Why is what you eat important?

[datrupr]

Thanks for the well wishes everyone. I was more telling this story so other people will hopefully learn from my mistakes. I am finding it a bit more pricey at the grocery store to eat healthier, but it is not killing the budget. I think I'm going to stick with this one, I am feeling really good for basically just changing my diet. The best I have felt in years.

UK4X4, I know, backing off the bottle is tough, it is in my blood too. I'm of German descent. I have not quit drinking, but I have cut back to having a drink or two every week and a half or so. Jacki has been very beneficial here as she does not drink very often.

Rex, I know you are not nagging. Last week I was really stressed, and since alcohol consumption has been cut way down my smoking went up a bit. I am bringing that back down this week, and in the next couple of weeks I am going to try another program to quit. I have never had the challenge like quitting smoking before.

[pskhaat]

I drink skim mikk all the time and think it tastes fine. What's your problem with skim milk?

I don't mean to jest in a very serious thread, but you have tried good ol whole milk that you have to shake before you drink it, right?

Good on ya Aaron. I had a reverse situation years ago where my heart rate was abnormally high, high blood pressure and cholesterol, I was just eating crap for food. Long story short, after meeting my midwestern wife who cooks-on-cast and bakes and never-in-the-mic with nothing but butter, cream (you get the point) yet drastically limited my intake I have knock-on-wood reversed it through just plain, simple, good real foods.

It is hard to beat eating to which we rightfully are so drawn.

[1leglance]

Excellent work by you & your doctor staying away from the Medication Roller Coaster. It really bugs me to see folks come into the hospital taking a boatload of meds when some honest diet/lifestyle changes could have made the same difference.

Of course the years are catching up with me and I know my love of sweets and general dislike of greens will become more & more of a problem. But my wife is a super healthy eater so I hope she can help me.

[pskhaat]

mmmmm ... non-homogenized whole milk .....

[silentsamurai]

sorry and congrats at the same time Aaron. I see you said you are counting calories. That's fantastic. If you are ever in need of diet advice, recipes, counting assistance. Feel free to ask. I am currently bulking up / bodybuilding and i use www.fitday.com to count my calories. it's free and has most products / fruits / veg etc its its database. Just add it to your daily intake and it will make a graph that you can monitor daily, monthly, yearly etc.

best of luck to you on your new life

Adam


looks like this:

[UK4X4]

Dam Adam....

here's yesterdays....calorie intake....rather scary results

Fat 21%
Protein 16%
Carbs 26%



and wait for it************************************************ **********....................alcohol 38%

2800 calories...

Now if I had of drunk water when I got home from work.....the results are

1800 calories
Fat 38%
Protein 28%
Carbs 34%
Alcohol 0%

mmmmmm maybe I do need to listen to the wife and address the drinking...........

[silentsamurai]

haha nice percentages, i myself have quit the consumption of beer this week. It's putting a major disruption, add's lazyness and depleats my appetite by about 50% sometimes. just from 4-5 beers. Then again i drink imports that are about 8-13% ABV. hah So im either gonna quit drinking entirely or switch to bud light yuck.

back on topic. :-p

[datrupr]

Luke's in 16th street and Indian School or Carolina's on Mohave or the Fry Bread place on Indian School you see where i'm going with this???

Lukes was a common place for lunch for me, I would eat buttered tortillas and a breakfast burrito from Carolina's 2 to 3 times a week for breakfast, and the fry bread from that place is amazing. I also would hit the little street taco stand in front of Charley's on Camelback every so often on a Friday or Saturday night if I was looking for a bit of Mexico in Phoenix. I love food too, and I love to eat. I have now just found a new way to do it. It is hard to not go to those places anymore, but I'll still pay them a visit every so often, as being bad every now and then won't hurt me. I just can't eat at places like that as much as I used to. I take my lunch with me to work, and I ususally have my bowl of Cherrios in the morning. In just four weeks on this diet I am amazed at how much better I am feeling. I have even found heart and diabetic friendly recipes that my daughter likes too, so I can take comfort in knowing that she is eating healthy when I have her.

As for skim milk, I tried a few years ago to like skim milk. I think it is the texture, along with it doesn't look right (kinda blueish in color) and the flavor is not the same, it seems kinda watered down to me. But, I can have 1% milk and still be ok as it is not considered a high fat food.

On a side note, last week my daughter begged me to go to MacDonald's for dinner. I reluctantly agreed. I had one of their grilled chicken sandwiches on that honey wheat bun and had them hold the mayo. No fries, and a diet coke. Literally 5 minutes after I ate it my stomach started cramping up and I felt terrible. My stomach and bowels were not right for 2 days after eating that. So, I think fast food is out unless it is Subway.

[datrupr]

Adam, I used to have a drink or two just about everynight. When I severly cut back on my consumption I noticed that on the nights I didn't have any alcohol I would wake up the next morning feeling more rested, and had more energy the next day. Now, If I were to have one beer that night, my sleep would be restless and I would feel groggy all day the next day.

I have learned that it is now cheaper for me as my tolerance has gone way down and it takes me a lot less to get a buzz from alcohol. So, one or two drinks is good for me.

[Capt Sport]

Good for you Datrupr! I jumped aboard the heathly eating train a while back myself. And, feel much better as a result.

Here's a link to a great site to track what your eating everyday:

http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate

I don't track what I eat to the smallest detail but I get a good overview. Also, once you see how many calories something is you'll change the way you make it, or quit eating it all together. I used to make eggs fried in olive oil till I added it to my list, now I eat them boiled. Much lower in calories and quite a bit quicker in the morning. I just boil em by the dozen and leave em in the fridge. Peel em over the trash can and your off pretty quick.

Good luck and stick to it, you'll feel a lot better once you get a week or two into it. You just need to change your habitual patterns on what you eat and make new ones.