carleton

(This thread has been started by a collection of posts from another thread that got derailed from a discussion of books to the subject of nutrition)

carleton

I finished this on Saturday.

Pros:
- VERY, VERY insightful. This book has permanently changed the way that I eat. My diet for myself and my child will be dramatically and permanently changed. I can say this book changed my life.
- If you ever wonder why America is fat, your friend is fat, you are fat...this book will help you understand. This helped me understand why even though I trained hard 6 days a week (2 of those days had morning AND afternoon workouts) and was still overweight.
- It's not a fad diet...but it explains the basis of fad diets (the ones that are effective and the ones that are not).

Cons:
- It's sort of a dry read. But, unfortunately, it has to be. Gary Taubes makes some bold assertions and points and has to back them up with proof and inline citations. Otherwise, he'd be dismissed as writing BS. I skipped and skimmed over the really, really boring parts.


I have already incorporated several of the points in the book and my body fat % has gone down and I'm stronger. The strength is due to weight training, though. But, it's no more weight training than I've done over the past 3 years. Same training but now it's more effective. The only change was my diet.

GMJ

Carleton, I'm glad to hear your success in weight goals and how much good you got from that read. I guess for me its hard to appreciate the problems that come with being a naturally bigger person (my father for instance). I don't understand how he could become so large and how content he is with it.

Maybe this is life preparing to punish me for passing judgement. I'll hit thirty, and my metabolism will just **** on me, and then genetics will come and ass**** me to finish the double feature. I'm not bull****ting when I say I would rather die than become stationary/sedentary/fat with no means to change it.

Must. Never. Stop. Riding.

carleton

Read that book. Seriously.

Americans as a culture eat the wrong things. Even when we try to eat healthy.

It took me a while (and this book) to understand how the body processes what we put into it.

A few tips (from me, not the book)

- Any food advertised on TV is most likely bad for you. Pay attention to commercials.
- Sugar is a drug. Americans love sugar.
- Our body treats bread, cereal, etc no differently than it treats cake.
- Water is awesome.
- Good coffee tastes good without cream and sugar.
- Your taste buds will adapt after 2-4 weeks. Ketchup used to taste more salty than sweet to me. Now it tastes as sweet as maple syrup.
- Count Calories for a month and your eyes will be opened to caloric bombs from things that you thought were OK. My caloric bombshell: Breakfast Cereal. I may as well have been eating chocolate cake for breakfast and as a late night snack.

zoltani

Carleton, does that book discuss trophology (food combining science)? Hard to follow, but when I did I felt amazing.

GMJ

Don't get me wrong, it sounds like an interesting read to me. But focusing on a steady diet is next to impossible since I don't eat on a regular schedule (some days not at all). I realize that my riding performance would probably jump 3x if I focused on calorie expenditure as well regular training to influence muscle growth and strength. If I get competitive, absolutely. I will become an amateur dietician. Until then, while I ride streets, I'll get by with my bagels+srirarcha with the occasional plain flower tortilla washed down with h2o.

Maybe that's why I don't gain weight. I eat like a diseased hermit.

Oh, and I like my coffee like I prefer my women. Bold, Black, bitter, delicious. Bucket list for me is to hook up with an obscenely obese sassy black woman. I hope no one finds this offensive. I find it hilarious, and its true.

carleton

Not specifically, although it touches on some of the underlying cellular processes that trophology addresses. The book reads like a collection of scientific studies. It's like a doctoral thesis.


Not to get too heavy on you, but my mother didn't make time to eat right for years, so eventually she had to make time to take diabetes medicine. She died last summer at age 61.

Dieting is not about adhearing to a strict diet. It's about making choices. Choosing A over B at the grocery store or in the restaurant. Stop making excuses.

GMJ

No I understand the gravity of what I eat and what the ultimate effects on my health will be. I have diabetes in the family, as well as heart disease, arthritis and addictive personalities. **** me, right?

I make choices about food almost every day. "Don't eat that ****" and "This smells turned" are usually it. I don't mean to be making excuses, but I just got my own apartment last month, so mommy and daddy aren't deciding what I am eating. I am ****ing broke. I can't buy groceries regularly, so I buy food that stores. I've decided that my controllable expenses make me happier when they are focused at bike parts. Its a personal decision, man. I'm not doing this for ideological reasoning or any kind of elitist perspective. I'd rather ride nice wheels and go to sleep hungry than eat like a pig and ride a ****ing Big Shot Bike.

To clarify, I am no stranger to weight regulation. I wrestled competitively for five years, so I am familier with season and off-season training and diet (cut and bulking cycles). If I could, I would eat 2-3 courses over the 5 different meals during the day, focusing on complex carbs (starch) and protein (meat, legumes), with fatty foods for the morning (bacon n' eggs). I know what I should be doing, I just can't justify it financially. Cry for me and call me a *****, but this is just what I am working with at the moment.

carleton

I took the liberty of deleting the excuses from your post.

Stop making excuses.

Eating well does not always mean eating expensively. No one is going to hold your hand while they spoon feed you. You are an adult. Decide to do something and then do it.

What you want is right on the other side of your list of excuses.

GMJ

Alright, man. Respectfully, I will ignore your advice then, because other than getting a happy ass job at whole foods, I cannot afford to eat how I want.

I'm not trying to be stubborn or a dick, but dude, you have to understand where I am coming from.

Maybe I'll start a "Dieting Thread, thread" just to spite you , because we derailed the **** out of this one.

carleton

You are being stubborn. And I do know where you are coming from.

Why are you associating food that is good for you with food that is expensive? Will you answer that question?

You may want expensive food. But, you can easily find food that is good for you that is inexpensive. I have no control over your wants. There is only one person who can control that. I think you know the guy.

GMJ

My understanding of grocery shopping and cart pushing is naive and closed-minded, because for the first time in my life, I have to directly go get what I will eat. I'm aware that cheap, healthy alternatives exist, but I can't find them. Farmer's market have to up price to compete with big-ass distributors. Whole Foods and Trader Joe's are way off my ****ing radar in terms of price. Its Costco, Shop n Save, and sometimes Walmart that I'm working with and that's even pushing it. Aldis sustains me. Given some time and maturity, I may find a good sustainable (not that hippy green bull****) diet for myself that I can actually afford. This will take time, but

EXCUSE IMMINENT

my mind has been wrapped up in school so I don't like to spend a lot of time contemplating the intricacies of a sensible diet for me. I'm spreading my focus pretty thin, and its about to rip. Hopefully, I can eventually get involved with a legitimate coach and track team (assuming this is my thing) who can physically, mentally, and emotionally abuse me until I get into this habit.

I've always been a masochist. Diet, as it seems, is no exception.

gilmatic

I eat healthy because it's also healthy for my pockets.

I just ate a bowl of blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, yogurt, and honey. Cheap, healthy, sweet, and nutritious.

Anyone that says eating healthy = expensive is BSing. I don't blame them though if they came to that conclusion from shopping at Whole Foods.

Anyways let's get back on topic. Make a different thread for this discussion.

GMJ

I'm partly at fault for continuing discussion, but I need to make one more point.

For me to eat how I want, it isn't as much about the quality of the food, its the quantity. The bowl of awesome you made sounds good, but when I have a functioning metabolism, I would eat 4-5 bowls of that ****, no kidding. I'm a trash compactor when it comes to eating with friends and they have left overs. I cannot eat 5 meticulously and scientifically optimized meals a deal, 7 days a week and still pay for rent.

****ing computer blue, dude. Does not compute.

carleton

Do you want to learn? If so, people are trying to teach you. But that will require you to stop making excuses, take responsibility, take action, and educate yourself. Until you all of those things, your life won't change. That's sort of how life works.

GMJ

Valid point and agreed.

Self-preservation is not a concern to me because of my age and state of mind. If I really cared about my health, I would quit smoking drugs and cigarettes, I would get more than 2 hours of sleep each night and I would eat regularly. I usually approach everything with an open mind, but when it comes to lifestyle, I'm anchored at the moment. I appreciate that you were/are trying to help me and what is ultimately right for me, I just don't want to make the necessary changes in my life to make theory into practice.

Sorry for being a dick, seriously. I appreciate good conversation and debate though, and this is more than my daily recommended dose. Plus, I'll probably end up dying in the next 5-10 years, so the idea of old, healthy me is pretty cloudy. I've come to terms with this.


and to keep it relevant.

Nagrom_

On average, in terms of cash per calorie, processed foods are substantially cheaper than non-processed foods, so.... better foods are technically more expensive.

LUCKILY I can eat whatever the **** I want, and don't seem to gain any weight. I coast between 185 and 190, with not much fat on my body. I have literally eaten about 2 fast food meals a day for like year... I think I exercise too much...

OT: Just started reading some Cormac McCarthey.... great author.

Jaytron

What cereal were you eating?

Santaria

I went to vegetarianism to avoid fad diets. Works well for me and I stay at a lean 176 and 10% BF. When I have a craving for a burger, I have found the combination of veggie patties, grill and vegetables to make something that tastes significantly better than anything I got from a fast food chain years ago.

To keep it relevant:

I'm halfway through Manhattan Transfer and have to say that Dos Passos did a remarkable job of showing a sequence of lives shattered and then picked up for viewing by his audience. It actually takes a bit of reading before you realize the twist in the writing style. Modernity and Post-modern writing styles always make me smile when you figure out their device.

Santaria

Cereal is bad for you; all cereal. I have eaten Steel cut oatmeal for years because of the odd weight gain and bloating I noticed from eating even Special K.

carleton

+1

Common breakfast cereals:
- Corn Flakes
- Rice Crispies
- Cinnamon Toast Crunch (really bad)
- Sugar Smacks (even worse)
- etc...

https://www.businessinsider.com/child...-group-2011-12

homebrewk

Oh my god.

Sherblock

i like the marshmallows in lucky charms <3

no cereal for me, just coffee and sometimes a cliff bar.

Santaria

Wanna be really saddened:

https://www.nal.usda.gov/wicworks/Sha...s_brochure.pdf

This is what the government is declaring as good, healthy options for impoverished children.

carleton

Wow.

It's simply dried sugar and liquid sugar. And milk is basically sugar water with some protein...which makes milk the healthiest thing in the whole breakfast.