Diet Advice!

[TelephoneAngel]

Well, you know, I haven't felt well for a while, but not in a major "oh I feel ill I need to see a doctor" way, more like "something doesn't feel right I wonder what's wrong, maybe I need to look at my diet, I'm not eating very healthily", if you see? I knew I didn't feel right, but it was nothing I could really put my finger on and say, yes, these are the symptoms.

Anyway, since last weekend I had a low fever, I still went to work, didn't feel great, but not sick enough to stay off work, kind of felt like getting a mild cold or something.

Tuesday, I felt dizzy, but then, I hadn't really had an appetite for a few days so figured I needed only to eat something.But I took a couple of bites of food and didn't want to eat.

Wednesday I felt progressively worse as the day went on, short of breath, very dizzy, limbs felt sort of "numb",at about two o'clock I considered going home sick but thought as there wereonly a coupleof hours left of my shift, I would stick it out.The last fewcalls I took,I was not remembering words, and stuttering in what I was saying and I started to feel "not real, as if I wasn't actually there at all".Boyfriend picked me up from work in the car and made dinnerwhich I couldn't eat and I sat on the sofa feeling very sick.

By about nine at night I had a high temperature, all my limbs were shaking and I could not stand up.Boyfriend carried me to the car and into the emergency room,where they took one look at me and admitted me, then ran lots of tests (my arms are black and blue from the needles), and thats when they said my blood pressure was as high as it could be and i had a high temperature and signs of an infection somewherein the body.They never got to the bottom of where the infection was but I spent the next couple of days on an iv with antibiotics.

Then they dischargedme yesterday afternoon and I still fell rough and was sick all last night so boyfriend said if I am still like this when he gets back from work tonight he will take me back to hospital, and there we are.

please feel free to give copious amounts of sympathy as I feel very sorry for myself.

[Whiskey]

I know I'm a health harpy but.....

What Causes High Blood Pressure?

The exact causes of high blood pressure are not known. Several factors and conditions may play a role in its development, including:

* Smoking
* Being overweight or obese
* Lack of physical activity
* Too much salt in the diet
* Too much alcohol consumption (more than 1 to 2 drinks per day)
* Stress
* Older age
* Genetics
* Family history of high blood pressure
* Chronic kidney disease
* Adrenal and thyroid disorders

Some things you cant fight (genetics, age), but i would use this as a scare (like magpie said in your other thread) to get your butt into healthy mode. Try to eat protein dense food and dark leafy greens, they're generally the best for you and jam packed with vitamins.

This is the point I kept making over and over that stuff like this happens if you dont keep your diet and exercise going and people told me I sound like a commercial.

I hope you feel better and dont need to go back to the hospital again Do harpy sympathies count? Hospitals suck =[

[Mikkel]

please feel free to give copious amounts of sympathy as I feel very sorry for myself.

I'm sorry for you too . If your temperature is normal it may just be the effect of the antibiotics and not enough to eat, but better go back to hospital if you aren't feeling well yet.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Hey, TA, I hope you're feeling better!

[teh_blumchenkinder]

Oh, boy. I totally know "not feeling well" after the past week.
I'd give you cool-packs and tasty water, but I'm not in the UK right now. Focus on feeling better, just take it easy and don't worry about stuff like cleaning and work. Let other people do that. Relax, and take each day as it gets there. Don't borrow trouble.
EDIT: drink plain water, but not gallons-- too much is just as bad. Try to keep things like electrolytes and other nutrients in your system, like drinking Pedialyte http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedialyte or whatever you tea-drinkers give little kids to help with digestive issues like that. Not wanting to eat is bad, because the stuff your body and mind need is in food.
Don't be shy about asking for help, either, like going to the bathroom or anything. Good thing you have a boyfriend-- do you have other family or close-people (physically as well as emotionally/mentally close) you can depend on?

I know I'm a health harpy but.....
(snip)
This is the point I kept making over and over that stuff like this happens if you dont keep your diet and exercise going and people told me I sound like a commercial.
I hope you feel better and dont need to go back to the hospital again Do harpy sympathies count? Hospitals suck =[

Well, it's important, Whiskey! and, TelephoneAngel, you know it's bad when: a harpy (self-labeled, anyway) gives you sympathies!
/End EDIT
I will give you an internet hug, if you want? /

[Whiskey]

So boring harpy whiskey post. I actually tracked my food today since I was thinking about it. i have to work 7-3 tonight, so I included the food I will be eating at work. The picture is browser size so I made it a link, thumbnail is below. My personal macro split is generally around 40% protein/40% fat/20% carbs. For not keeping track in forever, I didnt do bad on the split. The chicken strips, I obviously havent eaten yet. I drink diet soda or water at work, but i have a nasty habit of snacking on fries. eek.

[crashhelmet]

This thread has 140 replies, so i'm gonna come out and say that I did not read through them. Instead, I'm going to share my current diet and the diets that have worked for me in the past. Surprisingly, the older diet worked better and quicker than the current one.

Current Diet
5 meals a day, small portions. Consist of 5 servings protein (At least 100 grams of protein for the day), 5 roughage fruits/veggies, 1 carb, no fats

Breakfast
1/2 cup Steel cut oatmeal (Carb)
1 scoop protein powder (protein, naturally)
Handful of broccoli (Veggie)

All mixed into the oatmeal while it's cooking/nuking.

Then I goto the gym or dojo, depending on the day.

Second meal (After the gym, about 3 hours after first meal)
Protein shake
Apple

3rd, 4th and 5th meal are spread out around and through my work shift, about every 3 hours.
4oz Chicken or Salmon filet, depending on what i felt like cooking that day.
Salad with broccoli and/or diced apples, with a fat free vinagrette dressing.

The purpose of this diet is to drop weight and body fat, gain lean muscle. After 4 months on this diet, I've dropped from 190 to 165 (I ballooned up after having my knee kicked out), and from ~21% body fat to ~15%. The trainer I've been working with says I should be able to still drop another 10 pounds and ~5% body fat. I've shrunk in the waist and face, and gained everywhere else with muscle. I'm due for another eval in a week or so, so we'll see how much is changed again. I'm happy with this because I need to build the strength and stability back in my knees.

With complete honesty I'll admit that I still drink beer and soda. I also eat fast food from time to time. If I cut these all out, I'd probably be where my trainer thinks I can be, if not better.

My Old Diet
I ate whatever the hell I wanted to eat. I only had 2 rules.
1) Eat as soon as I wake up.
2) NEVER eat less than 3 hours before I went to bed.

Breakfast
1x Cliff/Granola bar, bagel, pop tart, left overs, whatever the hell was within reach.
1 32oz Dr. Pepper

Lunch
Wherever we went for lunch that day. Could've been Italian, Thai, Chinese, or fast food (All high fat and all high carb).

I got out of work at 5pm and would go straight to my dojo and train for 2-3 hours.

My last meal of the day would be either be something from a local fast food joint or something quick and easy at home, like a full cup of rice.

With this diet and exercise program, I dropped from 196 to 163 and from ~18% body fat to ~10% in 9 weeks. The cardio from the martial arts did almost all of it. However, any time I got hurt and I couldn't train, the weight came back like gangbusters.

As I've argued over on fratching, you can eat whatever the hell you want as long as you exercise enough to burn it off, but I'm liking this new method better. I've learned a lot about how the body digests and processes food.

CH

[teh_blumchenkinder]

So. Haven't posted in this thread in a while, 'cuz shit's been going down, least of which is school and its' 16 credit-hours of classes (which, supposedly, means 32 hours of homework, but is really more like 16, which is still a lot-- 32 hours a week on school! plus 20 hours give or take at work, once stuff starts rolling in for that... muh) Anyway!
I've been focusing on food right now, like trying to eat properly, regularly, the like. I'm on a low(er) glycemic-load diet, as previously mentioned, because sugar spikes r bad.
I've discovered a few things. Bananas do not agree with me, and it is best for everyone that I do not elaborate on that. Walnuts, while delicious and healthy (omega-3's woo~ need that shit for ADD), make the tip of my tongue feel cold-- even though I can detect no temperature difference with my fingers. Blueberries, peaches, and pears are mah buddies, as are avacadoes. Frozen blueberries are full of nutrients (according to the back of the package, even has iron in it... ??) and are as to ice cream to me; perfectly ripe peaches are like pillows and kittens-- a little slice of heaven; as are perfectly ripe (or overripe, not too picky on that end of the spectrum) pears. Handily enough, these are described as low-glycemic load. Well, lower than tropical fruits. I've focused on getting healthy fats, cutting out fatty stuff like fried goods, and incorporating more fresh food into my diet. And, the best part of the Weil Pyramid/diet thingy? It incorporates tea. Mmmmm.
This might be due to other problems, such as PMS-type stuff (or that I just have fat I'm not used to? doubt it a bit tho...), but I feel ... fat? bloated. Somewhere between those two. I do have a pudge, but it's not any bigger or smaller since the beginning of the month. I thought it might be sodium, or not enough water, but it's neither, I'm fairly certain. It might be intestinal irritation with walnuts or something, but I doubt that too... mostly because the 'results' aren't anything to mention.

[Whiskey]

that food pyramid is way off base. The main part of your diet shouldn't be carbs, imo. From what I can tell (google) theyve even redacted the original pyramid logo to "One pyramid does not fit all"

Replace bananas with cantaloupe if you like it.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

that food pyramid is way off base. The main part of your diet shouldn't be carbs, imo. From what I can tell (google) theyve even redacted the original pyramid logo to "One pyramid does not fit all"

Replace bananas with cantaloupe if you like it.

The pyramid that was handed to me is thus:
veg: 4-5 a day minimum; fruit: 3-4 a day; whole and cracked grains: 3-5 a day; pasta (al dente): 2-3 a week; beans and legumes: 1-2 a day; healthy fats: 5-7 a day; fish and seafood: 2-6 a week; whole soy foods:1-2 a day; cooked asian mushrooms: unlimited; other sources of protien: 1-2 a week; there's other stuff but it's spices, tea, supplements, wine, healthy sweets... but all of those sections are modified with examples, like the healthy fats include nuts (especially walnuts, avacadoes, seeds), extra virgin olive oil, etc. on the back of the paper it explains a little bit more about everything, and the doctor (who I thought was a nurse because my brain was needing glucose (yeah I know sugar) )handed it to me because it had the advantage of keeping blood sugar from freaking the hell out. I'm still not following it to the T, which I want to, because it does seem very healthy.
Also, ripe cantaloupe is amazing. I despise green (unripe) cantaloupe.

[Whiskey]

so where is meat? (unless you're a veggie)

The only thing i agree with in that pyramid is the healthy fats. The rest of it is still a majority of carbs. Unless youre a massive athelete you dont really need a whole crap ton of carbs in your diet. I eat between 15-20% of my calories in carbs and thats LOW carb. Most people shouldnt go over 30% because theyre not active enough.

imo all generalized im not a doctor.

and if anyone knows how/where to get cheap seafood i'd love to jack up the amount of fish I eat.

[Magpie]

In the 1980s and 1990s, when limiting fat intake was believed to be key to managing weight and preventing heart disease, most authorities agreed that 55 to 60 percent of total calories shoudl be from carbohydrates. But more recent research ... has led many health experts to revise the recommended percent of carbohydrates downward to around 50 percent of calories or lower. A minimum of 100 grams a day is essential and 125 grams is safe.

He goes on to give limits on sweets. He says 10% max, apparently average these days is 25%.

This is the sixth edition, 2007. So Whiskey, I'd say that there are expert opinions which say that over 30% isn't necessarily a problem. I've personally found your carb percentages a little lower than I'd aim for. Of course, I also tend to agree that different people need different splits, just because they are different (i.e. without taking activity level into account).

[Whiskey]

He goes on to give limits on sweets. He says 10% max, apparently average these days is 25%.

This is the sixth edition, 2007. So Whiskey, I'd say that there are expert opinions which say that over 30% isn't necessarily a problem. I've personally found your carb percentages a little lower than I'd aim for. Of course, I also tend to agree that different people need different splits, just because they are different (i.e. without taking activity level into account).

I eat ~100g of carbs per day. I also eat 2200 calories/day. I also bike and lift heavy stuff (no longer weights, i miss my gym ). Your macro split should always take your activity level into account.

I'm low carb because thats just how ive always eaten. I dont eat a lot of pasta, i never eat sandwiches, etc.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

seafood/fish is 2-6 times a week, and other protien is 1-2 times a week. So, about once a day is major animal protien. ... This is sad to me, and one point that I haven't really been following, except for the "more fish" part. I love milk, and even though I've been drinking more (non-isolate) soy milk and orange juice, I still drink more than is recommended by the diet. Protein, especially animal muscle-type stuff, sticks with a body, which I appreciate over a day of running around and high academic performance-- which burns calories too. So, generally, it's been milk and the occasional egg for breakfast (yikes cholesterol... need more oatmeal to get rid of that! and oatmeal provides fiber too...), lunch meat like ham or roast beef, cheese (omg cheeeeeese), peanut butter (need to get moar...), fish like sardines and grilled like in fish tacos, and occasionally processed stuff like peperoni. Also tried whey protein shakes. ... I can live with out them. Bleh. Nuts also have a lot of fat and protein in them.

[Whiskey]

seafood/fish is 2-6 times a week, and other protien is 1-2 times a week.

ah didnt see that. Yeah red meat isnt great to eat often. I eat a lot of chicken. I do need more fish. Fish is crazy expensive though. At least I can get a cheap cut of meat for 2$/lb

milk..eggs

I use/drink a lot of milk. I go through about... 2-3 dozen eggs a week at least. I dont worry about my cholesterol. It balances itself out against everything else I put in my body.