What the Health?

Go to a doctor. Do a blood test and pee test. Know what your body lack off / excess . Decide the diet based on that .

PBAUSA17 wrote: »

rileysowner wrote: »

PBAUSA17 wrote: »

Just finished watching this documentary on Netflix. I've also read a lot of books about various ways of eating - e.g. Paleo, The Blue Zones, The China Study, Life Without Bread, Grain Brain, The Mediterranean Diet, etc. With all of the information out there, it's very difficult to discern what the best way of eating is!?!?

What are your thoughts? Do you follow a particular WOE, or is it purely CICO or IIFM for you?

My only suggestion is to look for the bias, and most, if not all of what you lists in terms of books and movies have a bias. Humans around this world eat in many radically different ways, yet baring either malnutrition or over consumption, the vast majority are healthy. Far healthier in fact than they have been for generations. Many of the things that are blamed on nutrition are often more an effect of the longer life spans that people are living today. The longer we live the more likely it is that things will break down physiologically.

Sound advice. Thinking about it, all of them use the emotion fear at their core - fear of getting cancer, fear of diabetes, etc. etc. etc.

Very good observation.

PBAUSA17 wrote: »

Just finished watching this documentary on Netflix. I've also read a lot of books about various ways of eating - e.g. Paleo, The Blue Zones, The China Study, Life Without Bread, Grain Brain, The Mediterranean Diet, etc. With all of the information out there, it's very difficult to discern what the best way of eating is!?!?

What are your thoughts? Do you follow a particular WOE, or is it purely CICO or IIFM for you?

I've been at this whole thing for over 5 years now. In that time I've read over 50 books on dieting/nutrition/food and have watched pretty much every food documentary out there. As well as read countless articles, youtube videos etc etc etc.

What I've learned through all of that?

Weight loss comes down to hitting the correct calorie deficit for your weight loss goals. The End.

Now, as far as 'healthy' eating goes-that will just depend on the individual, and what works for one person will not work for someone else. I've experimented with everything from primal, to completely plant based, and it's been quite the adventure lol

I'm at a place now though, where I'm over all the hype of this fad diet or that fad diet, and I've really started focusing on eating a balanced, sustainable and sensible diet. That's led me to following a modified DASH diet protocol. This is an easy to follow, enjoyable woe that has really clicked with me-and it's highly recommended by the medical community and all sorts of sciency type peoples It's also been around for a long time and is recommended by my husband's own doctor, to help him with his health issues. This is the plan I now follow for a balanced and healthy diet, but I continue to control my weight by my calorie intake, (over 4 years into maintenance now).

If you're interested in more info-

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/dash/followdash

http://health.usnews.com/best-diet/dash-diet

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/dash-the-proven-healthy-diet-that-just-hasnt-caught-on/2017/04/03/5da47e24-1558-11e7-9e4f-09aa75d3ec57_story.html?utm_term=.894986d392f0

Look around at countries that don't have an obesity issue. They all have ONE thing in common............................they don't eat a lot and move more. No special diets or total abandonment of a macro or even packaged/processed foods. They just eat way smaller portions than overweight people.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

If you're interested in veganism, check out sites like mercy for animals, vegan outreach and vegan.com. Veganism is, at its core, an ethical decision. These sites discuss some of the animal rights and environmental reasons for veganism. They will also talk about health, but I would take their information with a grain of salt.

"No meat athlete" has great articles on making the switch. He was vegetarian for a long time before going vegan. He has a realistic approach, and discusses his lifestyle with humor. He focuses mostly on his health as a plant-based athlete. Good stuff.

You can pick any trendy diet and find lots of reasons why it's healthy (and lots of reasons why it's not). Think about what you like to eat, what's important to you (ethics, etc), and what nutritional goals you have. Then eat accordingly. Integrate some of the information that makes sense to you from all of your readings. Generally, if a way of eating has the word "diet" before or after it, it's probably not the best choice.

I simply eat... I have a primarily plant based diet, but I eat lean meats and fish. Increased my beans, limited white flour breads, pasta, potatoes and processed foods. I have the labeled crap food in moderation if it fits in my calories and exercise. I have done the diet thing so many time and failed, so this time I decided healthy and fit was the way to go. For me, restrictions just dont work... and now that I don't restrict myself from things, the "crappy" things I desire less and less so it works for me. Started this new way of thinking 8 months ago... have lost 70lbs just had all my labs done and everything is great across the board for the first time in 20 years. Everyone has their own version of what is healthy. Do what works for you because no two people are the same.

KelGen02 wrote: »

I simply eat... I have a primarily plant based diet, but I eat lean meats and fish. Increased my beans, limited white flour breads, pasta, potatoes and processed foods. I have the labeled crap food in moderation if it fits in my calories and exercise. I have done the diet thing so many time and failed, so this time I decided healthy and fit was the way to go. For me, restrictions just dont work... and now that I don't restrict myself from things, the "crappy" things I desire less and less so it works for me. Started this new way of thinking 8 months ago... have lost 70lbs just had all my labs done and everything is great across the board for the first time in 20 years. Everyone has their own version of what is healthy. Do what works for you because no two people are the same.

You went feom "diet" to lifestyle. There is a difference, saying diet puts a contingency on success meaning its temporary and its easy to go back, verses making the lifestyle change, your focusing on just moving forward and what works for you. Its all about the mindset. Good job and keep up the good work, your a good example.

I love Michael Pollan's philosophy "Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

I'll admit, it's more of a goal than an actual for me at the moment. I'm a very inexperienced cook - I made a recipe this weekend that called for 10 min of prep and it took me an hour, so I still need a lot more frozen meals than goal.

Strongly agree with the poster above who said the best way of eating is the one you can sustain.

janejellyroll wrote: »

OliveGirl128 wrote: »

David_Marquiss wrote: »

KelGen02 wrote: »

I simply eat... I have a primarily plant based diet, but I eat lean meats and fish. Increased my beans, limited white flour breads, pasta, potatoes and processed foods. I have the labeled crap food in moderation if it fits in my calories and exercise. I have done the diet thing so many time and failed, so this time I decided healthy and fit was the way to go. For me, restrictions just dont work... and now that I don't restrict myself from things, the "crappy" things I desire less and less so it works for me. Started this new way of thinking 8 months ago... have lost 70lbs just had all my labs done and everything is great across the board for the first time in 20 years. Everyone has their own version of what is healthy. Do what works for you because no two people are the same.

You went feom "diet" to lifestyle. There is a difference, saying diet puts a contingency on success meaning its temporary and its easy to go back, verses making the lifestyle change, your focusing on just moving forward and what works for you. Its all about the mindset. Good job and keep up the good work, your a good example.

Meh, 4 years into successfully maintaining my weight loss, which makes me a statistical freak of nature, and I didn't do any sort of 'lifestyle' change. I just learned how CICO actually works, applied it and then lost the extra weight. Now in maintenance I have a weight management plan, which keeps my calories in check. No drastic changes though to how I live, and that's one of the reasons why I've been so successful. Sure I drink diet soda now instead of regular and eat veggies and fruit every day, but I also still eat fast food every week, still enjoy the occasional ice cream or beer etc.

'Lifestyle' is just one of the current diet buzzwords, it doesn't really mean anything though. There was an interesting thread a while back about WW's rebranding their plan ie it's a lifestyle change instead of a diet, but yet there's been numerous posts from former WW members who've jumped ship and are now here, because the new WW plan is unsustainable.

I don't know if the thread was about this recent article, but Weight Watchers specifically rebranded as a "lifestyle" because it is so trendy right now. People want to say they're changing their lifestyle, not going on a diet. WW responded to that.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/magazine/weight-watchers-oprah-losing-it-in-the-anti-dieting-age.html

Yes, I swear there's a thread going somewhere that talks about this? Along with that, there's been numerous threads from former WW followers who've left the program since all the new changes, because it's become so hard to follow.

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Huskeryogi wrote: »

I love Michael Pollan's philosophy "Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Agreed, although I do find it useful personally to have some additional guidelines that I follow (and sometimes don't). But on the whole I find Pollan pretty consistent with how I think about food.

Curious @lemurcat12 as to what your additional guidelines are?

I outlined my way of eating above, but forgot to mention that we have been trying to get more omega 3's in our diets lately, so make more of an effort to eat fish.

goldthistime wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Huskeryogi wrote: »

I love Michael Pollan's philosophy "Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Agreed, although I do find it useful personally to have some additional guidelines that I follow (and sometimes don't). But on the whole I find Pollan pretty consistent with how I think about food.

Curious @lemurcat12 as to what your additional guidelines are?

I outlined my way of eating above, but forgot to mention that we have been trying to get more omega 3's in our diets lately, so make more of an effort to eat fish.

Not too different from yours.

I focus on making vegetables the center of meals, along with protein, and generally try to eat around 10+ servings per day, eating seasonally/locally when possible. Try to get in what I consider healthy sources of fats (fatty fish, nuts and seeds, avocado, olives, you know). I'll generally choose a less processed or higher fiber option over an alternative, but not absolutely always. Big thing for me is not snacking between meals. I try to get a significant amount of my protein from plant sources and from fish -- I'm consistent on the fish, less so with making legumes or the time the center of a meal (vs. eggs or some kind of fish/meat).