A few months ago I made some changes to how I eat. I went vegan for two weeks and while it was difficult I did lose 10 pounds. Now I'm just trying to eliminate red meat, dairy, and reduce other meats. I'm not going extreme or anything but the longer I keep with it the easier it gets. I haven't had milk, butter, or cheese in about a month. Beef has never been my favorite meat anyway and pork is easy to get away from since it's mostly breakfast meat. I now eat fish about once a week as apposed to once every few months. I'm still not a huge fan but that's mostly because good fish is hard to find. Whole Foods has fish they fly in from the ocean every day that's never been frozen. It cost about the same as prime rib but damn if it isn't the best fish I've had in the middle of the country. Cheap fresh fish will never be an option in Colorado. I plan to continue this for 1 year and then reevaluate the situation. If I break it wont be from desire but from convenience. I've also reduced my intake of bread, artificial sweeteners, and added sugar. That's actually way less convenient than giving up meat which I suppose says something about the american diet. If you get a chance I'd suggest watching Forks over Knives.
Do you find any degradation in strength? I try different diets for fun and to evaluate results. My time with vegan/vegetarian had the most immediate positive results. A lot more energy and great nights sleep. But the loss of strength was noticeable. I'm in week one of Keto. There was like a 3-4 day delay, then the boost in energy arrived. But again, not strength. My muscles cramp just walking around Manhattan and I found myself needing cabs. Also, I'm perpetually dehydrated requiring electrolyte drinks. But in the suburbs this has got to be the easiest diet to maintain. The hardest diet I tried was Joe Cross's vegetable juice fast from Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. Extremely expensive and I tip my hat to anybody with the willpower to survive on 3 glasses of vegetable juice a day. Tried several times just couldn't do it. The big payoff was around the 1 week mark. Didn't even get close.
You guys really seem to love fad/crash diets. Why not just count calories and eat a balanced diet that you can actually sustain long term?
I watched the Joe Cross video too and it's impressive but I'm not sure I could do it, however, I did buy a juicer just so I could get the additional nutrients. You right that it can be expensive. The best leafy greens aren't cheap. A glass a juice is probably $3 to $8. I didn't notice the strength issue but I did notice the increased energy and better sleep. Dehydration can be a problem because if you're like me you only drink when eating. One way to combat that is to get a large water bottle and force yourself to finish it each day. I use Hydroflasks. They can be expensive but they will keep water cold for 24 hours.
Next time you guys should try one of the ones where you join a cult and travel to central America and they just don't feed you for a couple of months
Well, if you watch the video it's not about losing weight. It's the belief that the Western diet is killing people. So if you're of the belief that red meat and dairy causes heart disease no amount of it would be acceptable.
I'm of the belief that obesity is killing people. You become obese by overeating. You can actually pretty easily become obese overeating food that would be perfectly healthy in moderation. You can be thin and healthy and (occasionally) eat junk as long as you control for the calories elsewhere. I'm not a fan of fad diets. I think they confuse people about the real reason they are overweight or obese. They aren't sustainable. You will gain all of the weight back when you fall off the wagon. It's not what everyone is eating that is making everyone fat and unhealthy. That actually hasn't changed much in recent years. It's how much they are eating. Portion sizes have gotten insane. And most people have no idea how much they are eating relative to how much they should be eating.
I think obesity is just one more symptom of a larger problem with the Western diet. Diabetes and heart disease are almost unheard of in Asian countries that still eat a tradition Asian diet. The argument of better genetics has mostly been debunked since Asian families that move to the US will start to experience the same occurrence rates of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes as the rest of the country. Obesity is an obvious symptom because it's so visible. Everything else is a hidden killer.
My food related shenanigans is for fun. Thought of launching a food, diet, and restaurant blog/vlog. Never got that far but I still continue the research! Fad diets can be fun. Not as lifestyle change but short term research/challenge. I usually have a goal to last 2 weeks, but rarely make it. Unless it's a crazy liquid diet I count calories on all of them. I agree that a true fad diet is not sustainable but going vegetarian isn't a fad diet. It's a wholly acceptable lifestyle choice.
I don't drink this Kool Aid. There are 3 billion people in that region. How many have access to healthcare? Do they record disease, treatment, and death as diligently as the west? They could be dropping dead from all kinds of diseases undocumented. If I was going to try a diet based on people of a certain region, I'd pick a Nordic diet. Average height of woman exceeds a mans in the rest of the world.
Asian countries have much smaller portions and overweight/obese people in Asian countries are shamed and stigmatized.
That's a question I was pondering with someone the other day. It's being marketed as lower risk for heart disease and cancer, but I'm not sure if the science matches the claims. I doubt extensive studies have been done with grass fed beef yet.
So I finished 14 days of Keto. The diet both easy and difficult. The food choices made this super easy for a carnivore like me. But it was extremely difficult getting 2000 calories and I only achieved it 2 days. The macros are 70% fat, 25% protein, 5% carb. Basically a Baconator with no bun. Red meats are what this was all about. I found chicken was too clean to hit the macros. I even made a Keto Cheesecake in 20 minutes that was pretty decent. The cheesecake is the only thing that got me to 2000 calories. I was full eating about 1300 calories daily. Week 1 was deficient 2800 calories and a whopping 4900 short the second week. I had to change my eating habits to about 12 hours apart. I found the diet was also very doable in most social settings. It matched my regular food ordering habits (red meat) but with new side dishes (green vegetables). But in my opinion, it's wholly incompatible with Indian and Chinese restaurants. As for cons, it wasn't carb cravings. There is an alternative for almost everything. The biggest con I found was perpetual dehydration. I ended up drinking around 130oz of water and pissing every 90 minutes. Even in the middle of the night. Also, the caloric deficiency may be too high w/ possible muscle loss according to some body building dude bros. This seems like the perfect cutting diet for gym rats. After a semi-clean bulk, Keto seems perfect to cut away the fat. Not sure it's ideal for fat people, as you're counting on fat calories to keep you satiated instead of making good food choices. But it probably will get the job done in an enjoyable manner.
We've been doing Sun Basket meal delivery service off and on for about 6 months. It has it's good and bad points. Here are the positive. The food they ship is organic and of very high quality. Most everything tastes better than the stuff at the grocery store. That surprised me and it was very noticeable. A lot of the ingredients they ship are unique and hard to find in any store which kind of makes them fun. No shopping is needed. On the negative side they can be very complex to cook. On average it takes me about 45 minutes to make a meal and that's with constant work in front of the stove and cutting board. I don 't usually feel like doing it after work. The portions are on the small side but most meals fill me up. The packaging is a pain in the butt. It's all recyclable and biodegradable but it takes a fair amount of work to get rid of it. I'd say I enjoy half the meals and the other half are okay but I wouldn't get again. It's expensive for a home meal but comparable to eating out.
Just going by the prices on their website... you wouldn't pay much more at Chipotle without the hassle. They are supposedly non-GMO and semi-Organic.
Indeed. Chipotle is a good place and we go there maybe once a week. I don't think I'd want it every day. They actually sell a tofu protein now called Sofritas which isn't bad.
Could be... There was a fermented fruity beer smell when I was pissing initially. When I started downing 100+ oz of water it dissipated some. Also had a metallic fruity breath smell, I'd never chewed so much gum before. I've read if you do cardio you get the similar smell in your sweat. Keytones apparently.
Losing weight fast tend to make you stink no matter the diet. All that crap stored in your fat is getting released. Eating less can also make your breath stink.