The Health Thread

[sweep the leg]

Just now, Atomic said:

******* Bo Jackson over here

Lol. I was pretty athletic when I was young, but got really sick for awhile. I've been healthy again for the last few years, so I'm trying to make up for lost time.

[The Unknown Poster]

My busted knee really slowed me down too.  Being heavy doesnt help.

Those that are into Yoga, my gf is actually an instructor.  She does customized programs in your own home.  PM me if interested.  She just became certified in Thai Massage as well (sort of related to Yoga) and has been working with me and I've found quite an improvement in my flexibility.

If you are a dog lover, she also does Dog Yoga :-)

[rebusrankin]

Since I've been experimenting with it this week, the 6 am workout actually helps in many respects. Not sure I want it as a staple but you do have a ton of energy during the day.

[itchy]

3 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Yes, true.  But there are ways to do that more efficiently.

A couple of sites Im addicted to right now are dietdoctor.com and eatthebutter.com  Both go into detail about the low carb plan where good fat is good.  Many others too, but it becomes a whirlwind so I've been going back to those two (especially the first one).

The reality is, if you're hungry all the time you will "cheat".  Like others say, its a lifestyle choice which can be hard if you have 30 or 40 years of one lifestyle.  dietdoctor states if you're hungry you're doing their plan wrong. 

That's the one thing that has surprised me through my journey- I'm eating a lot less, but not hungry. Really trying to avoid the cheating and binge eating.

I know for me, the plan has to be not too complicated. Maybe once I get closer to my target weight, I'll start to look at fine tuning the plan, once I have a better understanding of my body's needs.

I view it as "rewinding the clock" on previous bad habits. I've always been on the heavier side, so one thing I'll do to is remind myself " I haven't been this weight in ... years" Right now that number is 8 years.

 

[The Unknown Poster]

^^^ I pulled my old jean jacket out of the closet the other day, the one I wore from age 17-20something.  I tried it on.  Didnt fit so well.  I looked in the mirror and said "Im going to wear this ******* jacket and its going to look great."  There's one goal...lol

[Mr Dee]

Quote

Actually you should never diet..it should just become your lifestyle change and it becomes how you eat/live..tweak it accordingly 

If you really want to improve your diet, eating habits, and ridding your body of toxins, you should go all out. And that means a wholly organic lifestyle.

Get rid of everything that contains GMOs and sugar and anything that has been processed. Your body will then recognize only the good stuff is coming in and it will rid itself of toxins and extra weight that is not needed. 

My wife has gone from taking 9 pills a day to 1. Myself, I no longer take any pharmaceuticals, as I get what I need from eating healthier. 

But don't kid yourself...it's expensive. The changeover will cost hundreds of dollars, but then again, the pharmaceuticals have gone way down, and they can be very expensive.

I would encourage this lifestyle for everyone. You can eat virtually anything (not breads) and you can abide by the 80-20 rule. Because eating out is often necessary, or even desired, and that's when the 20% kicks in. 

Even exercising, or stretching, becomes easier, because your body isn't battling the processed junk that is foreign to the human digestive system.

And it becomes easier to find good, sourced foods as you go along.

Congrats to everybody here who are trying to help their bodies help themselves.

[The Unknown Poster]

I made this pizza last night:

https://www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/lchf-pizza

Amazing!!

[Noeller]

We've done it with cauliflower as the crust... Made our own low sodium tomato sauce... Veggies and chicken toppings. Was real solid... 

[The Unknown Poster]

12 minutes ago, Noeller said:

We've done it with cauliflower as the crust... Made our own low sodium tomato sauce... Veggies and chicken toppings. Was real solid... 

Cauliflower concerned me as a crust...how did it taste?  Actually eggs concerned me too.  I like eggs but I thought it would taste like eggs and just not taste right but it tasted like pizza.  It was great.  I used Pem and Mushrooms but after the fact realized I should have added some spinach etc.  Very customizable.

[voodoochylde]

I'll dip my toes into this thread ...

I'm 41 years old, 175lbs. I'm stronger, more fit and am 'in better shape' now than when I raced mountain bike competitively, played rugby or football.  I was always very active and fit .. then I got married, comfortable and gained a tonne of weight.  Over the span of nine months I dropped 110lbs strictly counting calories and running .. it wasn't the best way to lose weight, it put me in a shitty head space when it came to food / eating .. but it was nice to get back to my 'fighting weight'.  Soon after making that change, I started doing CrossFit and that tapped into my competitive side and I haven't stopped since.  That was almost 6 years ago.

Nowadays, I do 'standard' CrossFit classes 5-6 days a week. I do focused Olympic Weightlifting 2-3 times a week.  I do yoga and meditate. I run, swim and ride whenever the urge strikes me. I'm able play with my kids. I make sure I fuel my body well.  Shortly after I began CrossFitting, I used myself as a bit of a guinea pig.  I adopted a paleo inspired lifestyle in part to see if it could / would help me perform better in the gym (also I was simply curious). Now I believe in that ****. I emphasize whole foods, focusing on quality cuts of meat, lots of veggies and good fats, nuts seeds and some fruit. I ate strict paleo for about three years .. and slowly re-introduced certain foods .. and have taken a more 80 / 20 approach to my eating (so yes, I'll crush the occasional pizza, smokie or two at a game, a pint of ice cream and I drink craft beers). The most important thing, I believe in eating intuitively and allowing yourself to live life (there needs to be joy in what you do).

I'm also one who feels ketosis and ketogenic diets in general aren't sustainable. That's just me though and I'll never advocate against something that works for an individual .. listen to your body and do what feels right .. I just believe that carbs aren't evil .. they are necessary .. especially when you are pushing yourself hard.  It's all the sugar that's in a standard North American diet that kills people. Eliminate processed food in your day to day and I guarantee you will see improvement (even without lifting a barbell).

Had to giggle in the Draft Thread .. I go through about three dozen eggs a week .. they are staples for me day to day.

[The Unknown Poster]

@voodoochylde You're an inspiration!

[Logan007]

As someone who worked with voodoochylde, can confirm the before and after.

I remember when you first worked with me you were overweight, then you left and came back and it was like night and day.  You did some amazing work to get yourself back into shape.

[tacklewasher]

This topic can become as heated as any politics or religion topic, but what the hell.

I'm a lazy assed accountant. I peaked at somewhere around 330 lbs last year. I still don't know my true highest weight as the scale I had stopped at 300.

I'm also 52.

Last August something clicked in my brain and I bought myself a fitness watch (Garmin). Started counting steps etc. and ended up following the link to MyFitnessPal. Read a whole **** load of stuff there and I think I have most of it figured out. Scale said 240 this morning, so I'm down ~90 lbs since August.

First and foremost, there is a lot of **** information out there about losing weight. Way more than there should be. I blame Oprah, Dr. Oz, Gary Taubes and any other POS huskster trying to make a buck off of weight loss.

You lose weight by eating less calories than you burn. Period. Anyone who tells you different is full of ****. There is no magic pill or anything else. How you eat less than you burn is either by eating less overall, burning more overall or some combination. So if you up your exercise and don't up your food intake, you can lose weight. If you eat less and don't exercise you can lose weight. I find it easiest to eat somewhat less and exercise more.

Now as to what you eat, that becomes a personal choice. If Atkins, Low Carb works for you, than great. It does not have any magical properties over any way of eating and does not do more for long-term weight loss than anything else, but if it works and you can eat that way, then go for it.

My food choices are relatively unchanged, just less of it. I still eat out, had a burger for  dinner last night, I drink and all that, but I do it all within the calorie limit I've set for myself. Pretty much I'm eating today the same way I expect I will be eating years from now.

Now, if anyone is trying to lose weight, I do recommend MyFitnessPal. It won't work for everyone but it is free and worth a shot. It's worked well for me.

And if you happen onto the MFP forums, you might see my name and dog hanging out there. I think I have more posts there in 9 months than I do in a few years here.

 

[johnzo]

Great thread.  I was a skinny kid, spent all my university years continuously playing hockey and football and biking to work.  When I graduated and suddenly had a desk job and money and a live-in GF and moved away from all my sports friends, I got big.

Currently 46yo, 6', 230ish lbs.  I've had stretches where running got me down to 215 or so, but my knees are aging out of that. Swimming and lifting are both really boring to me, so I gotta find something.  Maybe get into cycling hard again, tho Seattle is really bike hostile ... I've been doored and threatened a few times.

Only thing I do now is yoga.  I agree that yoga is great, if I skip it more than a couple seasons I feel myself seizing up like an old lawnmower engine. You can definitely find low-woo yoga if you look.  I'd recommend going to a class--preferably a small one--so you've got someone minding your form.

Iso posted a really great fitness story awhile ago, he turned around his health pretty dramatically.
 

[Atomic]

16 hours ago, tacklewasher said:

You lose weight by eating less calories than you burn. Period. Anyone who tells you different is full of ****. There is no magic pill or anything else. How you eat less than you burn is either by eating less overall, burning more overall or some combination. So if you up your exercise and don't up your food intake, you can lose weight. If you eat less and don't exercise you can lose weight. I find it easiest to eat somewhat less and exercise more.

While this is technically true, there is so much more to nutrition overall than just counting calories.  And there are really good, legitimate reasons why low carb diets work so well.  It's not a fad or a magic pill... it's science.

You're right, eating less calories than you expend will result in weight loss.  But that's just one part of the story.

[The Unknown Poster]

5 minutes ago, Atomic said:

While this is technically true, there is so much more to nutrition overall than just counting calories.  And there are really good, legitimate reasons why low carb diets work so well.  It's not a fad or a magic pill... it's science.

You're right, eating less calories than you expend will result in weight loss.  But that's just one part of the story.

I was waiting for someone to say this.  Of course, calories in, calories out.  The most basic of science.  But as you said, there are more efficient ways to accomplish this.

I clicked through a few studies about low carb because thats what Im most interested in right now.  And, for example, one study had the purpose of examining low carb as a fad diet that could cause harm and had no benefit.  That was the expected outcome.  They had two groups, one on low carb with no calorie counting.  And the other on the "accepted" nutritional plan (food pyramid) counting calories (so a traditional reduced caloric diet).  Their results shows significant weight gain for the low carb group over the low calorie group and their vital stats were all basically the same.

I know nothing but what I read and I've read a lot over the years (including Dr Oz books).  So this low carb is new.  It was always counter intuitive to me.  We shall see what happens.

[itchy]

5 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

I was waiting for someone to say this.  Of course, calories in, calories out.  The most basic of science.  But as you said, there are more efficient ways to accomplish this.

I clicked through a few studies about low carb because thats what Im most interested in right now.  And, for example, one study had the purpose of examining low carb as a fad diet that could cause harm and had no benefit.  That was the expected outcome.  They had two groups, one on low carb with no calorie counting.  And the other on the "accepted" nutritional plan (food pyramid) counting calories (so a traditional reduced caloric diet).  Their results shows significant weight gain for the low carb group over the low calorie group and their vital stats were all basically the same.

I know nothing but what I read and I've read a lot over the years (including Dr Oz books).  So this low carb is new.  It was always counter intuitive to me.  We shall see what happens.

Maybe it's not necessarily low carb, but realizing how many carbs we were eating to get to where we were, ie the actual portion size for pasta.

I'm never gonna be able to kick carbs, so low carb isnt realistic, but i know for me, I was consuming way too many carbs, throwing off that pyramid. 

I'm with tacklewasher on this one. For some of us, it just needs to be simple, and tuning out the noise that is all the fads, newest theories, etc. It's realistic and attainable. A little bit of help and guidance from something like myfitnesspal goes a long way.

[Atomic]

1 minute ago, itchy said:

Maybe it's not necessarily low carb, but realizing how many carbs we were eating to get to where we were, ie the actual portion size for pasta.

I'm never gonna be able to kick carbs, so low carb isnt realistic, but i know for me, I was consuming way too many carbs, throwing off that pyramid. 

I'm with tacklewasher on this one. For some of us, it just needs to be simple, and tuning out the noise that is all the fads, newest theories, etc. It's realistic and attainable. A little bit of help and guidance from something like myfitnesspal goes a long way.

Yeah to be clear I'm not disagreeing with tacklewasher at all, just saying that just because counting calories does work, doesn't mean that all other nutritional information out there is automatically invalid and a scam.

[Logan007]

22 minutes ago, itchy said:

Maybe it's not necessarily low carb, but realizing how many carbs we were eating to get to where we were, ie the actual portion size for pasta.

I'm never gonna be able to kick carbs, so low carb isnt realistic, but i know for me, I was consuming way too many carbs, throwing off that pyramid. 

I'm with tacklewasher on this one. For some of us, it just needs to be simple, and tuning out the noise that is all the fads, newest theories, etc. It's realistic and attainable. A little bit of help and guidance from something like myfitnesspal goes a long way.

It's also the type of carbs you're eating as well.  White flour vs whole grain.  Starchy vs complex.  Etc...

[tacklewasher]

2 hours ago, Atomic said:

Yeah to be clear I'm not disagreeing with tacklewasher at all, just saying that just because counting calories does work, doesn't mean that all other nutritional information out there is automatically invalid and a scam.

Didn't I say this?

" Now as to what you eat, that becomes a personal choice. If Atkins, Low Carb works for you, than great. It does not have any magical properties over any way of eating and does not do more for long-term weight loss than anything else, but if it works and you can eat that way, then go for it. "

There are many ways to lose weight effectively. Calorie counting work well for me because it becomes a math problem, but I don't discount that others need to use a different method. The underlying reason people lose weight is because they eat less calories than they burn, but they don't need to count calories to accomplish that. My point is that you figure out what works well for yourself, through trial and error, and make sure you can stick to it long-term. "Dieting" and then going back to how you were eating is a sure path to yo-yoing your weight.

I know some low carb people think they have found something special by going into Ketosis, but beyond a few extra pounds of water loss, they are not doing anything magical and will still lose weight based on calories. Add carbs back in and those water pounds will come back.

 

[tacklewasher]

2 hours ago, Logan007 said:

It's also the type of carbs you're eating as well.  White flour vs whole grain.  Starchy vs complex.  Etc...

I disagree. For me, I keep at my calorie goal, eating white bread on occasion, and lose weight as expected.

[tacklewasher]

Here's a decent article on low carb

 

https://www.bemorenutrition.com/2017/01/20/low-fat-vs-low-carb-which-is-better-for-fat-loss-research-review/

[Logan007]

4 minutes ago, tacklewasher said:

I disagree. For me, I keep at my calorie goal, eating white bread on occasion, and lose weight as expected.

I'm not talking about just losing weight though, I'm talking about overall health.

[The Unknown Poster]

9 minutes ago, tacklewasher said:

Didn't I say this?

" Now as to what you eat, that becomes a personal choice. If Atkins, Low Carb works for you, than great. It does not have any magical properties over any way of eating and does not do more for long-term weight loss than anything else, but if it works and you can eat that way, then go for it. "

There are many ways to lose weight effectively. Calorie counting work well for me because it becomes a math problem, but I don't discount that others need to use a different method. The underlying reason people lose weight is because they eat less calories than they burn, but they don't need to count calories to accomplish that. My point is that you figure out what works well for yourself, through trial and error, and make sure you can stick to it long-term. "Dieting" and then going back to how you were eating is a sure path to yo-yoing your weight.

I know some low carb people think they have found something special by going into Ketosis, but beyond a few extra pounds of water loss, they are not doing anything magical and will still lose weight based on calories. Add carbs back in and those water pounds will come back.

 

I somewhat disagree.  But I will jump to your side based on my own experiences in time.  But the science behind low carb intake trumps a traditional low fat, calorie reduced diet.  Both work but in many studies, the low carb people lost more.

I think we're all agreeing with you mostly but the idea that everything is the same isnt true.  There are more efficient ways to treat your body.

You do lose water weight on low carb which is why people often lose a lot of weight in the first few weeks.  But studies have shown consistent weight loss over an extended period of time.

If you basically eat whatever you want but burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight.  But that's like step one of health science.  People can go beyond that to find what works for them.

If you look up the science behind ketosis its related to insulin.  So the idea.  Its not just lose water.  There is science there.  Does it work for everyone?  I assume not.  But I dont know if it doesnt work because people dont follow it.  Just as if you did a calorie reduced diet but cheated all the time, its not that it didnt work, its that you didnt work it.

So Im very hesitant to even say I somewhat disagree because I completely agree with the notion that what works for one doesnt work for another.  But people who lift a lot of weight will tell you there is pushing weight and then there is pushing weight and taking supplements in an efficient way for better results.

But ask me again in a month ;-)

[The Unknown Poster]

12 minutes ago, tacklewasher said:

Here's a decent article on low carb

 

https://www.bemorenutrition.com/2017/01/20/low-fat-vs-low-carb-which-is-better-for-fat-loss-research-review/

Yes for sure.  So at worst, its just as good.  But quoting studies is a tough one because we can play dueling studies all day.  I cant find the link right now (dont remember the site I find it) but last night one site linked a series of studies supporting LCHF diets which found a significant increase in weight loss with the low carb vs the low fat/calorie reduction.

I think there is a tinge of anti-low carb in your posts which results in a couple of us saying "yeah....but".

I agree with everything you have stated but also think there are more efficient ways to be healthy.  You can eat garbage everyday and work off those calories and thats not the same as eating really healthy food every day.