Nuts!

[Deleted96908]

Was wondering how many folks here have specific dietary requirements, or who are vegetarian, vegan, or similar? Prompted by someone here (sorry forget who) saying their doc put an end to their daily fried breakfasts.

Does diet change as we get older? Should it? Should we expect to put a few kilos on as we age - or should the opposite be the case? We seem to get fatter in the West as we get older, but that doesn't seem to be the case in the Far East. (how much of this is down to genetics or diet?)

I've noticed a personal general trend towards losing weight, but I think that's due to a conscious decision on my part not to drink (almost ten years) and to avoid cheap calories - snacks etc. I've also noticed that my body temp feels a lot cooler than it was - this coincides with me knocking back the carbs in Jan '17. Prior to this I couldn't sit in the car unless the AC was set to 18c or lower, now I need it at 22c+.

Anyway, back to the main point of this thread, how many folks here follow a specific, permanent diet, either as a personal choice, or on the advice of his/her doctor?

Also interested in how many folks take supplements - vitamins, minerals, etc.

 

[tbourner]

I had a Bupa health check last week, and as expected my BMI puts me at obese (31.1), my fat percentage is 27% which is also too high, I have high cholestorol and high blood pressure, apparently my haemoglobin is high and needs to be checked again in a month (she wouldn't tell me what it meant, but she did seem concerned about it - range is 130-170 and mine was 173, didn't seem disastrous to me), on the plus side I have low risk of diabetes and heart conditions.

So now I need to cut down on full fat dairy and fatty foods, reduce processed meat intake, reduce sugar intake (although that's mostly the odd beer, I don't tend to go for sweets that much), and mainly get some exercise - my current 6000 odd steps a day and nothing anaerobic doesn't cut it apparently.

I'm starting out on a new lifestyle now with wifey, to try to cut back on crap and alter our diets. Zoe is getting stomach cramps which may be down to the sudden change in diet over the last week, but hopefully that will improve.

 

[markjay]

We all do things we know we shouldn't... too much fried food, sugary foods, and sometimes also alcohol, etc.

The interesting question for me is what changes to our diets we should be doing beyond what is obvious and we know about?

 

[tbourner]

I might try the time restricted eating diet, limit all calorie intake to hours between midday and 9pm.

 

[Darrell]

My diet has changed over the last 18 or so months, I wasn’t told to by a doctor or whoever but it simply coincided with me going from 40 odd fags a day down to nothing.

For about 8 months after I gave up I ate more rubbish eg chocolate, biscuits, crisps etc and so my gut started to grow!! Last April I started cycling and then in July I ditched all the bad snacks, soft drinks and sweet/sugar stuff. I joined a gym last Oct and I’ve actually managed to lose about 3lbs in the process.

Up until about 2 years ago my weight was around 12 stone at the most and I’m now just under 14. I’m 51 and 5’11”. I’ve never taken any vitamins or supplements and I don’t drink much. I’ve mostly worked in construction and 20 years of lead roofing keeps me fit.

 

[Darrell]

I might try the time restricted eating diet, limit all calorie intake to hours between midday and 9pm.

I don’t think I could wait until midday to eat.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Some years ago I, through necessity, developed the 'living out of hotels' diet.

I was travelling every week and spending 4 nights away from home, full English breakfasts and curry/chinese dinners aren't great for the waist.

It went a bit like this:

• Vegetarian breakfast, usually a slice of granary toast, no butter but some marmite to trick myself into thinking the salt in it was from butter, spoon of beans over the top. maybe a poached egg if available. Finish with a yogurt and a glass of orange juice.
• Lunch from M&S (or others if not available but most town centres have an M&S) their ham and mustard sandwich is surprisingly low calorie.
• Lots of water during the day, I really like sweet tea and dislike sweeteners so invented the half,n,half, 1 sugar and 1 sweetener.
• A bit of fruit in the afternoon if starving.
• Dinner, 1 beer or G&T at the bar and a glass of wine with dinner. Some kind of prawns to start, no bread. Usually a salad, chicken or beef for main and, maybe, a fruit salad for dessert.

Combined with parking a little further away from the office that I was visiting and using stairs not lifts I managed to keep the weight down, the good thing about hotel food is that it is usually very carefully thought out in terms of portion size because the hotel need to know their profit on each meal, this works out in favour of the careful eater as it helps prevent over eating.

 

[Smart320]

Well done for getting started ! Hard bit comes next but if you both support each other it will help a lot.
I would expect that after 3/4 weeks your bodies will start getting used to a healthier diet, sugar is harder to kick than alcohol. Just been through something similar , although we both started from just needing to lose some weight to prevent BMI hitting mid 20's.

 

[brucemillar]

Chris

I follow (now) a medically enforced diet plan. That follows a lifetime of doing the exact opposite. What I learned. My selfishness in not bothering to look after myself as father, husband, friend etc, left me with 80% of my stomach removed and 100% of my Oesophagus removed.

When you get to this point (please do not try to aim for it). You start again as baby, with an almost new digestive system and you learn extremely quickly what works and what does not not!!

The link between between what we eat and drink and our brain is hard wired and coded and does not really like any tampering. Everything is now a compromise and a somehwhat dangerous game of Russian Roulette. Sugar is the biggest single factor in almost intake and what happens next. Too much? you pass out, not enough, you pas out.

The biggest compromise of all is getting to live and trying not to complain all the tie about food and diet ;^)

I am happy to help out here in any way I can. I have done extensive work with many parties and can share most of that.

Good luck.

 

[zipdip]

Well if you need to lose weight,then you need to cut carbs,everyone's body is the same ,as you go about your day be it just walking, working hard maybe even doing exercises,the body will always burn carbs it will do this because it is the easiest thing for it to do,if you cut out most of the carbs then the body has to burn fat,if you decide to also join a fitness club this helps but only if you keep your heart rate down,the actual rate depends on your age and just how much weight you need to lose,but say a 50-60 man trying this exercise will need to keep his heart rate below 130,all these modern machines have heart rate monitors,or get a cheap personal one on ebay,if you go mad on the machines your heart rate will rocket and your body will stop burning fat and just concentrate on keeping you alive,also many people when they diet and exercise have no idea how the fat is removed from your body ,many think you pee it out,but you lose the fat via your lungs so it is important to breath properly when exercising,when you first diet one of the things that happens is people get headaches this is because of having little sugar in your system,stomach upsets,are also common,but after two weeks these should go,as always if you keep at it you will lose weight.

 

[tbourner]

... if you decide to also join a fitness club this helps but only if you keep your heart rate down,the actual rate depends on your age and just how much weight you need to lose,but say a 50-60 man trying this exercise will need to keep his heart rate below 130
if you go mad on the machines your heart rate will rocket and your body will stop burning fat and just concentrate on keeping you alive

Yes, except it helps to improve stamina which is important to efficiently reduce weight with all that regular aerobic exercise, a bit of HIIT training strengthens your heart and improves your understanding of breathing etc., so you can exercise better in other ways.

 

[John]

I think diet should change inline with your lifestyle. If you are not an active person, less should go in to avoid gaining weight! This often ties in with age but it shouldn't be linked.

When I was younger, I had no care in the world what I ate although I was never that bad when I think back. I never denied myself what I fancied.

I only started to reign things in 10 years ago because I didn't want to experience all the negative effects of a not-great diet and not-so-healthy lifestyle.

I want to get to an old age being able to enjoy life. If not, no point in being alive...

I've worked on many things over the years and my body temperature seems to have dropped too although this might have happened anyway as you tend to manage temperature less-well as you get older.

I think "diet", often used as a term to try and reduce the intake of crap food, is a misnomer anyway. We all have a diet. It's what that diet constitutes and your overall lifestyle (factoring in ailments and conditions) which governs the effects.

For me it was and always has been a personal choice.

I still eat bad food now and again but I never deny myself. If you can maintain a balanced diet overall and stick to it long enough, you can make it habitual which I have.

@tbourner - could be an erroneous reading on the red blood cell count. I've had that before. You'd need another one or two tests to be sure it is correct. Red blood cell count

if you decide to also join a fitness club this helps but only if you keep your heart rate down,the actual rate depends on your age and just how much weight you need to lose,but say a 50-60 man trying this exercise will need to keep his heart rate below 130

You also don't want to shock your system into sudden exercise that you are not used to as this would cause inflammation and could induce a heart-attack worse-case.

Better to start slow and easy and gradually build up to it.

Then you get the benefits of the exercise with much less risk.

 

[saff]

I don't eat meat but enjoy fish. This was a conscious choice a few years back. Since then I managed to have a heart attack and a bypass! Seems a bit ironic but staying off meat helps me keep the cholesterol level down which is now more important.

 

[Codger49]

I have a kitchen watchdog - SWMBO has a degree in nutrition.

I'm still nearly 100kg, but I am 6ft 3in and the last GP choleresterol test gave a result of 2.7.

 

[LTD]

I’ve been following the 5:2 diet for a few years now and my weight is maintained pretty constantly at around 75kg (5’11”)

 

[Darrell]

I don't eat meat but enjoy fish. This was a conscious choice a few years back. Since then I managed to have a heart attack and a bypass! Seems a bit ironic but staying off meat helps me keep the cholesterol level down which is now more important.

A bit like me giving up the fags and taking up cycling only to inhale loads of shitty diesel fumes and get knocked off my bike by a bus. And get run over.

 

[Deleted96908]

Seems to me that portion size has (almost) kept track with the growth of the Mini. And that's half the problem I reckon. But only half...

@tbourner, good luck with the regime change. Don't be afraid to revert for a day or so.. if things get tough. It took me months to move away from carbs - played havoc with my life - but I kept with it as the visual progress outweighed the discomfort. Btw, I was born in Leigh Park in '59. Tough place back then. Escaped in 71.

@markjay and who to trust when they do give advice. Look at all the low fat stuff on our shelves. i'm guessing, but I'd estimate we've got fatter as a nation in direct proportion to the consumption of low fat (high sugar) foods.

@Darrell, you sound like a fit bloke and I s'pose you have to be given the work you do. I've been following your cycling with interest too. Takes a lot to have a physical job and exercise for pleasure too. Good on you.

 

[Deleted96908]

@Smart320 I do think BMI is a load of bull in many cases. I'm obese according to that measurement - 105kg and almost 6' 1. But hardly a pound of fat on me. But I guess it works for the general population and if nothing else is a good way to track progress, if not absolutes.

@DrFeelgood - Interesting comment about hotel food. In saying that, I was shocked at a hotel in Florida when the kids were young. We ordered a starter and main for the 5 of us (mum was with us) and seriously, just one of the mains would have been enough for us all. And then in the Supermarket everything was giant size and cheap. Makes you question whether cost per calorie is directly proportional to calorie intake. So what's your diet like these days?

@zipdip - I agree that low carbs is a great way to 'reduce' - but not everybody can follow that, either because of discipline or circumstances. Ever tried eating low carb in a motorway services? You can only eat so many boiled eggs or dried chicken. Interesting about your 130 bpm comment. I'm 58 and have just done a hard 3K ski erg and my heart refuses to budge above 110. (resting 40s). But I am still convinced the family will find me slumped either on my Pilates mat, or in the garage on my Watt Bike, or Ski Erg. But I would have died happy (ish).

@brucemillar - tell you what Bruce, I've been meaning to ask you for ages about your diet and eating arrangements. Can't imagine how it must feel and as you say, starting all over again. What about calorie intake? Do you struggle to get enough on board?

 

[Deleted member 113659]

We as a family do the healthy eating Monday-Friday and have treats at the weekend.

It’s very apparent that towards the end of a holiday or Christmas break that treats 7 days a week (goodies & alcohol) become less enjoyable.

I have a very physical job so I don’t exercise. (V poor excuse I know). I totally understand the importance of exercise and good diet if you have a non active job.

 

[Deleted96908]

@John great point about being well enough to enjoy old age - especially as drugs are very good at keeping us alive, although not necessarily good at keeping us fit.

You and I talk a lot on this subject front and back of house, and I don’t think we are in the minority in actively making health choices. But, present company excepted, talking openly about health still seems something of a taboo subject. Shame as we all have so much to share. Happy to talk MB. But not so happy to talk BP.

@saff. We adore fish, but what a price. And what about canned Tuna? Can’t remember the last time we saw decent steaks like we used to have back in the old days

Re cholesterol etc, I’m all good on blood counts. I think it’s the cardio I’ve done since I was a lad. If it’s there it gets flushed.

Sorry to hear about heart attack. But guessing damage was done long before you wised up?

@Codger49. 6’ 3, 220lb. That’s some physique. Does your wife advocate a balanced diet or something more specific?

@LTD I thought you looked very fit and together in your hang glider snap. Made me laugh when I envisioned myself in your place. Twin wing came to mind.

@Happytalk73. Ant I’ve never seen you look other than fit so sounds like you have a good balance. Mind you 5 days of clean living and 2 letting your hair down does sound a bit like @LTD ’s 5-2 diet in reverse.