Lifestyle Changes/Tips and trickses

[Shro]

Getting to your goal/ideal weight is difficult. Staying there is a little bit easier, but still not a walk in the park (actually... maybe it is). What are some of the Little Things that you do that help you maintain your health (I would like to expand it and ask for strategies in maintaining your mental/emotional well being as well)?

One of my biggest ones is slowly replacing my computer chair with an exercise ball. It's a large, weighted exercise ball, and it's abso-freakin'-fantastic. It keeps my core and my back engaged, constantly making little adjustments. I'm sitting cross legged on it right now.

Carrying around a water bottle. Having water with me at all times gives me the opportunity to drink more water.

Parking far away. It's not difficult for me to walk longer distances and the "look for a good parking spot" time is usually commensurate with the "walk to the door from a little farther away" time.

Drink a glass or two of water before meals. I get fuller faster, and consequently do not eat nearly as much.

[Samik]

Well, this is probably not the one that everyone wants to hear, but I've learned that my taste buds are highly adaptable - they get used to whatever I give them, and eventually grow to like it.

I used to hate milk - the only kind I could stomach was whole. Over the course of a year or so, I adjusted down to 2%... then 1%... and now the only thing I can drink is skim - even 1% seems disgustingly sweet. Same thing with yogurt. I now genuinely look forward to my oats and non-fat plain yogurt (plus a couple egg whites) every morning - I find it much more satisfying than honey bunches of oats ever was (more filling, gives me more energy, and tastes every bit as good).

I'm still nowhere near finished fine-tuning my diet (so take my advice and salt to taste (and feel free to proffer any of your own)), but the point I'm trying to make is that while it may seem intimidating now to cut out so many of your favorite things, it does get easier.

Spoiler:

Also, I have great personal skepticism about the usefulness of making a concerted effort to increase one's water intake. Now, I am about as far of an out-lier as you will ever meet (my hot-weather exploits are legendary), but this seems to me that it must be something that is highly variable from person to person. A glass of OJ in the morning and a glass of milk for lunch and dinner is more than enough fluid for me most days of the year, including running days (obvious exceptions being when I'm on a serious gym binge and killing myself on a regular basis).

I just wonder what the current state of the science on this is? I keep running across articles about long distance runners where it is pointed out that many more suffer complications from over-hydration than dehydration.

/thread hijacking off.

[Shro]

Well, this is probably not the one that everyone wants to hear, but I've learned that my taste buds are highly adaptable - they get used to whatever I give them, and eventually grow to like it.

This is completely true. Same with my stomach actually. I just quit eating fast food all together, and now I can't even smell the stuff without feeling a little sick. And if I do eat it, I feel gross and off and my stomach hates me forever.

Spoiler:

Also, I have great personal skepticism about the usefulness of making a concerted effort to increase one's water intake. Now, I am about as far of an out-lier as you will ever meet (my hot-weather exploits are legendary), but this seems to me that it must be something that is highly variable from person to person. A glass of OJ in the morning and a glass of milk for lunch and dinner is more than enough fluid for me most days of the year, including running days (obvious exceptions being when I'm on a serious gym binge and killing myself on a regular basis).

I just wonder what the current state of the science on this is? I keep running across articles about long distance runners where it is pointed out that many more suffer complications from over-hydration than dehydration.

/thread hijacking off.

If it is a personal thing, I'm someone who needs plenty of water. Especially in the dry winters here, if I don't get enough water, I end up feeling like a dried out husk of a human. Also, the water content of your food also probably has something to do with it. I wish I could remember the stupid endocrinology lecture I went to about the kidneys. There's a maximum amount of water that your kidneys can go through if you're not eating any food. If you're eating more food, and food with salts and sugars and whatnot, then that number increases.

[Bradshaw]

Shro:

By far and away, the biggest lifestyle change I made that helped was giving up sugar and bread once and for all. You don't even have to go full paleo, just getting rid of sugar and bread takes you 90% of the way there.

It took me about 4 years to really do this. I remember watching a friend of mine eating a paleo lunch and thinking, "What a nut!" Now here I am doing the same thing. But it takes a long long time to make that kind of fundamental change.

Raising kids doesn't help this either. I mean, what would I put in their lunches if not sandwiches? Clearly compromises must be found.

Bottom line, try not eating any refined sugar for 2 weeks. You would be surprised first at how many products have a lot of refined sugar in them (in my house we call ketchup "tomato syrup"), then at how amazing your body starts feeling as your metabolism gets back to the way it's supposed to work. Once you break this addiction, then every other lifestyle change becomes even easier.

Cheers,
Zac

[shocklocks]

Also, I have great personal skepticism about the usefulness of making a concerted effort to increase one's water intake. Now, I am about as far of an out-lier as you will ever meet (my hot-weather exploits are legendary), but this seems to me that it must be something that is highly variable from person to person. A glass of OJ in the morning and a glass of milk for lunch and dinner is more than enough fluid for me most days of the year, including running days (obvious exceptions being when I'm on a serious gym binge and killing myself on a regular basis

You CAN get by on very little fluids but drinking 2 glasses of milk and a glass of OJ on a day when you're doing nothing seems pretty low to me. On a day you're running it just seems, well.. dumb.

[Samik]

Deleted for allowing myself to be baited into derailing the thread. Sorry, Shro.

[Shro]

I like the "cutting down on refined sugars" thing. I've been buying the wheatiest wheat bread possible, switching to brown rice, etc. It makes a big difference, because these foods seem so much more filling than their refined, white counterparts. Also, my portion sizes have slowly been cut down. And I've also been feeding myself a variety of flavors. I feel like when I eat bland foods I tend to eat more because my palate remains unsatisfied when my stomach is already at capacity. So I've tried to give myself a variety of things to eat, even if it has that bit of butter or whatever in it, because I know that if my food is flavorful, I will eat less of it.

[Mad-Slick]

- Only buy groceries on a full stomach as this will help to ensure you don't pick up any unhealthy snacks. Hungry people make bad decisions.

- Try to have about 1 glass of water every hour that you're awake. This makes staying completely hydrated a much less daunting task.

- Keep saturated fats to a minimum. (but not 0, these are necessary)

- Stay AWAY from sodas both diet and regular.

- Don't eat sweets.

- 5-6 Small meals a day... keeps your metabolism going and gives you a chance to get all the protein you need and actually use it all.

- NO FAST FOOD... EVER (Except maybe subway occasionally)