Nutrition advice
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iDad74
Posts: 61 Member
I have the workout thing down. I'm a beast in the gym. Nutrition....ehhh, different story. I need help. I do know I'm not looking for a diet; I need a total change in how I view and consume food. I eat like a teenager and I'm 44. Anyone have any advice... anything that has worked for you...a good book to read, video to watch, etc.?
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Replies
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What does it mean to "eat like a teenager"?
When you think about eating like an adult, what would look different than what you're currently doing?
Do you want to cook more of your own meals? Eat more vegetables? Eat fewer calories? Get more nutrients?4 -
I have the workout thing down. I'm a beast in the gym. Nutrition....ehhh, different story. I need help. I do know I'm not looking for a diet; I need a total change in how I view and consume food. I eat like a teenager and I'm 44. Anyone have any advice... anything that has worked for you...a good book to read, video to watch, etc.?
Eat some fruit and veg, get adequate protein, eat food you like...
That's eating like a grown up to me?4 -
For me, I started trying to eat more veggies. I also learned from my food log that I was low on protein and fiber, so I started focusing on that too. I still eat either Oreos, ice cream, or cereal in milk pretty much every day though, no reason to be perfect
You might need to be more specific to get more targeted answers.2 -
I have the workout thing down. I'm a beast in the gym. Nutrition....ehhh, different story. I need help. I do know I'm not looking for a diet; I need a total change in how I view and consume food. I eat like a teenager and I'm 44. Anyone have any advice... anything that has worked for you...a good book to read, video to watch, etc.?
I made several permanent dietary changes after reading The Omnivore's Dilemma and watching "Food, Inc."
"Omnivore's Dilemma" is available in my library system so perhaps yours as well.
Library systems are also a great resource for cookbooks - you can try them, and only buy them after knowing you like them.
Another way to get recipe ideas is to subscribe to sites like allrecipes.com, who will email you recipes periodically.
And if one of your goals is to eat more vegetables, I was always "meh" about cauliflower before I had Buffalo cauliflower at a restaurant. Now I make it with this recipe - https://www.franksredhot.com/recipes/Buffalo-Cauliflower-Bites or if I want a smaller batch just fry it in a little butter and oil and then add Frank's when it is cooked.
Lots of people here grew up on canned vegetables and have since discovered a love for roasting veggies.0 -
A good step is basing meals around protein and some vegetables, and then filling out the meal/calories with other foods. It also can make it easier to have some standard go-tos, like a standard breakfast you know fits your goals, or a pattern for what a dinner should look like (common one would be meat, vegetables, some kind of starch, cook with olive oil or add a dressing with some fat to a salad).
The Harvard Nutrition site isn't bad: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/
My Plate gets flak, but really isn't bad either: https://www.choosemyplate.gov/MyPlate0 -
Thanks for the advice and the literature referals. Half of my issue is that I'm just ignorant about nutrition in general which is why I'm not just interested in a diet, but learning more so I can understand my food choices. appreciate it folks.0
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Check out nutritionfacts.org. Lots of 3 minute easy to consume videos related to a particular food and its nutritional benefit (or not). The site is very pro-vegan - some think it's borderline extreme as it forces people to re-think what we consider to be healthy. Regardless you will be exposed to lots of fascinating data and you can make your own decisions on what to incorporate and what to ignore. Here is today's video on blueberries and heart disease. https://nutritionfacts.org/video/benefits-of-blueberries-for-heart-disease/8
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Check out nutritionfacts.org. Lots of 3 minute easy to consume videos related to a particular food and its nutritional benefit (or not). The site is very pro-vegan - some think it's borderline extreme as it forces people to re-think what we consider to be healthy. Regardless you will be exposed to lots of fascinating data and you can make your own decisions on what to incorporate and what to ignore. Here is today's video on blueberries and heart disease. https://nutritionfacts.org/video/benefits-of-blueberries-for-heart-disease/
It's not just pro-vegan, it's a vegan propaganda site. Someone should have a baseline knowledge of nutrition and physiology before wading in there and trying to tell where the kernel of truth ends and the propaganda begins.
Pro-tip: Any site that tries to get you micromanaging the pluses and drawbacks of every single individual food is wasting your time. Worrying about what blueberries are good for or bad for is getting lost in the weeds. Veggies and fruits have vitamins, minerals, and fiber. There you go.13 -
Check out nutritionfacts.org. Lots of 3 minute easy to consume videos related to a particular food and its nutritional benefit (or not). The site is very pro-vegan - some think it's borderline extreme as it forces people to re-think what we consider to be healthy. Regardless you will be exposed to lots of fascinating data and you can make your own decisions on what to incorporate and what to ignore. Here is today's video on blueberries and heart disease. https://nutritionfacts.org/video/benefits-of-blueberries-for-heart-disease/
It's not just pro-vegan, it's a vegan propaganda site. Someone should have a baseline knowledge of nutrition and physiology before wading in there and trying to tell where the kernel of truth ends and the propaganda begins.
Pro-tip: Any site that tries to get you micromanaging the pluses and drawbacks of every single individual food is wasting your time. Worrying about what blueberries are good for or bad for is getting lost in the weeds. Veggies and fruits have vitamins, minerals, and fiber. There you go.
Yep, I'm as pro-vegan as it gets and I have concerns with how Dr. Greger positions himself as an expert on nutrition.
While it's true that he is a medical doctor, his background isn't focused on nutrition. His time as a doctor was spent focusing on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (AKA, "mad cow disease"). After that, he was with the farm animal welfare division of the Humane Society. I would listen to what he had to say about specific dangers of agricultural meat (like bovine spongiform encephalopathy or the potential risks of having sick animals killed and put into the food supply), but I consider him using his medical degree to position himself as an overall expert of human nutrition is at least somewhat misleading.
I believe Dr. Greger is an ethical vegan who attempts to publicly downplay his ethical stance in order to persuade people that *health* is the primary reason to avoid animal foods. IMO, this is not an honest or good faith approach. So while there may be some accurate information on his website, I would approach it overall from a place of healthy skepticism.16 -
To me my diet is pretty healthy. I cook at home most of the time, I get plenty of protein and fruits and vegetables, and I limit my "junk" as in chips and fast food and things like that. I think the choosemyplate.gov is a good place for general nutrition info.2
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NutritionFacts presents the results of scientific studies. That's all. For people who have specific health issues, the information is extremely helpful. I don't understand how science can be extremist.9
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funkycamper wrote: »NutritionFacts presents the results of scientific studies. That's all. For people who have specific health issues, the information is extremely helpful. I don't understand how science can be extremist.
It is really easy to cherry pick one study here and one study there, call attention to the part of the conclusion that supports what you want it to while ignoring caveats or qualifier words, and then present it as proving a much broader theory than it really did. While ignoring all the other studies that disagree with the theory.
"Science" would be taking the sum total of all the studies pertaining to something and seeing if you can draw a conclusion, allowing for the possibility there will be no conclusion to draw. Far too much of current pop science takes one study, claims it proves something, and proceeds to build a business around that supposed truth.
Unfortunately that's the danger with so many of the "nutrition experts" out there right now. They start with what they personally believe is the truth, then go out looking for research that supports that, while ignoring research that tells a different story. So their materials seem very scientific, but they are only telling a narrowly defined part of the story.11 -
funkycamper wrote: »NutritionFacts presents the results of scientific studies. That's all. For people who have specific health issues, the information is extremely helpful. I don't understand how science can be extremist.
In addition to what kimny said, which I agree with, the OP asked for basic nutrition information to get him started in adjusting his overall diet. I think a basic, non controversial, comprehensive site about what an overall healthy diet involves and with some tips to improving yours is what's called for (and what I tried to give).
Getting a site that focusing on specific foods and suggests possible benefits and harms (even Greger will admit that in some cases it's very unproven and later studies change his mind) doesn't actually help someone needing the basics, and Greger also is involved in the diet wars and takes positions that are extremely controversial even among other vegans.
I think if someone wants help in figuring out a healthy diet as a beginner, staying far, far away from the diet wars, which can be confusing even for people who have been thinking about this for a long time, is a good idea.
What actually constitutes a good diet is pretty simple: get enough protein, have a good amount of vegetables and ideally some fruit if you like it, figure out a way to not overeat, moderate/limit high cal/low nutrition foods. There's a bit more to it, but nothing too controversial or complicated. (Which reminds me, this is a decent article, OP: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/science-compared-every-diet-and-the-winner-is-real-food/284595/)
Greger will go into things like this fruit is better than this other fruit or this vegetable is better than this other vegetable or why you should include flax seed or super foods, blah, blah, which just makes things SO MUCH MORE complicated than the reality. Eat vegetables, a variety. Don't worry if kale has more nutrients than chard or vice versa. If you prefer spinach and will eat it with enjoyment, no need to eat kale (if you don't like it) instead. Eat fruits you like and which are convenient, don't think you need acai berries. So on.
And the "meat will kill you, fat will kill you, carbs are evil and will kill you" fights are even worse and so, so, so irrelevant to most people.9 -
funkycamper wrote: »NutritionFacts presents the results of scientific studies. That's all. For people who have specific health issues, the information is extremely helpful. I don't understand how science can be extremist.
Science is a human construct. While I do believe there is an objective reality that we can use science to help identify, it's important for us to remember that the framing, presentation, and selection of information certainly can be extremist or consciously/unconsciously biased.
I can start with a pre-determined idea, seek out studies that validate my impression, and ignore those that don't. Everything I present may be technically accurate, but is my presentation overall reliable? I would argue that it wouldn't be. This is why it is important to pay attention to who is collecting and presenting the "science" that we expose ourselves to.8 -
I felt the same way for a long time. There is SO much conflicting information out there about what you should and shouldn’t eat. I finally started paying attention to what was IN our foods. I did more and more research and I didn’t like what I was learning. I decided based off of what I learned that I wanted to move to plant based eating. When you say you’re not looking for a “diet”, I think that’s a great start! Most of the diets out there (keto, low carb, low fat, Atkins, etc.) are not sustainable. I slowly made the switch to a plant based (vegan) diet in January. I immediately started feeling better! I no longer get sick, I don’t have the aches and pains that I used to (because of low to no inflammation) and I have maintained my weight. I do supplement things like amino acids that our bodies don’t produce, as well as taking vitamins daily. You have to find what works for you, your body and your life style. Good luck!! 😊2
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I felt the same way for a long time. There is SO much conflicting information out there about what you should and shouldn’t eat. I finally started paying attention to what was IN our foods. I did more and more research and I didn’t like what I was learning. I decided based off of what I learned that I wanted to move to plant based eating. When you say you’re not looking for a “diet”, I think that’s a great start! Most of the diets out there (keto, low carb, low fat, Atkins, etc.) are not sustainable. I slowly made the switch to a plant based (vegan) diet in January. I immediately started feeling better! I no longer get sick, I don’t have the aches and pains that I used to (because of low to no inflammation) and I have maintained my weight. I do supplement things like amino acids that our bodies don’t produce, as well as taking vitamins daily. You have to find what works for you, your body and your life style. Good luck!! 😊
All essential amino acids (AKA, those our bodies don't produce) can be found in plant foods.1 -
Seems like every diet today claims that it prevents inflammation. This idea that we are all inflamed seems to be one of the current things diet gurus tell you. And you can find people on every special diet (which most certainly includes WFPB) insisting all ills are cured just by their new way of eating.
Since this is true for all diets, and people who push their own way of eating often have drastically different ways and will say all other ways are bad, that is precisely why I was saying it was not helpful for someone just wanting a basic understanding of healthy eating.
(That said, I respect ethical veganism as an expression of an ethical POV, and will second the point that all essentially amino acids can be found in plant foods. Personally I'd supplement B12 and DHA/EPA, although the only thing that is necessary is probably B12.)3 -
Seems like every diet today claims that it prevents inflammation. This idea that we are all inflamed seems to be one of the current things diet gurus tell you. And you can find people on every special diet (which most certainly includes WFPB) insisting all ills are cured just by their new way of eating.
Since this is true for all diets, and people who push their own way of eating often have drastically different ways and will say all other ways are bad, that is precisely why I was saying it was not helpful for someone just wanting a basic understanding of healthy eating.
(That said, I respect ethical veganism as an expression of an ethical POV, and will second the point that all essentially amino acids can be found in plant foods. Personally I'd supplement B12 and DHA/EPA, although the only thing that is necessary is probably B12.)
I completely agree on B12, it's vital for plant-based people (defined as people who eat only plants) to supplement this (or eat foods that are fortified with it). I personally supplement DHA/EPA. While the science isn't yet conclusive on it, I've seen enough to convince me that it's probably a good idea for me to supplement it (and there is no downside that I can see, other than the cost of the supplement).2 -
funkycamper wrote: »NutritionFacts presents the results of scientific studies. That's all. For people who have specific health issues, the information is extremely helpful. I don't understand how science can be extremist.
In addition to what kimny said, which I agree with, the OP asked for basic nutrition information to get him started in adjusting his overall diet. I think a basic, non controversial, comprehensive site about what an overall healthy diet involves and with some tips to improving yours is what's called for (and what I tried to give).
Getting a site that focusing on specific foods and suggests possible benefits and harms (even Greger will admit that in some cases it's very unproven and later studies change his mind) doesn't actually help someone needing the basics, and Greger also is involved in the diet wars and takes positions that are extremely controversial even among other vegans.
I think if someone wants help in figuring out a healthy diet as a beginner, staying far, far away from the diet wars, which can be confusing even for people who have been thinking about this for a long time, is a good idea.
What actually constitutes a good diet is pretty simple: get enough protein, have a good amount of vegetables and ideally some fruit if you like it, figure out a way to not overeat, moderate/limit high cal/low nutrition foods. There's a bit more to it, but nothing too controversial or complicated. (Which reminds me, this is a decent article, OP: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/science-compared-every-diet-and-the-winner-is-real-food/284595/)
Greger will go into things like this fruit is better than this other fruit or this vegetable is better than this other vegetable or why you should include flax seed or super foods, blah, blah, which just makes things SO MUCH MORE complicated than the reality. Eat vegetables, a variety. Don't worry if kale has more nutrients than chard or vice versa. If you prefer spinach and will eat it with enjoyment, no need to eat kale (if you don't like it) instead. Eat fruits you like and which are convenient, don't think you need acai berries. So on.
And the "meat will kill you, fat will kill you, carbs are evil and will kill you" fights are even worse and so, so, so irrelevant to most people.
Right, my mom is currently refusing to plant and eat curly parsley in favor of flat parsley because of minutia like this.4 -
Here's some basic advice. 1) If you truly are a beast in the gym then you'll need to be eating adequate protein. Try chicken breast, fish, eggs, or even protein shakes. 2) Also, go and search engine Super Foods, and eat those foods. 3) Pick up a copy of Smart Exercise by Covert Bailey. It's an easy read and you'll learn a ton.
Have a nice day.7
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