:

However, you missed out the King Of Proteins - beans!. They're cheap, versatile, low-fat and high in protein and fiber. Take garbonzos and make hummus. Whip up a big batch of red beans and (brown) rice. Chilli! Heinz Baked Beans with a poached egg on toast is the bomb-diggedy of breakfasts.

momgamer wrote:

Seth, maybe you can try different vegetable sources, mixed with others so they are a complete protein. For example, beans by themselves have protein, but not all the amino acids. They are not complete, like eggs. But if you combine the beans with rice, you will get them all -- rice has the ones the beans lack.

An easy shorthand way to remember is if you combine a legume with a grain, you're in good shape. So experiment with combinations. There's a lot of ideas out there if you search on "complete protein". Here's a starting list without a bunch of snake-oil from someone hyping their version of a vegetarian diet.

edit: somewhat Tannhausered. And now I have decided to make split pea soup for dinner.

This is awesome! Thanks everyone. I had completely forgotten about beans. I used to eat a huge amount of black beans, but I must have overdone it and then forgotten about them. Time for some black bean and sweet potatoe chili!

That is a good anecdote, I think - if I overdo a specific ingredient, I burn out on it and then stop eating it. I would do better with a planned out meal plan, I bet.

That song could literally have been written about me. Mind you, beans are an inferior muffin-cutter-fuel compared to lentils, which are bloody rocket fuel.

And I do love me some lentils.

Seth wrote:

That is a good anecdote, I think - if I overdo a specific ingredient, I burn out on it and then stop eating it. I would do better with a planned out meal plan, I bet.

Thing with beans (for me at least) is that different kinds of legumes feel like different foods, so I don't get burned out if I keep switching legumes. Kidney beans in a chilli for lunch, with hummus in the afternoon, and lentils for dinner don't feel like eating the same thing thrice.

Jonman wrote:

However, you missed out the King Of Proteins - beans!. They're cheap, versatile, low-fat and high in protein and fiber. Take garbonzos and make hummus. Whip up a big batch of red beans and (brown) rice. Chilli! Heinz Baked Beans with a poached egg on toast is the bomb-diggedy of breakfasts.

That's a big part of my problem with finding cheap, healthy proteins. I hate beans It's a texture thing. The only bean I can stand to eat is a green bean, which I'm pretty sure doesn't actually count.

I really like egg whites, but I'm not sure of a good way to take them to work without severely violating the olfactory workspace. Any suggestions?

As far as protein goes I use whey isolate, bought in bulk it comes to about $1.50-2.00 a day in my case however I'm vegetarian and my daily protein requirements are higher than the typical person such that getting it all via legumes and nuts simply isn't viable.

There's a general impression(accurate?) that nutrients(both macro and micro) sourced from food are in some sense better than supplements, but one can only eat so much food in a day such that pragmatic issues render supplementation ideal. Perhaps a matter of 'better' rather than 'best' provided your supplements are of high quality and good sources.

Dyni wrote:

That's a big part of my problem with finding cheap, healthy proteins. I hate beans It's a texture thing. The only bean I can stand to eat is a green bean, which I'm pretty sure doesn't actually count.

Believe it or not, they do. Technically, green beans and peas are legumes, but they are labelled "vegetables" because of the way they are usually consumed. Sort of like the stuff that labels tomatoes a "vegetable", even though botanically they're defined as a fruit.

Protein powders are a good place, tough to work them into dinner though.

Some beans you may be missing:
Garbanzo in all its glory-Falafel anyone?
Lentils-mix with rice, use in soup.
Fish-Fish can be expensive, but I have been finding great prices on Tilapia, Usually 10 bucks for 12 fillets(enough for a week).

For meats, you benefit a lot buying in bulk from Costco, a good butcher, Gordon Food Services.

If you can get a side or a quarter from a butcher, you end up paying less than a dollar a pound.

Alright, I'm going to start treating this thread like an accountability check-in thing per the OP (thanks Krev!)

Tools:
Cronometer
Menu Planner
Nom Nom Paleo
(all for iOS)

I love CRON-O-Meter because it tracks individual nutritional values of things instead of just the calories/protein/carbs/fat breakdown. So you can make sure you're getting enough of each vitamin, or the right amino acids, etc. The iOS or Android app is three bucks but the web app is free! (They do sync, if you care about that.)

Current diet:
I don't believe in "diets" per se but I've been mostly following the Paleo diet for a couple months now. Basically only (free-range/organic) meats and eggs, fish, nuts, and vegetables, and no dairy, grains, soy, or other legumes. It's in some ways the inverse of my former eating patterns... switching away from tofu and beans and rice and onto more meats and salads. Health conditions have made shopping a minefield- cruciferous veggies are out unless I cook all the fun out of them, have to avoid wheat and soy anyway for autoimmune reasons, and I eat a little hard cheese here and there but try not to include any other dairy in my diet, except for Greek yogurt. Not giving that one up

Not a schema I would leap to suggest to others, but it's working pretty well for me. I haven't scaled up the amount of red meat I eat as compared to before (maybe 1-2x a week) and have mostly added in free-range chicken and more greek yogurt for protein. I am getting more fruits and veggies in to make up for losing the grains so that is good.

So my goals right now are to:
- Make a weekly meal plan each week and stick to it
- Grocery shop once a week
- Track all food on Crono
- Aim for 90% nutritional targets achieved every day

I'm not going to specifically track calories (ex-eating disorder, I was a walking calorie-counting reference guide for years), but I'm going to record my weight in the app just for the data set, since it calculates calories automatically and will graph trends over time.

Ate pretty average today. 91% of nutritional targets hit.

Deficiencies:
Calories (96%)
B1 (56%)
B2 (91%)
B12 (58%)
Folate (64%)
Fe (55%)
Mn (66%)
K (68%)
Fiber (66%)
Omega-3 (46%)
Omega-6 (56%- I'm limiting this anyway so that's fine)

I think if I go back to spinach salads instead of butter lettuce I can make most of that up. Also need to find a B supplement that doesn't have folic acid in it.

I broadly follow these rules:

Don't eat refined white carbohydrates and processed foods
Eat only when you are hungry

Jonman wrote:
Seth wrote:

One thing I struggle with is finding cheap, healthy sources of protein that are sustainable.

Spelt is another protein rich grain option. I really like it.

It's protein rich for a grain but it's hardly a source of bulk protein if you are looking for an egg/chicken replacement.

KingGorilla wrote:

Fish-Fish can be expensive, but I have been finding great prices on Tilapia, Usually 10 bucks for 12 fillets(enough for a week).

Go for cheap fish that people overlook and which are can be sustainably farmed or are not over fished; trout and sardines are great examples and can easily be made in to delicious dishes.

It's been mentioned before but I wanted to reiterate and add a quick link as well.

http://www.howmuchprotein.com/foods/...

Like it has been said before, not a complete protein, but that can be supplemented. It is fairly inexpensive too.

krev82 wrote:

Goal 1: Start taking homemade healthier snakes

snacks or shakes krev?

oop snacks, thanks. Though snakes may well be delicious and nutritious too

Krev82: Snake Eater

I'd watch it.

OK snacks:

This is a great, cheap ish way to make protein bars.
http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recip...

We use no sugar added PB.

If you chop veggies and keep them in a bag or bowl of water, they stay fresh longer-this works with carrots, celery, bell peppers, cucumber.

Hummus and Veggies have been great (Hummus you make yourself in a blender or food processor is even better).

We make our own yogurt-Plain greek yogurt that we stir honey or fruit into, or both. 32 Oz Chobani plain greek is 4.75 at Sams Club, that lasts about 2 weeks for us.

Pop your own popcorn in either a pan or air popper, just add a little salt and no butter. A Sandwich Bag of that is a great snack. A large metal mixing bowl covered in foil is a fine DIY jiffy popper.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/a...

Did better yesterday. 99% nutritional targets hit.

Deficiencies:
Water (86%)
Potassium (85%)

I need to research more potassium sources... this is a recurring lack for me.

Today is the weekly shop, too. Planning to mostly get some chicken, and replenish the veggies and snacking fruits.

http://www.healthaliciousness.com/ar...

Avocado is a perfect super food...that ages as well as Joan Rivers.

Potato skins are one I did not know of. I was also not aware that the herbs I use for flavor had that health benefit.

Munch on some seeds or nuts as a snack.

Oooh, maybe I'll get some dates today. The dried apricots are a good idea too... I already eat a lot of avocado and almonds so this should keep me in business.

Thanks!

Figs. They're good enough for apes. What makes you think you're any better than an ape?

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