Nutrition and eating well group

Gumbie wrote:

Lots of good info. Thanks guys.

Next question, I have a horrible addiction to soda. Mt. Dew, Mellow Yellow, Dr. Pepper....it doesn't matter I love it all. I don't mind drinking water by itself, but I'm having a really hard washing down meals with water. It just feels...weird. Do I just need to suck it up and learn to drink water with meals or is there some sort of alternative to soda. Also I hate, HATE aspartame so diet anything is out of the question.

Aren't aspartame drinks worse? The sweetness hits your mouth and your brain signals the body that sugar is to come, and when the sugar doesn't come, your body has all this insulin in your body with nothing to do. At least that's how I think it works.

Personally, I did a two-step transition to get away from pop. I replaced it with chocolate milk or juice at first, and then over time simply let the juice run out and not replace it in my trips to the grocery store. I personally found the two-step transition a lot easier than going cold turkey. On particularly bad weeks when I have too many nights out eating bad food, I find it so hard to move away from pop again. It does something to my head. Bleh.

Gumbie wrote:

Lots of good info. Thanks guys.

Next question, I have a horrible addiction to soda. Mt. Dew, Mellow Yellow, Dr. Pepper....it doesn't matter I love it all. I don't mind drinking water by itself, but I'm having a really hard washing down meals with water. It just feels...weird. Do I just need to suck it up and learn to drink water with meals or is there some sort of alternative to soda. Also I hate, HATE aspartame so diet anything is out of the question.

Soda Stream.

Drink bubbly water instead. Zero calorie - cheap as chips to make yourself with one of those. Scratches some of that itch you have for soda.

Gumbie wrote:
KingGorilla wrote:

Well, it is a matter of quantities for men. If you are ingesting a large amount, regularly, you might have issues. What we are talking about are the guys cutting out dairy and drinking 2-3 glasses of Silk a day, along with a couple soy protein bars, adding in tofu salads and Turkey for dinner sorts of things. Just like heavy metal poisoning in fish, don't eat it constantly.

Getting the tofu as opposed to chicken pad thai won't make you sprout breasts.

I already have high estradiol levels from testosterone replacement therapy. I'm not touching something that could even remotely raise it more than it already is. :lol:

Talk to your doctor...I am not a medical professional. But if you need to know about copyrighting a book, let me know.

As for the pop. Soda Stream is cool, and you can do it with fruit juices even. You may want to look into Perrier with some lemon or lime in it as well. Or gin, gin works well in there too.

KingGorilla wrote:

Talk to your doctor...I am not a medical professional. But if you need to know about copyrighting a book, let me know.

As for the pop. Soda Stream is cool, and you can do it with fruit juices even. You may want to look into Perrier with some lemon or lime in it as well. Or gin, gin works well in there too.

I can vouch for the citrus in water. And the gin.

Yeah carbonated water played a major role in helping me quit soda, you can get a bunch of cans of it fairly cheap to experiment before shelling out for a sodastream or equivalent.

At a glance the sodastream flavors probably are not so great for you either but you can either do flavorless or as others have suggested add a bit of citrus.

krev82 wrote:

Yeah carbonated water played a major role in helping me quit soda, you can get a bunch of cans of it fairly cheap to experiment before shelling out for a sodastream or equivalent.

At a glance the sodastream flavors probably are not so great for you either but you can either do flavorless or as others have suggested add a bit of citrus.

Most of the presold Soda Stream flavors are kind of crappy, from a purely taste perspective. Most of the folks who have one as a result of me just use it for bubbly water.

Jonman wrote:
krev82 wrote:

Yeah carbonated water played a major role in helping me quit soda, you can get a bunch of cans of it fairly cheap to experiment before shelling out for a sodastream or equivalent.

At a glance the sodastream flavors probably are not so great for you either but you can either do flavorless or as others have suggested add a bit of citrus.

Most of the presold Soda Stream flavors are kind of crappy, from a purely taste perspective. Most of the folks who have one as a result of me just use it for bubbly water.

Summer down here, and bubbly water is currently cheaper than still water. I can concur that it is indeed a GREAT replacement for soda. It hurts your throat when you slam it down quickly, has the same mouth feel, and still produces awesome burps to delight the children, and earn the scorn of your SO.

Plus, zero calories!

Talking to my MD on Friday about doing a Candida diet. He mentioned it in passing once but we've been tending to other things.

Basically, some people with weakened immune systems can't keep this normal gut flora in check, and it goes hogwild in your GI tract and interferes with nutrition. There's a lot of junk science around it, but I have a good doc so I'm not too concerned.

Basically it's paleo with zero cheating - pretty much all sugars + sauna + antibug drugs, for like 8 weeks. The hard part will be the no cheating, but knowing I'm not becoming a Petri dish will be a good trade.

Clover, on the plus side 8 weeks is more than long enough to be habit forming so if you do manage it you may have the added bonus of finding yourself less inclined to cheat afterwards.

krev82 wrote:

Yeah carbonated water played a major role in helping me quit soda, you can get a bunch of cans of it fairly cheap to experiment before shelling out for a sodastream or equivalent.

At a glance the sodastream flavors probably are not so great for you either but you can either do flavorless or as others have suggested add a bit of citrus.

Carbonated water + MIO = no soda for me for two months. Plus, MIO doesn't have aspartame.

Just recovering from a bout of Gastroenteritis. I've been taking a prescription rehydration salts and electrolyte supplement after every 'digestive event' but I'm ready to return to solids.

I've always been told to start with dry toast, rices, and work up to chicken. Is this still the generally accepted progression?

PS, dry toast, while everyone around you is eating awesome food, sucks balls.

Pretty sure that the BRAT diet still applies and always will: Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast. Which is nice, because rice and toast alone get pretty boring. Although past that initial rule, while I wouldn't jump from toast and applesauce to something heavy like steak, I've never heard of any kind of proper progression. Ultimately, listen to your body. If you feel like you can try a heavier solid, eat slowly and carefully.

Thanks Superbeard.

I remember them singing about that on YoGabbaGabba of all things. They don't heavily promote the BRAT down here, so I'm looking forward to getting some banana in me.

I think I've turned the corner on this (after dropping 4kg in 3 days) and a return to solids is imminent, both North and South of the border. WooHoo!

Thanks Superbeard.

I remember them singing about that on YoGabbaGabba of all things. They don't heavily promote the BRAT down here, so I'm looking forward to getting some banana in me.

I think I've turned the corner on this (after dropping 4kg in 3 days) and a return to solids is imminent, both North and South of the border. WooHoo!

m0nk3yboy wrote:

I'm looking forward to getting some banana in me.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/vY4lXd8.gif)

Spot on with both counts...

I finally plugged the recipe for my favorite cookies into nutrition data to discover that one serving (apparently aka one cookie o.O) is about on par with a serving of chips (55g or so).

I don't make or eat a ton of them but it was a very good reminder lesson about serving sizes, nutritional opportunity cost, relative utility, etc.

Filthy skimmer here, but there have been a bunch of news articles lately about the alarming amounts of arsenic in rice. Something to keep in mind if you are considering BRAT.

Goal 1: Start taking homemade healthier snacks and maybe a bagged lunch with me each day.

Goal 2: Get fruits and veggies more consistently.

Goal 3: less caffeine

edit; oops modified this post instead of making new one somehow, fixed.

Belated update from my October start;

Goal 1: Start taking homemade healthier snacks and maybe a bagged lunch with me each day.
I've improved greatly but I'm still working on trimming down my refined carbs addiction. Anyone have any helpful tips in this regard?

Goal 2: Get fruits and veggies more consistently. Success, getting them every day now. I still need to work on variety though; for the most part I'm doing broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, mixed berries with about 3:1 veggie:fruit simply because that's what's easily available frozen here. Gotta work on prepping and freezing my own stuff perhaps to give more diversity.

Goal 3: less caffeine Complete, I've been down to caffiene free teas and the occasional SWM decaf coffee for months now. The coffee claims to be 99.9% caffiene free which, if true, puts the dose at something like 1-2 mg per cup which probably isn't even a bioactive dose.

krev82 wrote:

Goal 1: Start taking homemade healthier snacks and maybe a bagged lunch with me each day. I've improved greatly but I'm still working on trimming down my refined carbs addiction. Anyone have any helpful tips in this regard?

I eat a good bit of carbs, so when I cut out complex carbs I found it easier to just completely cut carbs out of certain meals.

Bagged Lunches: Stop making sandwiches. I usually pack a couple chicken breasts or burger patties in a tupperware bin with a bit of sauce. No buns or bread. Avoid baked goods as the dessert, instead, pack a few fun sized candy bars. The total amount of candy you eat will be less than one big bar, and it'll last longer as you unwrap those little buggers, tricking yourself in to thinking you ate plenty of sweet stuff.

Snacks: Nuts nuts nuts. Start with a mixture of almonds, cashews, pistachios, and any other good nuts. Then add a dash of whatever you're craving. Dash a bit of salt on there if you're craving chips, or toss in some M&Ms or bits of dark chocolate if you need something sweet. High quality granola can also round out the mix. This way you can satisfy a craving for crunchy, salty, sweet, or anything else and still be eating 90% non-carb good nutrient food.

krev82 wrote:

Belated update from my October start;

Goal 1: Start taking homemade healthier snacks and maybe a bagged lunch with me each day.
I've improved greatly but I'm still working on trimming down my refined carbs addiction. Anyone have any helpful tips in this regard?

Pita bread, or 'mountain bread' (not sure what it would be called locally, kind of like a flat bread, or tortilla), that's if you still like the idea of a sandwhich style lunch. Same as a sandwich, but roll it instead, kind of like a kebab.

The best part is, because you roll it, not as much falls out when you eat it, so you can stuff it with fillings like tabouli, falafel, three bean salad, etc.

I am loving my food processor right now. I am a snack making fool. Sunday I made Salsa with an onion, half a lime, a can of stewed tomatoes, and a whole pickled jalapeno. Cost for 16 oz of salsa, $1.50 with no added salt, sugar, or preservatives other than lime juice.

I also made spicy hummus-1 can of chick peas, 2 Tbsp of Tahini (this crap is pricey), half a jalapeno, 2-3 Tbsp of Olive Oil, half a lemon, 3 cloves of garlic, a pinch of salt, and some sprinkles of water. Total cost, about $2.50 for 16 oz of high quality hummus.

Avocados have also been nice and ripe, and on sale. 2 Avocados, very ripe, 1 clove garlic, half a lime, a pinch of salt, half a Tbsp Cumin, Half a Tbsp Chili Powder. I might also stir in chopped onions or Tomatoes. But my wife prefers it a bit more plain as a spread and not a dip.
The Guacamole lasts about 4-5 days because, well it oxidizes fast dammit.

KingGorilla wrote:

I also made spicy hummus-1 can of chick peas, 2 Tbsp of Tahini (this crap is pricey), half a jalapeno, 2-3 Tbsp of Olive Oil, half a lemon, 3 cloves of garlic, a pinch of salt, and some sprinkles of water. Total cost, about $2.50 for 16 oz of high quality hummus.

Jonman posted this hummus recipe in one of the other healthy threads, it's really tasty.

Timely thread. Or at least timely for me to see it. I'm pre-diabetic now. I need to get a handle on things. I haven't put on any weight in a couple of years. Just haven't lost any either. My biggest issues are soda (vacillating between sugar and sugar-free) and the fact that I have frequent digestive issues that kind of dictate what I eat (carb-heavy). Not sure about the second one, but I'll take a look into some of the earlier suggestions on fizzy water plus citrus.

DSGamer wrote:

... but I'll take a look into some of the earlier suggestions on fizzy water plus citrus.

I found Switch when I was looking for better for me carbonated beverages. These are fruit juice that they concentrate, then replace the water with carbonated water.

IMAGE(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51eJCHLh7AL._SX342_SX342_SY445_CR,0,0,342,445_PIbundle-24,TopRight,0,0_SX342_SY445_CR,0,0,342,445_SH20_.jpg)
Click goes to Amazon page

Starting intermittent fasting soon. Going to be going 16 hours no eating to 8 hours eating. Basically I'll stop eating between 7-8 PM and won't eat again until 12:00 PM the next day. My body fat % is sitting at about 15% right now but I would like to get it somewhere between 10%-11%. I usually skip breakfast so this really won't be that much of change for me.

Gumbie wrote:

Starting intermittent fasting soon. Going to be going 16 hours no eating to 8 hours eating. Basically I'll stop eating between 7-8 PM and won't eat again until 12:00 PM the next day. My body fat % is sitting at about 15% right now but I would like to get it somewhere between 10%-11%. I usually skip breakfast so this really won't be that much of change for me.

I might try working towards something like this. I've lost two pants size and I'm starting to be able to put on shirts 1 or 2 sizes down since I started cycling again. I'd like to add to that by eating better and juicing my metabolism. Eating lots of small meals isn't working right now.

DSGamer wrote:
Gumbie wrote:

Starting intermittent fasting soon. Going to be going 16 hours no eating to 8 hours eating. Basically I'll stop eating between 7-8 PM and won't eat again until 12:00 PM the next day. My body fat % is sitting at about 15% right now but I would like to get it somewhere between 10%-11%. I usually skip breakfast so this really won't be that much of change for me.

I might try working towards something like this. I've lost two pants size and I'm starting to be able to put on shirts 1 or 2 sizes down since I started cycling again. I'd like to add to that by eating better and juicing my metabolism. Eating lots of small meals isn't working right now.

Everyone I know that's done it or is doing said they got great results. Just be careful with carbs if you aren't working out. On the days you are it's ok to eat a decent amount but on your days off (or if you're not working out at all) don't go crazy with them.