The Health Thread

[One-Way]

I am the last person to promote good health. In fact, I can't stand people who spend minutes reading the nutritional facts, analyzing the calories and breaking down each percentage.

I have always ate what I wanted whenever I wanted. To be completely honest, I eat a lot of fast food. I drink a lot of soda; I have cut back on soda over the years but I used to drink 4-5 cans a day. Yes, there have been days where I have literally finished a 12-pack. I don't care what time it is, if I'm hungry, I'll eat whatever I please.

With that said, I am completely fine. I need to watch my cholesterol because, although it's not bad, it has gone up a tad bit from the last time. My sugar and everything else is normal. If you see me, I look perfectly normal and healthy. I eat small portions many times a day, which I hear is good.

Over the past few years, I have started to grow a little stomach. My metabolism has always been super fast and I have always been crazy active. As I have grown up, things have changed. I'm not as active and a little tummy has formed. To be honest, it's not much, but I see a lot of guys older than me who looked the way I did when they were young, yet are packing a lot of weight now.

I'm not going to switch my diet habits all the way around but I am going to watch myself. I have seriously cut back on soda and am drinking much more water. I am cutting back fast food, although being a student and having ate fast food nearly every day of my life, it's tough. I have started exercising and working out much more. I am playing basketball pretty much once a week now. I'm not planning on changing my body, I just want to take care of myself so I don't end up blowing up before I know it.

I'm sure many of you are health nuts, so have at it.

[jgk3]

Re: The Health Thread

What keeps me regulated, even though I pig out on pastries and try out different ones around town every week, is a combination of high metabolism, kung fu 2-3 times a week, relying on public transport (as it involves a decent amount of walking time), walking the dog for 30-60 mins on every other day and otherwise, eating well. No fast food, no drinks except water, rarely going to restaurants (and when I do, it's usually a good quality fish place), rarely drinking alcohol (not because I'm a wuss but because I know it slows down my training progress, which I don't want unless I end up reminiscent of the Nazis in Hitlers bunker at the end of WWII as seen in the movie Downfall :P ).

I listen to nutritionists, I read ingredients and don't purchase things with preservatives, artificial sweeteners, etc... I eat a lot of fruits, whole wheat pasta, potatoes, beans, rice and vegetables, rarely any meat.

I consume a lot of cholesterol on weekends when I go for breakfast (eating thin crepes, omelettes or Belgian Waffles), but it's not bad for you if you do something about it during the week. This is my cycle and I've been moving into it, gradually eliminating the horrible stuff I'd eat or drink as a kid, since 2005. So don't expect to miraculously turn your life around at a given point without ever reverting back to your old bad habits, unless you've worked at/lived with a solid foundation of health conscious habits to begin with. Otherwise, dramatically switching your diet and habits could be very hard on your body and mind, I hear some people even get sick at first trying to adopt healthier habits at too rapid a pace.

This is all just my opinion.