Worrying about diet?

The Coffee Shop
1

How much do you think about your diet? I feel like compared to the typical US diet I eat pretty healthy and have for most of my adult life. Almost all of my meals are made from basic ingredients, dont’ really buy processed meals, rarely if ever eat fast food. Keep the saturated fats fairly low (I think), not a sugar person, although I’ve gotten into the habit of eating a Reece’s cup most work days because people just have bowls of candy at work.

Here’s the thing, all of my metabolic markers of health are good. Low blood pressure, good lipids, good glucose control. I’ve been exercising nearly daily for most of my adult life. Only black mark is I’m probably carrying too much body fat, but then again, if I am, it’s not affecting the typical markers of metabolic health.

I’m certainly not a zealot when it comes to diet, but I do feel like I’m fairly thoughful about it, maybe to a degree more than is necessary?

2

I am trying to eat like a Sardianian villager. Convenience often gets in the way.

3

I don’t have the discipline to follow any given diet (Mediterranean, Nordic, etc.). I’m very eclectic when it comes to what I eat.

4

I think there are studies that show regular exercise maybe doesn’t cancel out but certainly abates poor diet choices. I don’t eat like crap, but I do eat pretty much whatever I want. Not much sugar, but any kind of meat and carb I can wolf down. Bloodwork always comes back normal and I just chalk it up to near-daily exercise.

5

I pay attention to what I eat. It’s my goal to eat 10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. If you do that, it’s easy to not overeat. My wife and I gave up beef and pork at least 15 years ago and I would say that at least 50% of days I eat no meat at all. I eat a lot of eggs.

My one downfall is sweets. I can’t seem to shut off my sugar cravings. I’d love to be 5-7 pounds lighter to optimize my other-forum activities, but overall I think I’ve got the diet thing down.

I grew up in a household where my parents were obsessed with being thin and diet. My sister and I both ended up with eating disorders. I have gotten over my issues. My sister has not and it has adversely affected her whole life. My wife and I have been very careful to not make diet and body image a focal point in our two daughter’s lives. For better or worse…

6

better instead of worrying about saturated fats, processed fats: soy,canola, mono & diglycerides - by chance those are found in most junk foods

7

I don’t worry about it, but I try to make generally healthy choices.

In the past I’ve been far too focused on diet, to a point where it was distracting and counterproductive in a few different ways. So I try not to do that now.

We have this phrase we use in our house to tease our dog - we tell her she’s “pretty good…most of the time”. I apply that principle to my dietary habits as well and try not to get too hung up on it.

8

Too often. I mostly eat OMAD. But being over 70, I am 25 lbs heavier than I like to be. I lift weights and run 5+ miles. Try to eat healthy. But still ..

9

i think about my diet a lot. but i don’t always follow through. diet is 95% of your health. you can exercise all you want, but if you eat like shit, you’re going to have issues.

i should restate the above tbh. genetics is 80%, diet is the other 19% and exercise is 1% lol.

for me, i try to eat pretty vegetarian during the week, based on my genetics. i crossed the 40 barrier and well.. most my family members have died int heir 50’s and 60’s. every single aunt/uncle has had a heart attack and/or stroke.

grandfather died of heart attack at 53, uncle at 60, grandmother had cva and stroke.

i had my cholesterol checked last year, it was a bit higher than i liked. 218, the md wanted to put me on statin, i wanted to improve my diet. we had just moved, i was job hunting. just not taking care of myself with diet and exercise, plus my wife is an awful influence, she can pretty much eat butter all day and have great lipids. heck, i never ate butter until i met her.

my current diet is pretty clean. i hit the farmers market every saturday. i buy a ton of veggies and prep them for the week. carrots, brussel sprouts, beets, broccolli, peppers, squash, kale, leeks, the list goes on. i chop them up and put them in containers. for dinner i just mix and match veggies and add a handful of almonds, hemp heart seeds, and mix in whatever sauce.

because my wife is preggers i’ll cook up some local beef/chicken for her and slice that up. sometimes i’ll treat myself and have a slice or two. first meal of the day is egg whites, tons of veggies and homemade bread.

i also juice, upgraded myself to the hurom h70 last week and it has been such a breeze. it’s so easy to use i am considering to not bulk juice on the weekends and just make it daily.

i do 2-3 glasses a day. am is ginger, lime, cucumber, celery. mid day is carrot, beets, ginger, spinach, pm is the same ginger lime green juice.

now i just gotta get off my lazy ass and start running again.

weekends, i say F it and eat whatever i want. it’s not like i’m having kfc every weekend, but if we go out, i’m not restricting myself.

my only weekly weakness is cheezies. you can find them in 3packs for 6 bucks on sale. i try very hard to only go through 1 pack a week. otherwise, i don’t drink soda, i don’t eat candy, i don’t snack on junk. we dno’t have anything processed at home other than sauces for our meals. i make all our bread.

10

Similar situation to you. I posted it here:

Although my family history shows many relatives with high cholesterol, NO heart attacks in my close or extended family, and everyone seems to live to 90 or 100. Go figure.

11

i wish that were the same for mine.

when my grandmother has 10 kids, and 9 have had a heart attack and or stroke (the 1 died of breast cancer), and my moms cousins have cholesterol in the 400’s then i’m not taking any chances. cared less when i was young and single, but i’m married now, with a baby on the way in 3 weeks. want to make sure i stick around long enough to help raise the kid.

i think i eat plenty of healthy fats. plenty of olive oil, almonds, 3 avocadoes a week. the only bad fat i eat is a little butter/ghee on the cast iron to reduce sticking, but that’s like 2x a week, and those damn cheezies…

12

I follow my diet more than most, but less that the very obsessed, I would say.

Around the time we started having kids and I stopped training for triathlon, I gained weight very quickly. I was still eating like I was training two hours a day. I ended up hiring a nutritionist for 6 months, and I counted calories, weighed portions, followed a progressive weight training program, and was very diligent. That taught me the tools I needed to keep things in check and my body composition improved drastically.

Now, I strike more of a middle balance. I still track meals most of the year, but I’m also somewhat on autopilot. I know which calorie dense foods to avoid snacking on etc. I’ll eat a bit less during the week to enjoy a beer or special meal on the weekend, etc. But I’m not “on a mission” about any of it. I try to keep myself around the 16-19% BF zone. If things get on the jiggly side, I’ll go back to tracking my diet for 3-4 months or so.

It’s an interesting balance. Obsessing over it too much is obviously a bad thing. But I don’t know how many of you have strapped on even a 10-15lbs weight vest and tried to go for a light jog, do some pull ups, play a game of soccer etc. It is shocking how much difference a few pounds can make to how you move and feel throughout the day, your energy levels etc. Im an active guy and for me it certainly pays dividends to keep my diet in check, it’s worth the hassle.

13

I think for me it was more about the “what” than the “how much”. I’ll still eat out once in awhile and all that, but as far as around the house, I try to just buy the things that I should be eating and if I’m hungry, that’s all there is.

Although I would say around age 40, I did notice metabolism decreasing unless I’m exercising a lot.

Also to this:

I know it was sort of in jest but it’s not “working out” that makes the difference as much as just being active all day. Sitting on my butt at a desk job is bad. Yeah I offset it with tri-related activities. But when I was in Europe for two weeks prior to my last race, I actually lost weight even though I was at my peak training. And even though I was eating whatever I wanted.

People don’t think about walking but if you walk around all the time all day, it burns a lot of calories.

14

^this. we got a puppy a few months ago. i hate walking, absolutely despise it. i’d rather bike/run somewhere. but she can’t run yet. so we walk. i was averaging 4 miles a day when we got her. now it’s down to 2. i still hate walking, but it’s more manageable watching her enjoy it and being so damn cute.

15

For sure. Easier on vacation when you’re seeing new things in places you haven’t been before.

16

I am now in my 60’s and with a poor family history think about it a lot. I made a few big changes, and did the following within the past few years,

  • Installed a reverse osmosis water system in my house to get rid of the crap in water.
  • Avoid the supermarkets as much as possible as almost every single item is garbage.
  • I order grass fed meat, pasture raised eggs and raw milk from a local farm.
  • In the summer buy all vegetables at a farmers market, including raw honey.
  • I stopped all snacks between meals and only eat 2 meals a day (lunch and dinner)
  • One day a week I don’t eat at all (a 42 hour water only fast each week)

Those changes meant losing a weight regularly for months and now it has stabilized and a good lean weight and I don’t feel like I am carrying any excess fat.

If I eat well I maintain my body weight so exercise is just for muscles/heart, not to lose weight which is the best way to look at exercise.

After the last 2 years, I now go into a grocery store and think anything in the aisles is poison. It’s just hard to fathom entire rows of cereal, snack food, canned goods etc., most of which never even existed 100 years ago. It’s no wonder there is an epidemic of chronic disease.

17

I’m guessing that most folks here generally eat well (or better than the average US consumer). I wouldn’t say I worry about diet, but I am aware of what I eat. (I track and log everything when I wanted to clean it up a bit and I just kept going with logging).

I generally try to make sensible choices - limit processed foods, unnecessary/added sugars, etc. Moderation is not a bad thing to allow for an indulgence, nor is snacking (generally healthier choices - fruit, nuts…).

18

Do you have any easy go-tos when you are thinking about fruits and veggies? I eat a good amount but mostly in prepared ways, and if im just grabbing something generally it leans towards easy carbs/sweets.

19

Better learn to love it, because you just signed up to a 10-15 year commitment of doing it 2-3 times a day.

20

I eat a lot of apples. A serving to me is something the size of the palm of my hand. So a large apple counts as two servings. A banana most mornings. Vegetable soup for lunch pretty frequently. A salad most nights. We had Brussels sprouts and sweet potato for dinner tonight.

Do I get to ten servings every day? No. But I think about it as a goal.