BG Health: Eating Right Edition

[thetruepandagod]

Panda you crazy

You always knew this.

[Ganondorf]

Came come today with the intention of posting a pretty similar topic. I've been on the getting healthy bandwagon since march and making good progress, although a little slow. Currently down a little over 35 lbs, sitting at 208 (I'm almost 26, and 6'1"). I'm hitting the point where I know I need to kick up the exercise, but figured I could rework my diet as well. I haven't had a soda in 7 months, and have probably cut down my alcohol consumption about 75% since then as well. I shy away from most the obvious stuff everyone tells you to shy away from, but my diet still consists of a lot of frozen foods, quick meals, and plenty of crap with artificial and unpronounceable ingredients and preservatives.

I'm kinda curious if anyone has any experience with vegetarian/vegan diets for health purposes. Google turns up more articles regarding the moral blah-blahs than any actual evidence or backing facts about how/why vegan is better for you. I actually started eating vegetarian on Monday, more as an experiment than anything, seeing if I can make it through the month without killing someone. Currently just living off the harvest from my garden with some store-bought organic stuff thrown in. Lots of fruit/veg. I actually swapped out milk for almost milk last month, not a big deal as I only use it in cereal. It's going pretty well so far, feeling good, especially compared to last month where I was eating meat at almost every meal, and had no less than 5 large steak dinners throughout the month from weddings, parties and work functions.

Anyone else have expertise in this field? Is it even worth going vegetarian/vegan? Pros/Cons? Is it possible to do without turning into a smug douche?

[Galkaeater]

unless for moral reasons why would you go vegen it just limits what you can eat unnessarly

[thetruepandagod]

Some people say that a heavy meat diet leads to coronary heart disease and various other things.

[thetruepandagod]

But really just eat a good balanced diet, there is no need to deprive yourself of a certain type of food that is perfectly fine in regards to maintaining a healthy diet/life unless you really love animals and can't partake in eating their cuddly faces and bodies.

[Ganondorf]

For the record, I think animal flesh is delicious.

[BaneTheBrawler]

As someone with an incredibly sensitive and unstable digestive system, I can assure you that we are omnivores and should eat like omnivores. If you go all-one-thing it fucks with your guts. If you're an otherwise healthy person, you can probably adopt a vegetarian diet and not see any downsides, but it's not necessarily healthier.

I always feel better when I mix up my diet, even if only a little bit.

[Guitarman]

I'm someone struggling to say the least with his diet. I fluxuate bad. I've gone from 235 - 210, but currently i'm back up to 223. Luckily I caught myself before I regained it all.

One tip i can add that did help me was the low-cal water flavorings.

http://media.onsugar.com/files/2011/...MiO.xlarge.JPG

This shit is FANTASTIC. 5 calories per 8 oz and actually tastes good. I usually have 1-2 bottles of fruit punch, lemonade, and berry pomegranate in my cupboards. It really helped me ease off the soda, which I flat out admit I'm addicted to. I love water now, but it gets boring after a while and I start to dread it. So the Mio comes in handy then.

[Kalmado]

Speaking of being addicted to drinks, does anyone have any great tips on how to curb coffee or at least slow it down? I drink around 5 cups of strong coffee a day. I've tried to quit before but have never been able to shake it. I get the severe headaches, mood swings, and even the shakes. I love the taste so damn much and decaf to me is garbage. Any stories from other coffee addicts that quit?

[Guitarman]

Can you drink it black? It's actually good for you. Slow your intake down. going from 5 cups > nothing is shocking your system. Wean off it gradually, and find other sources of caffeine to fill the void.

[BaneTheBrawler]

Or wean out caffeine entirely. Just make a conscious effort to drink decaff more often instead of regular, then eventually you'll get to the point where you realize, hey, it's been a few days since i've had any. that's how i quit mtn dew.

[Furionstormrage]

Speaking of being addicted to drinks, does anyone have any great tips on how to curb coffee or at least slow it down? I drink around 5 cups of strong coffee a day. I've tried to quit before but have never been able to shake it. I get the severe headaches, mood swings, and even the shakes. I love the taste so damn much and decaf to me is garbage. Any stories from other coffee addicts that quit?

I can offer my advice, though I haven't completely quit, I still have 1, occasionally 2 cups in the morning. Like you, I averaged 5 cups a day, normally 2-3 in the morning, one after lunch, one after dinner. I tried to quit and felt horrible, like you.

What worked for me, I cut the mornings down to 1-2 cups, a week later I cut out the afternoon cup and replaced it with juice (simple sugars to help with energy), and eventually weened myself off of the evening cup (that took a few weeks).

I love coffee, I love the taste, and I'm not willing to cut out everything that I enjoy, plus everyone seems to say that one cup a day can help with certain cancer, parkinsons, etc etc...but I do use smaller cups. My "cup" used to be this big blue thing that probably held 15-16 ounces, now I use a small 8oz cup.

Take it in small steps, don't try to cold turkey it again.

[Kalmado]

I haven't drank black coffee in a long long time. I think after my current supply of creamer runs out I will do just that. Yeah cold turkey for coffee was worse than quitting smoking cold turkey, and I smoked for 10 years. I'd much rather drink black tea as the taste is good. I think my intake of strong coffee makes the caffeine from one cup of black tea almost irrelevant. I will definitely give it a shot!

[Furionstormrage]

I haven't drank black coffee in a long long time. I think after my current supply of creamer runs out I will do just that. Yeah cold turkey for coffee was worse than quitting smoking cold turkey, and I smoked for 10 years. I'd much rather drink black tea as the taste is good. I think my intake of strong coffee makes the caffeine from one cup of black tea almost irrelevant. I will definitely give it a shot!

Dude I totally agree about it being harder to cold turkey than smoking. I smoked for 13 years, went cold turkey, and after three days I felt fine (the occasional craving but the feeling like crap was over). I tried to quit caffeine cold turkey, and after three days I felt like complete and utter shit. I caved, bought a cup at lunch, and I'm not kidding, within ten minutes I felt on top of the world. It was scary how fast and how dramatic of an affect it had on my body and mind.

[Guitarman]

Caffeine is a bitch no doubt. I know at one point I'll have to cut out soda entirely, and I'm not looking forward to the transition.

[Stromgarde]

I wouldn't recommend quitting cold turkey from any caffeine source. Causes headaches and fatigue like crazy.

[Kalmado]

Awhile back I had done some reading about ridding the body of toxins from most garbage food we're used to consuming. Fasting was a suggestion but under I believe some time of supervision as it can mess you up.

I too cannot eat fast food without feeling disgusting afterwards. Recently went to South Carolina from Michigan for work. On the way down myself and two other coworkers stopped for gas and food. Only thing was a burger king. I got a chicken sandwich and small fry. Later that evening I had a good sized pimple on my temple. Surprised?! Not in the slightest.

My wife is Filipino and is an awesome cook. What comes with her food though is high sodium high carb dishes. Filipino dishes generally use a lot of pork which isn't the greatest either. I'm learning to cut down my portions a lot. It's hard because I love savory food and that's mainly what these dishes are lol.

edit: To add something productive to this thread for food suggestions, we recently bought a salad mix at the store that consists of baby greens and red cabbage. Pretty normal, except it's packaged as "wasabi salad". I tried it last night and man was it good! I ate it plain too w/out any dressing.

[Yuri-G]

quitting caffeine hurts like a bitch. severe headaches and lethargy, no thanks.

caffeine is supposedly good for you anyway. drinking coffee or green tea right before a workout helps stimulate the muscles, according to a couple of the websites I've been browsing. all things in moderation, though - it's also a diuretic, and proper hydration is hugely important to weight loss and muscle gain.

[Amiricle]

A couple cups of coffee or black tea (particularly straight/black) a day actually really is good for you (although green tea is much better) so really no need to eliminate it from your diet. Just remember to drink water too. Ditch the soda though, as that is all bad.

As for veganism, it can work & can be healthy but it is a lot of trouble and really not worth it unless you have very strong reasons for it. Its all about moderation. Too much of anything will be detrimental. Even chimps eat meat now & then.

Also, a simple suggestion to help detoxify is to only eat natural foods or those with 1 ingrediant on the label for a week. That list TruePandaGod posted would be excellent to go by.

[Syntex]

I recommend anyone looking into health read this book. I feel it gives a great insight as to why we are sick and what the REAL root of the problem is. I've read about 100 pages of it and it does give a lot of good info.

http://i43.tower.com/images/mm119599...-cover-art.jpg