I don't really follow. If you want to be on a selective diet, why not just do it?

Why just want it? Seems like a new year's resolution thing. If you want to change something, just change it.

Agreed with rubik....those results don't surprise me in the slightest.

Triathletes tend to be fairly disciplined overall, IMO....if they want to be on a selective diet, they'll do it.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

"If you want to be on a selective diet, why not just do it?"

as in, if you don't want to be a sinner anymore just stop sinning?

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

What surprises me is that you misinterpreted your own poll.

What do you mean by selective? I'm on the path to cutting out processed sugar. That seems awfully selective to me, but I don't think that's in the spirit of what you're asking.

"What do you mean by selective?"

first, go to the wikipedia page list of diets (for all the critics of the poll).

but to your point, by "selective" rather than "restrictive" (my terms) i mean you are entirely omitting (rather than diminishing) certain wide swathes of food categories.

so, let's say you don't eat gluten. or you don't eat anything living (you only eat the apple after it falls from the tree). you don't eat anything white. or yellow. or you don't eat starches. or you don't eat anything not mentioned in the bible.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Well, when I say I eat anything that's pretty much what I mean. But, I do try to avoid crap and buy food that I need to prepare rather than ready prepared. I am definitely not a fan of diets per se, but in the context of being pretty selective about what I eat, then I am always on a diet. It's just a diet that allows me to eat anything I want, when I want, but for the most part it's generally 'good' stuff. Oh but I do like to sin sometimes :-)

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Trust me I’m a doctor!
Well, I have a PhD :-)

Ah, but if you follow that line of belief, then the need for salvation would be nonexistent and there would be little purpose for the religion itself.

But in endurance sport, well, a committed athlete subjects themselves to no end of self-flagellation. Forgoing some sweets or meats is a bit silly in comparison.

that's exactly my point. self-flagellation is not the sole purview of the endurance athlete. to your point, the flagellants of the middle ages could never whip themselves enough to atone for their own sins.

i think the discipline to train is wholly different from the discipline required to stick to a regimented diet.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

What surprised me (and the reason I didn't vote) was the presence of so many options that describe fairly uncommon choices, but the lack of an option that describes me and a great many of your readers.

I'm an omnivore, with a heavy weighting towards vegetarian food sources, but the closest available option; "eat everything and am OK with it", seems to imply an attitude to diet that is close to the opposite of mine - being indiscriminate in what you eat. I certainly don't "eat everything" - I wouldn't touch most of the Frankenfoods that fill half the grocery store aisles.

Which box should I tick??

I agree. I think most of us, at least on Slowtwitch, enjoy the training therefore making it "easier" to be disciplined. On the other hand, depriving yourself of foods you love, no matter how bad they are for you... is not enjoyable. At. All.

Agree. I am very different in my food choices to all manner of people that would tick the same box in that poll.

I voted in other, but 100% agree. No, I don't "eat everything" but I certainly don't qualify for a "diet"

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just your average age grouper . no one special . no scientific knowledge . just having fun.

There is a difference, I think, in 'selective' and 'restrictive', but I think about a little differently (maybe). Restrictive is imposed by some outside consideration - maybe religious, or a medical condition, or a deep-seated (but non-religious) belief. Selective is something I'm choosing to do, even though other options are available to me. So, absent the types of 'external' considerations (and I get that some of those 'restrictive' justifications might be totally 'internal' - i.e. choices), if I can eat any food I want and decide to maintain a vegetarian diet - well, that's just fine. But it complicates the poll, I think, because that self-imposed vegetarian might be willing to eat the bacon crumbled on top of the soup or share a bite of wonderful chicken satay. Well, that's not a vegetarian anymore, unless we're defining the diet categories as '...is this your diet more than 90% or 95% or 99% of the time...' That 'flexibility' might be absent in the 'restrictives' but possible for the 'selectives'. Maybe that's what Slowman was getting at, but I didn't read it *quite* that way. BTW, I'm a 'selective' veg+fish+dairy (so no land animals, basically). But the bacon in the salad? OK. A slab of steak or a check breast? Nope. Selective for certain!

my diet is only selective in that i don't eat crap (much), so yeah, i'm very happy with that. i eat lots of meat, dairy, even some gluten. that doesn't seem to meet your criteria for a selective diet, though maybe i'm misinterpreting. i guess i do select out the category of processed foods, if you call that a food group...

Huh. I picked that I eat whatever I want. And I do. And I'm very Mother Jones. I eat hand milled porridge with fresh fruit and homemade soy milk for breakfast topped with fair trade coffee. My evening salad consists of 20 vegetables and homemade salad dressing with a flaxseed oil base. I even make my own horseradish sauce. I don't want anything else. And if that means a steak or fish or milk, I eat it. But it comes from very close to the earth. And it doesn't involve a snickers bar or deep fried or weird stuff.

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Hillary Trout
San Luis Obispo, CA

Your trip is short. Make the most of it.
https://www.slogoing.net/

20 vegetables?? I can't even name 20 vegetables!! What on earth do you put in you salad please??

Haha. Here goes.... in the order I build it.

Lettus, usually leafy read - depends on what the store has
Spinach
Red Onion (sliced thinly)
Radish (sliced thinly)
Beet (I grate it)
Corn (frozo)
Green Cabbage (shredded from TJs)
Red Cabbage (shredded, from my garden - they last forever)
Brussels Sprouts (shredded from TJs)
Broccoli (just the tops, no stems - those go in soup bases)
Radicchio (just one leaf, in small bits)
Cucumber, but I don't particularly fancy these, so they are the first to get dropped
Carrots (babies)
Sugar Snap Peas
Tomatoes
Asparagus (top 1/3 of the stalk, from my garden usually)
Little Peppers (tri-color bag from TJs, chunked)
Jicama, when I can find it

Technically not veggies, but on my salad regardless...
Apple slices, when I have apples from my tree (usually starting August and they cellar until January)
Hardboiled Egg
Mung Bean Sprouts
Broccoli Sprouts
Peanuts
Mushrooms, sometimes
Strawberries, when I have too many and need to eat more

Ok, so only 18 veggies and the rest from non-vegs. But here's a picture of my salad from a few weeks ago. It was a small salad because we also had fish tacos. MMmmmmmm. Yum.



And porridge, quite the mix. I buy bulk grain and grind it in my KitchenAid grain grinder attachment. I just wander around and get anything that is a whole grain. And I add oats. Probably 10 - 14 different grains. I use it to make flour too. And I make my own soy milk.

Fruits:
Banana (always)
Strawberries (always)
Raspberries (always)
Blueberries (always)
Blackberries (seasonal, from the yard and from my mom)
Kiwi (only when it is good)
Mango (only when it is really good)




It works for me. OMG. In looking for pictures of my salad, I realize that I might be a little bit nuts about my food. So, yes, I eat whatever I want and lots of it. But no poptarts.

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Hillary Trout
San Luis Obispo, CA

Your trip is short. Make the most of it.
https://www.slogoing.net/

Wow!! I'm in awe!!