Any resident nutritionists?

[James Burke]

After nearly two years of getting my weight under control and consistently improving the physical activity in my schedule, I'm now ready for the next step of the journey: Nutrition

Are there any "resident" nutritionists here on the forum who might point me to some of the online resources you've found helpful? Presently, I have an adequate understanding about many of the nutritional "hows". In the future I'd like to delve deeper into the "whys" with an online course.

For now, I'm still considering various directions and don't wish to open a philosophical can of whoop a$$ around the carnivore/omnivore/vegetarian/vegan debate (like the one back in February...surely you remember?). But currently, if I had to lean one direction it would probably be toward a significantly plant-based diet with some non-meat protein sources (eggs, whey).

Curiously, I'm working toward a retirement career that centers around nutrition and functional ageing.


JB

 

[SignosaurusRex]

Only you're own research will yield your greatest information for yourself. We are all different and each require a different regiment for optimal result. Trust in nothing less.

 

[visual800]

about 1.5 years ago I went organic. Not vegan, not tree hugging, but all organic food. No more walmart grocery store shopping, no more cookie ilse, none of that crap.

I shop at a place called Fresh Market. I started eating nuts, grains, salads, meats, cage free eggs, blah, blah , blah. None of this GMO supermarket crap. First week Imlost 2 lbs, 2nd week 2 lbs, 3-4-5-6-7-8. I lost 16 lbs by doing nothing but changing diet. and drink nothing but water, thats all I do drink.

cholesterol improved, blood,pressure was better, felt alot better Not sluggish, not crappy. As Ive gotten older I dont donthe fast food, its nasty plastic chemical laden junk, I dont buy half of what I used to in grocery stores because its all fake.

Ive watched several documentaries on Netflix about food and it will disgust you. We are not being food any longer, we are being induced with plastic, chemicals and whatever other bs they decide we need to eat to keep us sick and keep the pharmacy indistry busy, yes I belive that.

Do what I told you and you will be amazed. Watch what you eat. Common sense.

 

[visual800]

and let me add this.....after going organic for all this time, when I do taste the walmart food I can taste the sugar in everything. Everything we eat they have put sugar in it to make us crave it. Dont belive me? Try it for yourself

organic food is bland and takes some getting used to because most of our lives we have been eating sugar food! thats what we were used to. This is a huge factor in what is killing us

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Sugar isn't inherently bad for you. There are natural sources of sugar out there.

Like with everything, it depends on the source.

Is organic food bland? I guess that would depend on how much of the bad stuff you have been feeding yourself. To me, it never was bland.

Now, if you go this way with your diet, you will have to be very selective about where you go to eat or where you do your shopping. Most restaurants around us do not have organic foods, or at least they sure aren't listed as such. As far as grocery stores, there are quite a few around here that at least claim to be organic. Some of been in some nasty news stories about not totally being on the up and up.

Oh and "All Natural" isn't the same as "Organic".

All of this does come with the caveat that while my formal education is in nutrition, it is specifically in Equine Nutrition.

 

[Gino]

All things in moderation, but small moderations. Like mentioned, we are all different and respond to various types of intake. I would say about 90% of what my wife and I eat are totally organic. We ocassionally go to a restaurant or get a pizza, but we stay away from 'fast foods' places. Also, like mentioned, they are either full of sugar or salt additives, just like the grocery stores. If you read the labels...... and I mean really read them, look at the first 5 ingredients and determine what mostly makes up the content. If you can't pronounce the words or recognize them, they probably aren't any good for you...... ot anyone else. Organic food if eaten raw, might be a little bland, but if ya know how to cook (and my wife does) there are all kindsa herbs and things you can do to make it taste fantastic.

In the last 7 or 8 years, I've lost about 55lbs, not because I had to, but due to watching my intake much more carefully. My wife has been a nutritionalist for about 45 years and many people get her input about it all. She's very knowledgeable and up to date with the latest stuff. We eat lotsa fat, eggs, vegetables, red and white meat, raw milk, fruit and I never feel like I'm missing anything. I splurge here and there... and that's the moderation I'm talking about. My birthday is this coming weekend and I've got the menu picked out from Thursday til Tuesday morning. It ain't all good, but it's once a year I do this.

I too, drink mostly water, but in the evening, because Bushmill has a zero sugar count, I will lace my ice with Bushmill.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

...raw milk.....

You do realize that lactose is converted to sugar in the body?

Now, I do believe aged cheese, butter and cream are not due to not having enough to complete the process.

I'm not saying that raw milk is bad, quite the contrary, but what I am saying is that sugar is not totally bad for you (unless you have something like diabetes and really have to moderate it beyond the normal), some have even said that in moderation with other nutrients it is good for you.

It does depend on the source though.

Depending on what fruits consumed (and of course, your definition of fruits versus veggies; peppers (which are actually fruit) have a sugar content as well), some will have higher sugar content then others. Maybe negligible, but not zero (my favorite being the Avocado (I'm thinking less then 2 grams for a whole one, something like that), we eat that a lot here, mainly due to my addiction to it).

Blueberries, considered a superfood, have sugar in them. Much higher then an avocado (which is also a superfood, forgot to mention that) as well.

 

[pjfmeister]

If you have a local HyVee store they have a nutritionist on staff. They will work with you to develop a plan.

 

[rjssigns]

If you're heading into retirement you may want to check your local commission on aging. My wife works at an aging and disability resource center. You can sign up for all kinds of health and wellness classes. Eating healthy, cooking healthy, proper exercise etc... Best part is they're all free.

 

[T_K]

You do realize that lactose is converted to sugar in the body?

Everything we eat is eventually converted to sugar in the body. It's what our body runs on. Even if it gets stored as fat, that's just our body creating an "energy concentrate" to, later on, convert to sugar.

One of the best things my wife read (and I heard the synopsis) was In Defense of Food. The author's tagline is "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants." He redefines what "food" is. Basically, it's 6 ingredients or less, all of which you can pronounce. This has been what we've been more or less keeping in mind over the last 5 years. Recently though, after a major move with a toddler, we've got caught with more convenience foods - which are high salt, high chemically named ingredients, and typically high fat. We're still working to get our "new normal" with the food.

If you're like me, who grew up in Southern US culture with a "clean your plate" mentality and always taking seconds (if it was good, which was often), then one of the easiest changes is to change your plate size. Buy some smaller plates, and you can still fill it up. If you take seconds, you're still only up to a "normal" sized plate. Quick and easy portion control.

The big thing that helped me lose 35 lbs after college was changing the proportions of what I ate before working on the portions. I didn't like the feeling of being hungry (hence, why I needed to lose the weight). So, at my wife's insistence at eating healthier, and me being the cook, I slowly adapted what we ate. Before, it was typically lots of meat, lots of carbs, and a few measly veggies. I started changing that - half a plate of veggies, and half a plate of meat and carbs. With just this one change, I dropped 10 lbs pretty quick. And slowly, we changed our diet from there.

I've got to say, now that I'm over 30, it's great to laugh at the older guys talking about how at my age men naturally get the pot belly. Not seeing one here! Of course, now that I've got weight and eating mostly under control, I really need to set a new health goal - like actually exercising. It's one thing to remove the negatives to health. It's another thing entirely to bring in positives to improve health.

 

[2B]

Only you're own research will yield your greatest information for yourself. We are all different and each require a different regiment for optimal result. Trust in nothing less.

while there are some general rules that everyone should follow, avoiding processed foods, enriched/refined flours & starches, GMO, etc... this has a lot of truth to it because unless you believe in what you are doing you will not do it correctly or for any length of time.

personally, I find that the ketogenic choice is best and combined with fatty coffees keeps me mentally clear and energized throughout the day.

for those unfamiliar with this concept http://fatburningman.com/ is a good source

 

[signcrafters london]

You do realize that lactose is converted to sugar in the body?

Now, I do believe aged cheese, butter and cream are not due to not having enough to complete the process.

I'm not saying that raw milk is bad, quite the contrary, but what I am saying is that sugar is not totally bad for you (unless you have something like diabetes and really have to moderate it beyond the normal), some have even said that in moderation with other nutrients it is good for you.

It does depend on the source though.

Depending on what fruits consumed (and of course, your definition of fruits versus veggies; peppers (which are actually fruit) have a sugar content as well), some will have higher sugar content then others. Maybe negligible, but not zero (my favorite being the Avocado (I'm thinking less then 2 grams for a whole one, something like that), we eat that a lot here, mainly due to my addiction to it).

Blueberries, considered a superfood, have sugar in them. Much higher then an avocado (which is also a superfood, forgot to mention that) as well.

My philosophy:

Natural sugars and whole grains = good.
Refined sugars and grains = bad.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Everything we eat is eventually converted to sugar in the body. It's what our body runs on. Even if it gets stored as fat, that's just our body creating an "energy concentrate" to, later on, convert to sugar.

Yes and no.

If it gets stored in as fat, then out intake is very much more then our outtake. So while in theory, it might be there for use at a later date, if we accumulate too much fat, then something else in our regime is going to keep us from using up those stores.

Bare in mind, once it's fat, in general, it takes longer to start having the body convert that fat back into energy that the body can readily use. On average, I think it's around 20 min of exercise to help the body convert that stored energy into usable energy.

The irony here is, if you try to "starve" yourself, like what quite a few people seem to think "dieting" is, that sends the body signals to store the food as it doesn't "know" when it's next meal is.


One thing that was always fascinating to me, was using food to either pep a horse up before a speed event or to wind the down before and event that required more of a calmer, relaxed horse. Concepts not much different for people either in broad terms. Food sources may be different, but some concepts.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

My philosophy:

Natural sugars and whole grains = good.
Refined sugars and grains = bad.

Is that "natural" as defined by our labelling laws or "natural" as in what people think of when they think of "organic"?

Very different outcomes depending on which one used.

 

[signcrafters london]

Is that "natural" as defined by our labelling laws or "natural" as in what people think of when they think of "organic"?

Very different outcomes depending on which one used.

JMO, but I put no stock in organic.

What I mean by natural sugars = whole fruit, vegetables and grains.
What I mean by processed is when they grind it up and/or stick additives in it.

So, picking an apple off a tree or grocery shelf = good. Eating applesauce = bad.
Refined sugar = bad. Refined flour = bad.

I don't eat anything with refined sugar or flour.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Depending on the situation, that may not be as good as you think.

It depends on the "life" of the foodstuff before you either picked it from the tree/plant or off the shelf.

 

[ddarlak]

All this talk of food, i'm going for Mexican for lunch