a healthier diet?

[Ghosts_on_TV]

I'm about 90% vegan with a smidgen of dairy and fish.

Don't hold me to this lifestyle during the OBH camp, though!

I'm the same. Not for really any reason other than thats just kind of how I eat. I do eat a decent amount of fish...actually a lot of fish. I hardly ever eat meat though. Although OBH is probably gonna consist of S'mores, Hot Dogs and granola bars! Whatevs. 8-)

[EC]

i think that eating well is all dependent on your body and your lifestyle.  you have to adapt with your lifestyle to make it work - trying to rebuild your lifestyle, for me, is too hard and inevitably doesn't work.

i was lucky and had a friend who was studying to be a holistic nutritionist and herbalist, and she used me as a guinea pig a lot.  one of the things i found interesting is that the things you eat the most are often the things that your body don't do well with - variety keeps you healthy.  and food combining.  food combining was the greatest thing i ever learned about.  basically, you just eat your different foods in the right combinations so that, chemically, your body can process it properly.  here's the basic deal:

you can have non-starch vegetables with anything - fats, or proteins or grains.  what you don't want to do is combine fats with proteins (ie cheese and steak), or grains and proteins (ie rice and meat, including fish), or starchy veggies and proteins (ie meat and potatoes).  fruits are good in the morning and by themselves.  (like, not with your oatmeal).  non-starch vegetables with grains, or non-starch vegetables with protein.

so, like i usually start with an apple and some other fruit (today a peach!) for breakfast.  i like having brown rice cakes with avocado and tomato.  oh, you can combine brown rice with legumes and beans because it creates a complex protein instead of acting as a carbohydrate.

all whole grains, and all organic.  try to eat your food in the rawest, most basic form possible - processed foods can really mess up your bod.
microwaves fuck with the internal structure of food on a molecular level and actually mess with your digestive system.

most white food is not too healthy - potatoes, white flour, white sugar, white rice - go for the browner options.  spelt bread is a good alternative to regular wheat bread, and i actually like it better, and it has less gluten to stick to the sides of your intestines and colon.  mmmm.  did you know that when most people die, there are seven pounds of feces stuck to their intestinal walls?  yep.  

basically you're trying to make your body poo as easily and as frequently as it needs to so that the walls of your intestines can process nutrients properly, thereby fuelling your body well, thereby making you feel good.
acidophilus and psyllium are your friends. :)

but everybody's body is different, just mess around and see what works with you and what doesn't.  you'll know when you feel good and when you feel bad.  and make sure you keep a variety happening - it's really easy to realize that you operate well on broccoli and almonds, but ultimately, your body develops sensitivities to things if you eat them too frequently.  like my roommate, who ONLY ate broccoli and almonds until we had an intervention and forced a sandwich into her. ;)

and if you're like me and there's no way in hell you're going to give up chocolate and wine and ice cream and bread, just go for the versions that are good for you.  organic chocolate rocks, and it's made with organic sugar which actually has nutrients in it and takes longer for your body to process, thereby giving you fuel instead of what can be akin to a drug rush.  there's lots of organic wines out there.  organic ice creams, etc.  

if you just become conscious, it eventually becomes part of your routine, even if you're like me, and have no routine.  i can find myself in tricky situations for eating - like, oh, travelling across newfoundland where there are zero fresh vegetables ANYWHERE, and a salad is a couple of leaves of iceburg lettuce and some grated carrots.  even then, you can pick the healthiest options at the roadside diners or even gas stations usually have, at the very least, trail mix or something, so that where you might be eating sulphates, at least you're getting complex proteins and good oils.

for exercise, i walk everywhere and get at least an hour every work day because i walk home from work.  stretching is also really good for you - helps smooth muscle mass, moves pressures and energy blocks through, relaxes you, takes away stress, forces you to breathe, mmmmmm stretching.

i could go on forever, but i promise i'll stop.
oh yeah, i smoke.
and i drink probably more than your average person.  and my sleeping patterns are pretty all over the place.  but if i can eat properly, i can still feel good. :)

[EC]

oh yeah, special occasions = eat whatever you want.
birthdays, christmas, holidays of any kind, vacations, wednesdays...

[Jenny]

i find that sleep is the most important part to a healthy life style.
i think i have a sleep disorder... actually, i don't know if i'd refer to it as a disorder as much as just... an abnormality.
i can sleep anywhere. everywhere! at any time. my sleeping schedule consists of infrequent naps and about three hours a night... not so much anymore, actually, but the past six or eight months.

i used to heavily rely on things such as nyquill to get a proper nights sleep, but had to ween myself off of it (obviously not the best way to live...!)

as the school year winds down, i've found myself getting into a more regular pattern, sleeping 4-6 hours at night, and about an hour after school/work... but i already feel a lot better... much more active.

also, i think vegetarianism is great, because it forces you to mind what you eat...

there's this thing that my teacher was doing this water diet thing. it sounds terribly unhealthy and borderline anorexic, but it's just the opposite.  she was apparently doing it to flush her system.  i don't remember exactly what she said, but basically it's consuming the minimum, and getting all the right nutrients.... mixing things such as maple syrup and water, salt and water, basil and water. i don't know. it sounded very interesting. though i imagine that takes a lot of will power.

i think it's good to flush out your system every now and then.
i don't know.

[ali]

i don't really have a lot of time (or if we're being brutally honest, motivation) for exercise, but what i've found is that if you find the type of exercise that you enjoy doing, it makes it a hell of a lot easier to get motivated to form a routine. i did an 8 week pilates course last year, which i really enjoyed (i have asthma, so the controlled breathing aspect was good, plus being fairly low impact as i wasn't that fit at the time)... going to a gym is never going to be my thing, but swimming 1km a couple of times a week plus going for walk/jog at the weekends usually does it for me. if you have to force yourself to go to the gym, and you don't enjoy it, i'd recommend trying something different, just to see if that works for you. not everone is going to like hitting the weights!

as far as diet goes, i guess i've always been pretty lucky weight-wise, always being fairly lean (until i went to uni & discovered junk food / stress and all-nighters). i stopped eating meat for quite a long time, but recently found out i have quite very low iron levels (after very nearly flaking out after donating blood) so i've been bringing meat back in. generally speaking i try and just eat in moderation - no huge meals, just smaller yummy meals with lots of veg. if you want to have alcohol, or chocolate, or chips, just make sure you balance things out. personally i don't think i could completely cut out "bad" foods... if you enjoy something, just have it in moderation, and not every day.  life is too short, and i do enjoy food.

i lost quite a lot of weight last year when i was so busy at work (not really eating properly, or that much at all really)... which wasn't a good situation, as none of my clothes fit, and it was affecting my mood - i guess i just kind of lost my appetite for a while.

at the moment i'd like to maybe lose a little bit of weight, just to tone up a bit, have  a bit more general fitness. it really affects my sense of self, and i'm sick of feeling like a fat slob

kel, i'd suggest eating more fruits & grains - potatoes are great, but maybe try and balance it out with other things like brown rice, quinois... plus the more different coloured veg you put into a meal the more diverse nutrients you get (sounds a bit naff, but i've heard this from various sources, and it makes meals look cooler as well)

good luck with it  :)

[Ghosts_on_TV]

oh yeah, special occasions = eat whatever you want.
birthdays, christmas, holidays of any kind, vacations, wednesdays...

Sundays are my "Eat whatever" day. I love them.

[megisnotreal]

other meg, thanks for that post. i never knew that the actual combination of what you ate (i.e.: protein + starch) could be good/bad for you.

i need to eat healthier; that's for sure. i am proud of myself, though. in the past two years, i have finally gotten over having an eating disorder. it is hard to get used to being a healthy weight and not being underweight. it was really difficult for me to not associate eating with feelings of guilt or failure.

i think you guys are right. it's about finding a lifestyle that suits you. i am working on that; sometimes i get stressed and eat a lot of junk food. i have also been trying to eliminate processed foods from my diet and trying to eat more organic vegetables.

[colleen]

i am proud of myself, though. in the past two years, i have finally gotten over having an eating disorder. it is hard to get used to being a healthy weight and not being underweight. it was really difficult for me to not associate eating with feelings of guilt or failure.

Congratulations! I know how hard that can be. The eating issues I had which lasted for years were about the inability to feel full and the fear of taking up too much space (in life). It's been nearly 10 years since I started a healthier connection with my appetites and I hardly ever look back- which is such a relief. You should be really proud. Unfortunately for so many people it never goes away.

[JacketGal]

Congrats on getting over the eating disorder, Meg. It's really rough - I know. My cousin still struggles with that and we have never been able to help her. Like Colleen said, for her it will never go away.

And thanks everyone for all the great info. I am always looking for healthier eating habits. That website looks to be fab!

Anyone ever do a detox/cleanse? I am thinking about it this summer but there are so many options. The lemonade one, one with Tea - I even read about one that just supplements one meal a day. It's so confusing. Any input is most welcome. :)

[colleen]

Anyone ever do a detox/cleanse? I am thinking about it this summer but there are so many options. The lemonade one, one with Tea - I even read about one that just supplements one meal a day. It's so confusing. Any input is most welcome. :)

The following is from the book Prescriptions for Nutritional Healing. I haven't succeeded in a fast. Normally, I just take a supplement from Nature's Way called Digestive Cleanse, which is for toxin elimination. I try and take it once a month for a couple of days.  In any case, I trust this book, so maybe this cleanse would be worth a try.

To prepare for the fast, eat only raw vegetables and fruits for two days (makes the fast less of a shock to the system).

While on the fast (three days to rid the body of toxins and cleanse the blood), consume at least eight 8-ounce glasses of steam-distilled water a day, plus pure juices and up to 2 cups of herbal tea a day. Dilute all juices with water, adding about 1 part water to 3 parts juice. Do not drink orange or tomato juice and avoid all sweetened juices. The best juice to use is fresh lemon juice. Add the juice of one lemon to a cup of warm water. Apple, beet, cabbage, celery and grape juices are also good as are green drinks made from green leafy vegetables. As a general rule, you should not combine fruit and vegetable juices. Apples are the only fruits that should be added to vegetable juices.

Follow the juice-water-tea fast with a 2 day diet of raw fruits and vegetables. The desired effect of the fast can be ruined by eating cooked foods immediately afterward. Because both the size of the stomach and the amount of secreted digestive juices may decrease during fasting, the first meals after a fast should be frequent and small.

There are additional supplements they recommend to rejuvenate specific parts of the body. Let me know if you want more info on this. I don't mind. I type really fast and like passing on this kind of info.

[JacketGal]

Thanks, Colleen. That was really helpful. I may even pick up the book - so your hands/fingers can rest from typing. :) I can handle a thee-day fast, I don't think I could do anything much longer than that. I love to eat too much!

[megisnotreal]

thanks for the support, gals. it means a lot.
:)

[mjkoehler]

I went from 250 to about 175 a few years ago. Pretty much all that I did was cut out ALL soda (it's evil you know), cut back on portion size, and gave up all fast food with the exception of the occasional Subway. I started exercising. You need to do something cardio based like walking, running, eliptical, etc. I started with the eliptical and worked my fat arse down to about 195 rather quickly and started running. I have been able to keep the weight off until about the last month or so (and especially the last week, vacations f'n kill the diet). I have slacked off as my knees are killing me. I will start back up on the eliptical again since it's low/no impact.

Drink more water and eat more fruit/veggies also.

[EC]

congratulations, meg!!  and you other gals, too!  i had an eating disorder, too.  i'm beginning to wonder who hasn't. ;)  it's all the messed up associations we have with food, i think.

what i find frustrating is how eating disorders are so female-centric, and yet, many of my boys have issues with food.  tremendous issues.  

i gained a load of weight a while back and it really set me back.  i couldn't really go out, i felt too weird to be in public.  it was brutal.  BUT the thing was that i knew i had to go out and see people or else i'd just stay stuck in my little 5'8" basement apartment until i completely filled it. ;)  so i had to learn to be ok with how i was looking, and that subsequently turned it around so that i learned to deal with a lot of body issues.  

let's have a group hug. ;)

as far as cleaning, i did a similar one to the one above.  i ate raw fruits and vegetables for three days, and chose the five day juice/water followed by three more days of raw fruits and vegetables.  so it was 11 days in total.  there are a lot of things you have to be very careful with:  1) you can't do a cleanse when it's cold out because your body needs the energy to stay warm.  2) you HAVE to start and finish slow, hence the fruit and veg.  3) you can do either 3, 5 or 7 days of the in between juicing.  3 days cleans out excess bulk, 5 days starts to pull out old toxins and 7 days gives your body time to repair and really boosts your immune system.

do not fuck around with this shit, and do not do it for weight loss.  it's really easy to extend an eating disorder into a different kind of control and call it "healthy".

i am a big fan of the fasting/cleansing, but i'm really careful about it.  a girlfriend of mine got it in her head to do a juice cleanse when i was doing it, but she didn't tell me and she didn't research.  she just thought she'd drink bottled cranberry juice, and ended up passing out on her bike on the road.

if you do a cleanse, you have to make sure that you've got the time to do it properly.  you can't do much physical activity, and you have to stay kind of quiet.  and it's really important to try and find juicing substances that will help you with what you're doing - like if you're going the full seven days, put lots of dandelion greens in your juice to help speed up the liver toxin removal - things like that.

and yeah, you have to be really careful when you reintroduce solids.  i hadn't chewed for five days, and let me tell you that my jaw seized up when i tried to eat a carrot.

but i did feel good.  after the initial shock and dizziness, you do get kind of calm and reflective.

anyhow, you have to be careful. :)

[EC]

oh yeah, and meg, i'd be happy to talk food combining witchu any time, mama.  it's really awesome.

foods are chemicals.  :)

[colleen]

do not fuck around with this shit, and do not do it for weight loss.  it's really easy to extend an eating disorder into a different kind of control and call it "healthy".
anyhow, you have to be careful. :)

So true. Glad you mentioned all that additional info.

[fitzcarraldo]

I like this stuff but it can be mad expensive, like 2.50 to 3 bucks for an 8 ounce bottle, if you buy the larger bottles 50 ounce it runs like 9 dollars.  Pomegranate ju-is is good for you.  :)