Diet Suggestions

[Unclean]

In our challenge tracking thread, the diet topic came up. For those of you that don't know how to change your diet, post up your current diet here and we'll go from there!

[ZesteR]

Inspired b/c I dont know how to eat right! lol

 

 

I guess my main problem is the lack of food being eaten.

 

If I ate 3 meals a day I'd be in eating more than I normally do.

 

Does it matter when I eat them? I never have the same times to eat everyday.. can I just eat three meals anytime I want?

 

 

Also, is it wise to eat something right b4 I go to bed?! And I dont mean snacks.

[*BiGBonES**]

I believe its unwise to eat before you go to bed. The body naturally diverts blood to the gut after eating to improve the digestion process. When you sleep this blood is needed elsewhere apparantly, meaning that the nights sleep is less effective as the blood is digesting food when it should be doing other things.

 

I dont know how applicable that is, but it sounds logical.

 

On the other hand, fatty said that he doesn't eat before sleep so he can loose more weight (burning off fat when sleeping). So logically speaking if he doesn't eat before sleeping to loose weight, you should eat before sleeping to bulk up a bit?

 

<3 contradictions.

 

I'd personally say don't eat before you sleep, just eat at the standard meal times, but force more down you during the meals. Eventually your stomach size will increase forcing you to want more food

[EbilDustBunny]

I don't have the will or attention span for one of those.

 

I try to keep junk food out of the house but my parents buy it anyways and i end up eating it...

Edited January 25, 2006 by EbilDustBunny

[ZesteR]

Yea, that happens to me when I'm looking for dinner... but it's not dinner time yet... so I try to resist!

 

I've been real good lately with no crap food and candy.

and soda... what's soda? havent tasted that all year..

(new year's resolution)

[Unclean]

It works, too... (keeping junk food out of the house). Let me tell ya, for the first few weeks, it's REALLY rough. I checked the cabinets like 4398437 times looking for something bad to eat. It was like going through junk food detox or something. I couldn't eat healthy snacks like fruit and feel satisfied. But that's changing... now it's *slightly* more satisfying than before, so that shows real progress.

[appalachian_fox]

On the other hand, fatty said that he doesn't eat before sleep so he can loose more weight (burning off fat when sleeping). So logically speaking if he doesn't eat before sleeping to loose weight, you should eat before sleeping to bulk up a bit?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Funny enough, I have a friend who's a personal trainer, and when he wants to bulk up quickly he eats a small, protein-filled snack before he goes to bed and then sets his alarm to wake up in the middle of the night and drink a small protein shake. He says that the body will cannibalize fat and muscle at night to continue its metabolism. I don't know anything about it personally, but I can say I've seen a few people who said they do that and they get huge quickly. Of course, I'm taking their word for it that they actually wake up in the middle of the night

 

 

It works, too... (keeping junk food out of the house).  Let me tell ya, for the first few weeks, it's REALLY rough.  I checked the cabinets like 4398437 times looking for something bad to eat.  It was like going through junk food detox or something.  I couldn't eat healthy snacks like fruit and feel satisfied.  But that's changing... now it's *slightly* more satisfying than before, so that shows real progress.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Been there a few times myself, man. Here's to keeping it going long-term! The junk-food detox period is horrible. I'm trying real hard to keep the junk food from creeping back in myself, so keep up the good fight!

Edited January 26, 2006 by appalachian_fox

[Unclean]

And it's always tough at the grocery store too -- but how often does someone go grocery shopping? Once every week or two? You only have to be strong during that time. For me, if I'm about to pick up a box of those devil's food cake donut thingies or something, I just think "be strong... you just have to be strong until you're out of the grocery store".

 

So app, how do you keep the cravings away? Do you keep healthy snacks around like fruits and nuts? Or just give up snacking altogether?

[appalachian_fox]

I try to avoid going to the grocery store hungry, I find that helps a lot...though I still have a bit of a Pavlovian response to seeing Beef Jerky

 

Well, I've found that increasing water intake helps a lot. Sometimes I find I'm just not drinking any, and a few cups a day helps. Of course, I've also heard that drinking too much water might be unhealthy, but it wasn't from what I would consider a trustworthy source.

 

When I do snack, I try to hit more wholesome foods, and portion control is my big thing. Instead of grabbing, say, the Wheat Thins box and crashing on the couch I'll take a serving (roughly a small handful for me), close the box and go eat them somewhere else. Same thing with nuts (not crazy people). Oh, and I've gotten used to what a reasonable serving looks like in my hand.

 

As far as wholesome foods, I try to do the hippie thing as much as possible, whether snacks or real food: whole-grain, unprocessed, raw foodstuffs (organic if it's reasonable since I'm always broke). Any snack that "needs assembly" is a great plus, because you have to work for it. For example, I keep a block of cheese and some Wheat Thins, so I can slice up a serving of cheese for my dairy and put it on the crackers. It helps me be patient, and I can really get good portion control that way.

 

I try to keep fruits and nuts around, but that can be hard as well. Apples are HUGE these days, the Granny Smiths I eat are at least two servings of fruit. I am a big fan of Clementines, because they're small.

 

And, of course, I do try to avoid snacking when possible...I find that after a bit of increased eating (usually holidays, or if I fall "off the wagon") I want to eat more to feel full...Do stomachs stretch for small increases in diet? Anyway, I try to reduce snacking as well, which means sometimes I don't get everything I want, but within a few weeks I'm used to eating less again.

 

Oh, and no sodas. Maybe a Diet Coke if it's in the house, but in general I try to avoid soft drinks, keeping milk and OJ as my calorie-containing drinks. That's tough if I have been drinking Cokes (not as hard for root beers).

 

What do you do when the cravings come?