Food Question?
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- boobs
Ever get really hungry? And then, instead of eating something good and nourishing, you reach for something that's maybe not so good for you, and you eat way too much of the not-so-good thing? And then you feel embarrassed that you don't have better self-control? And then you try to hide the evidence and hope no one notices? Does that sort of thing ever happen to you?
- sputnik20
yes. happens cyclically to me for some reason ;)
sometimes i then try to eat something healthy after all the bad stuff and then feel worse because i really didn't need those extra calories, healthy or not.
- well, the good stuff will give you the nutrients that you missed with the junk, so it's not for wastemonospaced
- nb0
I used to do that all the time, but not anymore.
For a while I started to pay close attention to how food affects my mood, energy levels, stamina and overall disposition. It took time, but eventually I trained myself to remember that healthy, natural and raw foods always make me feel better right away. Junk food or restaurant food only makes me feel worse.
- sequoia0
lol - are you a teenage girl?
- mg330
I am plowing through two boxes of these a week now.
- scarabin0
no
- SteveJobs0
this is why i eat several meals throughout the day. it stabilizes your metabolism and you never feel too hungry or too full. the second part is important so you can get in a good amount of exercise/workout (1-1 1/2 hrs. a day is good).
- villars0
All the time.
- i_monk0
I find the only real barrier to eating well is if I don't have enough time in the morning to make a lunch, or I'm in a hurry/ran out of groceries at night. In both cases I fall back on fast food, and even the 'healthy' stuff is junk.
- chris_himself0
yup, and usually at night which doesn't help
- nb0
Despite all the fad diets and bullshit literature on how to lose weight, it's actually really simple.
If you want to lose weight: calorie intake must be less than calories burned. That's it.
I used a calorie tracking site (fitday.com) for a couple weeks. It was a hassle, but it did show me a few things:
1. Some foods that you think are healthy are not. For example, I used to eat veggie & cheese sandwiches on whole wheat bread. I thought this was soooo healthy. The fat and calories in the cheese alone were putting me over my fat/calorie limit for the day! Now, everything I eat becomes a cost/benefit analysis. Was the cheese really THAT good? Did it make the sandwich that much better, and was it worth being fat over? Not to me. I've learned to appreciate expensive, fine cheeses in smaller quantities instead of just putting shitty american cheese on everything. This cost/benefit works in many foods. Cream & sugar in coffee? Sugar on grapefruit? Soda pop vs. San Pellegrino? 5 pints of beer? None of these things are worth being fat to me. (One beer is great. After the first one, they're not that good. Switch to scotch or gin-sodas or something.) I still eat unhealthy foods, but you need to learn to which foods are worth it to you. Why eat McDonald's when you could go out and get some rich, fatty cheesecake and still be skinny? Why eat donuts when you can have pure dark chocolate? Learn to appreciate the finer things in life.
2. Exercise burns calories, but not as much as you think. Simple changes in what you eat will make a much bigger difference. People who say "I went for a jog today, so it's okay if I have fast food for lunch" will get fatter. There is far more calories in the fast food than you could ever hope to burn from exercise in a day. Also, it's easier to change your diet than it is to exercise. Keep in mind that exercise does help and is very good for your body, but it's not required for weight loss. You can exercise all day, but if you don't change your eating habits you'll stay fat.
3. After your mid-20s, your metabolism slows down throughout your life. Always. This means that if you continue your typical eating & exercise habits, you will get fatter and fatter until you die. It's why old people are fat. You have to constantly be reducing your calorie intake. Luckily, your metabolism changes slowly, so once you get a handle on your weight, it's pretty easy to stay in shape.
^ Discalimer: this is not medical advice, but I've been paying attention to nutrition for about a year and I've noticed a huge difference. I'm 30 years old and I'm proud to say I'm no longer a chubby guy. I'm in the best shape of my life, and it feels fucking great.
- a lot of old people get skinnier and skinnier. They sleep less and don't get as hungry. It's midlife that's the hardest.Amicus
- bdizzle0
eat this...not that- Men's Health
http://eatthis.menshealth.com/bl…
- SteveJobs0
^ jebus, good link. check out the sodium of this p.f. chang's dish. woulda never guessed:
http://eatthis.menshealth.com/sl…
- scarabin0
weighed myself the other day, i lost 30 pounds since january
finally found a system that works
- scarabin0
the trick is to find a way to play the numbers that you can live with EVERY DAY FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. being a slender person isn't about going on a diet. even if you do reach your desired goal you are going to stop and gain it all back again. you know this is true because you've probably done it.
HERE'S MY SYSTEM:
first, the math.
the human being burns 1200 calories the day just being alive. chances are if you're fat this is all you're burning, sitting there at your desk all day. you burn AN ADDITIONAL 550 calories while sleeping at night. therefore, come in under 1750 on average every day and you're losing weight. you don't even have to exercise, i don't. all you have to do is be alive and come in under your numbers for the day.
a pound of fat (a big fist sized mass) is 3500 calories. by doing the math you can see the rate at which it's possible to burn fat.
i find it difficult to do that every day, so i take two days out of the week (monday and thursday) to come in WAY below the quota, which makes up for the rest of the week. around 300 calories. the day's food consists of two cans of soup (low calorie and filling, make sure to read the label for calorie content), diet sodas and coffee or a blue monster to keep my energy up. generally i find that fast day 1 (monday) undoes whatever damage i did over the weekend, while the majority of fat burning is done on fast day 2 (thursday). this practice of fasting is normal in some cultures (just not in our CONSUME CONSUME CONSUME society here) and it gives the digestive system a chance to clean itself out regularly and not get filled up with bum snakes and shit.
for the rest of the week i eat 4 meals of around 300 calories each. i usually eat at work so this is usually some microwave thing like lean cuisines and hot pockets. your stomach shrinks during fast days so you'll find it takes much less to fill you up. NEVER eat late because it's pointless. you won't get to use the energy because you'll be asleep and it will add needless calories.
the only time i indulge in a high-calorie meal is when i'm taking a girl out or trying something new or genuinely interesting and worth it. this isn't a sacrifice, it's how a human should live.
this works great for me because it never feels like i'm doing without or sacrificing anything. i get to indulge on great foods and feel thin and energetic all the time. you don't have to ever weigh yourself because as long as you don't do anything stupid the pounds will just fall off.
- section_0140
Scarabin, I disagree with some of what you wrote there. While, calculating your calorie intake is a key to managing your weight, every person is different and needs there own equation (there are loads of calculators online).
Also, canned soup, hot pockets, lean cusine is all crap food. If you give 2 shits about your health, make your own meals. Pre-packaged hot pockets, lean cusine, whatever, has so much salt and other preservatives in it, it's insane. Stay away from it.
Also, the missing link here is exercise! People get fat because they don't exercise (and eat like crap). 1200 calories a day might be cool for a 12 year old girl, but not for most people. I do eat well (a lot of veggies, organic meet), but I enjoy a few good beers at night, pizza when I feel like it, etc. But, I'm still in good shape because exercise at least 3 days a week. I'm 29 by the way.
- I stand by this: Exercise is important for a healthy life, but not necessary for weight loss.nb
- nb0
@scarabin:
Your math is good, but you could be eating much healthier. Cans of soup and other packaged meals are bad news.
Also, I've heard that artificial sweeteners in diet sodas, etc can screw up your metabolism. It hasn't been studied well enough yet, but I was thinking about this: Consider how many obese people switch from daily soda to daily diet soda. Based on the numbers, these people should lose tons of weight. The calorie difference is substantial, but I don't think they see results.
- idiots0
scarabin, fuck yourself. do what random strangers tell you. by all means never offer your personal experiences.
