Is it possible to eat healthy or is that just an urban legend?

Arkitech

Diamond Member
Apr 13, 2000
8,356
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I'm still working on cleaning up my diet and exercising more but it's so friggin hard. Why is healthy eating so boring? Also what's the formula for figuring out how many calories a person needs per day?
 

GasX

Lifer
Feb 8, 2001
29,033
6
81
A grilled steak with some corn on the cob and a salad is very healthy. And a glass of red wine with it is good for you too.
 

junkerman123

Golden Member
Jul 4, 2003
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there is a lot of great healthy food, people just don't realize it because a lot of health food is crap. eating healthy but tasty requires more work than eating unhealthy, because most of the unhealthy crap you eat (burgers, fries, potato chips) is just fried and salted into oblivion. after you get rid of the crap, you actually have to develop flavors.

chicken breasts and lean meat are both healthy and can be delicious. fish is also very healthy. replace cooking oil with olive oil. stop drinking soda, replace it with water or low-sugar juices.

a grilled chicken salad can be either crappy or incredibly tasty. it's all about how you prepare it.
 

Baked

Lifer
Dec 28, 2004
36,152
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Doesn't really matter what your diet is. It's all about heredity and race. If you got bad genes and are a certain race, you'll get terminal disease, period.
 
L

Lola

It is not a myth. You have to know what to eat and how to eat it. also, eat things in moderation and ONLY if you are hungry.

A secret i learned is if you feel hungry, drink some water first. A lot of times we get thrist and hunger confused.

ALso, i think a problem a lot of folks face is that they do not like the taste of a variety of foods that are considered healthy or good for you.
 

DougK62

Diamond Member
Mar 28, 2001
8,035
6
81
Healthy food does not taste bad - it's just that you're used to eating crap. Food that is bad for you has to taste good or there is no sense in eating it. Try using a little self restraint...


 

TallBill

Lifer
Apr 29, 2001
46,044
62
91
Just cutting coke out of my diet would make me much healthier. Of course, that aint happening.
 

mundane

Diamond Member
Jun 7, 2002
5,603
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This is probably grossly inaccurate, but I thought the _rough_ estimate for caloric intake, ignoring many important factors, was weight (lbs) * 10.
 

Dunbar

Platinum Member
Feb 19, 2001
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It's defintely possible, but very difficult to do long term IME.

I think where people go wrong is trying to go from eating crap to eating super healthy all of a sudden. The best approach is to make slow, gradual changes to your diet over time.
 

iwantanewcomputer

Diamond Member
Apr 4, 2004
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repostx11tybillion i think you can figure out what's healthy and not. Use your imagination to come up with something healthy or put up with it
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
82,854
17,365
136
There is plenty of healthy food, but as was stated before, "health" food is gross.
The problem here is so many folks dont know whats healthy they feel like they have to spend loads of money on crappy "health" food when they really just want to eat healthy.

A bowl of fruit is probably better than what most folks do on a regular basis. If you dont like the taste of that then I cant do anything for you.
 

djheater

Lifer
Mar 19, 2001
14,637
2
0
Originally posted by: Baked
Doesn't really matter what your diet is. It's all about heredity and race. If you got bad genes and are a certain race, you'll get terminal disease, period.

What a bizarre position to take. Good luck with that.
 

radioouman

Diamond Member
Nov 4, 2002
8,632
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Eating healthy is definitely possible.

The problem is when you develop a appetite for the really bad stuff. Craving a Wendys triple cheeseburger is not going to help you eat healthy.

One of the most important parts is to eat regular meals with a total caloric intake around 2000-2500 in a day. And when you get hungry for a snack, make sure that you have healthy foods around instead of eating chips.

I am a sucker for eating crackers, chips or even leftovers (like pizza) in the evenings. But I have found that eating an orange or a peach will kill that craving and it is much healthier (and I sleep better)!

 

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,883
2,121
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Evolution has tuned our bodies to desire high calorie and fatty foods because food isn't supposed to be as abundant as it is. Since food used to be scarce, tasting something sweet or fatty triggered a pleasure response, so we would seek these items out. These foods are able to sustain us longer, therefore they are highly desireable.

Unfortunately in today's world, sweet and fatty foods are in abundance, and we don't have to run 5 miles to track down prey or gather plants. All of these "premium" foods that we're programmed to seek out are overkill for our environment, and we're all turning into big tubs of goo.

 

sourceninja

Diamond Member
Mar 8, 2005
8,805
65
91
I eat 6 meals a day. I keep them very small, and allow myself junk food 2 days a week (usually icecream on saturdays after MMA training). I found that by increasing the frequency of what I eat, and decreasing the volume of what I eat, I am losing a lot of body fat. Of course you have to exercise or nothing will help.
 

Whisper

Diamond Member
Feb 25, 2000
5,394
2
81
Once you get used to it, it's actually fairly easy (and appetizing). I've been doing it for the greater part of five years now, so it's definitely possible.
 

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,883
2,121
126
Originally posted by: sourceninja
I eat 6 meals a day. I keep them very small, and allow myself junk food 2 days a week (usually icecream on saturdays after MMA training). I found that by increasing the frequency of what I eat, and decreasing the volume of what I eat, I am losing a lot of body fat. Of course you have to exercise or nothing will help.

This actually works, because our digestive system is only geared to handle 6-8oz of food at a time. Snacking all day instead of 2-3 huge meals is a great diet plan.
 

jagec

Lifer
Apr 30, 2004
24,442
6
81
Originally posted by: Arkitech
I'm still working on cleaning up my diet and exercising more but it's so friggin hard. Why is healthy eating so boring? Also what's the formula for figuring out how many calories a person needs per day?

What kind of "healthy" food are you looking at, exactly? Prepackaged crap? OK, I'll admit it; it's impossible to eat healthy if your "kitchen" is simply the microwave down the hall. If you cook for yourself, on the other hand...
 

KB

Diamond Member
Nov 8, 1999
5,394
383
126
Its all in the preparation. With the right spices and marinades even tofu, green beans and mushrooms can be tasty. I recommend the Lipton Honey Dijon, Lime CHipotle, and Honey teriyoki marinades.
 

SWScorch

Diamond Member
May 13, 2001
9,520
0
76
Eating halthy does not necessarily mean eating only tofu and spinach. Provided you stay away from fast food and stuff really high in fat and cholesterol, you can eat quite hea;thy while still eating "normal" foods. A typical day for me includes a bowl of cereal for breakfast, two turkey sandwiches and some chips for lunch, another sandwich for second lunch, chicken and rice or pasta or some sort of mexican for dinner, and maybe a hot pocket or something like that as a snack later on. I still eat donuts and burgers and pizza and stuff like that fairly often but the majority of my diet is pretty healthy.
 

sourceninja

Diamond Member
Mar 8, 2005
8,805
65
91
I eat fruit for breakfast, vegtibles like carrots mid morning, lunch (usually a sandwich with light mayo or mustard and lots of veggies and meat) and pizza hut on wedsdays, fruit or a veggies right when I get home, the dinner (always some form of beef with lots of steamed or grilled veggies.

Its also important to fnd and drink the right amount of water a day and cut back on soft drinks.