Back again - thoughts on diet and exercise

alteredsteve175 wrote: »

Sounds like a good start. The main thing is to make lifestyle changes that are sustainable, as opposed to a "diet" to lose weight. Everything you listed can be done for the long term.

You might find a food scale useful as time goes on. I weigh and log everything I eat most days.

Thanks for the reply! I do weigh and log everything, although I forgot to log my coffees with semi-skimmed milk!

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I'm reassured with regards to your activity level and exercise

As for the treats, I have treats every day! Usually in small quantities, but occasionally even half a tub of Ben &Jerry's when I've done a long workout. As long as it fits in my calories.
Not saying you should have treats every day necessarily, but if you don't feel deprived and foods you like aren't 'off limits', you are less likely to give in and 'go crazy'.
By the way, I'm always more lenient with myself when I have my period, when I get the occasional junk food craving

Avocado is great. Yes, higher calorie, but if it fits into your calorie goal, go for it. You've mentioned many sources of healthy fats, I'd just like to add nuts also. Although personally, I am unable to eat just a handful of nuts, so I tend to avoid them or my calorie intake skyrockets! [/quote]

Thanks again, Lietchi - I feel massively reassured too now.
I don't normally eat chocolate at all, but I got my period and was watching 12 Years A Slave, and oh boy, recipe for disaster! Normally a treat is my gin - but I just know this has been causing my weight gain because one always turns to three or four and the measures get bigger, so, it has to be cut down.

I am honestly so happy above avocado and olives being okay. I love them. I also eat cheese most days - I love cheese, especially feta and Stilton blue, but yeah, calorific as hell so like you I am now having to be a bit stricter with that! Nuts are a struggle - I am not keen at all.

Geneveremfp wrote: »

Hi! Fellow teacher here. Welcome.
I like to think that no food is good or bad just some are big portions and some are small. So like Carrots or Cucumber I can happily have loads of but chocolate I'll have a couple of squares of (I used to easily have a share bar).

Hi there! I have been a little easier on myself this week - allowing myself the odd treat but not bingeing!

I think, reading between the lines, that you may have a basic, very common, misconception.

Individual foods are not really "good" or "bad", "healthy" or "unhealthy", without considering context or amounts. What can be healthy or unhealthy is one's overall way of eating, because well-rounded nutrition is important for health.

So, simplistically, it's good to get enough protein, enough healthy fats, and plenty of varied, colorful veggies/fruits (for micronutrients & fiber) on the overwhelming majority of days. Obviously, it's a good thing to do that in an appropriate number of calories (which could be moderately reduced calories for weight loss purposes, maintenance calories for people already at a healthy/happy weight, or even surplus calories for people who may be underweight or trying to add lots of muscle quickly).

Good overall nutrition at appropriate calories is "healthy". Poor overall nutrition, or seriously-inadequate/seriously-excess calories, is "unhealthy" (or at least sub-optimum for health). Within the context of an overall healthy way of eating, it's fine to include reasonable portions of any food you enjoy, that isn't poisonous, an allergen for you, or contraindicated by some medical condition or medication regimen.

Some foods certain people claim are "bad" will make useful contributions to getting enough protein or fats, so in a certain context (enough calories are available, micronutrients decent-ish), it's fine to eat that McD's cheeseburger. Some people say eating added sugar is "bad", but if someone is running a marathon, a sugar-based gel or a handful of gummy bears may be absolutely the food that person needs to keep running without collapsing or getting digestive problems. The individual situation and overall dietary needs (context) plus the portioning (dosage) means an individual food may be helpful to our personal big-picture nutrition on any given day, or not. (The rare day that's sub-ideal isn't a deal-breaker, either: Malnutrition isn't an on/off switch. Habit matter more than exceptions; the majority of our days determine the majority of our health and progress.)

The goal is to try to eat in a way that you can enjoy forever, combining foods you like to get good nutrition at appropriate calories. Exactly what foods those are is much, much less important than the big-picture nutrition.

Clickbait sites and the blogosphere like to drive traffic to their sites, and create obsessed victi... um, consumers, for their products by telling us individual foods are "fat burners" or "superfoods" or "essential for weight loss" or whatever nonsense. Telling people to get well-rounded daily nutrition using foods they like isn't a good way for marketers to make money, so they mostly don't.

All of the above said: Many people find that it will be easier to feel full and happy, and get good basic nutrition, when a majority of their calories come from things like meat, fish, veggies, fruit, grains, and that sort of thing, in relatively simple forms that humans have been eating for centuries and millennia.

Best wishes! [/quote]

Thanks for the very insightful and informative response - you are right, I need to ditch the 'get fit quick' mentality and realise this is long-term health and fitness.

This is all a learning curve, and I know that in the long term these harsh diets and strict regimes will lead to burn out, so I have been allowing myself to eat more 'normal' but being proportionate and the weight is still going to come off. Slow and steady!