Beltic?!?!?!

[djarvik]

Thanks man, appreciate the responses. I remember very well that discussion, we need more of these, on all subjects.
The reason I never got involved is because I have never formed an opinion. Even now, I am on the ropes. I like, as probably everyone here knows, to form my own opinions. So I rather not voice an UN-formed one

Bottom line is that discussion and video did have an affect on me. Not in a way of "eating healthier", I was and am willing and able to eat healthy food. Thank god I have the means to being able to eat as "organic" as possible. The effect it had on me had to do with "feeling better". That is what I am after. I don't want to live forever and I do want to enjoy my journey in this world, food is a big source of that enjoyment. No, I am not an overweight, quite the opposite - and yes, I eat a lot. I have a fast metabolism and can basically stuff myself with food with no fatty deposits while very much enjoying it. I like good foods and eating good food is one of my favorite pass times. But as I mentioned earlier, it is not always smooth sailing, when comes to my food intake.

My journey now is to feel better. This is what I am after, and if a certain diet will allow me that, I am all for it.

For starters, I know I need to reduce meat intake. I am not consuming too much meat, when compared to the average American, but I do believe I can make major cuts in favor of vegetables. So I will likely try and reduce red meat to once a month for starters, and only if I feel like eating it after a month. That should be easy enough. Once a week Lamb and about 3 times a week chicken. All in reduced quantities.

Now, I am a very active individual, and still want to gain a bit of muscle mass, thus I am looking for the best alternatives to the proteins in Vegetables. I will try to keep this diet for a few month and report back. Depending on how I feel, I may want to cut more meat. I cannot see myself giving up meat completely, at least for the time being. But I sure as hell will not rule this out. If I feel eating less meat makes me feel and perform better - I will do so. I can be extremely committed individual despite being a bit "all over the place".

[L Sanchez MD]

Soya milk goes pretty well in coffee, although if it's really good coffee, then black is even better.
But yea, moderation I guess.

Irish? Nice Where ya from?

Good call on the coffee

Grew up near a tiny village called Shillelagh, in County Wicklow - and yourself?

Ah, lovely. I'm from Carrickfergus, just north of Belfast.

[djarvik]

Do you perhaps know what gun to load to unlock my tennis game skill genes?

Ask Norberto or Iluv, they are oozing TGH - Tennis Gaming Hormones, it must be the food.

[beltic caldy]

@Slicer - Re 'gun' to unlock your tennis man, couldn't refer you to a better source than our good Mr Djarvick....man would appear to have forgotten more about all-things-tennis than I, and indeed most will ever know.

@ Al - nice one man - if you want to make ONE simple/easy-to-implement change right now (well, tomorrow), get rid of ALL dairy from your diet for 2 weeks - no cow's milk in any form (no cheese either, sorry)! Try pick a soy-milk you don't hate (you won't like any of them initially - not 'cos they're bad, just different - you will have hated cows-milk at one time too, just so long back you've forgotten) - honestly, the milk-protein is likely to be much worse for you that your combined meat-intake, which sounds quite low anyhow?

My biggest 'mantra'? 'Like' just means 'have gotten used to' - we can learn to like just about anything

[beltic caldy]

Soya milk goes pretty well in coffee, although if it's really good coffee, then black is even better.
But yea, moderation I guess.

Irish? Nice Where ya from?

Good call on the coffee

Grew up near a tiny village called Shillelagh, in County Wicklow - and yourself?

Ah, lovely. I'm from Carrickfergus, just north of Belfast.

very nice! my mother's family are from Antrim....all I know about Carrickfergus is from the song - lovely part of the world though

[L Sanchez MD]

Soya milk goes pretty well in coffee, although if it's really good coffee, then black is even better.
But yea, moderation I guess.

Irish? Nice Where ya from?

Good call on the coffee

Grew up near a tiny village called Shillelagh, in County Wicklow - and yourself?

Ah, lovely. I'm from Carrickfergus, just north of Belfast.

very nice! my mother's family are from Antrim....all I know about Carrickfergus is from the song - lovely part of the world though

Ah, lovely Antrim town, or just the county?
Carrickfergus nothing to write home about though - it has a castle, but it's full of ****holes, so... yea.

[coke4]

My biggest 'mantra'? 'Like' just means 'have gotten used to' - we can learn to like just about anything

Dont agree with that, I have been eating certain vegtables pretty much everynight for 6 years now and I still hate them. Also had to go gluten free recently as I was having similar problems to djarvik, Im quite used to a lot of the shit now, but cant say I like it! No doubt true with some foods though

[beltic caldy]

My biggest 'mantra'? 'Like' just means 'have gotten used to' - we can learn to like just about anything

Dont agree with that, I have been eating certain vegtables pretty much everynight for 6 years now and I still hate them. Also had to go gluten free recently as I was having similar problems to djarvik, Im quite used to a lot of the shit now, but cant say I like it! No doubt true with some foods though

Completely applaud your honesty man - is it possible you're having these vegetables and thinking "...it's not fair, i want steak/bacon/cheese/chicken...", or that 'nature' of thinking? If so, try 'fooling yourself'...so, whenever you find yourself thinking fondly of cheese, or whatever is it you've cut out, just say, cheerfully "i never like it anyway" - you won't mean it, and you won't believe yourself - but keep doing it - after a while it becomes true - I know that sounds like nonsense, but it reverberates with how our minds actually work, and positively reinforces you choice/action.

[Rob ITST]

so my recommendation is to eat a little bit of everything

That's the best advise, imo. Moderation and variety. Oh, and stay away from the "latest findings" - they tend to change every day.

I mentioned this before, but this is, imo, the best guide to healthy eating:

Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating

It's based on long term studies of many different cultures and diets.

[Coolhand Texas]

Good luck to changing your diet al!

I went vegetarian for a little over two weeks for a school project to see the results on my body. I still lifted weights, played tennis and ran, and I lost around 7 pounds. Now mind you that is good for some people, but I did not need to lose weight was actually trying to put on weight. I looked a little sick and unhealthy after the project. I guess it is not for me, or either I lacked a balanced vegetarian diet.

I usually do what rob said. eat in moderation, and I always try to stay away from the fast food crap.

[VillaJ100]

I eat a high protein diet but most of my meat is poultry or fish. One day a week (usually Saturday night) ill have some red meat like a good steak or something and 1 night a week I'll have some fast food, normally fish+chips or kfc. Apart from that though I stick to a diet and my weight has stayed exactly the same for 3 years.

[L Sanchez MD]

I tried vegetarian for two weeks.
What I discovered was I really love mushrooms!
But I did miss meat a lot (didn't eat any quorn or meat substitutes, so those would have probably helped).

Why is red meat so bad for you?

[beltic caldy]

Why? Because we have not evolved to consume meat (red and otherwise) in the quantities found in many western diets - plain and simple. People will debate about how and why we came about eating meat - it is almost commonly agreed that when we did, it was uncommon and, if not rare, then certainly not an every day event - we can theorise about the whys and ifs, but the evidence is there in plain sight - our gastrointestinal tracts are simply not long and convoluted enough (unlike those of true carnivores - lions/tigers, for example) - afraid I see most debates to the contrary as exercises in denial of the facts.

That is not to say that we cannot eat red meat - we can, and, it doesn't cause acute problems - but over-consumption (see previous chart for good balance) can, does and will cause chronic (long-term) problems. Why are we eating so much more meat now, than we did 20, 30, 40 years ago? The answering of these questions takes us on an interesting trip, through greed on an unimaginable scale and political corruption at a level that's hard to even see, because it's so big and almost just accepted. That's a whole story in itself - as to red meat - recentish 20-year study reported on in this link....doesn't go into causes, just observed statistical analysis - run with a sample size comprising 110,000 adults, over a 20 year period.

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/13 ... t-20120313

Nice one on your (re?)discovery of mushrooms by the way! As before, I have burgers and sausage-bun-things (will ALL the trimmings) a couple of times a week - they are, to my mind better than I remember their meat-based equivalents, in flavour, texture and sating hunger - simple soy-based mix that you add water to, form into shapes, fry and add to burger-bun etc.

[L Sanchez MD]

Why? Because we have not evolved to consume meat (red and otherwise) in the quantities found in many western diets - plain and simple. People will debate about how and why we came about eating meat - it is almost commonly agreed that when we did, it was uncommon and, if not rare, then certainly not an every day event - we can theorise about the whys and ifs, but the evidence is there in plain sight - our gastrointestinal tracts are simply not long and convoluted enough (unlike those of true carnivores - lions/tigers, for example) - afraid I see most debates to the contrary as exercises in denial of the facts.

That is not to say that we cannot eat red meat - we can, and, it doesn't cause acute problems - but over-consumption (see previous chart for good balance) can, does and will cause chronic (long-term) problems. Why are we eating so much more meat now, than we did 20, 30, 40 years ago? The answering of these questions takes us on an interesting trip, through greed on an unimaginable scale and political corruption at a level that's hard to even see, because it's so big and almost just accepted. That's a whole story in itself - as to red meat - recentish 20-year study reported on in this link....doesn't go into causes, just observed statistical analysis - run with a sample size comprising 110,000 adults, over a 20 year period.

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/13 ... t-20120313

Nice one on your (re?)discovery of mushrooms by the way! As before, I have burgers and sausage-bun-things (will ALL the trimmings) a couple of times a week - they are, to my mind better than I remember their meat-based equivalents, in flavour, texture and sating hunger - simple soy-based mix that you add water to, form into shapes, fry and add to burger-bun etc.

I'll have to look out for that soya stuff! I drink soya milk quite a bit, and occasionally eat tofu, but don't usually go for meat substitutes. One reason being I'm a broke student, and it's quite dear!

[L Sanchez MD]

you know something? yesterday i read an article (not on the internet) from a scientist/nutritionist on a newspaper where she said that meat (cows etc) are far better for our health than chicken, contradicting all we thought till now
so my recommendation is to eat a little bit of everything, meat, oily fish, chicken, vegetables, fruits, chocolate (70%-85%), rice, pasta, cereals, bread olive oil etc...

As you may know in Spain (at least in Mallorca) we "tend" (not everyone of course) to eat the Mediterranean diet avoiding eating fried foods, fast food,pastry, sweets...

PS: If you are a sportsman don't cut down the carbohydrates, they're necessary, many guys who want to have big muscles stop eating carbohydrates and start eating proteins all day, not a good thing for your health, yep your muscles will be bigger, but your kidney will be worse, just an advice, not kidding.
If your an sportsman you need to eat carbohydrates every day, thats simple, i'm saying this because i know friends who had problems in the past with all these stuff. You know... everyone wants to be the guy with biggest muscles when the summer starts, and they follow "bad" "unhealthy" diets.

Is this chart per day or per week or what?
So, carbs and veg should be the main backbone of all meals?
Hmm, I always feel bad when I eat a lot of rice/pasta/bread, I guess it fills you up very quickly.

yes carbs and veg should be the main backbone of all meals, you should eat those aliments every day, people always feel guilty because if you're a sedentary person you'll gain weight, if you're an active person you shouldn't be worried about it.

Hmm, I did about 80 minutes of tennis and 40 minutes of discus throwing today, so hardly sedentary..... but, I ate a big bowl of pasta (with tomato, onion and pork sausage).... and I feel pretty sick, or my stomach feels uneasy or something.
Similar thing with the bread.
Maybe just eating too much of it in one meal. It takes longer to digest I guess.