Nutrition questions

I do believe that the lack of fiber in your diet leads to over-weight though. Many diets contradict each other but what almost all diets(Paleo, low carb, low fat, the Mediterranean, Okinawan etc) have in common is eat a lot of veggies. I think if someone eats tons of veggies he provides his body with enough fiber and nutrients. A good way to get enough veggies is juicing. Agree that veggies are good for weight control, but doesn't juicing remove all the fiber?

Protein shakes are controversial - nutrionists seem to indicate they aren't particlularly useful or needed despite all the claims by the companies that make them. Protein is essential to properly recover after a workout, but you can easly obtain the needed proteins and fats from a meal of natural foods. Some concerns about protein shakes were included in a article from Consumer Reports on this forum and referenced a few weeks back (search for it)::worms: That may have been me. I scanned the article and still have it on my computer. If anybody is interested in reading it, send me a PM with your e-mail address and I will send back the article. Instead of protein shakes, I drink 8th Continent Light Chocolate Soy Milk after my workouts. Not only is it less expensive; it tastes great, has the protein I need, and is only 90 calories for 8oz. :2cents:

That is exactly it. It's the same reason people lose weight when they alter percentages of fat or carbs or whatever. The only way to lose weight it to eat less food than you normally do. It also helps if the food is whole and nutritious, because it's good fuel. This has been my opinion for years even though low carb gurus want to tell you the opposite. I do believe that the lack of fiber in your diet leads to over-weight though. Many diets contradict each other but what almost all diets(Paleo, low carb, low fat, the Mediterranean, Okinawan etc) have in common is eat a lot of veggies. I think if someone eats tons of veggies he provides his body with enough fiber and nutrients. A good way to get enough veggies is juicing. I drink a veggie/fruit juice every morning as my only breakfast. I would drink a fresh veggie/fruit juice over a protein shake any day. I can recommend this book: Amazon.com: Complete Book of Juicing: Your Delicious Guide to Youthful Vitality (9780761511267): Michael T. Murray: Books

No one argues that veggies and fruits aren't good for you... but they do not make up other critical components of a diet, particularly for athletes, the question is, where to get protein from. That is the bigger problem in dieting than eating fruits and veggies which have few calories anyway.

No one argues that veggies and fruits aren't good for you... but they do not make up other critical components of a diet, particularly for athletes, the question is, where to get protein from. That is the bigger problem in dieting than eating fruits and veggies which have few calories anyway. What's the problem of eating a diet of mainly whole foods and not processed junk? If man made it, don't eat it. If a person eats a diet of whole food like mainly veggies, then fruit, fish, lean meat, legumes, eggs, whole grains, seeds and nuts and maybe dairy as billions of people around the world have eaten for centuries, they stay lean. Billions of Asians prove it. It is only when modern countries like the USA invented convenience food that obesity started to develop. It's funny how the fattest country in the world then wants to teach the rest of the world how to eat right with fad diets like low carb, high fat, Paleo or other theories they come up with to make money. This info just to eat whole natural food isn't new. Jack Lalanne told people this 50 years ago on his tv show.

Agree that veggies are good for weight control, but doesn't juicing remove all the fiber? Hehe...that's the first question in the "Answers to common questions about juicing" section of the book I recommended. I'm actually to lazy to type the answer but I personally use a blender and drink the pulp too. I actually make fruit and/or veggie shakes rather than juices but I eat a lot of veggies too.

What's the problem of eating a diet of mainly whole foods and not processed junk? If man made it, don't eat it. If a person eats a diet of whole food like mainly veggies, then fruit, fish, lean meat, legumes, eggs, whole grains, seeds and nuts and maybe dairy as billions of people around the world have eaten for centuries, they stay lean. Billions of Asians prove it. It is only when modern countries like the USA invented convenience food that obesity started to develop. It's funny how the fattest country in the world then wants to teach the rest of the world how to eat right with fad diets like low carb, high fat, Paleo or other theories they come up with to make money. This info just to eat whole natural food isn't new. Jack Lalanne told people this 50 years ago on his tv show. Non processed food is probably healthier. But diet and weight is about CALORIES. We eat way more calories than other people that is why we are fat. Whether they come in the form of twinkies or vegetables makes little difference. It is why fad diets 'work' they just try to trick people into eating less calories without counting calories. Give up carbs, etc. means giving up calories. Eating healthy is great, but you can't get around the calorie issue. If you eat 5000 calories a day of healthy natural food you are still getting fat. Bottomline, no substitute for counting calories. Getting it from natural healthy foods is obviously better than getting it from candy bars but calories are king and the reason I see many a friends diet fail is because they think they can eat healthy and not count calories to reach their goals. Sorry.

Non processed food is probably healthier. But diet and weight is about CALORIES. We eat way more calories than other people that is why we are fat. Never doubted that. My point is just that if you eat 5000 kcal of crap every day, month after month, year after year, you will be giving your body loads of food but not the amount of nutrients the body needs. Over a long course of time people on crap diets will be craving more and more calories because they eat but don't get enough nutrients so they are still starving. That's why they're always hungry. If a person eats mainly healthy food, he gives his body the nutrients it needs. If he always eats healthy his body will adjust to the right amount of calories. Long term this works. What you're suggesting is that a person should eat a low amount of calories and feel like crap, and then he will shed the pounds which is true but then what? He will most likely start to eat more food again and gain more weight than before. The healthy eating version won't shed weight within 4 weeks but long term a person who is used to eating 5000 kcal on a junk food diet will start to adjust his calorie intake to the natural calorie intake he needs. People don't have to believe me. It's just MY experience. Maybe if you're a bodybuilder who needs to lose body fat really fast for a specific competition where he needs a really low body fat percentage, the "starve yourself and feel like crap method" works because he only needs to do this for a competition but for the person who wants to stay lean all his life this method sucks because no one can stay on this method without feeling miserable...sorry.

No one argues that veggies and fruits aren't good for you... but they do not make up other critical components of a diet, particularly for athletes, the question is, where to get protein from. That is the bigger problem in dieting than eating fruits and veggies which have few calories anyway. The thing that's important about eating fresh veggies is that you burn a lot of calories just by the constant chewing motion. I'm usually spent after the jaw workout a big salad gives me.

Well i think its pretty hard for anyone to give you good advice on this without knowing a few things....like how much are you swimming? How long have you been at it? What does your daily food intake look like? What are your weight loss goals? etc. Before I started with Masters, I lost almost 20 pounds by simply tracking my calories. I used Sparkpeople.com, set my goals on there, and stuck to the calorie limit they gave me in order to lose the amount of weight I wanted to within a certain time. I added in a little bit more exercise (10 extra mins on the elliptical, 500 more yards during my 1x a week swim), but that weight loss was truly all about counting calories. So that prompted me to join Masters, and I went straight into a 3-4x a week schedule. When I first started, for about six weeks I literally was a BOTTOMLESS PIT. Calorie counting went out the window, and I shoveled SO MUCH food into my mouth and I was still ALWAYS hungry. It was crazy! However, I luckily did not gain (nor lose) any weight. After the first six weeks, my apetite finally seemed to adjust back to normal. Those NEED FOOD NOW cravings dissappeared and I am no longer using a shovel to eat. However, I've been at it for 4 months now and I still have not lost nor gained any more weight. I would be frustrated as heck if it weren't for the fact that the INCHES are falling off my body! I've lost about 1.5 pant sizes thus far while maintaining the same weight, and that is fine by me. I think if I keep at this for a year and started counting calories again (snoooore) I could lose some more pounds, but it will probably only be a handful and that would bring me down to the weight that I was in high school. Who knows, if I continue to train steadily for a few years I probably could get really lean, but that is not an upfront goal of mine for now. So, my point here is to have hope! Keep at it! Its about the long run here, and your key ingredient here may just be time :) If you really want meal replacement type foods, I suggest chocolate milk or greek yogurt, aka, REAL foods. Good luck!