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2018 Healthy Habits Challenge!

Tater

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I haven't had a drink in a month and a half and I've made a commitment to avoid alcohol.

I'm also reducing my intake of carbonated beverages.

In early 2017, I started doing weight lifting and cycling. Around December of 2016, I weighed 200 lbs. By the end of last year, I reached less than 160 lbs and gained more muscle mass.

My routine has changed since I have too much to do, but I'm still doing at least 40 push-ups a day.

Generally, I find it easier to maintain consistency in any activity if food and laziness isn't stigmatized because stigmatization just reinforces whatever complexes you might have, leading you back around to old habits.

I also think that long-term goals become less overwhelming when you break them into smaller pieces. It's ok to start small before working up to larger chunks of an activity.
 

Lark

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Apparently we aren't the only people that find it humorous.

Dry January Diary: What Giving Up Alcohol Can Do for You | The New Yorker

Haha Days 14-19.

I never do dry january because most of my actual months are completely dry, I just dont have occasions to drink and because of family members having problems with alcohol and just its strong correlation with anti-social behaviour here in NI I dont usually go in for it, which I kind of think is a shame, I love the building a liquar collection thread that Beorn created for instance.
 

kyuuei

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Guys I recently got a small juice/smoothy blender, does anyone have any good recipes? Maybe you own something similar, I've reviewed it on Amazon recently, it was very reasonably priced:-

Amazon.co.uk:Customer reviews: Breville VBL136 Blend Active Personal Blender, 300 W, 50Hz - Blue

First jealous! I'm a big breville fan, they don't sell these in the US and that looks super cheap and awesome.

There are recipes pre-existing online as well as general-guidelines for making your own recipes!

Green Smoothies, Protein Shakes and Energy Bars Archives - Betty Rocker

the-perfect-smoothie.jpg
 

Lark

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First jealous! I'm a big breville fan, they don't sell these in the US and that looks super cheap and awesome.

There are recipes pre-existing online as well as general-guidelines for making your own recipes!

Green Smoothies, Protein Shakes and Energy Bars Archives - Betty Rocker

the-perfect-smoothie.jpg

Oh, energy bars?! That is interesting to me, I've read a little bit about protein shakes, other than the ones purchaseable from most gyms that is, there was a peanut butter one I tried a short time ago and it was nice but I'm pretty sure it was incredibly calorific but I totally want to get into the green smoothies, I saw some more expensive blenders similar to mine in the Lidl store the other day and they were all heavily featuring green smoothies and drinks in their point of sale materials.
 

kyuuei

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Oh, energy bars?! That is interesting to me, I've read a little bit about protein shakes, other than the ones purchaseable from most gyms that is, there was a peanut butter one I tried a short time ago and it was nice but I'm pretty sure it was incredibly calorific but I totally want to get into the green smoothies, I saw some more expensive blenders similar to mine in the Lidl store the other day and they were all heavily featuring green smoothies and drinks in their point of sale materials.

Yeah it's in in a big way in the health community.

As an aside, there is such thing as powdered peanut butter that takes a lot of the fat out of it.. it's more just for flavor for people super addicted to PB and watching their weight, but it's pretty good stuff. I stick a teaspoon into oatmeal with chocolate chips sometimes.

My favorite energy bars, which is really just portable food, is dried figs, dates, pistachios, almonds, and chocolate pieces and dried strawberries pressed into the top.
 

Lark

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Yeah it's in in a big way in the health community.

As an aside, there is such thing as powdered peanut butter that takes a lot of the fat out of it.. it's more just for flavor for people super addicted to PB and watching their weight, but it's pretty good stuff. I stick a teaspoon into oatmeal with chocolate chips sometimes.

My favorite energy bars, which is really just portable food, is dried figs, dates, pistachios, almonds, and chocolate pieces and dried strawberries pressed into the top.

I cant do the chocolate, although I have heard speculation about dark chocolate as it is supposedly good for the heart, even if it raises blood sugar, all the other things you mention there I think I love too, I am a big peanut butter lover but I have to say that I've tried some of the healthier ones and they dont taste the same. There is a lot of fat but I've heard its not fat but sugar that's the enemy now, I like the sound of that because of the diabetes I've always thought sugar was the enemy.
 

Tilt

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I cant do the chocolate, although I have heard speculation about dark chocolate as it is supposedly good for the heart, even if it raises blood sugar, all the other things you mention there I think I love too, I am a big peanut butter lover but I have to say that I've tried some of the healthier ones and they dont taste the same. There is a lot of fat but I've heard its not fat but sugar that's the enemy now, I like the sound of that because of the diabetes I've always thought sugar was the enemy.

Cacao beans (where chocolate is derived from) are considered to be a superfood....it's mostly the dairy and sugar added to them that make them unhealthy.
 

Tilt

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I just want to start getting a little more active and maintain my weight.
 

kyuuei

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I cant do the chocolate, although I have heard speculation about dark chocolate as it is supposedly good for the heart, even if it raises blood sugar, all the other things you mention there I think I love too, I am a big peanut butter lover but I have to say that I've tried some of the healthier ones and they dont taste the same. There is a lot of fat but I've heard its not fat but sugar that's the enemy now, I like the sound of that because of the diabetes I've always thought sugar was the enemy.

Diabetics are better off with a bit more fat in their diets (though, overall, if diabetes was caused by obesity and out of control eating, the bigger priority is dropping weight). For example, apples alone aren't so great.. adding peanut butter is important to keep sugar levels from spiking up and down. Even though apples are healthy, diabetics can't handle those sugar spike ups... the fat mellows it all out.
 

EJCC

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FINALLY back into my exercise routine, after nearly 3 weeks without it due to health issues. I already feel more energized and motivated.
 

highlander

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So I'm down 10 pounds in the last two and a half weeks and it makes a huge difference. This diet is working. I'd like to lose another 30.
 

kyuuei

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My food tracker for the past 7 days: I'm naturally eating around 1200-1300 calories EXCEPT when an event is going on. 1700 calories yesterday for the Superbowl, and I really was conscious and trying to reign it in because I knew I'd have to write it all down later haha. I think that there is an unavoidable bias like this with calorie counting, but I think it's good for me to continue.
 

Lark

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Did a serious day of low carbs and sea food, my blood sugars have been in single figures!! Yeeoooh!

I have been drinking the shots of apple cidar vinegar, its fecking disgusting but it works too apparently as I think its helped with the insulin resistance.

I'm liking eating kippers again, had some for breakfast with poached eggs, that was nicer actually than the mackerel I had for dinner.
 

Lord Lavender

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One healthy habit I've been getting into is journal writing as it helps me deal with emotions and worries in a constructive way. I've also been trying to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.
 

Frosty

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Going to exercise 2 times a week for at least 30 minutes each time. Thats the goal and maybe maybe not Ill work up to more time or more frequent!

Im excited.
 

Metis

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This guy has a great website too, there are good notes accompanying the youtubes, there's a lot of health and other good information on sleeping and intermittant fasting, which I'm thinking about giving a go this in coming month.

Why Top Athletes Only Eat One Meal a Day

Rhonda Patrick does a lot of interviews with experts in the field in addition to her own research, and she and her podcast guests have been discussing a lot about intermittent fasting and timing of meals as well as the content. I forget which of her podcast episodes had it, but the suggestion was that it's better to take an early dinner and not eat for a few hours before going to sleep because eating before sleeping primes you physiologically in a way that can interfere with sleep as well as leading to health problems related to how the nutrients get used. They said that when you wake up, you should be hungry and eat a nutritious breakfast.

It might have been this episode. If not, probably one of the chronologically adjacent ones.

In this one, at about 53:55, you can hear them talking about how it affects melatonin as well as insulin, and at 55:58 there's something else interesting. I don't have time to go back and try to find the excerpt I'm thinking of right now, but the whole discussion is extremely fascinating. They like to get detailed.

Satchin Panda, Ph.D. on Time-Restricted Feeding and Its Effects on Obesity, Muscle Mass & Heart Health
 

Lark

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Rhonda Patrick does a lot of interviews with experts in the field in addition to her own research, and she and her podcast guests have been discussing a lot about intermittent fasting and timing of meals as well as the content. I forget which of her podcast episodes had it, but the suggestion was that it's better to take an early dinner and not eat for a few hours before going to sleep because eating before sleeping primes you physiologically in a way that can interfere with sleep as well as leading to health problems related to how the nutrients get used. They said that when you wake up, you should be hungry and eat a nutritious breakfast.

It might have been this episode. If not, probably one of the chronologically adjacent ones.

In this one, at about 53:55, you can hear them talking about how it affects melatonin as well as insulin, and at 55:58 there's something else interesting. I don't have time to go back and try to find the excerpt I'm thinking of right now, but the whole discussion is extremely fascinating. They like to get detailed.

Satchin Panda, Ph.D. on Time-Restricted Feeding and Its Effects on Obesity, Muscle Mass & Heart Health

It would seem to fit with the old sayings about breakfast like a king, lunch like a commoner, dinner like a pauper.

I think the point of it though is to have long stretches between meals during which there is not the constant grazing, plus the aim of one meal a day, I've followed paleo bloggers before now who have tried hard to create true randomisation in their diets in terms of single days or even more protracted periods of fasting or scarcity in order to try and reflect a diet of a hunter-gatherer, of course there is also room in that idea for feasting too, although I honestly do not know how you could achieve true random and not simply fall into a pattern again, a bad pattern in all likelihood of an unstructured diet characterised by intermittent grazing of the kind you're trying to avoid.
 

Metis

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It would seem to fit with the old sayings about breakfast like a king, lunch like a commoner, dinner like a pauper.

I heard, "Eat your breakfast alone, share your lunch with your friends, and share your dinner with your enemies."

:cowboy:


I think the point of it though is to have long stretches between meals during which there is not the constant grazing, plus the aim of one meal a day, I've followed paleo bloggers before now who have tried hard to create true randomisation in their diets in terms of single days or even more protracted periods of fasting or scarcity in order to try and reflect a diet of a hunter-gatherer, of course there is also room in that idea for feasting too, although I honestly do not know how you could achieve true random and not simply fall into a pattern again, a bad pattern in all likelihood of an unstructured diet characterised by intermittent grazing of the kind you're trying to avoid.

Not so much the point of her podcast interviews, except for the idea of letting the digestive system rest at night so it's not processing constantly. I don't think she's a paleo advocate exactly, either, but she does promote eating a lot of raw broccoli or steaming it but sprinkling mustard powder on it to add the nutrient back in. She's into sulfurophane and isothiocyanates, and I forget which one is which, but evidently broccoli (and mustard powder and other cruciferous vegetables) provide those and are beneficial for DNA repair, among other things.

I don't think a randomly-timed diet would be ideal, because whether or not it's ancestral, if you don't eat, you're going to get hungry. It's better to eat when the good foods are easy to access rather than wait until you're hungry at a random time and have nothing to eat but fast-food.

I've been eating broccoli lately.
 

Yuurei

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I’ve been working very hard on my diet and excercise. Seeing some results but damn is it frustrating.

Since I cut my caloris in half and cut out dairy- that seems to work for me. Don’t like sugar or junk food so completley cutting certain things is not nessecery-I have lost about 8 lbs in less than a month ( Yaaay!) BUT, I swear those rare occasions where I go out and eat a full meal ( for me, still a small amount compared to most) I instantly gain another 4 lbs back and it’s another 3 days to get rid of it.




I heard, "Eat your breakfast alone, share your lunch with your friends, and share your dinner with your enemies."

:cowboy:




Not so much the point of her podcast interviews, except for the idea of letting the digestive system rest at night so it's not processing constantly. I don't think she's a paleo advocate exactly, either, but she does promote eating a lot of raw broccoli or steaming it but sprinkling mustard powder on it to add the nutrient back in. She's into sulfurophane and isothiocyanates, and I forget which one is which, but evidently broccoli (and mustard powder and other cruciferous vegetables) provide those and are beneficial for DNA repair, among other things.

I don't think a randomly-timed diet would be ideal, because whether or not it's ancestral, if you don't eat, you're going to get hungry. It's better to eat when the good foods are easy to access rather than wait until you're hungry at a random time and have nothing to eat but fast-food.

I've been eating broccoli lately.

These are both very good points.

Oh and I don’t snack much at all but for some reason if I go more than three hrs without eating my stomach throws an epic fucking fit and tries to destroy us both.

This was a huge problem for me. When my friend wasn’t working we’d spend all da6 out running errands. I’d forget to eat and by the time my stomach reached critical mass we were on the road and I either didn’t want to wait or did not have the money for a decent sit-down restaurant. The best I could get was Taco Time
( oh yah, Tice Time is WA only. Well, it’s the best fast food you could ask for. They are all about sustainable, local, fresh ect. But it is still full of salt and fat.)
 
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