ok,,, so,,, i know this may open a big can of worms so i ask that we don`t all get to hot-headed here

if you want to enter into this disscussion then """Be Cool""" ok? no one needs to have any particular diet or life-style shoved down their throat (pun intended) Cool & no one wants to have an argument either right???

so,,, with that out of the way i`m hoping we can all find something useful here ,

if it`s food you want to chat about then cool-> some facts would be good.

if it`s a health issue then cool, & again , some facts would be good

if it`s just an exercise program you`d like to share , then that`s excellent too

it all goes hand-in-hand in my books

i know of plenty of web-sites sprooking all sorts of magic potions, diets & exercise programs... lets here about your own hardships & results as they may be becoming or have become (or havn`t so far)

I`ll start --> After suffering major liver dramas early in my life (nearly died at 18 & again at 19 because of it), i then went onto an eating program that seemed to be pretty good for me & went hard with karate & A-grade fixtures squash & racing motocross & car racing & water ski-ing & mountain bike racing & working for my dad 12 hours a day & sat included & racing speedway & & & & ,,, & yeah i ended up burning myself out & nearly Karcked it again

i never really had a problem with weight tho,,, i was always sooper-dooper hyperactive & i just moved way too fast & way too much (i suspect) for the fat to settle anywhere in my body

years later (after just wandering through all sorts of eating programs & diets not really understanding much of anything because it all seemed to be mostly contradictory) i then experienced this series of massive heart attacks (7 months aga) & yeah they killed me a few times

So, hence i`ve been chasing up all sorts of foods diets, lifestyles & health & exercise issues that it literally drove me "Matty" ,,, ok so the word was meant to be "Batty" ,,, same-same Smile

So,,, """Immediately"""" after die-ing a few times from the heart attacks, i pushed straight into a Vegan type diet, full of berrys & cherrys & nuts & grains & vegies & , basically no animal products at all,,, & i did that for a couple of months... & when i went into hospital for my my 2nd stent to be fitted into my heart, we found that i`d reduced the plaque build-up & also softened it (funny enough almost killing me again i might add) but it seemed a really good thing at the time & the docs were actually astounded (shocked to be more precise) so i stuck with that diet for another couple of months

so it all "seemed" good, reducing the plaque in my arteries & softening it all up & melting it away was a really good thing,,, so i thought

However,,, the whole way along i couldn`t get rid of my Gout problem & the arthritice in all other parts of my body was just giving me huge grief, like full-on!!! constant pain, & hard to move, didn`t feel like doing anything, very hard to get motivated, difficult doing any exercise, REALLY HARD!!! & i`m not one for being a slouch with exercise , Damn i love the stuff!!! But it was just horrible lagging feeling & also started putting on weight,,, HEAPS!!!

The Vegan type """Dr Mcdougal diet""", that i was (sort-of) following, just wasn`t as happy a thing that i first thought.... the """30bananas a day .com""" thing was also not very do-able for me either & it seemed to keep the pain of the arthritice at a maximum constant & still putting weight on ...

So, after many more "tests" (my mum used to "test" me for food allergies years ago & found that both bread & milk didn`t really like me at all) So i tried the same sort of "Tests" over the last 3 months.

So... now i`m here--->

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/ 

& after only one month, i`ve got heaps of energy (compared to what i had) , I`ve also started loosing weight (quite a lot in a very short period of time),,, i now don`t have any Gout pain or any other arthritic type pains anywhere else,,, i have even stopped taking the Coldgout & Allipurinol pills that were "needed" (said the Docs),,, & i simply "feel" heaps better... way more active than before & i even have this horrible coul/flu that i`ve had for about 2 months & it`s starting to break now too

What do you guys think???

Who of you lot are well educated in all food/health related things ???

& Who of you are interested enough to join this highly controversial conversation???

anyone tried anything "Out of the box" that works for you?

here we go yeah???

add your bit (if you dare) please???

Hi Matt, I dont think it is a very contoversial subject!

You said the key word a few times above, and that word is LIFESTYLE.
The reason it is key, is that it needs to be a system that
you can sustain for the rest of your life.

I do at least a morning walk of 50-plus minutes after breakfast,
and stay away from sugar if you can,
and it goes without saying that oily/processed foods should be something you have rarely .

Not surprisingly, your body can handle just about any types of food in moderation,
but if you are anything like me, you can easilly slip into a bad habit, so vigilance is important.

We are all weak at times, and treats or special meals every now and then wont kill you,
but when ever that happens, you just go staight back to your routine.

Even with a lot of exercise, my eating habits are my constaint problem,
so I have found that basic ordinary 3 meals a day is the best option.
Nothing exotic or unusual, but I have found that if I stay away from primarily sugar,
then combined with my morning walk, I dont crave the other bad things much.

There are some basic things I have found to help with my eating/diet.

Early morning walk/exercise helps keep hunger away
and actually give more stamina through the day,
even if I have to get up one hour earlier to do it.

Routine is your friend.
After two weeks it becomes easier to keep within a routine.
This is true for both food and exercise.

Avoid/reduce sugar. (I struggle with this like an addiction).
Especially early in your day.
You body runs on glucose, which your body converts from carbs.
I have even cut back on my sugar sources through fruit.
Only one piece a day, and usually at night after dinner.

Protein is also good for holding away hunger.

You dont need to remove or eliminate any particular thing from your lifestyle,
just have a good variety of ALL food groups

If you get hungry, nibble protein.
Sugar will give you a fast kick but wont last long,
so you will end up eating something more any how.
Nuts or fish are good middle nibbles, even though too much of these is also bad,
at least you will get what your body needs until a proper meal.

Here is an example of what I eat in a normal day:

3 weetbix and a cup of tea, no need for light milk unless you like it.
no sugar or fruit or I will be hungry an hour later.

morning walk

Lunch:
nice sandwich, with two slices healthy bread, meat lettuce cheese and tomato, no butter or mayo!!.
and a cup of tea.

If I get hungry before dinner, a half a cup of nuts or a small tin of tuna wll keep me going before dinner.

Dinner: not a huge meal!
...but meat and veg, and perhaps some small carbs source like rice or pasta.
Current thinking is less red meat, so perhaps more fish or chicken is good, but not so little that you lack iron!

After dinner is the best time to have your fruit, but as a treat.
It is easily digested, and you wont crave anything afterward if you are sleeping!
Sometimes I will want my fruit at afternoon tea time, but be aware that it will cause you to be ravenous by dinner time.

Wow, you guys are both hardcore! Especially MiniMan! Maximum respect for doing all of that stuff.

I'm going to be honest and say that my diet is nowhere near that good, and my lifestyle is absolutely terrible. As a young healthy bloke I can still get away with it, but I do want to improve my lifestyle health eventually.

Being a full-time university student, I basically have to spend most of my days sitting, whether it's sitting in lectures, sitting in computer labs or sitting at home in front of the computer. The only type of exercise that I would regularly get is from walking between the Adelaide railway station, uni and the asian takeaway shops nearby! Mind you, I did buy a WB Holden ute with no power steering, wide tyres and a 14" steering wheel! So driving is almost exercise!

When I was working for Holden in the Quality engineering department, I lost a lot of weight, despite eating even worse junk than I normally would. Just from having an active job where I was walking long distances around the plant and often carrying materials, I think I lost probably 15kg over the year. The other good thing about working is that you are not tempted to snack during the day! At work I keep my head down and think about lunch, whereas studying at home I am more likely to get up and grab a snack, although I try to avoid this. At the end of the year I did start eating better food, concentrating mainly on eating more vegetables and less junk.

One thing I do have as well is a serious Iced Coffee addiction! Like most South Aussies, I love the Farmer's Union Iced Coffee and drink it more or less every day. In the past, I have been regularly drinking 5 to 6 litres of it per week. My justification for this is that I will buy it when I am out, instead of buying a Coke as most people would. Iced Coffee does have about the same energy content as Coke, but most of it is milk sugar and surprisingly very little of it is actually added simple sugar. I prefer to only drink the Strong flavour anyway, which actually has about half the added sugar of the regular version. I have begun to moderate my Iced Coffee drinking, but at the moment, if it gets me through the study period for my next exam then I'm happy to keep drinking it. As important as it may be, this year my health is coming second to finally finishing my degree!

does the rum diet on weekends count as cool?
I know of a few vw peeps in these parts that partake regularly hic hic

As a 50 year old I got an update on my life a while back and was not good.
Cholesterol high yadda, yadda, yadda - but the pre diabetes concerned me

My doctor put me in touch with these guys
http://www.nutridesk.com.au/ 

Now I do 2 things
Watch what I eat - big time.
very similar to dangerous
Breakfast - NEVER use to do that. Wheatbix and a banana
Good sandwhich for lunch.
200gms meat and veges for dinner

Minimal carbs, grain bread, no rice or pasta at dinner

Exercise.
I struggle to find regular time. Work gets in the way.
I use to play football - but it was more social than exercise and too much grog

Now I just get up at 5.00 and luckily I have a gym upstairs.
20min walk
10 minute interval cycle
30 minutes of weights

I have lost 10kgs and 13cms since January

Barry

oh... and cut back on the booze.
No drinking during the week and a scotch on the rocks replaces a couple of beers.
Then I sit on a diet coke or 2

I personally have trouble following any sort of diet / exercise / lifestyle plan.

At the moment I am just trying to eat a bit healtier and fresher.

As much home grown stuff as I can and make my own breads etc when I can so I know whats in it.

Oh, and try to cut down on drive thru during work hours.

Might try to cut down on beers again soon. I was doing well for a while but got the taste back.

thats it everything in moderation! Cut down your milk intake, it's killing us. We are the only species that continue to drink milk after infant stage and we are drinking cows milk which really is not made for humans!

As for excercise it is really hard to stick to a hard core routine and can get boring after a while. I use to train up to 4 nights a week boxing and thai boxing and after i had a back injury and wrist and knuckle issues from years of hitting bags etc...had to give some of it a way. now i still do excercise but due to my back i can't go as hard as i use to, and i find harder to drop weight so i watch what i eat and try to only have one splurge on the weekend. i manily do body weight excercises now push ups, dips, chin ups 3 sets 3 days a week. Walk or 1hr ride on pushie, shadow boxing and some bag work rest of week. weekends rest. My second youngest son and a couple of his mates have just started doing some boxing so i'm teaching them and holding the mitts for them so that keeps me on my toes a bit more.
A injury/sickness can really get you down when it affects something you use to love doing and my back has done this to me as i also had to pretty much stop surfing which i had done since i was 7. Before my back injury i use to surf nearly every day but now lucky to get on the board once a month due to the lower back blowing out every time i surf. But thats life and it could be worse and now i've got my dubs to play with

hee hee,,, even the baby calf stops drinking it after a while & starts eating grass :-)

sardines :-)

Balanced diet = colour.

a meals salad or veg gotta be a mix of colours to get a mixed pallet of vitamins and minerals.

Have heard from my partner's father (physician) that vitamin supplements are a requirement for today's population, as fruit and vege of today doesn't have the same vitamin and mineral consituents or concentrations as it did 100 years ago, because the farm land use the same soil over and over for their crop and these vitamins and minerals get leeched out of the ground and don't go into the produce like it once did when the land was 'fresh'.

Bromine intake has increased in western diet, particularly because it has substituted iodine. Leads to interferance with metabolism and thyroid function because most people are iodine deficient and bromine counters proper thyroid function. Furthermore, bromine can be blamed for fat retention and a host of other effects. anywho...

so true thats why i make good old fashion compost and add it to my veggie patch. I am a bit of a compost freak and my wife says i watch it like i'm making a cake. If you grow your own veg at home get a compost heap going and add some life to your soil.

Darker the colour the better! Purple carrots, purple Broccoli, black russsian tomatos....and something i grow every winter Black russian Kale packed with antioxidants.
everyone should grow some greens specially this time of year and you don't need a massive veg patch, you can grow all your salad mix and herbs in white broccoli boxes easy as

2 cups of strong coffee, work, no breaks, pub at 2 few beers, home then whatever my lovely wife decides to cook few more beers maybe a whisky or two. might have a countery if i get there early enough. in bed by 9 backup at 4ish to do it over again. prob die early but i feel good!

seems like some of you want to get old

simple way to keep healthy.

keep away from processed foods especially carb loaded food.
drink plenty of clean water.

no alcohol
no smoking
no drugs

exercise, do plenty of anaerobic exercise. aerobic is good too, but I find I benefit more from anaerobic.

get plenty of sleep. Very import! something I miss very much now that I would full time.

with these things down pat, you will find you feel good, look good, need to eat like horse just so you don't go anorexic, you age shit loads slower that the average person too which is good for the old farts but comes as a down side for the already young blokes like me but its a good thing anyway.

I believe we are not all in the same boat. Has anyone heard of that friend or relative that lives (well) to 90 years of age and has smoked since they were 12 and have not been on any diet in their lives? I'm sorry but some people are genetically predisposed to having health problems since birth and others seem to sail through life with barely a few check-ups. I'm really hoping I'm the latter because I'm too busy to get sick and my multiple projects will never get finished !!!! Some say I should have bought shares in McDonalds and Dare iced coffee because my visits there are more frequent than I care to admit. BUT my wife is the traditional type that loves cooking and I come home to a healthy feed almost every night and as I get older I make the serves a bit smaller ( 1 plate instead of 2-3 plates that I could demolish when I was in my 30's). I'm 6 foot 3 and I weighed 70kg for about 15 years and I've got genetics to thank for that, not a diet or exercise regime. I'm now about 85kg which is still in a healthy range so I reckon a balanced diet is working for me so why would I change it? I probably would be worse off if I didnt have a physically demanding job but people also get health problems from stress and thats a whole nother thread..................Oh yeah...Occasional beer consumption NOT daily/weekly for good health. Now where is my big mac

I'm nearly 70 and a little overweight.

I recently cut out all dairy products, meat, fish and eggs, and went onto a high carb, veges and fruit diet. Sort of Veganish.

My insomnia stopped, my rheumatism is getting less, my energy levels are up, I'm slowly losing weight.

My diet is.
First thing a cup of good brewed black freshly ground Arabica coffee, one sugar.
Breakfast a cup of 50/50 rolled oats and muesli, cooked to a thick paste and eaten cold from the saucepan, without milk or sugar. Cooked right it forms a delicious nutty, crust on the bottom of the saucepan. Oatmeal is astonishingly sweet. It needs no sugar.

Mid morning a piece of fruit, usually an orange.

Lunch, a big salad

Arvo tea, another coffee. My only naughtiness.

Dinner a big bowl of veges and starch. Pasta or rice.
Because I eat a breakfast of wholemeal oats, I can eat white rice or pasta as well, as I'm getting my daily fibre. Finished off with an apple or a pear.

The only time I eat meat, fish, eggs, or dairy is when someone else feeds me or I go out to eat and out of politeness I don't hang the "I'm a vegetarian", problem onto them.

I occasionally get huge urges to wallow in meat, dairy and eggs, but so far I've resisted that.

So far, so good.

David (Dangerous) you make some excellent points & i can agree with the bulk of them, thanks for the input, it`s sooper dooper really appreciated

shaihulud, when i was going crazy downhill mountain bike racing all over the country , & for quite a few years (8) i was eating just as you suggested, basically identical (it`s not the "Fit for Life" program was it??? ) it felt good, i was lean i had plenty of energy (for an old fart) & i was 1st place in the masters class (over 40s) nearly everywhere i went, i took 2nd in the nationals a couple of years in a row too

i was racing minis & running y mini repairs shop & surfing each week & & & ,,, but somehow, it all came crashing down with the heart attack

now, for some reason i was getting small dense LDL caught in the lining of my arteries & that became rotten/racid/oxidised & then of course the bodys repair response kicked in & tried to send all the healing stuff there, inflaming those places & blocking the arterys, & then , of course, i died

so, i`m now attempting a slightly different version, Not really doing much different except--> kicking out the grains & legumes,,, dropping off the sugar... & adding some meats/eggs

anyone here work as a dietitian or nutritionist or even a naturopath-come alternate medicine guru????

If we can all learn from this, then maybe we could save a few of us die-ing from heart attacks yeah??? even if you think you`re fit & healthy (like i did) you probably are not. so i`m keen to make this discussion actually do something good, not just for me, but for all of us yeah???

tell us your meal plans (if you have one) like Dangerous & others have, & tell us your physical work-out (again if you have one) & lets bang it all around a bit yeah???

can we save some lives here???

i have some wicked storys of when i was in hospital, anyone keen to here them :-) ?????

Wicked stories?
hows this, when I had a triple (or was it quad, I forget) another bloke in the hospital for the same problem as me did nuthn but winge about the food he was being served (I mean who wants chicken stupped with pine nuts and the like, ME!) so he asked his misses to bring something in for him, in came the golden arches one day and the KFC the next day for breaksast, saw him a few weeks later when I went back to the specialist for the final checkup, he was still wingeing, but now it was what it had cost him for the by-pass, I told him he should have left the money in the bank and left it to his kids when he karked it as he had been saved after his heart attack. I was lucky, no heart attack as they found the problem b4 it went that far. Now my diet has changed only to the point where I cut out the cream buns (salivating about them still) and the Coke and other fizzy drinks, 6 cans of Coke in one day was a fairly regular thing, though I had stopped that about a year b4 I found out that I had a problem. I have always had a fairly good diet, love salads (fresh squeezed orange juice as a salad dressing, none of this oily shit, never have liked that stuff) cut out butter etc ages ago and now realy hate it on a sanger, can't stand deep fried fish or scollops though a few chippies are good now and then, have always led a fairly active life-style though by the sounds of it nowhere what you have MiniMan, my problem is mainly heredetery, so I agree with Grinderman up to a point, though I am certain that life-style plays a real big part in our healh, every thing in moderation, a glass of red drink most nights with dinner a few beers to keep the faith when my boys come over and hopefully I'll last long enough to have to hand my drivers licence in when I get too bloody old and feeble but not much longer.

I'm only fairly young (28) but i do like to watch what I eat, although I won't pretend I'm very good at it. I've found the best way to watch my diet is using a Kilojoule/calorie counter app on the iPhone. It's scary how quickly you can fly past the recommended average daily energy intake!!

I have always kept away from processed foods and love the flavour of real food.

Water is awesome

I get picked on at work, and the guys say things like 'what are you eating that for, you don't need to lose weight'

I just reply 'Ummm I am this weight because I eat this food'

That is while I eat wholemeal sandwich with salad or tuna and drinking water, and they eat dim sims and drink coke