Im getting fat. lol

[stubbornman]

That's pretty significant. You may want to talk to your doctor... lot's of bad stuff can cause such weight gain. Always good to nip stuff in the bud early, if possible.

My doctor was really concerned when I put on 20lbs in a year...

I like to make it sound worse than it is... I was up to 225 from a 185 fighting weight last year. I was pretty depleted and overtrained for the last couple of years and hit the 40lb mark coming back from vacation...

In the 2 days I've been back on "the program", I'm down 8 pounds (mostly water/bloat loss).

 

[mightynintendo]

Ahhh ok.

I'm a fan of Pollan. But I can't eat/live like he does.

I buy my meat from a ranch just a few hours away, grass fed, free range. I have a salmon csa share, do my best to eat only organic, free range chicken, etc. Get my veggies delivered to me by a local organic delivery service...

But yah, I can't go all veggie it just doesn't work for me. Consuming enough legumes to get my protein intake gives me intestinal distress. I tried supplementing with Vega, but it's not the best tasting stuff.

What's Vega? I'm with you on the food choices. I don't go all veggie either. I might someday as my soon-to-be wife is a vegetarian and she does most of the cooking.

 

[lostmind]

What's Vega? I'm with you on the food choices. I don't go all veggie either. I might someday as my soon-to-be wife is a vegetarian and she does most of the cooking.

Vega is a vegan protein shake/meal replacement powder. The nutrition specs are pretty impressive, the taste is sorely lacking. It's not HORRIBLE but it's not even close to good, let alone ok tasting...

Vegetarian is good stuff but I think some people tolerate it better than others. For me, I refuse to eat filler/fake proteins like tofu weiners and tempeh (I like tofu, but I only eat it once in a while). Getting enough protein from natural sources is pretty much impossible without eating a tons of legumes. Legumes (beans) cause havoc with my digestion. Especially my favourites, black beans. I thought about a digestive enzyme to help but... seems to defeat the purpose.

I also worry for many vegetarians who just simply cut out meat & meat products thinking they are being healthy, without actually researching that dietary lifestyle at all... and then they are really just depriving their body of proper nutrition.

 

[mightynintendo]

Vega is a vegan protein shake/meal replacement powder. The nutrition specs are pretty impressive, the taste is sorely lacking. It's not HORRIBLE but it's not even close to good, let alone ok tasting...

Vegetarian is good stuff but I think some people tolerate it better than others. For me, I refuse to eat filler/fake proteins like tofu weiners and tempeh (I like tofu, but I only eat it once in a while). Getting enough protein from natural sources is pretty much impossible without eating a tons of legumes. Legumes (beans) cause havoc with my digestion. Especially my favourites, black beans. I thought about a digestive enzyme to help but... seems to defeat the purpose.

I also worry for many vegetarians who just simply cut out meat & meat products thinking they are being healthy, without actually researching that dietary lifestyle at all... and then they are really just depriving their body of proper nutrition.

Sounds disgusting. I'm in the same boat as you too in regards to smart dogs and quorn and all that crap. My fiance will eat it but I refuse to touch it if it can be avoided -- though in all fairness quorn's chicken breast is really good with BBQ sauce. I don't eat it because it's just as processed as everything else. That's too bad about how rough beans are on your stomach. Is it all legumes or just beans? Red lentils are one of my favorite things to eat in the world and they seem pretty mild. Mmmm, now i'm thinking of indian food.

I don't think getting proper nutrition is as hard as you make it sound. I do think it's important to be mindful of the food choices you make, so yeah, just cutting meat isn't enough, but getting proper nutrition as a mindful vegetarian is a LOT easier than it is when eating like most everyone else in the US.

 

[Justibone]

Sounds disgusting. I'm in the same boat as you too in regards to smart dogs and quorn and all that crap. My fiance will eat it but I refuse to touch it if it can be avoided -- though in all fairness quorn's chicken breast is really good with BBQ sauce. I don't eat it because it's just as processed as everything else. That's too bad about how rough beans are on your stomach. Is it all legumes or just beans? Red lentils are one of my favorite things to eat in the world and they seem pretty mild. Mmmm, now i'm thinking of indian food.

I don't think getting proper nutrition is as hard as you make it sound. I do think it's important to be mindful of the food choices you make, so yeah, just cutting meat isn't enough, but getting proper nutrition as a mindful vegetarian is a LOT easier than it is when eating like most everyone else in the US.

Six-day-a-week vegetarianism is pretty healthy.

Pretty much all beans contain that same sugar -- can't remember the name ATM, mannose? maybe -- and the lack of an enzyme to break down that sugar is what causes the gas. The bacteria in your gut do have the enzyme, so they eat it and then fart out the methane... which then leads to marital strife.

Lactose intolerance is the same deal, but only some people lose the ability to break down lactose.

 

[passedpawn]

Pretty much all beans contain that same sugar -- can't remember the name ATM, mannose? maybe -- and the lack of an enzyme to break down that sugar is what causes the gas. The bacteria in your gut do have the enzyme, so they eat it and then fart out the methane... which then leads to marital strife.

raffinose.

Need some learning: Beano University.

 

[Justibone]

raffinose.

Thanks!

Need some learning...

Funny. My PhD committee said the same thing this morning...

 

[lostmind]

What makes vegetarianism tough is finding plant based protein sources. Of course, vegans are much more strict about it...

If you eat eggs & cheese, etc. it's not quite as hard - ovo lacto vegetarian or whatever they want to call it.

But I tried to absolutely forgo meat and meat derived products for a week (plus minimise processed food of any sort). It was very tough being a fake vegan. I had no self conviction to power me through it, because I don't believe eating animals is wrong. I'm higher up the food chain for a reason.

Quinoa makes a decent oatmeal in the morning and has some protein. I ate lentils and beans nearly every meal to keep my protein intake up. Ate so much leafy greens I thought I was a cow myself. I sure bloated up like one!

But seriously, a lot of vegetarians just drop meat from their diet and do little to rectify the giant loss of protein in their diets. Oh hey, I'll just eat pasta without the meat. Toast with peanut butter cuz it's a good source of protein (which always amazes me, peanut butter is a good source of fats, with some very minimal protein) and so on.

Even worse, I think there is a huge problem with the diet of most north americans to begin with - we don't eat a lot of vegetables. So then you get these "vegetarians" who just drop meat from their diet and then never eat vegetables! WTF is up with that? So all they eat is processed foods... nutritionally empty, calorie dense food is not good...

 

[modernlifeisANDY]

I rock climb 2-3x a week for a few hours (boulders for strength and long climbs for endurance) and play tennis for an hour and a half to two hours a few times a week. I also ride my bike around on the weekends or any time I'm heading into the city.

 

[Jewrican]

I am just about to come off a no beer break. I gained about 20 lbs just from making beer (and its ****ty foods you consume when you are drinking) a hobby and here I am. I decided enough is enough and have been working to lose it all.

I started at 196 and am down to 182 right now. I will allow beer to be a part of my weekly diet once i get back to 175 (although i will cheat on vacation in a few weeks). I am really looking to get under 170 to be really where i want to be.

 

[throwbookatface]

Portion control, portion control, portion control. Going vegan or vgetarian is great, but dor people who can't handle it like me, it just comes down to making yourself eat less. It means going out more and ordering smaller plates. There's a reason those Nutrisystem regimens work so well - if theyre all you eat, it'll work.

Also, most people don't need to worry about getting sufficient protein. Most people eat WAAAAY more protein than you need. Unless your stomach disagrees with vegetable protein, even the different bio profile of plant proteins should be sufficient unless you're really starving yourself.

 

[f1oored]

Anyone who offered the "cut out beer" option should have their forum membership revoked! This is a home brew forum people, lets keep it realistic!

Joining the "Hezbollah like" ranks of the vegans is almost as bad as cutting out beer but I will let it slide this time.

Count calories (including beer calories) and exercise. You can drink daily if you plan your diet around it.

 

[Justibone]

Going vegan or vgetarian is great...

Only if you know what you are doing. A lot of vegans are borderline malnourished, and to restrict your child's diet to vegan principles without consulting dietary experts (REAL experts, not some dude who lives in an old school bus with the wheels taken off) can qualify you as an abusive/neglectful parent. If even religious ascetics are like, "Whoa, your diet is strict!", then that's when you know you are pretty strict.

Just eat more veggies, less meat -- that will help most people quite a bit. YMMV.

 

[daddarioc]

You have to account for beer in your diet as others have stated, plain and simple.

I keep what I eat in check during the day / week to allow for having beer at night (and more on the weekends). As I told my g/f as I skipped dessert yesterday, I was waiting to have my 'dessert' from the tap later that night .

I also am active 5-6 days per week, either lifting weights or doing cardio, to pay what I like to call the "beer tax". You either have to eat less, or do more activity; there is no way around this unfortunately .

This works well (coming from a former 'fat guy' who went from 225->180, 5 years ago and have maintained that within 5lbs since then), it's all about knowing what you're putting in your pie hole and how much you burn at the end of the day vs intake (most simply stated, but alcohol also plays a role in how food is absorbed too as digestion takes a back seat for processing alcohol, sending that plate of nachos straight to your gut and love handles and a reason not to go crazy w/ fatty stuff while drinking).