Different Ways To Eat Healthier Without Restricting Yourself From Food

I disagree with the carb comment. A good whole grain pasta a half hour before a ride (mtn bike) is one of the best things you can eat. With out a carb load i can do an hour or so of hard riding but with the meal first i can usually do an hour on/ 10 mins off 3 or 4 times over before im beat.

 

My understanding is that it depends on your goal. If you want to ride further faster than yes, carbs can give you that fuel. If you want to just lose weight than it's better to burn your fat stores and have less energy than to run off the carbs. I'm neither a dietician or fitness expert, just something I heard and seemed to make sense.

 

That makes sense- but- wouldnt the extra carbs that are allowing you to run further negate them selves BY running further? Kinda curious...

 

Sure, calories in = calories out +/- energy stored or released (fat). I know it gets a bit more complicated with when you eat what but whatever, if your out biking over 30 minutes over three times a week and eating right then you'll be good imo.

 

To a degree, but you can't forget the positive metabolic effect of intense exercise, especially any activity that can enhance your lean muscle mass. Stronger metabolism, more calories burned all the time, even after the session.

Maybe I'm old school, but I still don't buy the carbs are terrible thing. ANYTHING you over eat is bad, and pasta, rice, bread, etc. are very easy to overeat...but I very much agree with the substitution idea -- there is NO reason to consume refined crap when you can get whole wheat bread or pasta, so on.

I've managed to maintain my weight and bodyfat for 13 years (after losing 60lbs, then gaining back 15-20 lbs of lean muscle) without avoiding or even substantially cutting back on carbs (except for lots of sugar - no soda, or candy or whatever for me, and other high sugar items are only acceptable after hard workouts or in the morning). Of course, I also run four to five days a week and lift four in addition to hours of practice and performance on a drum set. I NEED carbs! Everyone needs carbs to be healthy, IMO! You can't build muscle without them, and more muscle means more metabolism!

I just poked my head into this section, so forgive me if I'm preaching to the choir.

 

1 serving fits in palm of your hand.

 

A VERY good rule to keep in mind!

 

I eat a lot of sushi and salads. Both can be very filling but healthy. I try to get salads with spinach instead of lettuce and a whole bunch of veggies.

 

I've cut out sodas and caffeine. Drinking water water water. Two weeks in, and it also saves you two bucks when going out to lunch!

Unfortunately, the guys at work, they say they miss me, tempting me with all sorts of various soft drinks each morning and during the day. I also had a dream this past weekend, where I drank two dr. peppers - and felt sad that I broke the chain (google: seinfeld lifehacker).

 

The start of the thread stated two really important things in getting healthy: Discipline & Lifestyle Adaptation.
After 15 years of owning a personal training business I would add:
- Knowledge. Seek the advice of a professional, someone competent who looks, radiates, and embodies the lifestyle you want. I'm not just saying this because I am in the business. It's just that so many people work so hard only to be spinning their wheels and looking the same 10 years later.
- Adjust your diet a step at a time. Completely overhauling everything you eat is a doomed mission from the start. One positive change a week is the key.
- CARBS: Carbs are not bad. Vegetables and fruit are carbs. Starch, grains (yes, all grains, whole, sprouted, whatever), refined grains, and refined sugars are bad.
- Read The Paleo Solution. I never tout any one person, method, or book, but Robb Wolff explains in an easy to understand way, from a biochemical standpoint just what happens when these things enter the body. We are meant to eat simply as a hunter and forager not a grower of commercially genetically modified plants.
- Forget the endurance 30-60m on the elliptical cardio stuff. All exercise is cardio just as all exercise is resistance training. It is spectrum of intensity. Intervals are the key.
There is more, a lot more, but that is the important stuff.
-Billy

 

portion control!

 

Portion control works only if the foods you're portioning are good for you. portioning fatty foods, white bread, junk, etc wont yield any results and probably make you feel awful between a combo of crappy foods and not enough food altogether.

 

If you really want to do yourself some good with water,
this is the best water in my opinion, real healing powers.
It amazingly got me and others off softdrinks when that
wasn't even our goal. It's just that good.

http://www.0disease.com/0mwater.html

Only costs like $20 for a bottle and it last like 2 months!

Wes