Water

[Admin]

Have you seen the Magnum ad on TV?

I just realized that Magum PI and Magnum ba...forget it.

[pdxmike]

Have you seen the Magnum ad on TV?

I just realized that Magum PI and Magnum ba...forget it.

Dang.

Anyway it's obvious because of the "n" in one but not the other.  But that's the kind of mistake that happens when you have low blood sugar.

[Admin]

Hey kid, what's in the lunch box?

Kids have it rough.  An adult dude can down a luxurious 9 teaspoons (36 grams) of added sugar daily but the kids, they get to share so little of the goodness.  From preschool to preteen the healthy range is a paltry 3 to 5 tsp (12 to 20 grams) daily.

But what is in the lunchbox? 

Go with the most common start?  PBJ?  Sure. 

2 slices of Wonder - 4 grams
2 tbspn Smuckers Strawberry - 24 grams
2 tbspn Jif - 3 grams

Juicebox to wash it down?  You choose.

Whole Foods 365 Fruit Punch - 25 grams
V8 Fusion Apple-  12 grams
Apple & Eve Very Berry - 21 grams of sugar

Johnny should get a treat, right?

A couple Oreos - 9 grams.

Hmmm.  31 grams in the sandwich, let's use the lowest of these juicboxes at 12 grams and maybe only one of the cookies (yeah, right) at a little over 4 grams.

A very conservative 47 grams of sugar in a very common lunch.  The daily allowance: still 12 to 20 grams (depending on age).

A good alternative would be to teach the youngin's how to spark a Meth pipe and send 'em back to class a little less stoned.

[supthecreek]

A good read.... too bad I read it right after my trip past a N.H. State liquor store coerced me into buying a 1.75 liter of Absolute. I never have liquor at home, but I figured I was there, so why not?

Ok.... water it is.... I need to drop some more pounds.

This thread just reinforces my satisfaction with the Paleo lifestyle. Food source is the cornerstone of Paleo, so all the processed and sugar laden crap is already of no interest to me anyway. I already left the world of ice cream, sugar drinks, deserts, pasta and bread... never drank coffee or beer.

Diet Coke is was my only crutch, because I drink (one) Absolute and Diet coke when I go out. The money I save, will go to better Paleo food.

I had lost so much weight (285 to 203) living Primal (Paleo) that my skin was looking deflated, so I endeavored to add back some weight. That meant I had to add more fattening foods, like organic mayonnaise and hard cheeses. It worked, I was comfortable and happy at 214, and stayed there for 6 months....trouble is, I liked the additions to my food list and added back an extra 15 lbs over the next 6 months.

Water is a good focus to go low again.... this time I don't care if I sag a bit... I'd rather be lighter, for my knees, back, SUP

First the "Primal" thread.... now the "water" thread. Both great. This one sounds cheaper.

[Admin]

I had lost so much weight (285 to 203)

82 lbs is epic!  I love that Primal isn't based on deprivation.  Also that it de-demonized meat.  I still calculate calories in terms of chickens.  Really, noone carries around a firm grasp of what a calorie is - functionally useless.  But chickens - that's a functional comparison that I can relate to. 

Half Pint of Chubby Hubby = 680 calories : Useless.
Half Pint of Chubby Hubby = 1.2 lbs of Chicken: Oooohh.

Also, Primal's focus on nuking pasta and bread helped even people who didn't go for the diet as a whole.  We had gone out of whack.  A pasta meal had meant a lb of pasta and two ounces of meat (and most of the jar of sauce).  Mod that to 1 pound of meat with a few oz of pasta (and sauce for flavor - gasp) and its the same meal without the sugar / converted sugar nastiness.  Just as filling, feeds the body with clean fuel  / no hangover.  Side befefit of less calor...chickens.

This water thing is more of a plug-in than a diet on its own - a clean way to further refine most diets. 

Science and technolgy has people living longer now but, damn if it doesn't look like it is simply extending unhealthy lives in most cases.  The group that wants to keep going in a way that allows high performance at older ages is going to have to figure it out on their own (on our own).  Those tracks have not been laid yet.

[headmount]

There have been a few that have tried to lay down tracks in the past.  Don Wildman, Laird's pal, is in his 80s and is pretty damn fit and lean.  He started Bally's Health Clubs that you see in many hotels.  And there have been some great other examples from that time period, like Jack Lalane who remained strong and active for long into what's considered older age.   Here's a pic of Joe Weider when he was 63, a year younger than I am now.  Probably colored his hair but he looked damn good.  He lived another 30 years which, if you entertained the thought that he was juicing, wouldn't be possible.  When you juice, you die young, very young.  My brother used to drinks his shakes.

[supthecreek]

Yup.... went to a funeral 2 weeks ago for a friend .... 48 years old. Too young.... but he was chasing a dream. He came close, then paid a price.

[headmount]

From juice?  Seen many body building shots but that could be the most radical ever. 

One of the things body builders do is dehydrate to obtain the 'cut' look you see in Creek's pic. 

[Admin]

No doubt LaLanne was a groundbreaker (and an inspiration).  His view was to make 100% fitness the goal until the moment you cack.  Tell him that he should have a lower standard at 80 than he did at 30 and prepare to be called a Nancy .

"I don't care how old I live; I just want to be LIVING while I am living!"



The diet would be tough, though.  He was vegetarian for a long time and then added fish only.  Strongly against all dairy and all other meats.  No added sugar.  He was an early juicer, but veggies only (no juiced fruit).

Obviously he had an amazing result.  He was able to live the food is fuel deal.  I love it in concept but...there is another side to eating and for me to stick with a diet food needs to stay a pleasure.  For that matter so does exercise. 

[supthecreek]

Mike was a skinny little kid as a teen.... he moved to Venice Beach, walked into Gold's gym and told the "Muscle Beach" crowd that he was going to beat them all.
He was one of the very few people that was able to make a good living as a Bodybuilder for 15 years. The fans loved him.... he was as devoted to the fans as they were to him.

During an interview in a bodybuilding magazine, after open heart surgery, he had this to say:

"If I could go back in time, those things never would have happened. I would have gone back to driving a truck. I have no doubt in my mind that the primary cause of my problem–the biggest thing–was the chemicals. It was the steroids, the growth hormones, the diuretics. We take Cytomel to lose fat, knowing it’s an incredibly powerful thyroid drug, and that’s only one of the many, many drugs out there taken by everyone, from amateurs to the highest level in the world......I took that gamble and lost in every way."

As I watched Mary spread his ashes in the water at his favorite Cape Cod beach, I thought: this immense, hulking man had become  "Dust in the wind.... all we are is dust in the wind"

Even for everyday people, there are powerful pressures to look perfect in our society and a lot of "supplement" suppliers get rich off our tendency to "take a pill" for that.

Water, and a simple diet of whole foods is so easy... yet so rare.

[Admin]

Two articles, both are pretty insightful: http://chriskresser.com/how-inflammation-makes-you-fat-and-diabetic-and-vice-versa

Up until relatively recently, fat was considered an inert tissue with no biological activity. The idea was that it was just, well, there. It didn’t do much other than store excess energy.

We now know, however, that fat tissue is a metabolically active endocrine organ that secretes hormones and inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 and TNF-α. The metabolic activity of fat is the key to understanding its role in diabesity.

[Eagle]

Admin, have not had a chance to read through the thread you started but it looks very interesting.  With T2D also in the family this is a big concern.  Getting tested can pinpoint quite accurately the magnitude of the problem and can track your improvements over time.

Actually just heading out the door to get tested again to see how some minor adjustments to diet and the implementation of certain specialized fitness protocols has impacted the numbers.  First test was in the normal range but tending towards insulin resistance and pre-diabetes.  The numbers can be reduced - lower is better.

Inflammation is huge not only for T2D but also cancer and CVD.  Also fat tissue is hugely metabolic and losing even 10% of body weight can reduce dangerous visceral accumulations.  Best 

[SlatchJim]

Great thread and really interesting to see how my new diet compares to the ones mentioned here.
Eating whole foods, fresh veggies and fruit, fish, lean chicken, with no sugar/caffeine/alcohol/sodium/processed anything is the plan for at least the next month.  Beyond that, I doubt I will significantly change anything too much for the rest of my life, perhaps a glass of wine or beer... but only a glass, and only every new moon or so.  There are some great resources in here, thanks to you all.

[Admin]

It is also pretty interesting that body fat is categorized as either essential fat (about 3% for dudes) and storage fat (everything else). 

As its name implies, essential fat is necessary for normal, healthy functioning. It is stored in small amounts in your bone marrow, organs, central nervous system and muscles. In men, essential fat is approximately 3% of body weight. Women, however, have a higher percentage of essential fat — about 12%. This is because their essential fat also includes some sex-specific fat found in the breasts, pelvis, hips and thighs. This sex-specific fat is believed to be critical for normal reproductive function.

Most of the info I see says stay above 5% for guys (likely a little buffer so we don't run into trouble in a pinch).  Above that I am not finding anything that suggests a benefit to extra stored fat.  Padding?  Insulation?  More emergency reserves? 

[supthecreek]

well.... I don't get cold

considering how our winter temps were this year, I count my excess fat as very primal 

I have noticed that I am dropping weight as it gets above freezing... so maybe our bodies adjust to seasonal requirements.

I had a very hard time eliminating foods that add weight this winter, so cravings may amp to surpass will power.
I didn't eat anything I don't normally eat, but I did have a harder time with the bits that add weight.... I wanted more all the time.