What are your principles in eating?

[tealtreak]

Do you follow some long term diets? Like Paleo or The Zone or Intermittent Fasting or do you avoid some food combinations (separate diet)? Maybe some of you are vegetarians, vegans or even raw eaters.

I am omnivorous but my principles are not to eat carbs in the evening if I am not going to race in the morning. I also eat cottage cheese with some raw nuts before going to bed. I try (and most of the time succeed) not to eat sugar and also not to drink calories. I drink only milk or protein shakes but I do not drink juices or any other sweetened drinks. I avoid alcohol but I enjoy an occasional beer. I don't fry food: I boil, bake, grill or eat raw. I use only good fats: virgin olive oil, nuts and of course fat from animal products: fat meat (I like pork and lamb), whole milk, butter, eggs, cheese and sour cream. I eat bread once in a blue moon but when I eat it, it doesn't have to be whole grain.

afterthought to answering this post (:......are you being conversational? AWESOME (: looking to change/improve? just curious?

Depending on answer i may have 2 more cents worth! lol

[malkin]

I eat when I'm hungry, I drink when I'm dry
And if moonshine don't kill me I'll live 'til I die.



Eat good food, don't obsess about it.

[tealtreak]

I eat when I'm hungry, I drink when I'm dry
And if moonshine don't kill me I'll live 'til I die.



Eat good food, don't obsess about it.

lol!!!!!!!! Thanks for the reality check- I was in a Chardonnay vibe tonight (:

[shootingstar]

Every people has their own traditional food which is connected with the area they live. It will be unnatural to the Eskimos for examle to eat more bananas or oranges.
In Bulgaria we have a tradition to slaughter a pig at Christmas I know that this may sound a little barbarian but it's a really nice tradition with family gatherings and parties. We melt the fat, taken from the pig and we boil it to get pure white fat which people use for cooking. Well, not the contemporary people, but older people, living in villages.

Of course, one eats what might be available locally.

But anyone living north of California, eating white rice....that is not local grain at all.

The only rice grown in Canada is wild rice, which is technically a grass.

Most likely one of the Asian veggies, I named, can be grown in Bulgaria but probably there's not enough demand yet or people have not been shown that it can be grown.

The boy choy, gai lan, you choi, snow peas...is now grown in various parts of Canada and have been for quite a number of years/decades. No longer restricted to Asians growing these "peculiar" veggies. Here in Alberta, to me the bok choy look huge....I think it's because in the summer when there's lot of day light, right conditions (ie. not too rainy), the veggies tend to get kind of huge.

Ginger root and ginseng root is now grown in interior British Columbia in the wine country region where it is drier and hotter. Ginseng root has become a cash crop there.

[Crankin]

I eat a variety of foods. At this point, I have to be very careful about carbs (the bad ones), and when I eat certain ethnic foods, both of these things make me gain 2-3 lbs. in a second. I eat a good amount of protein, and try to limit my low glycemic carbs to 1-2 meals a day.
No fried foods, except my 1-2X a year overdose on onion rings and latkes on Hannukah, and I very rarely eat sweets or pastries. It has to be a special occasion.
I should eat more veggies, but a lot of them hurt my stomach. My weight is pretty consistent, but at this time of the year, I struggle to keep it where I want. The switch from outdoor riding 4-5 days a week to other activities messes up my metabolism. Truthfully, I am hungry all of the time and it's difficult. I eat plenty, I eat healthy food, but I could eat a lot more if I wasn't so concerned with my weight. Most of my social life revolves around going out to eat, or cooking, so if I didn't exercise, I would be huge. Really. When I was in my early 30s I weighed 92 pounds, and while I don't want to go there, either, I could gain 10 lbs. in like a second, if I wasn't vigilant.
Oh, and red wine and chocolate a few times a week. Seriously, that, with exercise has brought down my total cholesterol about 40 points.

[ehirsch83]

My food is pretty similar most days- focus similar to you though- on good fats.

breakfast: coffee with whole milk and raw sugar (or agave or honey) and 2 eggs with Ezekiel bread with either nut butter spread, or I create an egg sandwich.

lunch: soup

dinner: either salad (which has to have spinach, carrots, dried cherries, sunflower seeds walnuts and then whatever else wanted to add-avocado, cheese, other veggies,etc.+ protein)

salad dressings are all home made and include good for you fats- olive oil, coconut oil, ghee, mayo that has omega 3+6s,etc.

or for dinner steamed veggies with a homemade peanut sauce(includes amino acids and fish sauce).

I am big on my body working off of good fats and I have an extremely low carb intake.. I do eat out once or so a week, but end up sticking to protein and veggies- my body doesn't handle other food as well(I get really tired after I eat if it is carby,greasy,etc.)

[westtexas]

I eat Paleo too. Since mid-October. Never going back (well, that and I found out I actually have celiac disease). I follow it pretty closely, with a few exceptions for (very occasional) cheese, good red wine and 90% chocolate (can't eat anything else, I find 90% to be almost too sweet at this point). I eat a lot of pasture raised eggs, grass-fed meats, veggies and a few apples now and then (oh, and berries). On the days I eat too many carbs, I can definitely feel it. I also fast a lot - mostly on weekends. I have never felt better in my life. It's a bit more expensive this way but I feel like the money I invest in my health now will pay off later.

It's amazing how nutrition affects your health.

[Reesha]

Do you fast for full days? I used to do it when I could take loooonnng leisurely walks into the mountains in upstate NY, but in the city it's torture. I really need to find a way to fast. I used to do it at the first sign of illness and it always made me feel better.

[westtexas]

Do you fast for full days? I used to do it when I could take loooonnng leisurely walks into the mountains in upstate NY, but in the city it's torture. I really need to find a way to fast. I used to do it at the first sign of illness and it always made me feel better.

Typically I can't. I am always starving when I wake up in the morning, so I always eat breakfast. And since I work 6 days a week, I have to eat before I go to work or I just can't focus and get anything done. Usually on weekends (those I don't work), I skip lunch and often dinner. I just try to eat when I'm hungry. If I am not hungry, I don't eat. During the week I don't always have dinner because I'm not usually hungry after work. Seems to be working out well so far.

[shootingstar]

I have never thought of the word "fasting" as a means to cope with feeling ill.
I don't think of "fasting" in that way at all.

I just think of it as just eating less later, if I've eaten a large, nice lunch.

[Anelia]

afterthought to answering this post (:......are you being conversational? AWESOME (: looking to change/improve? just curious?

Depending on answer i may have 2 more cents worth! lol

Just conversational

In my experience with nutrition, training and supplements I noticed that no two people are the same. So, it's difficult to give 2 cents or even 2 bucks
When people say: "I like your body transformation, tell me your diet", I answer: "It's experimenting, learning and consistency."

[tealtreak]

Just conversational

In my experience with nutrition, training and supplements I noticed that no two people are the same. So, it's difficult to give 2 cents or even 2 bucks
When people say: "I like your body transformation, tell me your diet", I answer: "It's experimenting, learning and consistency."

It is so interesting how different foods/diets work for a given person, the only consistent thread seems to be whole food/nutrition versus junk gives better health and energy. The variations in that context are amazing (: (and make me wonder about trying it all!!!!!)

[azfiddle]

I try to eat a "balanced" diet- but I have a definite sweet tooth, which has gotten me into trouble with being overweight for most of my life.

I try to avoid most heavily processed foods, fried food, and don't usually eat pork. I try to eat a lot of fruit, vegetables, some cheese, chicken, fish and sometimes beef or lamb. Carbs are the main things that get me into trouble, and I eat more processed carbs than anything else. I have come to enjoy steel cut oats, but white rice, bagels, crackers, and bread from the French Bakery find their way into my diet a lot, although I have moved to whole wheat pasta most of the time.When I am too busy or tired though, I give in to the convenience of prepared foods like weightwatchers frozen meals or canned soup. Sadly, I am susceptible to the lure of cookies and chocolate.

I would not be happy on the paleo diet- those carbs are pretty central for me.

[shootingstar]

have come to enjoy steel cut oats, but white rice, bagels, crackers, and bread from the French Bakery find their way into my diet a lot

Azfiddle, I thought I would never see the day that I would not eat white rice since it was so central to my diet.

But it's been a move away from it where instead I substitute with several other different types of carb that taste good to me and it was so gradual that move for me.

I don't regularily buy egg-based pasta for home anymore. It's an eggless noodle...made from egg white. A little more expensive. I will have an egg-based pasta ....in a restaurant which amounts to only a few times per year.

My body has now been genuinely "trained" to want a lighter carb. I will eat sushi and sashimi several times annually but if it's too much white rice in it, then I don't feel fantastic, meaning it feels like a sugar crash for me.

I do love sushi and sashimi and will never give it up totally.
Unfortunately now I'm discovering that wine not only gets me "drunk" fast (which has been like that for decades), now I tip towards a sugar crash. Which results in me wanting to nap more quickly.

As for hard riding, which for me is long distance bike touring with my stuff, I can adjust temporarily if I have no choice to eat the foods I want when visiting an area. The amount of energy required during those rides, temper my body's reactions to high glycemic carbs.

[azfiddle]

Shooting Star, that's interesting about moving away from white rice. I think partly, it's easy and quick to cook and goes with so many other things.

I meant to say about carbs- that of the food that I do eat, the most processed items would be the bread/rice etc. It didn't sound exactly how I meant it.