Alright, I'm going to form a diet to start using this summer...

[Dr. Casey]

I've always been in the habit of eating what I want, when I want to. I've always been in healthy crap, though, so this hasn't always been a bad thing, exactly. But, eh... I'm trying to make up a diet to maximize my kickassness... so... I'm going to the food pyramid now.

Fats, Oils, and Sweets - Use Sparingly - + Calcium, Vitamin D, Vitamin B-12. Hmm... so this group has some health benefits as well, eh? I'm not sure what to do about this one, as it says "use sparingly". Would one bag of BBQ chips a week be good? o_o BBQ chips and... Hi-C. Screw health if it means giving up Hi-C. And Yoo-Hoo. Anything else I can ditch.

Milk, Yogurt, and Cheese Group - 3 Servings. Umm... I drink about 8 glasses of milk a day. >_>; I love cows, they created one of the best drinks ever. Anyway, can I just stick to milk, or are there definite advantages to branching out into yogurt and cheese, even if they're much less awesome?

Meat, Poultry, Fish Dry Beans and Nut Group. 2 servings. Hmm... does this mean Peanuts that you can buy at the store? I don't like meat... so... I'd rather stick to fish and nuts. I don't even know what poultry is.

Vegetable group. 3 servings. Hmm, this is pretty easy. I can just eat a lot of tomatoes and celery.

Fruit Group. 2 servings. Ah, my favorite group. Watermelon's my favorite food, so... I can just eat a lot of watermelon, grapes, bananas, and oranges.

Fortified cereal, Bread, Rice and Pasta. 6 servings. What kind of cereal? I love French Toast Crunch and stuff like that, but I dunno if that would be in this category or under sweets... would it be okay to just eat normal loafs of bread? I mean, I'm pretty sure I'd throw up eventually if I had to eat two plates of spaghetti every day...

Water 8 servings. Heh, simple enough. I don't really like water, though. Nowhere near as good as milk.

... yeah. Help. I don't really know what I'm doing. >_>;

[galya]

Any particular reason you chose the food pyramid?
It is possibly one of the worst and most disputed models of how one should eat.
It might be good to look at http://johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/index.htm
and do some reading.
I am sure other people will come up with more links to ABCs of nutrition.
Good luck!

[Dr. Casey]

Originally Posted by galya

Any particular reason you chose the food pyramid?

Well, it's the only one I knew of, and I assumed it was good since they've been throwing it at us since we were little kids.

And thanks, I'll check that link out when I get back from school.

[TrainingGirl]

I think one of the main problems with the food guide pyramid is noone actually follows it. Just one meal at McD's will throw you completely off. And with the way people eat, they are thrown off before they are even done breakfast! They are making changes to it to add more specifics, such as you should be using whole grains and lean meats, etc. I would say you can take some from it, but do additional research as Galya suggested and play around a bit to see what works best for you to reach your goals.

For oils, fats, you should use olive oil, nuts, fish.
Poultry is chicken, turkey...you want lean cuts
Nuts that you buy at the store are good...plain...nuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios
Veggies...not sure that celery offers much...can you add in some broccoli, spinach, greeens that give you more bang for your buck?
Fruit...add some berries that contain antioxidants...strawberries, blueberries.
And you don't need to limit veggies and fruit to those servings..the more the better
If you don't like water, add some fresh lemon to it once in a while. I've been drinking water for so long, I actually prefer it over every other drink

[dos]

Put out by UCLA.....the "California Cuisine Pyramid". Probably the most health-concious yet extremely effective eating plan even for performance!

http://www.snac.ucla.edu/pages/Diet_...l_Planning.htm

http://www.medicalview.com/nutrition...des/slide1.gif

[TrainingGirl]

very nice dos...gonna print that out and read it in more detail. time to go eat my veggies

[steelerfan]

You also may want to check out www.precisionnutrition.com . I just got mine yesterday and for $97 (special until 3/31/06 reg. $147) it looks to be a steal. It is also by Dr. John Berardi and or own Johnka helped with the cookbook that comes wtih it. Haven't had a chance to check it all out but Berardi is top notch, the site gives info on the entire package.

[galya]

It's a good product, I have it. It certainly helps you organize things and gives a lot of ideas.
John Williams and Berardi did a wonderful job with Gourmet Nutrition and the new recipes that come with PN.
The forum is also very helpful.

[castufari]

If you're serious and not trolling, read the Adam's diet thread.

[Dr. Casey]

I've never trolled, but that's besides the point.

At lunch, put some lettuce and tomato in a sandwich (that’s 1 serving)

Does it mean just a lettuce and tomato sandwich? No meat or cheese?

At dinner, add 1 cup frozen broccoli to your pasta (that’s 2).

Frozen broccoli? That doesn't sound very good. So does this mean I can just spread some Ragu over a paper plate and stick frozen broccoli in it?

Suggested plan: Drink 1 c. of OJ in the morning (that’s 2 servings), and grab an apple and small banana for backpack snacks (that’s 2 more). Daily total = 4 servings of fruit.

Wish it was all this easy.

Eat 1 ½ cup Total cereal in the morning (that’s 2 servings),

Cup? But... everyone eats cereal in bowls... o_o;

1 ½ cup pasta with dinner (that’s 3)

So I'm just supposed to pour pasta, as in spaghetti sauce, into a cup and eat it plain?

and add 1/2 can of tuna to your pasta at dinner.

Tuna and spaghetti sauce? Doesn't sound like a very good combination.

Add 1 T. oil and vinegar dressing to a salad and you’ve got 1 more.

One ton of oil and vinegar, eh? ... *has no idea what a T is*

That's an awesome site, dos. Thank you. It's a little too long, though, so I'll get the rest later. >_>

[Ogedei]

God I HOPE to hell that was written tongue in cheek.

[Dr. Casey]

I wish it was, too. ;_;

[tGunslinger]

Does it mean just a lettuce and tomato sandwich? No meat or cheese?

No, it means in addition to your meat and cheese.

Frozen broccoli? That doesn't sound very good. So does this mean I can just spread some Ragu over a paper plate and stick frozen broccoli in it?

Thaw the broccoli first.

Cup? But... everyone eats cereal in bowls... o_o;

Bust out a measuring cup. After a few uses of the measuring cup, you should be able to eyeball what a 'cup' of cereal looks like in your bowl.

So I'm just supposed to pour pasta, as in spaghetti sauce, into a cup and eat it plain?

Pasta = noodles. If you mean just pour noodles into a cup and eat them plain, then yes. But I'd add some Italian seasonings, garlic, and a sprinkling of olive oil to the noodles.

Tuna and spaghetti sauce? Doesn't sound like a very good combination.

Add some Italian seasonings and garlic and it's actually quite good. I like to heat the tuna in a microwave (since I'm talking to Dr. Casey, I might add that I take it out of the can before I nuke it) so that the temp of the tuna matches the temp of the sauce and noodles.

One ton of oil and vinegar, eh? ... *has no idea what a T is*

Consider a ton of oil and vinegar to be a bulking diet. I'm deadly serious.

Tbsp = tablespoon (Use a measuring spoon, or just use a table spoon. This is rocket science level stuff here)
Tsp = teaspoon (Slightly less than the table spoon, or use about a half-full table spoon)

T isn't really a measurement, but since they're talking about oils and vinegar, I'd assume they mean a tablespoon.

I've never trolled, but that's besides the point.

[Dr. Casey]

Thanks, Gunslinger. You are quite wise.

[spankdat]

Originally Posted by tGunslinger

T isn't really a measurement, but since they're talking about oils and vinegar, I'd assume they mean a tablespoon.

Uh, don't mean to contradict you here but 'T.' and 't.' are also abbreviations for tablespoon(s) and teaspoon(s) respectively, and are in quite common usage. Just f.y.i., pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

[tGunslinger]

Oh, ya learn something new everyday! I don't mind if someone corrects my errors, it's better than staying ignorant.

[Dr. Casey]

I need animated GIFs (ala Home-Grown Muscle) of people eating their food so that I know what to eat.

[RedLefty]

Originally Posted by Dr. Casey

I need animated GIFs (ala Home-Grown Muscle) of people eating their food so that I know what to eat.

Avoid foods with this guy on the label:



Don't play with your food:

[Dr. Casey]

Thank you, Lefty. I now feel like I could create a Food Guide Pyramid myself.

[emartin10]

If you are serious about all this, take a few minutes and read some threads on this nutrition forum about diets, you should have a good idea of how we all eat for the most part in about 10 minutes. Dos' articles are awesome, and take a few minutes and read some info on www.johnberardi.com Then you should be set. E

[Dr. Casey]

Alright... let's get started. Dr. Casey's Diet Plan, Version 1. With me in charge, this plan is destined to... um... really suck. But meh, I gotta start trying to get something done. I can categorize the times and crap later.

Vegetables - One cup (As in, plain paper cup) of lettuce, one cup of cabbage, two one-pound baby carrot bags

Fruits - 5 (or more) glasses of apple/grape/orange/pineapple/w hatever juice, two cups worth of grapes, two oranges

Grains and starchy Vegetables - Two (or more) slices of bread, rice, pasta (Pasta = noodles? GunSlinger pointed it out to me a while ago, but it still seems crazy.), and a... baked potato... or something

Fat fat or 1% low fat milk - Four glasses of milk, two things of yogurt

Lean protein-rich foods - 6 egg whites, 2 things of canned tuna

Higher fat protein-rich foods - Um... would American cheese be able to contribute towards "3 oz. of cheese"? Also, 3 whole eggs.

Fats - Nuts and peanut butter... would it really be a good idea to eat these every day? Doesn't sound like it, but hey, if that's what the site says...

High fat sweets and snacks - One cup of ice cream, french fries, small bag of potato chips.

... and that's it.

... <_<

[BFG]

OK so whats with all the high fat stuff you have high fat in their anyway.

Fruit juice 5 glasses equates to about 15 apples and with far less nutritional benfit. What are you aiming to achieve with this diet???? Sumo status????

[BFG]

But it appears to me you are bored and just taking the piss out of all the invaluable advice people are trying to give you.

[milkman21]

I agree with you BFG, I saw this thread last night and didn't even bother...

[Dr. Casey]

I am not taking the piss out of anyone. I'm being completely serious, and I'm grateful for everyone's advice. This is merely an honest attempt to make a good plan. This is the truth; do with it what you will, but don't crap up my topic with your baseless accusations.

Anyway, to reply to your actual points...

OK so whats with all the high fat stuff you have high fat in their anyway.

Well, that's one of the categories listed under the "Real Life vs. Pyramid Portions" section at the snac website.

Fruit juice 5 glasses equates to about 15 apples and with far less nutritional benfit.

Well, I have to drink something, and it can't all be just milk and water... I've always gotten the impression that fruit juice is healthy. I mean, "orange juice is bad for you" just doesn't compute. So... would it be better to just drink one glass? Apples taste like shit, by the way. Unless they're green or you cut them up.

[BFG]

OK well I stand to be proven wrong and appologise if I read it wrong.

But news flash "real life" doesnt get you the results you wanna achieve. If you wanna lose weight and eat healthy then sacrifices have to be made they can be an occasional treat tho if you are prepared to let your goal be extended.

"orange juice is bad for you" ...........Calories Mr thats alot of sugars going in your body as well, now as long as you are prepared to sacrifice food at the expense of fruit juice all well and good.

[Dr. Casey]

OK well I stand to be proven wrong and appologise if I read it wrong.

No problem at all. =)

But news flash "real life" doesnt get you the results you wanna achieve. If you wanna lose weight and eat healthy then sacrifices have to be made they can be an occasional treat tho if you are prepared to let your goal be extended.

Ah, have you checked out that portion of the website? I think it's saying that high fat sweets and snacks are recommended for... some reason. I hope I'm misreading it; my idea of a treat would be more along the lines of grapes or a watermelon (Which is my favorite food, actually).

Calories Mr

XD Well, I just read the label on the orange juice we had in the refridgerator. It's just 110 calories.

thats alot of sugars going in your body as well

Man, how could my old friend contain such a dark side? =o There's a reason that everyone hypes up orange juice, though, isn't there? The pros outweight the cons... or something?

now as long as you are prepared to sacrifice food at the expense of fruit juice all well and good.

Of course. I don't really like sweets. They might taste good every once in a while, but the thought of, say, eating a Nutty Bar and then turning around and eating a piece of cake just makes me sick.

[BFG]

all that Vit C in the orange juice is great for health but again it depends on your goal. If you losing weight its a case of what would keep you fuller 5 glasses of orange juice or the equivelant in actual oranges, I think its an average of 3 or 4 large oranges per glass and you get all that great fiber in the real thing.

But also the thing to look at as well is it concentrate or pure juice? Does it have added sugars as well? Yes pure juice means more oranges but concentrate is not as healthy as pure.


The idea behind the high fat is that it allegedly stops the pangs for bad foods. When starting on a fat loss journey of severe obesity I found these were handy at first from a pure motivational tool as to deprive makes it harder. But the more you lose the less you want these sort of things as you realise "shit I just busted my ass in the gym for an hour to be able to eat that one thing and undo my good work."
But yeh better to drink the OJ than a litr of coke

[Dr. Casey]

Oh, losing weight is definitely not a goal. Given my low appetite and lack of activity, I've gone down from 160 pounds to 135 since August. I just want to eat the right things so that it doesn't reduce the effects of the workouts I'll do; I'll want to get on a good diet for two or three weeks before getting back into heavy exercising. But, yeah, the orange juice in there is pure, and it says that it's pasteurized as well.

Ah, nevermind. I'll post again later.

[ZachL]

the food pyramid has been dropped - now they use this:
mypyramid.gov

I think it makes a lot more sense, too.