The wife and I try to stay healthy.

[DrewJD82]

Basically, there’s no where else to turn for me except dietary restrictions of food groups. Keto does work for both of us and we will probably, begrudgingly, go back to it this winter.

I’ve been there! It can be stressful and tiring, often leading to a giving up period.

I went 100% plant-based/whole foods only for 5 years back when I was married, it’s a huge part of the reason that when I got divorced I ate whatever I wanted as long as I didn’t have to personally make it. 5 years of reading EVERY label was a lot of fucking work and frustration, it’s insane how many products contain animals even if you wouldn’t think it has anything to do with them.

It took me a good 12-18 months to figure out a regular menu that met the requirements and I actually enjoyed. My first 3 months was all the garbage processed vegan alternatives, which is just as bad, if not worse, than the shit they replace. I figured if I were going to do it, I might as well go all the way and cut out processed foods entirely.

There’s a few key ingredients you can utilize that are the basis of other dishes, like lentils and chickpeas, that can absorb flavor really well and are super easy to prep in one day and eat across the week. Like with lentils you can cook a ton off on a Sunday, then make lettuce wraps on Monday with them, then lentil tacos on Tuesday and maybe lentil bolognese on Wednesday. Most bouillon cubes are plant-based, surprisingly, so I’d boil the lentils in beef bouillon and it’d be was a pretty good ground beef substitute.

All in all, I couldn’t enjoy a lot until I let go of some preconceptions and opened up my mind to allow some different things in. When you start getting into the world of substituting one thing for another, there’s a lot of imaginative interpretations of different foods that might not align with how you think about them. Like the cauliflower steak was something I scoffed at because I had the experience of eating steak in my head, but when I tried it, while not having the texture of a steak when chewing it, it had some pretty badass flavors and filled me up the same way one would.

I’ve gotten back into a good amount of it; I don’t really eat processed foods, cheese and sour cream are mostly it. I pretty much live off fresh veggies and grilled chicken in about 20 different ways of cooking it.

Edit- as for fish, I can eat piles of sushi, but the second it’s cooked I want nothing to do with it.

 

[Chocol8]

Keto isn’t healthy over time.

That's highly dependent on how you do it. A plant based with healthy meats keto diet can be very healthy long term. Keto done poorly with high fat, low veggies is not, but it has nothing to do with keto. A lot of studies on low carb diets are intentionally done with carbs not low enough or with unhealthy foods because of who is funding them, so be careful what you believe.

 

[AlbertA]

Baked in the oven.

I think that the issue :)

I cook cod with paprika, a little chili powder, plenty of lime juice, chopped cilantro salt and pepper to taste and Lots of lots of butter. I find Cod easy to overcook, I cut it in chunks, marinated with the ingredients above (not the butter), transfer to pan, pour the lemon juice and baste the fish with the butter as it cooks. It doesn't take long - once it separates a little bit and becomes flaky, turn stove off.

Lime juice with almost all fish (other than salmon) for me is a must.

 

[Eagle]

What are you basing that on

A good friend of mine is a sports science and nutrition expert who works with premier athletes but I’m only going on this and what I read.
He basically says restricting food groups is never a long term healthy diet from a micro nutrients basis.

 

[Chocol8]

A good friend of mine is a sports science and nutrition expert who works with premier athletes but I’m only going on this and what I read.
He basically says restricting food groups is never a long term healthy diet from a micro nutrients basis.

Real medical doctors have been using keto diets to treat epilepsy and other conditions for a very long time. It's not ideal, nor really applicable for a high level athlete. Their calorie needs are way too high to be relying on just fat and protein, but that doesn't translate to an over 40 Mr or Mrs average.

 

[sashimi]

Yeah, we just don’t like it. I can’t see incorporating it into our diets on a regular basis. I get the health benefits though. Maybe we can hide some inside something else like giving a dog a pill.

You baked cod one time and you’re deciding all fish sucks?

The only time I think I’ve even eaten cod is fried in fish and chips. I don’t think people usually use cod for much else. If you’re going to bake fish do salmon. Salt pepper and lemon juice at the end is all it needs. But baste it in teriyaki sauce once in a while.

I love fish … eat it raw whenever possible.

For me the biggest obstacles to losing weight are sugar, bread and rice. I can lose weight pretty fast if I avoid all three. And gain it right back as soon as I relapse on the carbs.

 

[Eagle]

Real medical doctors have been using keto diets to treat epilepsy and other conditions for a very long time. It's not ideal, nor really applicable for a high level athlete. Their calorie needs are way too high to be relying on just fat and protein, but that doesn't translate to an over 40 Mr or Mrs average.

I’m sure you’re right but he’s dead against it and you can eat carbs that are low GI brown rice etc.

 

[HomespunEffects]

You baked cod one time and you’re deciding all fish sucks?

Yes.

 

[HomespunEffects]

I’ve been there! It can be stressful and tiring, often leading to a giving up period.

I went 100% plant-based/whole foods only for 5 years back when I was married, it’s a huge part of the reason that when I got divorced I ate whatever I wanted as long as I didn’t have to personally make it. 5 years of reading EVERY label was a lot of fucking work and frustration, it’s insane how many products contain animals even if you wouldn’t think it has anything to do with them.

It took me a good 12-18 months to figure out a regular menu that met the requirements and I actually enjoyed. My first 3 months was all the garbage processed vegan alternatives, which is just as bad, if not worse, than the shit they replace. I figured if I were going to do it, I might as well go all the way and cut out processed foods entirely.

There’s a few key ingredients you can utilize that are the basis of other dishes, like lentils and chickpeas, that can absorb flavor really well and are super easy to prep in one day and eat across the week. Like with lentils you can cook a ton off on a Sunday, then make lettuce wraps on Monday with them, then lentil tacos on Tuesday and maybe lentil bolognese on Wednesday. Most bouillon cubes are plant-based, surprisingly, so I’d boil the lentils in beef bouillon and it’d be was a pretty good ground beef substitute.

All in all, I couldn’t enjoy a lot until I let go of some preconceptions and opened up my mind to allow some different things in. When you start getting into the world of substituting one thing for another, there’s a lot of imaginative interpretations of different foods that might not align with how you think about them. Like the cauliflower steak was something I scoffed at because I had the experience of eating steak in my head, but when I tried it, while not having the texture of a steak when chewing it, it had some pretty badass flavors and filled me up the same way one would.

I’ve gotten back into a good amount of it; I don’t really eat processed foods, cheese and sour cream are mostly it. I pretty much live off fresh veggies and grilled chicken in about 20 different ways of cooking it.

Edit- as for fish, I can eat piles of sushi, but the second it’s cooked I want nothing to do with it.

I’d gladly go meatless but the wife hates veggies. We’re trying to do things we both like. Turns out we both hate fish.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I hear the Totinos pizza diet pays serious dividends

 

[EOengineer]

I’ve generally found that I can eat anything I want and not gain weight so long as I throw it up immediately after eating it.

My doctor calls it an eating disorder but who gives a shit about those scientific pricks anyway.

 

[Eagle]

I’ve generally found that I can eat anything I want and not gain weight so long as I throw it up immediately after eating it.

My doctor calls it an eating disorder but who gives a shit about those scientific pricks anyway.

What music do you want playing at your funeral?

 

[Jarick]

I’m sure you’re right but he’s dead against it and you can eat carbs that are low GI brown rice etc.

I don't know if any athlete would benefit from keto honestly...athletes burn a ton of energy primarily from glycogen which is not going to get refilled on a keto diet. Keto may work well for sedentary people or people with some diseases where the body doesn't function properly (like diabetes).

Just for myself, I really tried to make a keto diet work over the last year and even tried to do a full carnivore diet. Early on I got full really fast on all the protein and fat and lost weight, but after a week or two cravings hit like made and I just failed to stick with it and regained weight. I also tried a whole food plant based diet a few years ago and stuck with it for about a month, lost a bit of weight and felt great, but the amount of work was crazy high and I couldn't stick with it and then regained weight.

Several weeks ago I even messed around with a super high carb, low fat and low protein "sugar diet" that was doing the rounds. I was surprised to find that I was eating 500g of carbs with a high amount of sugar and lost a bit of weight and felt really energetic for a few days. Then of course what happened? I got really sick of eating that food and cravings hit and I regained the weight.

I won't ever speak for anyone else because I can't. But my thought is any of these restrictive diets may have short-term success but long-term they seem to lead to cravings, lack of compliance, and ultimately weight regain. I think it's because your body needs some of all these nutrients, macro or micro, and if you aren't getting it then your body craves what it's not getting and eventually you go off.

The other side is that so much of the food we see today is just plain unnatural. Meals with a lot of fat and sugar didn't really exist until relatively recently. You were either hunting animals for meat or gathering fruits and vegetables or more recently cooking grains. Unless you were extremely wealthy, it was kind of battle to even get calories. I do think that hyper palatable modern food kind of warps the brain through all those dopamine triggers.

That all leads back to what I'm trying now, which is doing more extensive meal planning and prep to have highly nutritious food available extremely fast. There's no excuses then. When I get hungry eat the next meal I have planned, no deprivation or starvation, just eat the next meal. I suppose if I get through all my meals and I'm still hungry there's a chance to go off the rails, but I think over time that should decrease.

TL/DR - I don't have any long term success with diets that restrict any one nutrient, so leaning heavily into copying the diet of athletes with good physiques and then brining my activity levels up to match.

 

[Eagle]

I don't know if any athlete would benefit from keto honestly...athletes burn a ton of energy primarily from glycogen which is not going to get refilled on a keto diet. Keto may work well for sedentary people or people with some diseases where the body doesn't function properly (like diabetes).

Just for myself, I really tried to make a keto diet work over the last year and even tried to do a full carnivore diet. Early on I got full really fast on all the protein and fat and lost weight, but after a week or two cravings hit like made and I just failed to stick with it and regained weight. I also tried a whole food plant based diet a few years ago and stuck with it for about a month, lost a bit of weight and felt great, but the amount of work was crazy high and I couldn't stick with it and then regained weight.

Several weeks ago I even messed around with a super high carb, low fat and low protein "sugar diet" that was doing the rounds. I was surprised to find that I was eating 500g of carbs with a high amount of sugar and lost a bit of weight and felt really energetic for a few days. Then of course what happened? I got really sick of eating that food and cravings hit and I regained the weight.

I won't ever speak for anyone else because I can't. But my thought is any of these restrictive diets may have short-term success but long-term they seem to lead to cravings, lack of compliance, and ultimately weight regain. I think it's because your body needs some of all these nutrients, macro or micro, and if you aren't getting it then your body craves what it's not getting and eventually you go off.

The other side is that so much of the food we see today is just plain unnatural. Meals with a lot of fat and sugar didn't really exist until relatively recently. You were either hunting animals for meat or gathering fruits and vegetables or more recently cooking grains. Unless you were extremely wealthy, it was kind of battle to even get calories. I do think that hyper palatable modern food kind of warps the brain through all those dopamine triggers.

That all leads back to what I'm trying now, which is doing more extensive meal planning and prep to have highly nutritious food available extremely fast. There's no excuses then. When I get hungry eat the next meal I have planned, no deprivation or starvation, just eat the next meal. I suppose if I get through all my meals and I'm still hungry there's a chance to go off the rails, but I think over time that should decrease.

TL/DR - I don't have any long term success with diets that restrict any one nutrient, so leaning heavily into copying the diet of athletes with good physiques and then brining my activity levels up to match.

Just do 2500 calories of a whole food low GI diet and weight yourself every morning at the same time before you eat or drink anything. Do it for two weeks and you should remain appropriately the same weight. Then cut it by 500 . Aim to lose a pound a week. Avoiding all processed and preprepared food unless you made it yourself.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Yes.

There's no doubt in my mind you'd change your mind once you had a grilled wahoo steak. Not all fish are equal. And not all methods of cooking are either. I either pan sear or grill my fish. When ever I put some in the oven it's always on the very top rack.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

Just do 2500 calories of a whole food low GI diet and weight yourself every morning at the same time before you eat or drink anything. Do it for two weeks and you should remain appropriately the same weight. Then cut it by 500 . Aim to lose a pound a week. Avoiding all processed and preprepared food unless you made it yourself.

That's very close to what I'm doing at the minute though I'm weighing myself once a week.

 

[Chocol8]

Avoiding all processed and preprepared food

This is a big problem in the US compared to most civilized countries. Our food supply is full of additives and other shit, that cause unnatural reactions from your body and metabolism. We basically are really good at poisoning ourselves.

 

[Chocol8]

There's no doubt in my mind you'd change your mind once you had a grilled wahoo steak. Not all fish are equal. And not all methods of cooking are either. I either pan sear or grill my fish. When ever I put some in the oven it's always on the very top rack.

I agree there is a huge difference in how fish is cooked, but some people will never like it. I have been with my wife for about 400 years (or so it seems) and while I love fish and can cook it very well, and so does/can my daughter, I have never gotten my wife or son to eat more than a forkful.

 

[Eagle]

That's very close to what I'm doing at the minute though I'm weighing myself once a week.

Every day because it’s not linear.

 

[Eagle]

This is a big problem in the US compared to most civilized countries. Our food supply is full of additives and other shit, that cause unnatural reactions from your body and metabolism. We basically are really good at poisoning ourselves.

Do you have farmers markets?