3.5 weeks into my new way of eating - My life is changed

[aphex]

My first post in H&F as far as i can remember and I have a nice success story to share with you.

After years and years of eating whatever and working out every so often, but not really paying too much attention to my diet, I had a minor scare about a month ago when my blood pressure tested ~170/108 consistently over a week span (3 tests, 2 days apart). I've always been moderately overweight, 210lbs when i graduated college in 2003, 225lbs earlier this year (5'11"), but when I saw that blood pressure, and how unhealthy I had become at my ripe old age of 29, my wife and I decided it was time to change, not only for ourselves, but for our kids we plan to have in the next few years.

We sought out the advice of a Nutritionist who came highly recommended from another who had been impressed by her services and were immediately impressed by her knowledge (she has her masters in Nutrition). Her healthy plan for us was as simple as could be - stay away from processed foods and dairy, avoiding chemicals whenever possible. That's basically the gist of it. If we want to eat something elaborate, cook it ourselves and control what you put in it. Use natural sweeteners (Honey/Agave) when possible. Try to eat fresh, local and organic.

There's no way this would work for me, right? I kept my workout amount the exact same (1-2 days a week), all i changed was my diet. In 3.5 weeks.... 225lbs ---> 202 lbs and 170/108 ---> 117/72 consistently. Those results, in that span of time, are proof positive enough that this is my new life and this is how I want to live. I don't feel like i'm missing out on anything in regards to food, my wife and I are having a great time cooking together and experimenting with recipes, my regular heartburn is now gone, and I feel absolutely great. This is no longer a diet, its just the way that I eat.

Anyway, just wanted to share my success thus far. I'll post back in a couple of months to update how it's going and to make sure that i'm keeping on track, but those simple numbers above are enough to keep me going. Super excited to be nearing the 200lb mark, haven't been that weight since high school back in the 90's


:biggrin:

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Great job, man. Yeah, a systolic BP over 160 puts you at stage II hypertension. The lifespan for a BP like that is typically less than 5 years. Glad you noticed it quickly.

Also, it's a minor point, but agave as a sweetener is a really poor choice. It's almost entirely fructose, which is proving to be the most detrimental part of table sugar (sucrose). If I were you, I'd stick with raw honey and use it sparingly. Just my 2 cents

Glad to see you're gonna stick around for a bit. Have you thought about pursuing a more rigorous exercise program? Now that you have a diet to support activity, you should definitely take advantage of it!

 

[aphex]

Great job, man. Yeah, a systolic BP over 160 puts you at stage II hypertension. The lifespan for a BP like that is typically less than 5 years. Glad you noticed it quickly.

Also, it's a minor point, but agave as a sweetener is a really poor choice. It's almost entirely fructose, which is proving to be the most detrimental part of table sugar (sucrose). If I were you, I'd stick with raw honey and use it sparingly. Just my 2 cents

Glad to see you're gonna stick around for a bit. Have you thought about pursuing a more rigorous exercise program? Now that you have a diet to support activity, you should definitely take advantage of it!

Thanks! I plan to step up the exercise in the coming weeks, I really wanted to see how much of a change diet alone could have on my body. Thanks for the info about Agave, i'll have to read up on that some more.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Thanks! I plan to step up the exercise in the coming weeks, I really wanted to see how much of a change diet alone could have on my body. Thanks for the info about Agave, i'll have to read up on that some more.

Yeah, look for research on the effects of fructose on insulin sensitivity and body weight in particular. Raw honey has some fructose in it too, but it much less dense (less fructose per volume). On top of that, raw honey comes with a bunch of other neat stuff, like antioxidants and amino acids - a much better substitute than just pure fructose

And if you find yourself going astray with the exercise plan, a journal on here might help you keep yourself accountable.

 

[Kaido]

Congrats dude! High energy was the biggest thing changing my lifestyle did for me...I had no idea what it was like to have energy before learning how to eat right and exercise. Keep it up!

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

My first post in H&F as far as i can remember and I have a nice success story to share with you.

After years and years of eating whatever and working out every so often, but not really paying too much attention to my diet, I had a minor scare about a month ago when my blood pressure tested ~170/108 consistently over a week span (3 tests, 2 days apart). I've always been moderately overweight, 210lbs when i graduated college in 2003, 225lbs earlier this year (5'11"), but when I saw that blood pressure, and how unhealthy I had become at my ripe old age of 29, my wife and I decided it was time to change, not only for ourselves, but for our kids we plan to have in the next few years.

We sought out the advice of a Nutritionist who came highly recommended from another who had been impressed by her services and were immediately impressed by her knowledge (she has her masters in Nutrition). Her healthy plan for us was as simple as could be - stay away from processed foods and dairy, avoiding chemicals whenever possible. That's basically the gist of it. If we want to eat something elaborate, cook it ourselves and control what you put in it. Use natural sweeteners (Honey/Agave) when possible. Try to eat fresh, local and organic.

There's no way this would work for me, right? I kept my workout amount the exact same (1-2 days a week), all i changed was my diet. In 3.5 weeks.... 225lbs ---> 202 lbs and 170/108 ---> 117/72 consistently. Those results, in that span of time, are proof positive enough that this is my new life and this is how I want to live. I don't feel like i'm missing out on anything in regards to food, my wife and I are having a great time cooking together and experimenting with recipes, my regular heartburn is now gone, and I feel absolutely great. This is no longer a diet, its just the way that I eat.

Anyway, just wanted to share my success thus far. I'll post back in a couple of months to update how it's going and to make sure that i'm keeping on track, but those simple numbers above are enough to keep me going. Super excited to be nearing the 200lb mark, haven't been that weight since high school back in the 90's


:biggrin:

congrats. this should be posted in ATOT so all the naysayers who blame genetics and not diet/lifestyle can shut up.

 

[prism]

That's an absolutely staggering drop in BP! I'm jealous!

 

[clemsyn]

Excellent!! Congratulations!

 

[TecHNooB]

Stay away from dairy? That's... everything!

 

[Powermoloch]

Keep working, feel and be healthier !

i'm 5'10 and used to weight 223 lbs @ february 2010.

Now, at 179 ~ morning weight. Felt great, no more GI problems, headaches, depression and the gunk that came with obesity. And I'm enjoying the food i eat, that's one that I really noticed right away.

On the plus side, you get to surprise alot of people with before and after pics

your BP <120/80. :thumbsup: keep at it !

 

[bignateyk]

I've never had an issue with my BP or weight. I've always been scrawny with good cholesterol and good BP.

I noticed that I never had energy, and I always had bad skin (oily, acne).

My wife and I have eliminated refined carbs and (most) dairy from our diets, and the results are astonishing. We no longer eat any processed foods with HFCS, refined grains, milk, etc...

It is hard at first, but eventually it just becomes part of who you are. I can't imagine going back to eating all that crap (dairy, white rice, white bread, and other crap processed foods that line store shelves).

One thing we have discovered that might help you is "white whole wheat flour". It is just as healthy as regular whole wheat flour, but is made with a different kind of wheat (akin to an albino wheat). The result is a whole wheat flour that tastes very close to bleached all purpose white flour. (http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/king-arthur-white-whole-wheat-flour-5-lb)

So we substitute that for our baking needs (bread, pancakes, etc...). Substitute something like soy milk or hemp milk for the milk called for in the recipe. We still use sugar, but we use raw sugar, and don't put nearly as much as the recipe calls for.

We substitute brown rice pasta for regular pasta. Whole wheat pasta is disgusting IMO. I wish someone would make pasta with the white whole wheat flour I mentioned above.

Instead of white rice we use a blend of whole grain rices that is delicious.

For all our condiments, we get the organic, no sugar added varieties (ketchup, mayo, mustard, and BBQ). These do not have preservatives, HFCS, or any other crap in them.

If you want fruits/veggies that are not fresh, get frozen, not canned. Canned are loaded with extra salt/HFCS.

For beans/legumes, get the dried kind and soak them yourself. It's more effort, but they taste 100x better, and they are healthier.

We use whole grain bread crumbs to make breaded fish/chicken.

The only thing we haven't found a healthy and good tasting alternative for is cheese. And there are certain things in my life that are holy, and cheese is one of them. I don't eat a ton of it, but I usually get one block of some kind of cheese each week at the store.

I never eat sweets/dessert, so I'm not sure what the healthy ways to eat those things are.

 

[Judgement]

I could give up cheese, and probably cut back on milk

But I am addicted to fat free greek yogurt and cottage cheese

 

[VinylxScratches]

Christ, I'm 6 feet and 160lbs. Good luck!

 

[Kipper]

I've never had an issue with my BP or weight. I've always been scrawny with good cholesterol and good BP.

I noticed that I never had energy, and I always had bad skin (oily, acne).

My wife and I have eliminated refined carbs and (most) dairy from our diets, and the results are astonishing. We no longer eat any processed foods with HFCS, refined grains, milk, etc...

It is hard at first, but eventually it just becomes part of who you are. I can't imagine going back to eating all that crap (dairy, white rice, white bread, and other crap processed foods that line store shelves).

One thing we have discovered that might help you is "white whole wheat flour". It is just as healthy as regular whole wheat flour, but is made with a different kind of wheat (akin to an albino wheat). The result is a whole wheat flour that tastes very close to bleached all purpose white flour. (http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/king-arthur-white-whole-wheat-flour-5-lb)

So we substitute that for our baking needs (bread, pancakes, etc...). Substitute something like soy milk or hemp milk for the milk called for in the recipe. We still use sugar, but we use raw sugar, and don't put nearly as much as the recipe calls for.

FYI, there is somewhat of a flavor difference, but there is zero nutritional difference. Sucrose is sucrose. Same goes for iodized salt vs. kosher salt vs. sea salt. All are sodium chloride with trace minerals in varying concentrations. Flavor difference, yes. Nutritional difference = zero. A lot of people have a major problem with milk/dairy, but I really don't see the problem with low-fat dairy besides problems from lactose intolerance.

We substitute brown rice pasta for regular pasta. Whole wheat pasta is disgusting IMO. I wish someone would make pasta with the white whole wheat flour I mentioned above.

Barilla makes a 51&#37; whole grain I often recommend to clients. Try that instead. Also, all whole wheat pastas are not made equal. They use different species of wheat, depending on brand. If you have the cash to shell out, Bionaturae makes an EXCELLENT, very positively reviewed whole wheat pasta. It's about $3-4 a bag (I think ~$2.50/bag on Amazon), though, so not the cheapest thing in the world but you do certainly get what you pay for.

Instead of white rice we use a blend of whole grain rices that is delicious.[/b]

For all our condiments, we get the organic, no sugar added varieties (ketchup, mayo, mustard, and BBQ). These do not have preservatives, HFCS, or any other crap in them.

If you want fruits/veggies that are not fresh, get frozen, not canned. Canned are loaded with extra salt/HFCS.

Fruit packed in LIGHT syrup is packed in natural juices and doesn't have any added sugar. It's not the most ideal of preparations, but it is a decent second to fresh/frozen. No salt added canned vegetables also do exist, although they're hard to find.

For beans/legumes, get the dried kind and soak them yourself. It's more effort, but they taste 100x better, and they are healthier.

Really, once again, negligible difference except for cost and potential sodium content...but you can always purchase no salt added, although true, they are harder to find.

We use whole grain bread crumbs to make breaded fish/chicken.

The only thing we haven't found a healthy and good tasting alternative for is cheese. And there are certain things in my life that are holy, and cheese is one of them. I don't eat a ton of it, but I usually get one block of some kind of cheese each week at the store.

I never eat sweets/dessert, so I'm not sure what the healthy ways to eat those things are.

Cheese and sweets are FINE. I eat cheese. It's one of my most favorite foods. Don't have much of a sweet tooth but I can also appreciate a good fruit-based pie. The key here is MODERATION, moderation, moderation (i.e. not a daily thing). I might go through a block of cheese in 4-5 days, then not buy it again for a month or two.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Fruit packed in LIGHT syrup is packed in natural juices and doesn't have any added sugar. It's not the most ideal of preparations, but it is a decent second to fresh/frozen. No salt added canned vegetables also do exist, although they're hard to find.

Really, once again, negligible difference [between canned beans and dry beans] except for cost and potential sodium content...but you can always purchase no salt added, although true, they are harder to find.

Kipper, you had some good input, but I know there have been some bisphenol A problems sometimes with canned goods. Depending on the company and the lining used to can the beans, the canned version MAY be less healthy. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a known carcinogen and not exactly something you want to be freely ingesting. People have lived with canned foods for years so it doesn't seem to be deadly, but if you're gonna go all the way, it might be worth it to just prepare dry beans.

 

[cheesehead]

Kipper, you had some good input, but I know there have been some bisphenol A problems sometimes with canned goods. Depending on the company and the lining used to can the beans, the canned version MAY be less healthy. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a known carcinogen and not exactly something you want to be freely ingesting. People have lived with canned foods for years so it doesn't seem to be deadly, but if you're gonna go all the way, it might be worth it to just prepare dry beans.

And there's all sorts of funny insects that can live in dried beans. I'll stick with the canned, thanks.

In my opinion, HFCS is, nutritionally, just sugar. However, I've noticed three things:
1. It tastes odd
2. It's everywhere, and in huge quantities
3. After eating it, you don't feel satiated.

So long as you have a healthy sugar intake, HFCS is fine. However, for most of us, HFCS is what's screwing up our sugar intake.

On the subject of dairy, I'm baffled by all the folks worried about it. Yes, quite a few people are lactose intolerant, and many others have caesin allergies - but if you don't have these problems, dairy is very nutritionally sound. While many cheeses are highly caloric, unsweetened yogurt is an excellent source of lean protein while skim milk is basically just protein, water, calcium, and some added vitamin D.

Milk is also necessary to consume breakfast cereals. High-quality, nutritionally sound cereal is expensive and often tastes like gravel, but it's convenient, filling, low in calories, and in conjunction with skim milk or low-fat unsweetened yogurt, nutritionally sound.

 

[purbeast0]

congrats on the change!

i could never eliminate dairy from my diet though heh. i drink like 3 gallons of milk a week, and put a slice of cheese on my sandwiches always

 

[Kipper]

Kipper, you had some good input, but I know there have been some bisphenol A problems sometimes with canned goods. Depending on the company and the lining used to can the beans, the canned version MAY be less healthy. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a known carcinogen and not exactly something you want to be freely ingesting. People have lived with canned foods for years so it doesn't seem to be deadly, but if you're gonna go all the way, it might be worth it to just prepare dry beans.

Carcinogen? That seems to be a bit of a stretch. A potential endocrine disruptor, yes, which is why exposure is concerning in adolescents. But in developed adults, who are both physically larger and where sex hormones play less of a role than they do in adolescence, it's a bit murkier.

Granted, the science is still developing and there are decent arguments on both sides. As far as practicality, some people have much bigger problems to deal with. BPA vs. non-BPA is like splitting hairs with some people. Many are not capable of change on a massive scale, particularly dietary change. If canned foods can be used to help people achieve those goals, I'd say go for it. Obviously, I will push fresh/frozen over canned. But for something like beans, which are probably not going to be consumed en masse, I'd venture to say that the benefits of beans outweigh the potential negative (and I stress *POTENTIAL*) of BPA-containing canned foods.

 

[kamper]

For beans/legumes, get the dried kind and soak them yourself. It's more effort, but they taste 100x better, and they are healthier.

Really, once again, negligible difference except for cost and potential sodium content...but you can always purchase no salt added, although true, they are harder to find.

I always assumed that most of the salt got washed away when rinsing off the beans. Is that not the case? Does it soak into the beans themselves?

 

[Kipper]

I always assumed that most of the salt got washed away when rinsing off the beans. Is that not the case? Does it soak into the beans themselves?

Of course. It's not as if the beans are impermeable to salt. Regardless, however, we're talking a pretty big punch with the salt. Most commercial varieties could have 1500-2000 mg of sodium per can.

http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/011110p62.shtml

 

[Riceninja]

23 lb drop in 3.5 weeks is pretty hardcore. probably mostly water weight, but still im surprised youre not feeling fatigue

 

[MJinZ]

I prefer to eat whatever delicious foods I come across in moderation and burn it off at the gym later (or turn it into lean body weight).

But then my tastes are more specific, and I never eat junk food (they don't taste good enough for the calories and fat damage).

 

[kamper]

Of course. It's not as if the beans are impermeable to salt.

Sorry, I've never taken the time to research the salt permeability of various foods But thanks for the link. 41&#37; is at least not insignificant.

 

[vailr]

The only thing we haven't found a healthy and good tasting alternative for is cheese.

Try Daiya Vegan Shredded Cheese:
http://www.cosmosveganshoppe.com/Me...t_Code=DAIVC&Category_Code=CF&Product_Count=4
Some health-food stores carry it.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Carcinogen? That seems to be a bit of a stretch. A potential endocrine disruptor, yes, which is why exposure is concerning in adolescents. But in developed adults, who are both physically larger and where sex hormones play less of a role than they do in adolescence, it's a bit murkier.

Granted, the science is still developing and there are decent arguments on both sides. As far as practicality, some people have much bigger problems to deal with. BPA vs. non-BPA is like splitting hairs with some people. Many are not capable of change on a massive scale, particularly dietary change. If canned foods can be used to help people achieve those goals, I'd say go for it. Obviously, I will push fresh/frozen over canned. But for something like beans, which are probably not going to be consumed en masse, I'd venture to say that the benefits of beans outweigh the potential negative (and I stress *POTENTIAL*) of BPA-containing canned foods.

A compound can modify neuroendocrine function and still increase likelihood of cancer. That makes it both a neuroendocrine modifier AND a carcinogen, potentially through the same mechanisms. Some research linking the two: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2442886/