anyone else laugh at their former "healthy" lifestyle?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't wait until we can look back and realize the silliness that is gluten-free (for non-celiacs) and the obsession with genetically modified/paleo. It takes humility to realize we weren't always right with our food choices in the past because we just didn't know enough. But so many people are CERTAIN that what they are doing today is RIGHT. PP, Marketing, yes!

As someone with Celiac, I am happy that gluten free is popular because more gluten free foods have become available. I am puzzled by people who think that they will lose weight by replacing processed food with gluten free processed food.

I had to go gluten free for a short period because my doctor wanted to see if that might be connected to some digestive troubles I had (it wasn't, and we figured out the problem). I did lose weight, but the reason I lost weight is because if you exclude ALL food with gluten, it actually greatly reduces ready-made food that you can eat. So I simply ate a lot less, because, at the time, most everything available (in vending machines, et cetera) had gluten.

So I think people mistakenly conclude that going gluten free will help them lose weight. But I think people who go gluten free tend to lose a little weight because they just end up eating so much less. Of course, with more readily available gluten free foods, that will change. and perhaps then people will see that it wasn't the "gluten free" aspect of their diet that helped them lose weight.

Yeah I did this too for about six months because I have thyroid disease and read that it might help, because I still felt sick w/ meds. I avoided the processed GF foods (except for treats) and changed the way I ate to include even more vegetables and subbed in grains like quinoa. Just like being a vegetarian, a GF diet can help make you healthier because it eliminates a bunch of food you could otherwise eat (fast food, brownies in the office, etc). Of course, if you redirect your choices to GF junk good, that won't help much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:remember fat free frozen yogurt? Ha!

This makes me think of the Seinfeld episode where they gained weight from the alleged fat free frozen yogurt. Also, back in the 90s I worked with a good-looking in-shape guy, and I distinctly remember his saying "Can you believe this is fat free?" while he was eating yogurt piled high with M&Ms and other candy. Ha.

Ahahaha!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:anyone else shocked things like jenny craig and nutrisystem still exist? seems like we all know how bad that crap is for you now a days!

I think you have to pick your poison. I was 50 pounds overweight and lost it because of Jenny Craig. Now I am thin enough to handle regular exercise, which I couldn't do with my aching knees and hips when I was fat. So I've increased chemicals but reduced fat and improved cardio.

If you can do it alone, great, but some of us still need JC or NS.

Either way, there is only one way this movie ends. Life will kill us eventually, gotta just try to get though it for as healthy as you can for as long as you can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tofu isn't good for you? My kids love it, should I be witholding it? Plain, cubed tofu?

Excessive soy isn't good, but the processed stuff is usually worse. Tofu, miso, edamame are OK in moderation.

Why is that?

Phytic acid:
http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/living-with-phytic-acid

A lot of the misinformation about soy originates from the Weston A. Price Foundation, an organization that claims on its website perfect health can be achieved only by consuming “vital fat-soluble activators found exclusively in animal fats.” Weston Price takes money from the meat and dairy industry, of course they are anti-soy. Phytic acid, a component of all plants, has benefits and detractions. Beneficial effects of phytic acid include its antioxidant property (reduction of free radicals), cholesterol-lowering, iron-mediated oxidation suppression, and cancer prevention.

See this less biased research from NIH: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8777015

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:anyone else shocked things like jenny craig and nutrisystem still exist? seems like we all know how bad that crap is for you now a days!

I think you have to pick your poison. I was 50 pounds overweight and lost it because of Jenny Craig. Now I am thin enough to handle regular exercise, which I couldn't do with my aching knees and hips when I was fat. So I've increased chemicals but reduced fat and improved cardio.

If you can do it alone, great, but some of us still need JC or NS.

Either way, there is only one way this movie ends. Life will kill us eventually, gotta just try to get though it for as healthy as you can for as long as you can.

Amen. And congrats on taking off 50 pounds - that is not easy to do.

Do you mind my asking how you've kept it off? Have you had to keep a really strict diet, or do you do it through avoiding certain kinds of foods, or...? (My husband has struggled with 100 pounds, coming on and off, and he gets so discouraged - I'd love to hear about other people's plans that have worked for long-term weight maintenance.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Um, no, this thread is about ridiculous fads and trends that people religiously bought into in the past, much like what you are buying into now.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:anyone else shocked things like jenny craig and nutrisystem still exist? seems like we all know how bad that crap is for you now a days!

I think you have to pick your poison. I was 50 pounds overweight and lost it because of Jenny Craig. Now I am thin enough to handle regular exercise, which I couldn't do with my aching knees and hips when I was fat. So I've increased chemicals but reduced fat and improved cardio.

If you can do it alone, great, but some of us still need JC or NS.

Either way, there is only one way this movie ends. Life will kill us eventually, gotta just try to get though it for as healthy as you can for as long as you can.

Amen. And congrats on taking off 50 pounds - that is not easy to do.

Do you mind my asking how you've kept it off? Have you had to keep a really strict diet, or do you do it through avoiding certain kinds of foods, or...? (My husband has struggled with 100 pounds, coming on and off, and he gets so discouraged - I'd love to hear about other people's plans that have worked for long-term weight maintenance.)

I still do JC for many of my meals, and I do cardio almost daily for an hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes - tofu, fat free, vegetarian, whole grain -- Now paying dearly.

what do you mean by paying dearly??

I mean our bodies require saturated animal fats. We have been told that they are bad and it turns out we must have them for good health. This means the whole animal, like what you get when you simmer beef bones for 24 hrs until you have a gelatinous broth. Then make your stew in that. I mean our bodies cannot use nuts, seeds, or whole grains -- they have a protective cover on them that helps the seed pass through our system and remain in tact so it can grow. These grains contain phytic acid, which binds to micronutrients, such as magnesium, calcium, iron, and prevents our bodies from absorbing these. They are micronutrients, and the body is resilient, and the effects may not be felt for decades, but then in your forties, fifties, sixties, you start developing sensitivities, allergies, auto-immune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, IBS and leaky gut, and cancer. I mean that we ingest almost no iodine, we have been told it is a poison, yet we suffer thyroid problems, which are cured by taking iodine. We eat bromated flour, we drink fluoride, many toxins in our foods that we have been told are good but which in fact, with a little research, you will find are not.

I have changed my diet to include meat and saturated fats, salt, iodine, micronutrients, I have cut out soy and most whole grains (still addicted to morning oatmeal!) I now soak the nuts before I eat them. I have overcome the some of sensitivities I developed-- am seeing real changes in energy and shape of my body. That's what I mean.

It sounds like you may have an issue with moderation when it comes to fad diets. Including currently...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Careful, careful, careful. Be careful about what you are so certain you are doing "right" now. The whole point of this thread is laughing at what we used to think was healthy. Not because we were idiots, but because it was what we knew, what doctors told us, what studies told us THEN. So prepare to be humbled in about 5-10 years.

Thank you! Exactly.

Best clueless comment of the day: "I didn't used to prepare my nuts correctly, but now I do!" Jumping from one fad to the next must be exhausting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:anyone else shocked things like jenny craig and nutrisystem still exist? seems like we all know how bad that crap is for you now a days!

I think you have to pick your poison. I was 50 pounds overweight and lost it because of Jenny Craig. Now I am thin enough to handle regular exercise, which I couldn't do with my aching knees and hips when I was fat. So I've increased chemicals but reduced fat and improved cardio.

If you can do it alone, great, but some of us still need JC or NS.

Either way, there is only one way this movie ends. Life will kill us eventually, gotta just try to get though it for as healthy as you can for as long as you can.

+1

[Anonymous]

+1

[Anonymous]

Yes, but remember all of healthy dietary guidelines, much like our parenting rules, will be debunked by the time our kids are our age. Remember that the next time you are rolling your eyes at your parent's annoying and misguided ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes - tofu, fat free, vegetarian, whole grain -- Now paying dearly.

what do you mean by paying dearly??

I mean our bodies require saturated animal fats. We have been told that they are bad and it turns out we must have them for good health. This means the whole animal, like what you get when you simmer beef bones for 24 hrs until you have a gelatinous broth. Then make your stew in that. I mean our bodies cannot use nuts, seeds, or whole grains -- they have a protective cover on them that helps the seed pass through our system and remain in tact so it can grow. These grains contain phytic acid, which binds to micronutrients, such as magnesium, calcium, iron, and prevents our bodies from absorbing these. They are micronutrients, and the body is resilient, and the effects may not be felt for decades, but then in your forties, fifties, sixties, you start developing sensitivities, allergies, auto-immune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, IBS and leaky gut, and cancer. I mean that we ingest almost no iodine, we have been told it is a poison, yet we suffer thyroid problems, which are cured by taking iodine. We eat bromated flour, we drink fluoride, many toxins in our foods that we have been told are good but which in fact, with a little research, you will find are not.

I have changed my diet to include meat and saturated fats, salt, iodine, micronutrients, I have cut out soy and most whole grains (still addicted to morning oatmeal!) I now soak the nuts before I eat them. I have overcome the some of sensitivities I developed-- am seeing real changes in energy and shape of my body. That's what I mean.

Here's what I don't get about the paleo fad. They don't want you to have sugar, yet encourage you to drink the kool-aid...

[Anonymous]

Canned vegetables

[Anonymous]

I loved the good ol' "fat free" college days. Pasta, bagels (with fat-free cream cheese), Twizzlers. And the whole time I thought I was being "good" by avoiding fat. (Until I became fat and figured it out.)