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View Full Version : Good, Old Fashioned, Accountability :)


Doug Szolek
10-23-2003, 01:30 AM
Well in a effort to lead by example I'm gonna share what my idea was for this forum.

You see, I've struggled with eating healthy (don't like the terms right or wrong applied to diet) all of my short life. As a child, my addiction to sugar and bread was cultivated by many things, not the least of which was the corporate giants in the food industry desiring to sell lots of food more than providing healthy nutrition to their customers. I have memories of eating Twinkie after Twinkie until sure enough, I began to look like what I was eating :) I can laugh now because I've found a bit of freedom in what I choose to eat and this freedom did not come easily. As with most addictions I "fell off the wagon" many times, to the point where I named my (nearly gone) love handles, "Ben and Jerry."

Now I'm at a point where as many of you may have read, I understand diet to be as completely unique as the individual following it. Taking my geographic location, social activities, training schedule, work schedule, family status, age, body type, general tastes, etc. into consideration, I currently look to gain most of my daily caloric intake from Protein, then healthy Fat, followed by Fiber and some complex carbs, with sugars and starches drifting off in the distance.

The reason for this forum however was spawned from many requests (public and private) to explain exactly what foods I enjoy, in order to meat :wink: those needs. So as a means of accountability to limit the number of times I dial Papa Johns and to help those needing guidance for their own dietary requirements, I figure,
:idea: "Hey, why not have a diet log?" :idea:

So it is that from here on out all food that I enjoy to build the Knuckledragger I am becoming will be logged nice and bright for all the tribe to see. I'm on my honor here for my own reasons that should I eat something less than ideal for my current goals, I have to list it. And on the bright side, everything that I consume in line with my goals may just help you get to your goals.

Off to the kitchen for some protein...

Niko
10-27-2003, 07:25 AM
Thanks Coach. You Evicted Ben and Jerry and they seem to have taken up residence as my love handles. :evil: Coach, when you cut the sugar did you suffer from headaches, dizziness and fatigue? I am experiencing such and was wondering when this will subside. Also, in general, how long before the cravings start to abate?



With respect,

crubio
10-27-2003, 10:59 AM
Good Idea Coach,

Would it be cool if others posted their diets too.

I've come up with a plan. Now its up to me to implement it. I am going to try to come up with a reasonably close BMR based on my planned workouts for the next 3 months, then plan on eating certain foods to keep me within that range. Hopefully with the low intensity training I do, like 2 hour walks, I can cut the fat but keep the muscle.

Hopefully in three months I will be much leaner. Its OK if I gain muscle.

My main foods will be protein, fats and fruits & vegetables. And I am guessing that as long as the calories consumed <= calories burned I should be good to go.

Doug Szolek
10-27-2003, 06:06 PM
Niko, the time it takes you to get over your cravings will depend on the degree of your addiction. Honestly, for me, the cravings have not fully gone away yet, it's more like I am gaining more freedom to choose things other than sugars to eat.

Chris, it was my hope that others would follow suit and post their diets here, so that others can see a wide variety of diets in progress without the goal of saying this one is better than that one. So have at it.

Scott Sonnon
10-27-2003, 06:53 PM
Stopping refined sugars in many cases (as it was for me) isn't so much a personal issue as a social issue. Everyone down to distant cousins from Rhodesia will be trying to insist in your partaking. The cravings are almost easy compared to an unsupportive environment.

Connie Brown
10-28-2003, 09:19 AM
Just a technical bit about the biochemistry of cravings - they are from the beta-endorphin system. After you quit the intense taste of sweet from sugars, cravings go down. 5 days is the average for physical symptoms from a sugar detox. YMMV

But if you keep "priming" the BE system, you will keep craving. Even the taste of intense sweet, or with any BE-firing food (pizza is a good example) that fires the BE system.

This includes alcohol, alas, and all the manufactured/artificially intense sweeteners that keep the sweet tooth going without "sugar", and hard-core fats like prime corn-fed beef, or chips with transfats (wouldn't you know).

And Coach S, thanks for the invite for the online food log but I need to keep mine on paper! otherwise I would play!