Jughed

I'm losing weight, getting back in shape in an attempt to stop a disease in its tracks... I have a good 25-30 years left, and I want to do it with my feet and vision...!!!

I'm not focused on a number - just getting better.

I was mentioning the numbers just to point out how some people just flat hold weight, and in many cases its hormonal issues.

big john

Good luck! I wish you the best in overcoming it.

big john

When I was working there were vending machines very near to my work area which was a big problem. I would take fruit and healthy snacks to work but just ended up eating those in addition to the vending machine stuff.

I think part of the reason I lost weight after retiring was less stress eating.

MinnMan

I totally get both of those points. There are vending machines where I work.

During certain eras, I have been unable to avoid them, and for other long stretches of time, I ignore them to the point where I couldn't even tell you what was stocked in them.

Also, I stress eat. I can be very regimented about my diet most of the time, but if something happens that upsets me, then on that day I am likely to eat far more than is usual. I don't beat myself up about it though. Nobody is perfect and I can tolerate a binge day here or there. Fortunately, it's a day, not a week or a season.

PeteHski

It was a step worse than that for me. Where I worked we had free 24 hour access to an unlimited supply of snacks and soft drinks. We used to call it the "chod table". To make matters worse, the "chod table" was located in a very high stress working environment and 18 hour days. There were healthy snack options available too, but as in your experience, they just ended up as additional calories on top of the "chod".

GhostRider62

I did a 2 year development project where we worked 6-7 days per week 10-14 hours per day, we had catered food for lunch and dinner with every imaginable snack at our finger tips all day long. Everyone got fat. I managed somewhat by skipping lunch and going out for a steak dinner with two pints at 4 pm and then not eating the catered dinner.

Jughed

In my 30's I took a job to advance my career/make more money.

65 mile each way commute. 10+ hour work days, 3 hour + commute.

Working on billion $ pharmaceutical projects.

Money was flowing - gourmet catered lunches daily, paid for dinners, and we were located in a mini food mecca.


I, along with others, flat out got fat. Really fat.

andrewclaus

Read Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food." The tagline is "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

I dedicated myself to a plant-based whole-food diet over five years ago, and I've never felt better. Energy levels and strength are very good. Lipid panels are in the normal range for the first time in my life. A couple of worrisome moles even healed up. A chronic shoulder tendon problem went away. I've been skinny my entire life and will die that way, but I feel real good.

I don't think anybody's mentioned the environmental disaster of the meat industry, but that's there too.

AJW2W11E

How do you get your Protein ? Do you eschew fish , which may escape some of the processing red meat gets? Just seems the most active and alert elderly people are spry and wiry and skinny, so you're lucky.

andrewclaus

I get my protein the same way the other animals get it--from plants. Legumes and tree nuts especially. Protein is a basic building block of life--it's everywhere. There are plenty of large, muscular, strong animals that eat plants. Like horses, elephants, etc. Another interesting read is "Fiber Fueled."

I've been vegetarian my entire adult life and at this point all animal products are unappetizing, so fish is off the menu. I can stomach the cheese on the occasional pizza or sprinkled on a salad or appetizer when I eat out.

I am a little concerned about fat reserves should I ever get sick, but I'll burn that bridge when I get there. It's a risk I choose to live with, like cycling in traffic.

MinnMan

Grazing animals eat A LOT of food to get their protein and they have digestive systems optimized for that. It doesn't necessarily translate to humans and smaller mammal omnivores.


For example, if you have a 1,000 pound horse who is in light work, a good diet might consist of 17 pounds of hay or hay cubes and 3 pounds of grain per day. The same 1,000 pound horse in a heavy work program may need 10 pounds of hay and 10 pounds of grain, since the grain is higher in energy.

(So, for a human 1/6 the weight of a horse, that would be 1.5 pounds of "hay" and 1.5 pounds of "grain"/day. No thanks)

sure, you can get greater protein from nuts and such, but then the analogy to horses becomes pretty useless.

john m flores 

Back in the 90s, I worked with a woman who'd fast once a week. I tried it and didn't take to it. But I did start skipping breakfast because I was getting more than enough calories on two modern-sized meals a day. Now it's called Intermittent Fasting.

About 10 years ago, I made a conscious effort to reduce the meat in my diet. Hardly eat chicken these days. Or pork. More fish. More veggies (spinach, bell peppers, etc...). More beans. What I have noticed is that there are days when my energy levels are low. Nothing addresses this low energy state better than a steak. Doesn't have to be big, but the heme iron seems to be something that my body needs. I've tried other sources of iron but they don't do the trick.

My girlfriend starting fasting once a month. So I joined her. I'll get through the day nibbling small snacks and sipping juices to keep the hunger pangs away, but my body has more than enough fat stores to draw from to get me through the day. I doubt that my body goes and gets calories from my muscles at my weight; it's a more energy-intensive process for the body to do that, and the fat stores are there just for this reason; it's easy-converted energy.

I've put on about 1lb per year for the last 30 years. I'm ok with that but I would like to end that trend as I get older.

indyfabz

And it tastes good.

BTW...A salad is not always healthy or low cal, especially at chain places. I've seen some on menus with calories count close to 1,200 and lots of fat and sodium.

cyclezen

Totally agree. I'm always blown away how anyone could make an equivalency between us and those animals who gain their nutrition almost completely from vegetative sources - those who have a system evolved for doing exactly that. Same should be considered for any comparison of those mammals/animals which gain their primary nutrition from animal 'meat' sources.

All appearances seem to say we, our systems, are best served by a mixed source of nutrition, a combination of veg and animal food sources.
Again, as I've often observed, being on the 'extreme' to either end does not serve us well. Some 'balance' seems to serve us best. That 'balance' seems to not be a 'hard', found place. It varies on individual system and needs, so each's variety/variance of sources is a personal 'optimization' process.
I, personally, have reduced my 'animal' food source dramtically, but also find a reduction of some key areas, like muscle... Is it do to aging? Is it due to diet? Is it due to recent illness required longterm, heavy medications (chemotherapy)? Can't really put a precise finger on it...
Personal philosophy and 'ethics' has pushed me greatly to a vegetarian diet, but that isn't serving me as well as I'd like, as I move forward, age.
I think a more balanced approach to broad diet sources seems to be helping...
Not quite sure where that optimum 'balance' is to be found, because life changes the conditions, every day ! A moving target.
Which might also mean a 'moving' optimum... 'Heisenberg uncertainty' of what is best for us...
Ride On
Yuri

MinnMan

Just to be clear, I am not arguing against vegetarianism. I am sure that vegetarians can obtain healthy and balanced nutritional mix if they are careful. But the glib "horses are vegetarians and are strong, therefore I can eat only plants" is nonsense reasoning.

Also, there are some nutritional challenges for vegetarians and vegans. Vitamin B-12, first and foremost. You get it only from animal products or from supplements, but digetstive absorption of B-12 from supplements can be very limited.

Classtime 

Most of us don’t eat hay. That’s weird. Check out how much protein is in a serving of broccoli. Google Vegan Cyclist or Rich Roll for real world examples. Watch the movie “Game Changers” .

MinnMan

You are making my point.

1 cup broccoli =2.5 grams protein

Protein needs per day - generally 0.8 grams/kilogram body weight.

So a 70 kg male could get enough protein from broccoli if they ate 22 cups/day.

Good luck with that.

and just in general, I don't recommend getting your nutritional or scientific information from blogs or movies.

andrewclaus

Yes. We can cook legumes and harvest nuts and seeds. I regret the large vegetarian mammal analogy for its lack of perfection.

My wife listens to Rich Roll, it sounds pretty good. We've seen "Game Changers" too.

andrewclaus

And you might want to suspect the nutritional information provided by the industries supplying your food and paying lobbyists.

MinnMan

Nothing I have posted comes from those sources.

And if you prefer your information from the guy who used his blog to build a multi-million dollar empire?

From Broke At 45 To Building A Multi-Million Dollar Media Empire By Age 55

then by all means, eat your 22 cups of broccoli each day.

?

andrewclaus

Sorry, I mistook your OP as a serious question.

wolfchild

Vegan propaganda which is based on junk science, ideology, theories, opinions and a bunch if lies..

Classtime 

I'm liv'n the lie.

wolfchild

The thing about Mediterranean diet is that it's not vegetarian as some ideological vegetarians like to believe. There are over 20 different Mediterranean countries and every one of them includes various types of meats, seafood and dairy products as part of their traditional cuisine. Not a single Mediterranean country follows a vegetarian diet.

PeteHski

So which ideological vegetarians believe that a Mediterranean diet is vegetarian? Are these people in your head again or real people?