The Fitness Thread !

So, I have finally been able to minimize if not completely stop eating outside.
Next step I wanna take is change my daily diet from the unhealthy fatty Indian cooking to something that is more in sync with the kind of lifestyle we have these days. I know completely changing it is neither practical nor recommended, so it would be helpful if you guys could pitch in with how I can make a successful transition.

I guess I can very easily continue eating vegetables and pulses the way they are already cooked. I should lay off eating rice but it will take me some time to do that. My Mom and I already prefer eating rotis made from multi-grain atta rather than normal wheat atta.

Other suggestions will be much appreciated.
 
^you could start out with low oil cooking, google has lots of recipes for indian dishes with low oil.
Dont give up foods like rice, they are also important for the body, just try to eat in moderation.
The most important thing you can do is have your meals at the same time everyday, that helps to improve your digestion
 
rdst_1 said:
So, I have finally been able to minimize if not completely stop eating outside.
Next step I wanna take is change my daily diet from the unhealthy fatty Indian cooking to something that is more in sync with the kind of lifestyle we have these days. I know completely changing it is neither practical nor recommended, so it would be helpful if you guys could pitch in with how I can make a successful transition.

I guess I can very easily continue eating vegetables and pulses the way they are already cooked. I should lay off eating rice but it will take me some time to do that. My Mom and I already prefer eating rotis made from multi-grain atta rather than normal wheat atta.

Other suggestions will be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
There is nothing unhealthy about fatty foods.
See above, we have people popping in Omega-3 pills, which is nothing but a fatty acid, to improve their health.

Don't get caught into fads and half baked knowledge of the trash called dieticians.
Of course there is no harm in following their advice, but if their advice means spending double of what you typically spend on food today - you really need to look into what you are getting into.

Myths that you need to get out from your head:
1. Fats are harmful: No they are not. Only trans-fat has been proven to be detrimental to health. And in any case unless you gorge on "western" junk food and dalda vanaspati ghee - you will never have any means of ingesting it.
2. Rice is bad: Rice is actually superior to other forms of cereals in my opinion. Cooked rice is mostly water. That means you get satiated MUCH faster even though you consume less calories. Can't say the same about rotis, breads, pastas, noodles which contain less water when cooked.
3. Multi grain atta is superior to wheat atta: This is nothing but marketing bollocks. Atta used for rotis is usually whole wheat. Multigrain atta that you get actually contains other grains (like gram) that are usually husked and polished. Which means you are actually ingesting the maida equivalent of different cereals.
4. Dietary cholesterol is harmful: Dietary cholesterol has nothing to do with the blood cholestrol levels (HDL, LDL, VLDL). Blood cholesterol is produced by the liver because the body needs it. Why? Well for producing sex hormones for one, for doing repair work etc. Refer #2 below.
5. Proteins need to be supplemented by buying expensive drinks/shakes/powders: Loads of BS. Unless you are injecting steroids your body will take this extra protein, convert it into sugar and store it as fat.
6: You need Calcium supplements to keep your bones strong: Refer to point #4 below.


The truth:
1. Over eating is unhealthy. How do you know you are over eating? If you above 25 years old and gaining weight steadily - you are overeating. Unless you are injecting steroids, most of the weight that you put on is fat only. Higher amount of visceral fat has been found to be correlated with diabetes.
2. Simple Sugar are usually harmful. Simple sugars digest very fast, and cause a blood sugar level spike. Of course your pancreas secrete insulin to absorb this sugar into muscles, liver etc but it takes some time. Every time your blood sugar levels are elevated it causes damage to the blood vessels. Liver produces cholesterol to repair this damage. But over a period of time, this cholesterol patch work actually restricts the flow of blood in the vessels. When the blood supply to heart itself is restricted we end up with heart attack.
3. You get sufficient protein in normal vegetarian diet. What you don't get sufficiently is the B12 vitamin.
4. Milk is not necessary in your life. Which other grown animal do you know that needs milk for calcium? So why the fuss? Well women are prone to bone injuries because of their hormone (estrogen) drops significantly after menopause. The guys also suffer a drop in testosterone in their old age. Add to the fact that we hardly see the outside sun these days = less Vitamin D in our bodies. Also add to this the general laziness and no physical activity. Running/walking with load, lifting weights etc cause bones to adapt and become/remain strong.
 
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ssslayer said:
There is nothing unhealthy about fatty foods.
See above, we have people popping in Omega-3 pills, which is nothing but a fatty acid, to improve their health.

Don't get caught into fads and half baked knowledge of the trash called dieticians.
Of course there is no harm in following their advice, but if their advice means spending double of what you typically spend on food today - you really need to look into what you are getting into.

Myths that you need to get out from your head:
1. Fats are harmful: No they are not. Only trans-fat has been proven to be detrimental to health. And in any case unless you gorge on "western" junk food and dalda vanaspati ghee - you will never have any means of ingesting it.
2. Rice is bad: Rice is actually superior to other forms of cereals in my opinion. Cooked rice is mostly water. That means you get satiated MUCH faster even though you consume less calories. Can't say the same about rotis, breads, pastas, noodles which contain less water when cooked.
3. Multi grain atta is superior to wheat atta: This is nothing but marketing bollocks. Atta used for rotis is usually whole wheat. Multigrain atta that you get actually contains other grains (like gram) that are usually husked and polished. Which means you are actually ingesting the maida equivalent of different cereals.
4. Dietary cholesterol is harmful: Dietary cholesterol has nothing to do with the blood cholestrol levels (HDL, LDL, VLDL). Blood cholesterol is produced by the liver because the body needs it. Why? Well for producing sex hormones for one, for doing repair work etc. Refer #2 below.
5. Proteins need to be supplemented by buying expensive drinks/shakes/powders: Loads of BS. Unless you are injecting steroids your body will take this extra protein, convert it into sugar and store it as fat.
6: You need Calcium supplements to keep your bones strong: Refer to point #4 below.


The truth:
1. Over eating is unhealthy. How do you know you are over eating? If you above 25 years old and gaining weight steadily - you are overeating. Unless you are injecting steroids, most of the weight that you put on is fat only. Higher amount of visceral fat has been found to be correlated with diabetes.
2. Simple Sugar are usually harmful. Simple sugars digest very fast, and cause a blood sugar level spike. Of course your pancreas secrete insulin to absorb this sugar into muscles, liver etc but it takes some time. Every time your blood sugar levels are elevated it causes damage to the blood vessels. Liver produces cholesterol to repair this damage. But over a period of time, this cholesterol patch work actually restricts the flow of blood in the vessels. When the blood supply to heart itself is restricted we end up with heart attack.
3. You get sufficient protein in normal vegetarian diet. What you don't get sufficiently is the B12 vitamin.
4. Milk is not necessary in your life. Which other grown animal do you know that needs milk for calcium? So why the fuss? Well women are prone to bone injuries because of their hormone (estrogen) drops significantly after menopause. The guys also suffer a drop in testosterone in their old age. Add to the fact that we hardly see the outside sun these days = less Vitamin D in our bodies. Also add to this the general laziness and no physical activity. Running/walking with load, lifting weights etc cause bones to adapt and become/remain strong.
Click to expand...
So basically I shouldn't worry about rice or other fatty stuff. The reason I mentioned those was because of the very little exercise I get right now. I can obviously burn through those calories with higher amount of exercise, but considering the life style we guys have these days isn't it better if we were to change our diet to suit that. The days of toiling hard in the fields are gone and despite me getting into farming, most of the work I have to do is either automated or done by machines. I can't wait for the day I have enough money to build my own swimming pool as that is the only exercise apart from cycling that I can stick with. Hence, till then, I wanted to know if I can get away with minimal exercise by changing the foods I eat.

We use refined oil or mustard oil but will soon shift completely to home prepared Desi Ghee for all our cooking.
I actually think multi grain Atta is better since we usually get it prepared ourselves. Even our Whole wheat atta is much more fibrous than the one found in the market. I have found that with multi grain atta, I usually am satisfied with half the amount of rotis I would have eaten if they were of whole wheat.

As for milk I do agree that we don't need it per se and I personally stopped drinking milk when I was 5, but milk products do make an essential part of our food. I usually drink Lassi and eat curd in high quantities. Also considering I am practising dairy farming, I think it will be difficult to stay away from milk.
I know that vegan culture is taking it's hold and it might well be the future, but we don't treat cows in India the way they are treated abroad, which is usually the main complaint people have.
 
rdst_1 said:
1. So basically I shouldn't worry about rice or other fatty stuff.

2. We use refined oil or mustard oil but will soon shift completely to home prepared Desi Ghee for all our cooking.

3. I actually think multi grain Atta is better since we usually get it prepared ourselves. Even our Whole wheat atta is much more fibrous than the one found in the market. I have found that with multi grain atta, I usually am satisfied with half the amount of rotis I would have eaten if they were of whole wheat.

4. As for milk I do agree that we don't need it per se and I personally stopped drinking milk when I was 5, but milk products do make an essential part of our food. I usually drink Lassi and eat curd in high quantities. Also considering I am practising dairy farming, I think it will be difficult to stay away from milk.

5. I know that vegan culture is taking it's hold and it might well be the future, but we don't treat cows in India the way they are treated abroad, which is usually the main complaint people have.
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1. Not exactly. I did say that overeating is unhealthy. And the best way to know you are overeating or not is your waist size. Is it increasing? Well then you are getting fat because you are eating more than your body needs. It may be caused by consuming meat, eggs, milk, protein powder, [= proteins] AND/OR rice, wheat, cereals, sugar, fruits, starchy vegetables [= carbs] AND/OR vegetable oil, ghee, vanaspati ghee, lard, dry fruits [= fat]. Anything can comprise the excess.

2. Doesn't really make any difference. Use any fatty acid medium that you desire. It is preferred that you should have some amount of Omega-3 fatty acids. Ghee appears to be good in providing Omega-3 PUFA (poly unsaturated fatty acids). Sunflower oil is poor in it (despite what Saffola and others have been marketing since the 1990s).

3. Yes you may definitely continue with multi-grain. I said it is over rated and marketed as superior, which it isn't.

4. Yoghurt is good for the probiotic effect it has on the large intestines.

5. I am a hardcore opportunistic omnivore :) so all this vegan talk and its underlying philosophy is alien to me ;)
 
dafreaking said:
For those who are supplementing their Omega 3 intake, Have you guys noticed any real benefits/improvements?
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No. Benefits are long term. I will continue having them. I checked cost of getting omega 6 : Omega 3 test done. Was quoted 7/8k for it :eek:[DOUBLEPOST=1454575269][/DOUBLEPOST]
raptor3624 said:
I take Sea Cod cod liver capsules almost daily. But the benefits are more long term. I haven't seen any short term. But I will continue to take them.
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Fish oils are way more effective than cod liver. If you can get it from the US regularly they'll cost you Rs. 700/900 per month 1/2 grams per day of highest quality ones.
 
Just scored a 2.5kg bag of MyProtein Whey. Jeez I didn't know this stuff could be bought for sooo cheap. Almost a third of the price of stuff available here and super highly rated at labdoor. http://www.myprotein.com/sports-nut.../10530943.html?autocomplete=productsuggestion

I was dosing Fish Oil at 8 gms a day + 2 gms of Cod liver oil. Have completely forgotten to take it in the last week. I had also made many other changes so there was no way to tell if it had any immediate effect or not.
 
One may never come to see the benefits of Omega-3 because of two reasons:
1. The benefits of Omega-3 (anti inflammatory) is something that one would realize only when enough damage to cells and tissues has occurred. Which typically happens by the time one is let say >50 years old. So this means it usually shows effects over two three decades at least.
2. The benefits of Omega-3 may be offset by countless other unhealthy pursuits like simple sugar spikes, increased visceral fat, continuous stress, exposure to poison, smoking etc

One would never, on his deathbed, ever come to know whether the countless monies pored into devouring Omega-3 actually prolonged his life and made it enjoyable or not.
:)
 
ssslayer said:
One may never come to see the benefits of Omega-3 because of two reasons:
1. The benefits of Omega-3 (anti inflammatory) is something that one would realize only when enough damage to cells and tissues has occurred. Which typically happens by the time one is let say >50 years old. So this means it usually shows effects over two three decades at least.
2. The benefits of Omega-3 may be offset by countless other unhealthy pursuits like simple sugar spikes, increased visceral fat, continuous stress, exposure to poison, smoking etc

One would never, on his deathbed, ever come to know whether the countless monies pored into devouring Omega-3 actually prolonged his life and made it enjoyable or not.
:)
Click to expand...
That is true. For a lot of things actually... :D
PS: Inflammation can happen at any age.
 
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Rockfella said:
That is true. For a lot of things actually... :D
PS: Inflammation can happen at any age.
Click to expand...

http://examine.com/supplements/Fish+Oil/

Interesting thing from personal experience. I didn't take this stuff for a week-10 days and my mood was quite erratic. This was also at the same time that I wasn't sleeping too well. My mood was erratic to say the least. almost felt bi-polar. The exaamine.com note on Fish Oil says that it has an effect on depression. Had no clue about this. :cool:
 
dafreaking said:
http://examine.com/supplements/Fish+Oil/

Interesting thing from personal experience. I didn't take this stuff for a week-10 days and my mood was quite erratic. This was also at the same time that I wasn't sleeping too well. My mood was erratic to say the least. almost felt bi-polar. The exaamine.com note on Fish Oil says that it has an effect on depression. Had no clue about this. :cool:
Click to expand...

The point is there is too much proof out there that it works that I can't post everything here. IMO spending Rs. 700/800 per month on something like Omega 3s is a no brainer. Just have the damn softgels.
 
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