Weird dietary habits and health

70sthin

I've had weird eating habits for most of my life, especially since leaving home in my late teens. I'm 40 now and have never had serious illness. I'm not overweight and hope I don't become so. I'd like to know people's thoughts on getting nutrients over a timeframe longer than a day or two. For instance do you think it's okay to eat hardly any protein one week and then eat 1/2lb of roast beef deli meat in one sitting. Is it okay to not eat all day and then eat a big healthy vegan meal? What about not wanting too much salt one day and then eating 6 servings of olives the next? Does diet REALLY matter all that much if you just eat what you crave? Sorry if this sounds juvenile. I haven't spent too much time learning about health related stuff.

AnnPT77

70sthin wrote: »

I've had weird eating habits for most of my life, especially since leaving home in my late teens. I'm 40 now and have never had serious illness. I'm not overweight and hope I don't become so. I'd like to know people's thoughts on getting nutrients over a timeframe longer than a day or two. For instance do you think it's okay to eat hardly any protein one week and then eat 1/2lb of roast beef deli meat in one sitting.

Not ideal. Without getting deeply into the weeds, your body doesn't have a great way of hanging onto protein intake that long, so you could have some negative consequences long term. I'd try to get close to adequate protein most days, for best long-term health results.

Some other nutrients are more flexible, because there's more of an in-body storage mechanism.

Is it okay to not eat all day and then eat a big healthy vegan meal?

Probably yes, if the vegan meal is reasonably balanced and close to calorie-adequate.

What about not wanting too much salt one day and then eating 6 servings of olives the next?

Probably not a big deal if you don't have blood pressure issues or some other health condition that requires you to manage salt intake. Try to get enough potassium and adequate fluid intake if you're eating a lot of salt. Try to avoid super low salt if you're sweating a whole big bunch, maybe.

Does diet REALLY matter all that much if you just eat what you crave?

It matters what your personal goals are mostly; and what your current health status is, to some extent. It also matters a lot what you crave!

Craving and need don't necessarily align. Sometimes we crave things that are not the nutrient(s) we're actually short on.

If you want to best thrive health-wise long term, then a certain amount of dietary attention is a good idea. Some nutrients are more time-sensitive than others, IMU, so learning a bit more might help you temper your hedonistic impulses with some concern for your future self's well-being, while still enjoying life.

Speaking as a food-hedonist myself, that's how I look at it, pretty much. Happily, I like a lot of different foods, so balancing more by the day isn't a big burden, but I do have some less balanced days without much worry.

Sorry if this sounds juvenile. I haven't spent too much time learning about health related stuff.

I feel like a little knowledge can be power, in this kind of situation.

This is just one li'l ol' lady's opinions, though, worth every penny you paid for them.

sollyn23l2

TBH, it sounds like your in a bit of a binge/restrict cycle. If you want to learn about how that affects your health, I suggest looking up binging and restricting on Google and looking at some sites that come up like mayo clinic or Cleveland clinic. Ultimately, no, it's not good. It's very stressful for your body, and stress leads to chronic disease over time. You can be at a normal weight but still be very negatively affecting your health.

mtaratoot

@70sthin

It would be an interesting experiment to LOG all your weird dietary habits over a few weeks or months and then look back to see what you're lacking if anything, and how it varies day to day and week to week.

Having an occasional excursion into weirdness in an otherwise healthy diet is different from what you describe. I had just such an excursion on Tuesday. I haven't bought ice cream since last April, and that was to share with a friend and was just a pint. Well, I got a big tub. They used to be a half gallon, but shrinkflation the big tubs are 25% smaller at 1.5 quarts. That may have been a good thing for me because I gave myself permission to eat the ice cream. All of it. All 1800 calories of it. I was nearly 1000 calories over my budget for the day, but I didn't stress it because I had told myself in advance it would be OK. By the end of the week, I intend to be within 5% or less of my calorie goal, and I'm just as likely to be under my budget than over.

But to do that every week? That would probably not give me the things my body needs.

kshama2001

70sthin wrote: »

I've had weird eating habits for most of my life, especially since leaving home in my late teens. I'm 40 now and have never had serious illness. I'm not overweight and hope I don't become so. I'd like to know people's thoughts on getting nutrients over a timeframe longer than a day or two. For instance do you think it's okay to eat hardly any protein one week and then eat 1/2lb of roast beef deli meat in one sitting. Is it okay to not eat all day and then eat a big healthy vegan meal? What about not wanting too much salt one day and then eating 6 servings of olives the next? Does diet REALLY matter all that much if you just eat what you crave? Sorry if this sounds juvenile. I haven't spent too much time learning about health related stuff.

I'm not a fan of "eating what we crave" as our signals often get crossed. For example:

1. We might feel hungry when we are actually thirsty
2. I used to eat coarse salt straight and think this was related to my anemia.
3. Before I made sure I hit my protein goal, I could eat and eat and eat carbs and fats and never feel satisfied.

Try hitting your protein goal regularly for a few weeks and see if that changes your other eating patterns.

Here's a reputable protein calculator:

https://examine.com/nutrition/protein-intake-calculator/

I shoot for 500 calories of exercise per day, and when I achieve that, using the MFP default of 20% protein aligns with the protein recommendation from examine. If I were completely sedentary, I'd need to bump it up to 30%.