Diets - a load of donkey bollocks?

[iamnaked]

I am completely bewildered at the torrents of information regarding food which is supposedly bad for you (caffeine, sugar, wheat etc) a friend of my dad who loves this faddish stuff went to a 'nutritionist' recently. I saw the list of things which she couldn't eat and it made me laugh. I think most people would starve given that diet. You name it, it was on it.

So... My question is: Has anyone been on one of these diets and noticed a difference? I once went a bit mental and only ate fruit and carrots/celery for a week with the only result that I had appalling indigestion.

 

[Starseed]

It's all neurosis. I eat a "sensible" well-balanced diet, and exercise regularly and never have any weight problems. People who go for these diets seem to have either an imbalance in their food intake (they snack on fattening stuff in between meals ) or a lack of exercise.

When I was growing up, only a tiny minority of people "dieted" , who were invariably women, and it was seen as "shouldn't be necessary". Now it's an EPEDEMIC. But people have lost their way in general these days, IMHO.

 

[The Gardener]

I think the main culprit here in the US is portion size. It seems like every restaurant you go to you get a serving size that could feed an entire platoon of Marines. My ex and I had a great strategy, we'd split one entree and one dinner-sized salad.

Same goes with fast food... even though a burger may look small, the caloric intake is probably sufficient for a meal and a half! Add in fries and that soda, and you're eating way more calories that you'll be burning off before your next meal. I enjoy a burger once every blue moon, but when I order one, I skip the fries and get water instead of soda. It was really easy to give up the soda, after a few weeks without it, you realize that it was nothing more than a habit, a craving for the sweetness.

I've also made an attempt to improve the complexity of my carbohydrate intake and reduce simple carbs. I try to substitute brown rice instead of white where it fits, skip the bread served before Italian meals and skip the chips served before Mexican. I actually have gotten in the habit of avoiding most deep fried foods altogether. No more chips or fries.

Then again, I have held onto a few rich selections... I still enjoy a good steak about once every week or so! At least its quality meat and good protein, and not the sh*t that you get in a burger! I also still have a fondness for rich sauces, but hell, you gotta live a little!

 

[Starseed]

Exactly right. I eat one meal a day which is basically "macrobiotic" - brown rice, stir-fry or steamed veg, plus some kind of bean protein ( lentil dahl, fried tofu, tinned chickpeas, whatever) and another meal which is classic "meat and two veg" - this can be steak, oily fish, roast lamb joint - potatoes and salad. Once you get into the habit of basic wholesome food, your body simply enjoys it. You can spice it all up with sauces ( I add curry paste, gravy granules, all kinds of seasoning ) and have delicious yogurt smoothie or creme caramel desserts. I never feel deprived of the pleasure of eating food.

By the way, did you know that whole milk has only 2.5 gm saturated fat per 100gm, compared to the 12.5 in so-called healthy Flora margarine? Yet people still kill themsleves drinking that semi-skimmed or even skimmed milk ( I call it women's milk ) in their tea, Man a cup of tea without decent milk is fit only for pigs.... rotest:
..

 

[Guest]

I think with diet and nutrition it is often best to look at what you are eating from a processed and un-processed point of view.

I feel that if you can completely avoid processed foods you should be OK.

I'm not so sure in this day and age that 'fat' is the culprit for obesity in the western world, IMHO I think its the masses of sugars and carbs we eat.

In the U.S the average 8 year old child watches around 10,000 food commercials a year. 95% of those food commericals are for fast food, sugared breakfast cereals and carbonated soft drinks(soda) and candy.

Coca-cola and McDonalds spend over a billion punds each year on marketing their products - they aim for kids using popstars and fun images drive their brands into their heads.

It's a f*****g disgrace and the only thing that you can do is take responsibility for you and your kids futures by boycotting these products as much as possible and not letting your kids watch too much TV.


One Nation under God
has turned into
One Nation under the influence
of one drug

Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation

T.V., it satellite links
our United States of unconciousness
Apathetic therapeutic and extremely addictive
the methadone metronome pumping out
a 150 channels 24 hours a day
you can flip through all of them
and still there's nothing worth watching

T.V. is the reason why less than ten percent of our
Nation reads books daily
Why most people think Central America
means Kansas
Socialism means unamerican
and Apartheid is a new headache remedy

absorbed in it's world it's so hard to find us
It shapes our minds the most
maybe the mother of our Nation
should remind us
that we're sitting to close to. . .

Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation

T.V. is
the stomping ground for political candidates
Where bears in the woods
are chased by Grecian Formula'd
bald eagles

T.V. is mechanized politic's
remote control over the masses
co-sponsered by environmentally safe gases
watch for the PBS special

It's the perpetuation of the two party system
where image takes precedence over wisdom
Where sound bite politics are served to
the fastfood culture

Where straight teeth in your mouth
are more important than the words
that come out of it
Race baiting is the way to get selected
Willie Horton or
Will he not get elected on . . .

Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation

T.V. is it the reflector or the director?
Does it imitate us or do we imitate it
Because a child watches 1500 murders before he's
twelve years old and we wonder how we've created
a Jason generation that learns to laugh
rather than abhor the horror

T.V. is the place where
armchair generals and quarterbacks can
experience first hand
the excitement of video warfare
as the theme song is sung in the background

Sugar sweet sitcoms
that leave us with a bad actor taste while
pop stars metamorphosize into soda pop stars
You saw the video
You heard the soundtrack
Well now go buy the soft drink
Well, the only cola that I support
would be a union C.O.L.A. (Cost of Living Allowance)
On Television.

Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation

Back again, "New and Improved",
we return to our irregularly programmed schedule
hidden cleverly between heavy breasted
beer and car commericals

CNN ESPN ABC TNT but mostly B.S.
Where oxymoronic language like
"virtually spotless" "fresh frozen"
"light yet filling" and "military intelligence"
have become standard

T.V. is the place where phrases are redefined
like "recession" to "necessary downturn"
"crude oil" on a beach to "mousse"
"Civilian death" to "collateral damages"
and being killed by your own Army
is now called "friendly fire"

T.V. is the place where the pursuit
of happiness has become the pursuit of trivia
Where toothpaste and cars have become sex objects
Where imagination is sucked out of children
by a cathode ray nipple
T.V. is the only wet nurse
that would create a cripple

Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation
On Television . . .

 

[The Gardener]

Damn, I'm turning that b**ch off right now.

>> CLICK <<

Bye late night ESPN and Dan Patrick, the baseball highlights, the plays of the day. No more of that hot weathergirl on channel 9?!

f*** that.

>> CLICK <<

 

[oni]

Televiewer is watching you, or are you watching it lol! give Orwell a drink he was nearly right. It's away to control the masses I give you that! but it's not their only means......................................... :shock:

 

[alfonso2501]

I eat a "sensible" well-balanced diet, and exercise regularly....

I agree, don’t get caught up in the hype! Cut down on your food intake and get lots of exercise! Running, biking, weight lifting, whatever. Don’t get lost in the intricacies.

Gardener, that’s a great idea you had, sharing an entree & a dinner-sized salad with your ex GF