Any special diets, anyone?

[deeaa]

Just for fun,

Any of you ever think much about what you eat etc? Do you have any special rules and such on what to eat and what not to eat? Steer clear of something?

I've been eating quite fatty and meaty foods for, I dunno, 1,5 years now or so, and it seems to work very well for me. I try to avoid any 'low fat' foods and sugars, cereals, bread, rice, potato as much as I can - especially stuff like wheat and corn - and concentrate on eating vegetables, fruits and lots of meat and eggs and proper milk and butter.

I do eat some of those too, but it's like when I used to have 4 big potatoes and 8 meatballs, I rather now eat a dozen meatballs and half a potato instead. And always eat lots of green salads. For breakfast bacon and eggs fried in good ole butter and so on. But seldom a donut or much bread at all. Pasta foods are an especially big no-no. Sometimes, but seldom.

Because I drink a LOT of beer and won't cut on that, I've lost weight very slowly, but am anyhow now 156 lbs, close to 152 which is my ideal. (I'm 5.8 feet tall). Also I don't think I ever felt better than of late, just a few years back I could hardly do a few chin pull-ups, now a dozen goes easily, and also otherwise I feel very energetic all the time&in the shape of my life - hell I'm much stronger and agile than 20 years ago in my twenties.

So for me avoiding any cereals and sugars works fine, and it's been super easy to follow thru...just double the meats and fats and skip the cereal products as far as possible. How about you guys?

 

[Eric]

Nothing special, though I am vegetarian. If years of running has taught me anything, it's that weight is dictated ~85% by what you eat and maybe 15% by how much you exercise.

Right now I'm just trying to lay off of the booze a little bit and not use exercise as a way to correct for bad eating habits, but rather to address the eating habits themselves.

 

[deeaa]

Yeah that's very true, exercise burns surprisingly few calories more than just being. Something like burning the equivalent of a large cola you'd have to run eight miles or something just to negate that energy amount. Yep, it's gotta be what you eat.

Are you a vegetarian for any specific reason? I've tried a few times to not eat meat, well mainly because I could not afford it when studying, but after a few weeks I was so ravenous after it, when I finally got me a nice piece of steak meat, I literally ate it before I had even fried it...it just took so long for the pan to heat up, I started cutting small pieces and ended up eating the whole steak raw. Then I figured vegetarism wouldn't suit me too well. But I suppose it'd be very good for the environment and the earth in the big scheme of things.

 

[Eric]

Well, my vegetarianism is kind of odd. It's not the whole I-couldn't-possibly-eat-animals thing; I guess I like animals, but I don't think that's enough of a reason for me not to eat meat. It's more that I found that when I was living on my own, I'd only cook meat maybe once or twice a month. I just didn't think about it much and never bothered with it.

As an experiment, I decided to try being vegetarian and it's stuck. Didn't hurt that about 3 weeks after I started doing it I met my wife, who had been vegetarian for 8 years or something at that point. She definitely knew how to cook vegetarian very well. I imagine I might have become bored with the foods I could cook had I not met her.

I think the environmental part (i.e. you can get a lot more out of a plot of land if it's not used for meat) and the general health part (that a lot of really unhealthy foods are meat, so you kind of chop out some unhealthy eating habits automatically) are just sort of an added bonus.

I still eat fish, because I love sushi. If I find myself wanting meat sometime, I'll eat it and then go back to being vegetarian. I guess I'm technically pescatarian/flexitarian, but that usually takes too long to explain, so I just label myself vegetarian.

I might try your ideas of cutting out carbs, but I LOVE bread, so it'd be really hard. Just kind of trying a new pattern that works well these days. I'm a bit on the high side of my typical weight range right now, but it just takes time; can't be too impatient.

 

[deeaa]

Well yeah, I can't be w/out bread entirely either, sometimes a marmalade toast or a tuna melt is just too good to pass, but I try to keep it to 1-2 slices a day max. And never white bread.

The funny thing is, now I'm used to it I get a horrible feeling of stuffiness if I have much bread, or a good dose of pasta. Just feel very heavy and wanting to take a nap after eating.

I also have a small portion of fries now and then, can't drop hamburgers or pizza either...but I guess, I've still probably cut to a quarter of carbs I used to eat, easily.

Now if I could just stop the wife from baking all kinds of pies etc. quite often...very hard to resist, but I do my best.

 

[hubberjub]

I have been an ovo/lacto vegetarian for about 15 years with no relapses. It just doesn't appeal to me. I'm not a Nazi vegetarian either. People can eat whatever they want to. I eat a very balanced and healthy diet. We grow most of our vegetables during the summer and preserve a lot via canning and utilizing a large chest freezer. My wife, who is not a vegetarian, is an excellent cook and understands the importance of complete proteins in ones diet. She's a writer and contributing editor for a few environmental and local food magazines. In terms of exercise, I am an avid hiker, and I walk to work everyday. I'm not sure of the mileage, but it takes about 45 minutes each way. The major flaw in my diet is my alcohol consumption. I am a beer and wine fan with a pretty active social life. I'm 5'8" and about 200lbs. That's one problem with being involved with the local music scene. I go out probably five nights per week, either to play or watch music. Maybe it's time to switch to scotch.

 

[Bloozcat]

One of my problems with diet is that I despise most vegetables. Of those that I do eat, I prefer them raw if possible. For instance: I like carrots, celery, cucumbers, cabbage, spinach, various types of lettuce, radishes - all when they're raw. When cooked, they taste very bitter to me. Uncooked they have a natural sweetness to them.

About the only green vegetables I can eat cooked are fresh or frozen string beans, lima beans, fresh or frozen peas, bell peppers (also red and yellow bell peppers). I like corn and almost any kind of beans (which are legumes, not vegetables).

When trying to substitute for foods that are not necessarily healthy in large quantities, it's hard when vegetables aren't an option. So, lately I've switched from eating pasta made from white flour to whole wheat pasta. I eat oatmeal with raw nuts, fruit, and a little bit of honey in the morning, and most days I have a salad for lunch with a little grilled chicken on it.

Since I like to cook, I've created some dishes that use the vegetables I like. I make a stir fry that's mainly vegetables with a little grilled chicken, a mediteranian pasta (now whole wheat) that's meatless, and a couple of other dishes. My wife loves them, but she really likes vegetables anyway.

I was in a health foods grocery store a few years back and saw a book there that was titled, Diet By Blood Type. It sounded intriguing so I picked it up and turned to the chapter on type O+, my blood type. The title of the chapter was O+: The Hunter. Rather appropriate, I thought. The chapter began by saying that people with this blood type crave red meat. Maybe not all the time, and maybe you could eat a diet with little or no red meat, but not for long. O+ blood is considered to be a prototype blood type of the human race from back when we were hunter/gatherers. Way back then, red meat from game, nuts, berries, and simple vegetables and starches were the staples of the diet. In fact, this blood type pre-dates the advent of more processed foods like wheat and dairy products as well, and these foods are on the avoid in large quantities list for those with type O+ blood. I found this very fascinating.

 

[Tone2TheBone]

Yeah a see food diet.

 

[Heywood Jablomie]

I like to eat out as often as I can.........

 

[Robert]

I run over 10 hours per week, and I need lots of energy for that. I eat potatoes, pasta, meat, vegetables and a lot of bread. I particularly love chicken and fish, but for me, I sure need a lot of carbohydrates. According to my calculations, I burn about 10,000 calories per week, from running only.

 

[deeaa]

Blooz that IS very interesting, as I also like raw veggies the best, I eat lots and lots of fresh salads at work. They're expensive and hard to make in small quantities at home, but at work I eat loads of stuff like grated carrot, cucumber, various green salads etc. and there's a great selection at our workplace too.

 

[Eric]

All of these dimensions of bodies makes me wonder about ideal weights. I've given it some serious thought in the past, and while I try not to make excuses for myself, I just couldn't figure out BMI. I'm 6'3", and according to BMI the heaviest I can be without being considered "overweight" is something like 186.

When I was in school, I would swim a mile a day, do some minor weight work and ab stuff, and eat 2 bowls of oatmeal per day; nothing more. I think that my lowest weight was 193. A couple of years ago, I was down to 201 for a competition we had at work, and that seemed unbelievably light for me -- a real struggle to get down there.

I mean, I wasn't exactly rock-hard even at 201, so I understand the underlying ideas of BMI. I just don't honestly understand how my body could get there; it doesn't seem to have the capacity to do so. I weighed ~280 until I was about 20 years old, so maybe my brain and body just honestly can't comprehend it. I don't know.

For reference, I've run all of the 5 marathons I've done at or around 220, so I consider that my normal operating weight. Not ideal, just what I tend to wind up at.

 

[deeaa]

Oh yeah, I guess weight depends very heavily on the person. I'm for instance very light compared to height, most of my friends of the same height usually weigh 40lbs more and aren't fat at all, but looking pretty much the same as me.

Me, the heaviest I ever was was when I was 18 or so, only ~20 pounds more than now, but BOY I looked FAT, even my face was round like a pumpkin. And still that too was miles away from being officially overweight, 174lbs and 5'10''. (BTW I didn't know how to correctly use these damned inches etc. but now I calculated the correct value to be pretty close to five ten, almost five eleven, definitely not eight. Man those are impossible to calculate, metrics is so simple in comparison.)

My ideal weight is IMO just over 150lbs or just under 11 stone. The lowest I've been as adult was in mid-20's in my best gigging years, when I was just 140lbs at best. Right now my BMI seems to be 22.4 which is smack in the middle of 'normal' though.

 

[sumitomo]

Wow I'm glad someone started this thread,cause I thought I ate kinda weird.I had to have a kidney removed about 4 yrs ago cause of a tumor(90%cancer/this one was not)so I checked out info on cancer/tumors ect.,they like a acid enviroment so I started to eat to raise the PH in my body,I still eat some meat and eat some icecream,I also have Hep C and have not drank booze for over 5 yrs.,My blood tests barely show signs of Hep C and I have a lot of joint pain sometimes it feels like fire and someone hitting them with a hammer so I have been trying Medical Pot(eating foods with it,I don't smoke)Once or twice a week and it works great for me.I also make alot of juices and grow my veggies(and my own medicine).I will find out the next blood test how the Medical Pot is for my body,but I never thought I'd every use it for medicine.Funny how life throws curve balls.I'm glad to see how others eat.Sumi

 

[Bloozcat]

Wow I'm glad someone started this thread,cause I thought I ate kinda weird.I had to have a kidney removed about 4 yrs ago cause of a tumor(90%cancer/this one was not)so I checked out info on cancer/tumors ect.,they like a acid enviroment so I started to eat to raise the PH in my body,I still eat some meat and eat some icecream,I also have Hep C and have not drank booze for over 5 yrs.,My blood tests barely show signs of Hep C and I have a lot of joint pain sometimes it feels like fire and someone hitting them with a hammer so I have been trying Medical Pot(eating foods with it,I don't smoke)Once or twice a week and it works great for me.I also make alot of juices and grow my veggies(and my own medicine).I will find out the next blood test how the Medical Pot is for my body,but I never thought I'd every use it for medicine.Funny how life throws curve balls.I'm glad to see how others eat.Sumi

Are you taking any EPA-DHA Omega Fish oil, sumi? It might help with the joint problems, and it's good for the heart/circulatory system.

 

[sumitomo]

Yep!The pot really helps me relax when I get a massage (my wife is a massage thep.)I put up with tension and extreme pain for over 2 yrs.,I mean tears from pain and now it is almost non existent,I have a close person I share with and some weeks I dont need anything others I put it off till I can't stand it,I pray alot with people and that works best,but sometimes well,Im really glad I can be open to all options,instead of automatically getting negative you know saying naw that wont work and I haven't even researched it.Thanks for input I'm always open for suggestions.Sumi

 

[Bloozcat]

Yep!The pot really helps me relax when I get a massage (my wife is a massage thep.)I put up with tension and extreme pain for over 2 yrs.,I mean tears from pain and now it is almost non existent,I have a close person I share with and some weeks I dont need anything others I put it off till I can't stand it,I pray alot with people and that works best,but sometimes well,Im really glad I can be open to all options,instead of automatically getting negative you know saying naw that wont work and I haven't even researched it.Thanks for input I'm always open for suggestions.Sumi

Juicing is a really great way to control the pH balance. Carrot and spinach juice is one of the best, especially if you grow it yourself organically. 75% carrot/25% spinach is the ration I hear works best. And contrary to belief, most citrus is alkaline as well. But, I'm sure you already know all of this.

 

[kidsmoke]

Hell of a guitar forum we have here! :dude

Blooz opened the can of worms I was going to open: blood type.

I've never struggled with my weight, and always been very active, just in the course of life. Raising kids, coaching soccer (at one point 3 teams simultaneously) cycling to work cuz I love to, and generally despise ceilings and walls, runnin' around with the dogs etc. Never had a "plan" for excersize or diet. Then, my youngest reached the age where her soccer club dictated career pros as coaches, I changed jobs to sales (driving all the time) hit 40, and gained a mexican girlfriend as a roommate (think tortillas and beans and lots and lots of chicken) WHAM. Nothin' worse than a skinny pasty white red head with a beer belly. My sweetheart also started to thicken up, shall we say. Over three years an extra 25 pounds creeped up on me, along with generally feeling like crap most of the time, and I've never been a good sleeper. The job sucks, and I'm in construction related fields, scraping out a commission (translation....stress)

to the point. My girlfriends very rotund cousin, short and stout, fantastic cook and working mom getting a masters degree (think out straight, no time for gym) suddenly starting shedding pounds. pressing for a reason, we found that due to her O+ blood type, she had eliminated wheat from her diet. No other changes had occurred, just no wheat, and she had lost to date 30+. Stunned and skeptical, I bought books.....

This is no fad. As Blooz alluded to, this is simple physiology and human evolution. Science as common logic. Think......if our bodies receive the wrong blood type, it can be fatal. It is logical, therefore, that if our organs can be shut down based on different levels of common elements in blood, that elements of food can also dramatically affect organ function, which is directly related to metabolism and the way our bodies process and UTILIZE the elements of food. Well, duh!

So it's like this....Blood type is but a sign of the "organ package" we have. These organs maximize some foods, and find other foods less optimal, or even
problematic (causing them to operate inefficiently) Those troublesome foods are not generally "bad" foods, they just don't work well for "organ packages".

Blooz told the O+ story. Meat, and lots of it, Wheat is bad. In my case, I'm B-, and chicken and corn contain lectins which slow my metabolism. Yet chicken and corn are not generally considered bad foods.

In the wake of this, my girl and I printed the lists for our type, highlighted foods common in the + column for both of us, and started shopping. It did take some digging to find ample foods, as so much of what is readily available is not optimal for both of us (she's O+ also). Without making any other changes to my life, I lost 12 lbs in 5 weeks. I wasn't adding metabolism slowing elements to my system.

The thing about this diet, is that, other than a book, nothing is being sold or pushed. There is no marketing machine behind this. All the info I read in the book I've seen readily available for free online. Interestingly, this paradigm is common knowledge in Japan, and has been for generations.

I think your testimony bears it out as well, deeaa. You've found that a red meat diet leaves you feeling good and without weight issues. This is why the Atkins "fad" a few years ago was so highly regarded, for a select few people! While for others, it was nearly toxic! The O+ crowd watched the pounds melt and the energy rise, while the rest of the folks found less satisfactory results.

Compelling stuff. Worth a perusal at least. I suspect that those of you who generally feel good, and aren't wrestling with weight issues, would read their "list" and find they're already largely compliant.

For example, Eric, are you an A?

 

[Eric]

For example, Eric, are you an A?

Yup, A+. Whazzat mean for me?

 

[kidsmoke]

here is a VERY BROAD synopsis of each types strong suit.

Simpler List


Type O High Protein:
Meat eaters Meat
fish
vegetables
fruit

Type A Vegetarian
vegetables
tofu
seafood
grains
beans
legumes
fruit

Type B Balanced omnivore
meat (no chicken)
dairy
grains
beans
legumes
vegetables
fruit

 

[Bloozcat]

Thanks for adding that Tio...

Hmmm, your insight into your life answers one queation but raises another. Who are you "uncle" Kimo to?

Another interesting diet that is based on foods that are readily available through grocery stores is The Fit For Life Diet.

What this diet stresses is food combining. The basic premise is nothing but fruit until noon. Do not combine meat protiens with starch. So, instead of that steak and baked potato, have a steak and a salad or other vegetables. Want a nice baked potato? Eat it with vegetables like you would with the steak.

Another couple of rules of the diet are to avoid dairy products and consume only whole wheat products.

This approach works great for my wife. Although she doesn't follow it 100%, she is pretty faithful to it. She's dropped 2 to 2 -1/2 dress sizes since we've been married and she's in incredibly good health. Of course I must add that she exercises regularly and sees a holistic doctor to maintain proper levels of the vitamins, minerals, and supplement that keep her in such good shape.

Speaking of wheat and dairy products: These are the top two food items on the list of foods Americans are allergic to. Yet they are so prevalent in the American diet.

And then there's all the crap we injest that throws a wrench in any diet. Chemically created or altered substances that encourage fat growth, or actually induce symptoms of disease as they poison the body. But, that's another discussion that would take weeks to sort through. Let me just throw two out there for examples: Aspartame and High Fructose Corn Syrup...

 

[hubberjub]

According to that diet, I eat everything that I shouldn't. Stupid O+.

 

[deeaa]

Damn, now I really should find out my blood type! I have no idea - I mean, we tested it in highschool once, but no way I can remember. They kind of not want people to know/have any signs or anything on them, because if in case of emergency the rescue people believe that and it's wrong it could be fatal, so they always check first anyway. An EMT told me even if someone has tattooed 'my blood type is A+' on his or her arm, they still would never give A+ blood before testing themselves. That's why since childhood I haven't heard or seen my blood type anywhere, despite having had operations etc.

 

[Tig]

Um, what's a diet? I've usually eaten what ever I wanted, healthy or not. In my competitive bike racing days (150-200 miles per week), I jammed down carb's like pasta and rice with chicken breast, plus a variety of other stuff. I never had to "diet" however. I couldn't get enough to eat, but was never skinny, having a very balanced musculature. My racing weight ranged between 132 and 136 pounds, 5' 7" tall.

Now that I'm edging near 50 and haven't ridden in 7 months, plus working nights, I'm about 152 pounds. Not fat by American standards, but a whale by my standards! Now that the weather is starting to cool, I'll get back on the bike.

Like bloozcat, the only veggies I like are raw unless in a soup or stew. I limit my milk and beef intake. Modern beef is so filled with antibiotics and other garbage, it never sits well on my stomach.

 

[deeaa]

Yep these days you best make sure the meats you eat are free of those, and preferably made locally. But 'organic' and safe local meats aren't much more expensive at all really.

 

[Mr Pants]

Are you taking any EPA-DHA Omega Fish oil, sumi? It might help with the joint problems, and it's good for the heart/circulatory system.

I take glucosamine/chondroitin for neck pain, it was recommended by my physician as being as effective as ibuprofin, and doesn't have the associated bad stocmach effects. Seems to work for me. I take the fish oil too.

I'm 5' 8", and currently around 166 pounds. Exercise seems to work for me if I'm getting fat. I know when I'm doing lots of cycling I need shed loads of carbs.

Cheers, Martin

 

[kidsmoke]

Thanks for adding that Tio...

Hmmm, your insight into your life answers one queation but raises another. Who are you "uncle" Kimo to?

In all my years using that "handle" on a couple forums, no one has alluded to that, though I'm sure some have concluded that as you have.

For those not surrounded by spanish, "Tio" means uncle.

I have 10 natural nieces and nephews, and through my girlfriend, fill that role for a dozen more. For years I was training Latino factory workers, and early on one man who could not make the english short "i" vowel sound started calling me kimo (pronounced "kee-mo", actual name is Kip), and it stuck. Even at company meetings it would be used, and family of co-workers knew me as such. One day my daughter and 2 nieces came by the shop, and the observation by the shop matriarch that I'm Tio Kimo was made, and it had a ring to it. Not being nearly as creative as I'd like to think, I used it for a forum name when the need arose.

 

[Bloozcat]

In all my years using that "handle" on a couple forums, no one has alluded to that, though I'm sure some have concluded that as you have.

For those not surrounded by spanish, "Tio" means uncle.

I have 10 natural nieces and nephews, and through my girlfriend, fill that role for a dozen more. For years I was training Latino factory workers, and early on one man who could not make the english short "i" vowel sound started calling me kimo (pronounced "kee-mo", actual name is Kip), and it stuck. Even at company meetings it would be used, and family of co-workers knew me as such. One day my daughter and 2 nieces came by the shop, and the observation by the shop matriarch that I'm Tio Kimo was made, and it had a ring to it. Not being nearly as creative as I'd like to think, I used it for a forum name when the need arose.

I thought there might be a story there...:thumbsup

 

[Commodore 64]

http://www.westmauiwellness.com/index.php?page=docsbloodtype

PDFs for blood type diets ^^^


This is fascinating to me. I don't know my bloodtype though. I eat everything though, but a LOT of meat and a LOT of Grains stand out.

 

[Bloozcat]

http://www.westmauiwellness.com/index.php?page=docsbloodtype

PDFs for blood type diets ^^^


This is fascinating to me. I don't know my bloodtype though. I eat everything though, but a LOT of meat and a LOT of Grains stand out.

This site is great, Commodore! It covers everything right down to suggested meals.

Since I'm the one who brought up this whole diet by blood type thing, it's time I start adhering to it a little more closely. Looks like it's goodbye to all of my favorite Italian dishes I've been eating (and loving) my whole life...crap!