How's your diet?

[J_Dee]

This thread got me wondering: how healthful is your diet?

I eat pretty well, I guess: not a lot of net carbs or fat, plenty of protein and nutrients. I stopped eating fast food a few years ago and don't miss it at all. Except for a rare Coke or Root Beer I've also long given up soft drinks, but for the last few months I've drank probably half a dozen sugar-free energy drinks a week, which sucks (I don't know why I even started drinking them).

Anyway, you?

 

[BlueVelvetFog]

It sucks

 

[warrior-cat]

I eat mostly whatever I want so, my diet is not the best or very good to be factual. Although I say to my wife that I am going to start eating better, she generally buys the bad for me goodies when she goes out anyway. If they are here, I eat them. The same with the plates of food she prepares. Whatever is on the plate (quantity) I will finish it.

 

[John Henry]

I don't think I have ever been on any kind of a diet. I eat what I want, when I want. I was raised on what some call country cooking with fresh vegetables, plenty of fruit and all types of seafood and meats. I do not live on a farm now but I still eat the same way as I was raised.

I seldom if ever eat any fast foods and always have a big breakfast as I feel it is the most important meal of the day. I have gone too far in life to ever think about a diet. And I am not anywhere near being over weight

 

[catlanta33]

Balanced. I offset beer with fasting and eating healthy until around 8 pm when I start devouring snacks.

I woke up sweating in the middle of the night because I ate a pint of ice cream before bed so had to get up earlier to burn it off.

 

[warrior-cat]

I don't think I have ever been on any kind of a diet. I eat what I want, when I want. I was raised on what some call country cooking with fresh vegetables, plenty of fruit and all types of seafood and meats. I do not live on a farm now but I still eat the same way as I was raised.

I seldom if ever eat any fast foods and always have a big breakfast as I feel it is the most important meal of the day. I have gone too far in life to ever think about a diet. And I am not anywhere near being over weight

I am a bit over weight at 5' 9" and 222lbs. According to the experts I should be around 185lbs at the most. As I said earlier, I eat basically whatever I want but, do exercise 6 mornings a week and play softball and fish a couple of times a week.

 

[JamesIII]

I usually try to cut carbs 2-3x per week dining at the Y.

 

[jwheat]

My diet sucks so I try to exercise to offset my poor eating habits.

I haven’t had caffeine in 2.5 years. If I could cut little Deborah out of my diet I’d be doing good

 

[LineSkiCat14]

The covid 15 (ok, 20) hit pretty hard. But my diet is usually top notch.

No soda ever, rarely any sugary drinks, coffee is always black, don't have much of a sweet tooth, enjoy fruits and most vegetables and eat them fairly regularly, raw shake most days, limit most bad carbs, aim for high protein foods, enjoy water, most cooked meals are clean and nutrient dense, rarely any fast food or processed food.

The biggest thing is just not having that sweet tooth. I find myself more drawn to savory/bitter/earthy flavors and I've sort of trained myself towards that. Black coffee tastes good to me, in part because I know it's healthier than a coffee with sugar and cream.

 

[catlanta33]

Can't do black coffee. This stuff will give a little sweetness without making you fatter but you'll more.

MCT powder mixes well with coffee but you'll more.

Just offering up an alternative, not trying to change someone's preference.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/erythritol#TOC_TITLE_HDR_2

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Can't do black coffee. This stuff will give a little sweetness without making you fatter but you'll more.

MCT powder mixes well with coffee but you'll more.

Just offering up an alternative, not trying to change someone's preference.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/erythritol#TOC_TITLE_HDR_2

It's very odd, but I really enjoy it black. Even Iced Coffee black, which is unheard of for most people lol. I kinda just trained myself. I started drinking coffee with two splenda and two cream, and over time, just dialed it back.

I have done the MCT oil when doing Keto, and it wasn't bad.

 

[WeWant9_rivals]

It’s okay, not the greatest but like others I try to balance it out with walking and working out. Soft drinks are probably my biggest weakness, never seem to be able to actually cut those out. A soda and some candy has always been my comfort food.

 

[Cotaay]

Started working from home a few years ago and my Monday-Friday diet has been pretty stellar ever since. About 40 pounds lighter in my late 30s than I was on my late 20s.

On weekends I don't really follow any kind of diet, but generally eat pretty well because I know I will feel like **** if I don't.

 

[warrior-cat]

I usually try to cut carbs 2-3x per week dining at the Y.

Why?

 

[warrior-cat]

The covid 15 (ok, 20) hit pretty hard. But my diet is usually top notch.

No soda ever, rarely any sugary drinks, coffee is always black, don't have much of a sweet tooth, enjoy fruits and most vegetables and eat them fairly regularly, raw shake most days, limit most bad carbs, aim for high protein foods, enjoy water, most cooked meals are clean and nutrient dense, rarely any fast food or processed food.

The biggest thing is just not having that sweet tooth. I find myself more drawn to savory/bitter/earthy flavors and I've sort of trained myself towards that. Black coffee tastes good to me, in part because I know it's healthier than a coffee with sugar and cream.

Love black coffee but, I have a massive sweet tooth when it comes to other consumables.

 

[Col. Angus]

Seafood diet I sea it I eat it haha

 

[_Mav_]

Completely and radically changed my eating on December 1, 2020 and it's the best I've felt in 30 years (I'm 57 now). Cut out sucrose/fructose/HFCS cold turkey, switched to basically a keto-type diet (prolly a little less fat and a little more protein than a strict keto), combined with restricting my feeding window as tightly as possible (Usually between 2:00 and 5:00 pm, but I frequently eat only one meal a day, but still get 2,000-2,500 calories in it). My goal was not to lose weight, but rather to lower my risk of heart/cardiovascular disease, and in my N of 1 trial I'm extremely pleased. Both total cholesterol and LDL have decreased by about 23%, my triglycerides have bottomed out (32 at last blood draw), HDL increased by 19%, and my HbA1c was a ridiculous 4.3! I've lost 37 lbs (again, without trying), and my % BF by DEXA scan is 13%. I'm honestly never hungry, and have even sailed through a few 2 and 3 days fasts since December with no hunger pangs whatsoever.

 

[WildcatFan1982]

if there was low carb beer that actually tasted good I probably wouldn't be fat.

 

[cole854]

if there was low carb beer that actually tasted good I probably wouldn't be fat.

My fav during the summer months...

 

[chroix]

Decent. Wasn’t great through COVID. Had been on a pretty extreme exercise regimen for many years and ate accordingly. COVID hit and my available time for exercise and availability went way down and I packed on an extra twenty quick. Time to cut out snacks and desserts and hit the trails.

 

[catlanta33]

Completely and radically changed my eating on December 1, 2020 and it's the best I've felt in 30 years (I'm 57 now). Cut out sucrose/fructose/HFCS cold turkey, switched to basically a keto-type diet (prolly a little less fat and a little more protein than a strict keto), combined with restricting my feeding window as tightly as possible (Usually between 2:00 and 5:00 pm, but I frequently eat only one meal a day, but still get 2,000-2,500 calories in it). My goal was not to lose weight, but rather to lower my risk of heart/cardiovascular disease, and in my N of 1 trial I'm extremely pleased. Both total cholesterol and LDL have decreased by about 23%, my triglycerides have bottomed out (32 at last blood draw), HDL increased by 19%, and my HbA1c was a ridiculous 4.3! I've lost 37 lbs (again, without trying), and my % BF by DEXA scan is 13%. I'm honestly never hungry, and have even sailed through a few 2 and 3 days fasts since December with no hunger pangs whatsoever.

It was tough for me to keep going strict Keto or a variation of it. But, there is no question weight falls off and the energy gains are unreal. I remember feeling all bouncy one afternoon and drank a 5 hour and felt like I did two rails of coke.

You'll know you're really making progress when you start getting skinny-shamed and people question if it's healthy you lost weight by controlling your diet.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Here's where my diet goes south:

- Cheese
- Red Meat
- Cold cuts
- Bar food
- Portion control
- Social/COVID Drinking.

The last one is my biggest hurdle. I can't go more than a few days without some obligation, some birthday or event, that requires a bar tab or drinks around a fire. And during lockdown, with nothing to do, the liquor store bills rose quite a bit. When you WFH, who is to stop you from a 3pm happy hour just to ease your mind?

But the booze hits doubly hard. In my mid 30's, I'm far less likely to workout the next day. I've figured out that on days I'm hungover I take about half as many steps. I eat the chicken wings or dominos instead of the salad.

Oof, glad summer is here. Is it 3pm yet?

 

[_Mav_]

It was tough for me to keep going strict Keto or a variation of it. But, there is no question weight falls off and the energy gains are unreal. I remember feeling all bouncy one afternoon and drank a 5 hour and felt like I did two rails of coke.

I completely agree. It would drive me nuts to be strict keto and continually track macros, so I basically wing it. A staple meal is a "salad" where I gob on about half a jar of Primal Kitchen Avocado Mayo, slather on a bunch of olive oil, add a shredded chicken breast, and also add a whole handful of pecans. Out of curiosity, I did weigh everything one day and it was about 225 grams of fat, 125 grams of protein, and whatever carbs were in the pecans. Prolly not an according-to-Hoyle official keto meal but it's close enough for me.

You'll know you're really making progress when you start getting skinny-shamed and people question if it's healthy you lost weight by controlling your diet.

LMAO! Dude that has absolutely been my experience, especially with my wife. She is forever asking "how much weight are you trying to lose" or "you know it's not healthy to be too thin either." She, and others, can't wrap their heads around the fact that consistent, healthy eating can produce dramatic results over time. Another benefit is that I've lost no strength during the past 7.5 months. In fact, while I don't consider myself "strong," all my lift numbers have increased, so it's not like I'm wasting away from muscle atrophy.

 

[_Mav_]

Here's where my diet goes south:

- Social/COVID Drinking.

Man prior to my change, I had gotten into a bad habit of drinking a bunch of sweet alcoholic concoctions on the weekends, e.g. stuff with a lot of Bailey's, chocolate liqueur, mead, etc... Of course I knew it was bad, but I truly didn't grasp how devastating the combo of sugar and ethanol is to the liver until I watched this video that explains the biochemistry/pathophysiology (the whole video is great, but skip ahead to the 42:00 mark for the relevant biochemistry) behind fructose and ethanol metabolism. To give yet another example of the power of diet, my AST (a liver enzyme that can be used as a surrogate marker for fat levels in the liver) level was 39 (high side of "normal") in November 2020. Two weeks ago it was 21.

 

[Lionel_Hutz]

The last one is my biggest hurdle. I can't go more than a few days without some obligation, some birthday or event, that requires a bar tab or drinks around a fire.

Same here. I *love* beer and bourbon. If I could abstain for a lengthy period of time, I’d prolly see a significant amount of weight loss. Don’t have the will power as of yet tho.

 

[420grover]

It's a pretty safe bet that I have the worst diet out of anyone here. Probably not even close.

 

[IdaCat]

I don't know how good it is because I eat what I want, when I want it. I eat OK stuff, I think. I'll gorge for a day or 2 occasionally, but always cut back to reasonable sized meals after that. I feel better when I'm thinner and that helps me not over eat too much. I still get large sized meals nearly every time. I'm never more than 5 - 10 lbs overweight.

Had a doc checkup a couple of weeks ago and got the results from a comprehensive blood test back. Doc said that all my numbers were great. I'm really happy about that!

Just started taking a daily Centrum Silver. Can't tell any difference yet.

I rarely drink. Not because I don't want to, but I must have had my 900K gallon limit. I feel like **** after just a few beers.

I don't do exercise because it's boring. I do stuff that gets me off my ***, but not every day. For no more than I put into it, at 60 y/o, I think I'm doing well.

 

[warrior-cat]

It's a pretty safe bet that I have the worst diet out of anyone here. Probably not even close.

I really think I could give you a run for your money. My last 5 breakfast meals were no bakes with milk and some donuts added in (had to get rid of the container of them my wife bought before they go bad). Lunches have been anything but healthy (Chips, hot dogs, tamales etc.) and I have eaten out for dinner 3 of the last 5 days BBQ, KFC and Fried fish with fried shrimp. Came back and ate some desserts including cake and ice cream on a coupe of days.

 

[420grover]

I really think I could give you a run for your money. My last 5 breakfast meals were no bakes with milk and some donuts added in (had to get rid of the container of them my wife bought before they go bad). Lunches have been anything but healthy (Chips, hot dogs, tamales etc.) and I have eaten out for dinner 3 of the last 5 days BBQ, KFC and Fried fish with fried shrimp. Came back and ate some desserts including cake and ice cream on a coupe of days.

I don't eat any fruits or vegetables and the only thing I drink is Mt Dew.

 

[warrior-cat]

I don't eat any fruits or vegetables and the only thing I drink is Mt Dew.

You may have me beat then on the fruits and veggies but, I eat a lot of sweets.

 

[420grover]

You may have me beat then on the fruits and veggies but, I eat a lot of sweets.

I don't eat a lot of sweets after I worked in a food processing plant that made cake mix, brownie mix, cookies, etc. The quality department always had stuff sitting in there for everyone to grab. I had to shovel pancake mix one night from a big spill and haven't ate a pancake in over 15 years, lol.

I do eat a lot of chips and other junk food though. My version of a taco is the just meat in a bowl(with American cheese) and a family size bag of Doritos to scoop it out.

 

[WayneDougan_rivals170043]

Other than a 10-day window in September where I was really sick, I have not missed a day of working out for at least 45 minutes since April 2000. I'm legit talking 390 of 400 days or so. You know how much weight I've lost? Negative 8 pounds. My diet sucks and I need to turn it around.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Man prior to my change, I had gotten into a bad habit of drinking a bunch of sweet alcoholic concoctions on the weekends, e.g. stuff with a lot of Bailey's, chocolate liqueur, mead, etc... Of course I knew it was bad, but I truly didn't grasp how devastating the combo of sugar and ethanol is to the liver until I watched this video that explains the biochemistry/pathophysiology (the whole video is great, but skip ahead to the 42:00 mark for the relevant biochemistry) behind fructose and ethanol metabolism. To give yet another example of the power of diet, my AST (a liver enzyme that can be used as a surrogate marker for fat levels in the liver) level was 39 (high side of "normal") in November 2020. Two weeks ago it was 21.

It's bad for sure man. A lot of it is out of boredom. And COVID caused a lot of boredom (and anxiety, etc).

Wow, what changed in two weeks? Just cut back? I'm gonna have to check out that video. The one saving grace to my frinking habits, is my preferred drink is just Bourbon on the rocks, some beers and there, and the occasional cocktail.. but they are never loaded with much sugar. No sodas, or anything.

 

[_Mav_]

Other than a 10-day window in September where I was really sick, I have not missed a day of working out for at least 45 minutes since April 2000. I'm legit talking 390 of 400 days or so. You know how much weight I've lost? Negative 8 pounds. My diet sucks and I need to turn it around.

Despite the weight gain, that level of exercise dedication is freaking impressive.

A good friend once said, "you can't outwork a ****** diet" and in my case it's absolutely true. I hovered around 210-215 all of last year (through November), and my workouts were extremely consistent (although not quite at your level). The only thing I've changed in the last seven months was my eating and the fat has melted off.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Same here. I *love* beer and bourbon. If I could abstain for a lengthy period of time, I’d prolly see a significant amount of weight loss. Don’t have the will power as of yet tho.

I know that when I take weekends off, which means saving booze calories, more daily steps, and likely an extra workout or two.. I drop about a 1/3rd pound every day. Give or take.

I once ran the numbers of a night out and its.. astounding. For most people, a night out could mean an additional 3,000 calories when it's all said and done. Even if you take a normal week night where you have, say, 3 IPAs... that could be 600 calories right there. 1,000 if you end up skipping the gym the next day.

It adds up..

 

[_Mav_]

Wow, what changed in two weeks? Just cut back? I'm gonna have to check out that video. The one saving grace to my frinking habits, is my preferred drink is just Bourbon on the rocks, some beers and there, and the occasional cocktail.. but they are never loaded with much sugar. No sodas, or anything.

Oh I definitely had an advantage because my main nemesis was sugar -- and I regularly ate a metric crap-ton of it. I was a slave to my taste buds and dopamine . Once I was able to kick that habit everything fell into place.

 

[warrior-cat]

Wife just came home from work and brought McDonalds. My daughter likes the Mcnuggets and the wife brought me a Quarter Pounder with cheese, fries and a coke. The bad diet continues.

I guess since I am now retired I need to take an interest in the culinary arts and try to learn how to cook better dinner for us since my wife will be working for years to come.

 

[warrior-cat]

Other than a 10-day window in September where I was really sick, I have not missed a day of working out for at least 45 minutes since April 2000. I'm legit talking 390 of 400 days or so. You know how much weight I've lost? Negative 8 pounds. My diet sucks and I need to turn it around.

6 days a week of at least 45 minutes or more in the morning with a 1 1/2 hours twice a week teaching karate as well. Tonight, I will be playing 2 games of softball starting in about an hour and a half from now. Fishing tomorrow morning and Sunday morning this week.

I get plenty of exercise now I need to get plenty of better foods.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Wife just came home from work and brought McDonalds. My daughter likes the Mcnuggets and the wife brought me a Quarter Pounder with cheese, fries and a coke. The bad diet continues.

I guess since I am now retired I need to take an interest in the culinary arts and try to learn how to cook better dinner for us since my wife will be working for years to come.

I'm able to eat healthy now because we don't have kids yet. I know full well that when the 1st comes, the diet is out the door. Which is why I'm trying to get the weight down as much as I can before that day comes.

 

[WayneDougan_rivals170043]

Wife just came home from work and brought McDonalds. My daughter likes the Mcnuggets and the wife brought me a Quarter Pounder with cheese, fries and a coke. The bad diet continues.

I guess since I am now retired I need to take an interest in the culinary arts and try to learn how to cook better dinner for us since my wife will be working for years to come.

I think it’s more about quantity than quality.