I agree with this and the posts above it. Here's the thing, I think stress management trumps healthier eating. But more importantly, in reality, you know what is one of the best stress managers- comfort foods. By denying comfort foods we increase stress.

So yes, it's harder to sort out what's going in if comfort foods are part of the equation, but in my experience, it doesn't take long to absorb what your fav comfort food nutritional values are and making conscientious decisions on portion size.

But certainly activity level is even more important to stress management. learning to paint or play the guitar for example for mind activity and fun outdoor activity for the body and soul.

I'm really serious! stress management and food portion management are the essential and key factors for being healthy.

I think activity level leads to stress management. I know on days when I workout my stress level certainly goes down. Never had a problem or stress increase by denying myself "comfort" foods though.

I look at how my grandparents live(d) and the ages they lived and are living too and then look at their physical condition and believe they must have done something right.

87/91/94 with the oldest still kicking. None of them suffered any major health issues ie no strokes / cancer / heart attack etc a little dementia in one(91) at the very end and the one that is alive gets a little confused at times.

They never ever ate junk food, nothing was ever in excess, they had a strong sense of having a well rounded diet ie everyday fruit / meat / vegetables. Never excessive portions either.

Always insisted on having a good breakfast, none of this current sugar in a box, porridge with a spoonful of honey.

They grew up when you had to make do with what you had society was not as gluttonous as our current society ( in all senses too ).

Are elite athletes any more healthy if they are consuming 5x as much as their body was designed to consume per day?

you have your own definition of what comfort foods are for you though. You're trying to maintain single digit body fat %, you've completely altered your mindset on food, I've been there! :thumbsup :1orglaugh

so i bet for you comfort foods are foods that reinforce your attaining your goal of ultra low bf and comfort you in that regard as opposed to watching CSI with a scoop of ben and jerry wishing you had a girlfriend. :1orglaugh

exactly. they simply ate what they had. prolly plenty of whole eggs. fried. bacon from a pig whenever they may have had one. etc. salt and pepper. maybe living on a farm helped them with portion control.

Yeah, I am pretty active. Between the gym and my German Shepherd's play drive, I get quite a bit of physical activity, not to mention I like to do my own yard work, etc.

Right now, I'm 155lbs, 22BMI, 14%BF. I don't really under or over do my caloric intake, unless I get into the beer or wine on certain nights.

You still have that birdseed product? I loved that stuff.

much better now. I have changed everything in my life. This whole reality thing can suck it

Yes, farming helped and living through the depression also worked wonders too :thumbsup

Adding to that, the stress management that you mention. I think you are bang on with that too.

Going back to my grandparents, they never as my Gran says *we never wanted for anything*. They were content with what they had ie family / kids / house / land / beach etc..

They never had a mortgage(never ever had a cent of debt ever), never worried about getting the latest iphone or xbox or bmw etc

The only thing that messes with mine is stress - I don't eat enough of the wrong things to make it matter much with my diet - not now - but is more stress than anything else at all - other than that, I am the perfect Diabetic - as I said before - I am just not that food driven - if it were up to me, I probably wouldn't ever eat - it's just not my thing. lol

right on, no, not making large batches, turns out it was too birdseedy. :1orglaugh:1orglaugh

That doesn't apply for my grandparents (farmers too on other side). They wanted more, as I think that every other generation before them as well. And I am glad that my ancestors didn't satisfy to raw meat and a cave.

By the way, why would someone stress about new iPhone, etc.? What is it to stress about?

Oh the weekend almost anything goes for me...pizza, ice cream, etc. I still maintain that 7% because the cheats trick my metabolism. I do want a cannoli realllll bad right now tho! :1orglaugh

But you are right a normal cheat for me will be a steak dinner or sushi. I strayed away from all the fusion rolls and just get straight fish or fish over rice. In fact now i know what im getting for dinner on the way home! :thumbsup

come on now, there's only one thing better than enjoying delicious food! and that's football.

I keed, but srsly, you don't derive pleasure (and other good things) from eating some really enjoyable food/beverage?

Yeah, what's the fucking POINT?
We all gonna die mutha truckers!!!

But at least you die as a healthy, considering the circumstances of course. :)

I am not really sure why I mentioned banana splits because we have had exactly one in the past several years; I prefer beer floats. The point was that I don't have a problem having goodgirl toss one of her individual pumpkin pies in the oven at 10 PM and make a batch of homemade whipped cream to top it with. I used to have to worry about it, but no more.

Portion control came about as a result of juicing daily. I just do not have the need to feel stuffed to be satisfied.

For example; these pics are from January 2010 - a typical meal at my favorite Mexican restaurant consisted of

http://www.gotbaddog.com/galleries/3...Beach0_big.jpg

http://www.gotbaddog.com/galleries/3...Beach4_big.jpg

http://www.gotbaddog.com/galleries/3...Beach8_big.jpg

http://www.gotbaddog.com/galleries/3...Beach9_big.jpg

http://www.gotbaddog.com/galleries/3...each12_big.jpg


Now, we split an entree and have left overs.

Personally, I'd rather die with a burrito in one hand, a double bacon cheeseburger in another, while three latina chicks are sucking my cock and balls while windsurfing high on quaaludes in Malibu, with a jealous boyfriend waiting on the beach waving a shotgun.

But that's just me.

That, and ice cream. :D

So, you are going to die like that, or because of that? :)

But define healthy?

The best I've felt from eating in a certain way was doing Keto. It's hard to avoid all the things you have to avoid long term (for me), but while I'm on keto I really do feel better.

Better focus
No hunger pangs / stomache growling
No sugar rushes / crashes
Sleep less and feel better waking up
Mental clarity
Heartburn / acid reflux disappears completely
Less fatigue during the day

But if you ask people if keto is "healthy" or not and most people would just grimace. But maybe it is healthy. Surely cutting out all that shitty food and sugar has to count for something.

Tell you what. Watch the documentary Forks over Knives and you will understand the point.

Watch the trailer here http://www.forksoverknives.com/

Hmmm....good question. LOL Both?

:helpme

mmmmmmmmmmm

Our kind of day, every day :winkwink:

wake up, enjoy beans, egg, bacon. lunch is beer & tapas & then dinner is something tasty & daiquiri's before the night time fest of beer, bacardi or wine... ouch, so much cheap alcohol but hey, it's too hot here all the time :thumbsup

I've watched it. it's vegan propaganda and completely unsubstantiated. :)

Potatoes are the one single thing that I can think of that I'd almost choose over a leg. lol

Seriously - boiled, broiled, fried, french fries - I don't think there is a way you can make them that I wouldn't eat til I puked - but thankfully I manage to control myself and they don't mess with me as bad as most things - when the Dr said I was a Diabetic (actually said those words) and started listing off shit I have to watch, he got to potatoes and I stopped him!!

I was told when I was very young that I was destined to having it at some point in my life (9 of my grandparents 12 kids all passed from Diabetic complications and both of them did as well, so it was pretty solid proof), so at that point I just decided I wasn't going to be a candy freak - since that is what I thought was all I couldn't have - lol - but I crave more savory things than sweets most of the time -

I don't say I don't cheat or anything, I am just not THAT into most foods and the ones I am, I just keep in my head I'd rather have my legs. lol

It's called *keeping up with the Joneses*, creates debt and stress :2 cents:

Obvious troll thread is obvious

Obvious inability to read is obvious.

If you prove your theory that eating healthy does not help average guy you are up to Nobel science prize and man of the year award for one of the biggest revolutions concerning diets and food.

Is not a theory. It's a fact. Feel free to provide just one link proving eating healthier leads to being healthier.

Glad you said this and not me... So many people look at me and go "You look great and healthy! How you do it!" and I tell them my diet, and they freak out "THAT'S NOT HEALTHY!!" Uhhh, it's not? Then why have I dropped 70 pounds, glucose levels, cholesterole levels, and blood pressure has improved a lot?

If that is a fact why do people eat healthier (which in most cases means less tasty, more time consuming, more expensive and so on)?
You could say they don't know this "fact", but how is that possible? I mean this would be ground breaking and life changing fact and every 5 year old would know that...

The term you are searching for is skinny fat. You may appear skinny, but are actually health wise a fat person. Just cause you don't look like an obese cow shopping at walmart doesn't mean you can't stroke out/have a heart attack at 50 cause your cholesterol, blood pressure etc is through the fucking roof. People that sit as much as we do are pretty much doomed anyway on top of that

rip in peace me

Any of the zillion cases of eating xxx reduces yyy

Eating fatty fish reduces bad cholesterol
There is one, everyone else can fit in the other 999,999

Again, there is absolutely zero scientific proof that eating healthier achieves being healthier.

People fall for it because we are sold that. It's marketing. It's about more not less. Eat more healthy foods. Eat more meals. Take more vitamins. Drink more designer water. Buy more organic food.

None of this leads to being healthier, based on science anyway.

Fatty fish could lower cholesterol. Could.

Moreover if you are male, the most important way your body makes testosterone is with cholesterol in your body. Want to decrease your testosterone? Cut your cholesterol.

Simply provide 1 link to scientific proof that eating healthier makes the typical nonoverweight inactive person healthier.

You need to define 'unhealthy'.

Eating a doughnut a day isn't necessarily unhealthy if the rest of your diet is balanced. neither is eating non organic. What is unhealthy is a diet high in sugar, refined flour and vegetable oils, that brings very little in term of nutrition. It's the paradox of the Standard American Diet where you can eat loads of calories and yet be nutrient deficient because of the lack of nutrient rich foods like organ meats and leafy greens.

Look up magnesium, zinc, iron, essential fatty acid, etc deficiency and you'll find tons of links.

If you're not overweight, eating crap all day long is not about the nutrition you are getting but what you are not getting.




________________

I like green leafy things :)

Let's go with your definition of unhealthy:

what type of daily diet is primarily sugar, refined flour and vegetable oil? I don't see this as a realistic view on what an average non-obese sedentary person eats day in and day out.

a typical 1800 calorie day generally provides all the nutrients an average sedentary person needs. it's a marketing ploy to suggest we all NEED extra nutrients to watch television and be lazy. If you are active, yes, a corresponding amount of nutrients makes sense, otherwise don't fall for the hype.

Again, though, I am open, if there is any science that supports the direct connection between simply eating healthier = being healthier, I'd like to see it. :)

I am quite familiar with all of those micronutrients, there are no links to science that proves that an average generally healthy non-obese sedentary person is not getting an adequate amount of those in a typical 1800 calorie day.

At TES is Prague the power in the hotel went out and we had to (gasp!) use the stairs. If this happened two years ago it would have kicked my ass. Now because I work out daily and eat healthy, stairs no longer kick my ass.

You don't realize it but this kind of shit kicks your ass you when get older. Start eating healthier now because it's much difficult to loose weight when you get older.

Diet of ready meals, fast foods, soda and white bread like many Americans

Too much salt : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24001491

"Evidence from these studies demonstrates that high salt intake not only increases blood pressure but also plays a role in endothelial dysfunction, cardiovascular structure and function, albuminuria and kidney disease...."

Too much Trans Fatty Acids : http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/transfats/

Not enough magnesium, 68 to 80 percent of Americans are deficient, http://www.acatoday.org/content_css.cfm?CID=3956

Not enough calcium, sodas leeches it out, very little vitamin A, etc, etc

I don't believe in supplementation either,

If you get it all the in 1800 calories you are eating nutritious foods = healthy diet, and you are asking us to prove a healthy diet is healthy :)

what you mention re: salt is a myth.

please choose from any article in this google search to learn about that

https://www.google.com/search?q=magn...=the+salt+myth

next, sure trans fat is not good, but the article you cite does not refute what this thread is about. for the typical non-obese sedentary adult,too much trans fat intake is not a concern.

next, magnesium, sure low magnesium could be an issue but the fact is there are many many reasons a person might be low on magnesium, the least of which is diet. Again, the average healthy sedentary non-obese adult does not need to concern him or herself about magnesium.



no, if you eat typical cals in a day, not specifically nutritious, you will get the nutrients you need to have a sedentary day. That's not eating healthier. that's simply eating.

again, there is absolutely zero scientific proof that eating healthier means being healthier for the average adult.

want to get healthier? be more active mentally and physically and support that lifestyle with eating healthier.