CliffordK

I actually have a little troubles with my weight... a little. +10 to +20 lbs or so.

Lots of cycling keeps it down a bit. However, I do pack on a bit of weight in the winter.

My one "secret weapon" is blackberries. They are rather filling. And, I can eat as many as I can pick in the late summer/fall. The more blackberries I eat, the more weight I lose. (Of course, replacing other foods with the blackberries).

It means that I have to do all of my annual dieting in about a month. But, it is pretty extraordinary the rapidity that the weight comes off.

Part of the issue with blackberries is that one's body doesn't digest them well, so they taste good (at least for a while), but have more bulk than actual usable calories. Perhaps it even takes energy to move them through the digestive system.

noglider 

Yes, high fiber food does that. Fruit is one reason I love summer. I wish blackberries grew here, but they don't. The few we get aren't very good. I've tasted wild blackberries in Washington. Fantastic. But we have blueberries and peaches here, which are also outstanding. In peak blueberry season, I eat a pint per day.

CliffordK

I love my blackberries...

But I wish they DIDN'T grow here.

I'm surprised they don't grow in your area. They are pretty invasive here, and we've got at least 3 different species, from the native blackberries to the Himalayan blackberries to the Canadian blackberries (at least that is what I've called the ones with the fine leaves).

Patriot1

Seattle Forrest

My garden abuts a greenbelt.

Seattle Forrest

Anyone who enjoys road cycling will love cross country skiing. Not just because you can do it comfortably in the winter, but it's an aerobic endurance sport where gear matters to an extent, putting you on a road/trail all day at high speed. There's so much resonance with cycling, people call the diamond stride "a low gear" and double polling "a high gear."

CliffordK

It has been a long time since I've been cross country skiing.

Think pine tar, wax, cable bindings, and hiking boots!!!

I didn't get along well with the straight blade skis. Perhaps I'll have to try some of the newer curved blade skis. Karhu cruved blade fish scale waxless skis?

But, it is rare to get enough snow in the valley to dig out the skis, and I've been a bit reluctant to try skiing since I've gone car free. Ski Bus? The mountains aren't that far.

Of course, Oregon also has one of the few ski resorts in the USA that is open in July/August.

noglider 

@CliffordK, the reason blackberries are local is that they don't survive shipment, except for the hard ones which are no pleasure to eat. They remind me of those hothouse tomatoes that are white on the inside. What's the point? I know how invasive they are in WA and OR. I picked some on the roadside in WA. I ate some and carried some away, but they didn't even survive the short ride home. My friend who grew up in Seattle says the word blackberries with a nasty tone of voice, because his job as a kid was to clear the yard of them. But they sure are good food. I don't know why they don't grow here.

We have a wild berry that looks like a raspberry and is black. They have various names, such as black cap. They're good but not nearly as good as blackberries, and they don't grow as prolifically. We only get a few each year.

Seattle Forrest

So many of our local plants are edible. Wild salmonberries, strawberries, and blueberries all throughout the Cascade Range. Hiking this time of year is a yummy proposition.

fstrnu

Yeah but if beer has more calories per carb then does it have protein and fat?

wphamilton

I think no fat no protein no sugar, just mostly calories.

noglider 

Oy.

There are three types of nutrients, and they all have calories, as calories are a unit of measurement of energy. There are protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Carbohydrates have three sub-types: starch (stupidly called carbohydrates), sugar, and fiber. Fiber isn't digested so it effectively has no calories for humans. Protein and carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram, and fat has 9 calories per gram. Beer has starch and sugar, which is where the calories come from. Calories come from one of those three types of nutrients, not from themselves.

(Saying things like "carbohydrates and sugar" is just like saying "clothes and shirts.")

wphamilton

Right, so beer is like saying you've got lots of clothes but no shirts. It's almost all carbs. Starches.

noglider 

No, but never mind.

wphamilton

I don't get it then.

I said "Beer has lots of carbs, but no sugar. "

you said "Saying things like "carbohydrates and sugar" is just like saying "clothes and shirts.""

Clothes = carbs. shirts = sugar. You = beer.

Substituting, "You have lots of clothes but no shirts." Why "no"?

noglider 

There is sugar in alcohol. Or alcohol acts like sugar. I'm not sure which, but the calories are from more than just starch.

wolfchild

Alcohol has about 13 calories per 1 fl oz...The sugars get all fermented and majority of the calories comes from actual alcohol or a combination of alcohol and carbs such as in beer.

wphamilton

Alcohol WAS the sugar, the sugar is converted to alcohol. You might find some beer somewhere that has some sugar left over, but none remains in any beer that I know of.

The calories in beer are almost all carbohydrates (aside from the alcohol itself as wolfchild notes), and of those almost all are from starches.

OBoile

Alcohol is a 4th source of energy and provides approximately 7 calories per gram. IIRC, that is roughly 64 per fl oz.

Edit: oops, the 64 number is for a 40% drink. It's ~210 for a fluid oz (that isn't exact since alcohol weighs less than water and I can't be bother to convert).

noglider 

So then I guess alcohol is yet another kind of carbohydrate.

OBoile

No. It is not.

noglider 

Well it's not a fat or a protein, so what is it?

wolfchild

I stand corrected too....Beer has about 13 calories per 1 fl oz...40% alcohol such as vodka has 64 calories.

wolfchild

No it isn't...The difference is that, all carbohydrates get converted to sugar, alcohol doesn't get converted to sugar.

OBoile

It is alcohol. It is a 4th macronutrient that humans can derive energy from.