Health progress!

[bscastro]

Hey folks,

Just wanted to tell people about gains I've been making healthwise due to erging and improving my nutrition. Getting back into rowing (indoor only at the moment) has really helped me a lot and I just wanted to share. Here's the changes I made in my life:
1. Ate much more vegetables. used to only eat a serving or two at dinner, but now I eat a lot of raw broccoli, squash, and carrots for snacks.
2. Switched to eating 5 smaller meals instead of 3 big meals. I add a 6th little snack at night, but usually only some fruit and milk. This helps because I don't have any huge cravings anymore - I used to binge on a whole BIG bag of chips in the past.
3. I used to eat a lot of chips and TOO many nuts. Now, I've cut down the nuts (but have read about their benefits, so still eat some) and almost totally cut out the chips, mainly because I'm eating many more veggies.

This plus working out more (4-5 days a week vs. once or twice a week) has had a few interesting side effects.
1. My allergies aren't bothering me anymore! I used to have a lot of sinus problems, but now I don't seem to be having any. Maybe I was allergic to something bad I used to eat and now I don't.
2. Energy levels are up big-time.
3. General feeling of well-being and healthiness.

I take in about 3500 calories, and I'm not worrying about losing weight (I'm at 145 pounds now). However, I'm looking forward to my next body fat testing (in a couple months), as I think I've become more muscular and gradually losing the love handles.

In any case, I thought I'd share the gains in fitness and health I've gained in the last couple months thanks to rowing and eating better.

Best regards,
Bryan

[igoeja]

About twenty years ago, after I found fitness trying to deal with insomnia, I made numerous lifestyle changes almost effortlessly, eventually eating vegetarian and quitting smoking, as well as resolving many career and school issues.

Were your recent changes revolutionary or evolutionary?

[Storm Petrel]

That's super Bryan!
Wishing you continued success!

[JohnFlynn]

congratulations!
Vegetables are a great source of energy and are definately part of whats making you feel happier and more energetic. It's good to see your enjoying the fact that your getting back into shape, which is the best modivation.

As for nuts. If your eating them because of protein, I'm not saying at all to stop eating them because they are good for you, but they contain incomplete proteins (meaning they do not have all the essential animo acids) which however can become complete proteins when combined with other foods.

Keep it up Bryan!

[bscastro]

As for nuts. If your eating them because of protein, I'm not saying at all to stop eating them because they are good for you, but they contain incomplete proteins (meaning they do not have all the essential animo acids) which however can become complete proteins when combined with other foods.

I eat the nuts for a variety of reasons: I like the taste, the protein, fiber, and essential fatty acids.

But I have other sources of protein too: salmon, tuna, steak (once every week or two), and chicken, with the occasional ham or turkey sandwich.

Thanks for the support!

Bryan

[bscastro]

Were your recent changes revolutionary or evolutionary?

If I'm interpreting the question correctly, I would say revolutionary! I started serious training on the erg, setting a goal of racing in Boston at the WIRC next year. I put together a training schedule, starting reading a book on mental training, and a book on stretching. I looked at what I was doing, and add to that the fact that I was expecting with my wife our second child, and I decided that I needed to get serious about my nutrition as well.

Before that I would say I was a "slightly" above average american eater - decent but overeating more than I should, and the occasional binging on chips or nuts, betting that my exercise would compensate.

I noticed that the times I was the most stressed was when I ate badly. I thought I was stressed so that's why I ate bad, but I also thought, maybe one reason I'm so stressed is that I eat badly!

So I tackled the food thing the same way I did the physical training. I searched the web for info and looked up a couple books on sports nutrition. I set a few simple goals, such as eat 3 pieces of fruit a day and 4 servings of vegetables a day, then built on those. Now that I think I've got some of the basics with this, I'm looking for variety in fruits and veggies and whole grains. Also, I used to eat ranch dressing with my salads, but I'm exploring different dressing as the added fat in the ranch (or most creamy dressing) can pile on fast, especially since I'm eating bigger salads!

An update since then: My 2nd son was born yesterday. And I'm glad I have the energy from working out and eating well now! I'm watching our 2-year-old as my wife and newborn are in the hospital and trying to get the house clean before they come home (he was born a couple weeks early).

Thanks for the support!

Bryan

[Storm Petrel]

Awww, Bryan, congrats on your new born!

There's an article in the June issue of Body+Soul magazine, in the Conscious Eating column, entitled Food Friends by Natalie Ermann Russell. In the article she's referenced some info presented by Mario Ferruzzi, PhD, asst. prof. in the Purdue University Food Science and Foods and Nutrition Depts. Basically it's about the need to eat certain foods or nutrients together for best absorption, utilization, etc. Noted combos are Calcium and Vit.D, Iron and Vit.C, and Carotenoids and Fat. Regarding the latter, the article states that "exactly how much (fat) you need (to get the most benefit from carotenoids) isn't clear. But a 2004 study in which researchers examined how much fat it took to absorb the carotenoids in salad, the full-fat salad dressing worked best, and low-fat worked better than fat free."

Homemade you have a choice of the ingredients and can use a healthy fat such as flax seed oil. And super thick dressings can be thinned with water, fat free milk, yogurt, vinegar or citrus juices.