A Diet Geek

You can do it! Fighter Spirit!

For some reason this question has popped into my head now and then.  I can remember asking my Mother many times whether or not it was healthy, but I don’t think I ever really got a clear answer. The people over at helium seem to think it is.

I could be wrong but I think the general consensus is that pizza is a fast food and generally not good for you?  Maybe that is what the consensus is, I really don’t know for sure.

Definitely I would say though that if I had to choose between a cheeseburger and french fries and pizza, that pizza would win hands down as the healthier option.

Of course everything is relative and probably the factors that go into making a pizza will determine how healthy or unhealthy it really is in the final analysis.

I mean pizza is basically just bread and sauce and cheese.  So there you are getting your dairy group, grains, and veggies in the form of the sauce. Tomato sauce is pretty healthy and has an anti cancer nutrient in it called lycopene which acts as an antioxidant. If you eat whole grain crust you will get some fiber and the flour itself has many B vitamins.  The cheese would be a good source of calcium.

But the magic of pizza is of course in the toppings, so the ones you choose will make it more or less healthy.

But to keep fat and calories low go with the following toppings:

• Artichoke hearts
• Bell peppers
• Broccoli or cauliflower
• Canadian bacon or lean ham
• Mushroom, tomato or zucchini slices
• Spinach and onion
• Pineapple slices.

So I think the verdict is that yes pizza is a healthy food option to have once in a while as long as the portion sizes are kept in check and the toppings are carefully chosen. Simple enough eh?

The recommended amount of fruits and vegetables that should be eaten EVERY DAY is 9 to 12 servings. Wow.  So if you decide to be bold and go for 12 servings per day, that would mean if you start your day at 8am and then end your day at 8pm, you would need to have one serving of a fruit or vegetable every hour. Wow again.

It seems like a tall order to be able to accomplish that every day.

But what exactly is one serving of a fruit or vegetable? A tennis ball size portion would qualify as one serving.  So when you wake up tomorrow, try to imagine 12 tennis balls sitting there waiting for you.  Their bright yellow-greenish color sure does stand out.  Heck maybe I should keep them right on my desk so I won’t forget.

It sounds daunting but in actuality it is really not too bad to get this accomplished every day.  I mean one large green pepper would probably count as 2 servings given the size of it.  And for the the most part vegetables are not so filling, they do down easy and in general you probably will have no trouble reaching the 12 serving requirement.

I think another big plus of trying to keep up with this requirement is that it will help offset your desire for other less healthy foods. 

If you can spread out your consumption of veggies and fruits throughout the day, then it will help you avoid hunger spasms that might lead you to head for the junk food aisle.

So are you eating 12 servings of fruits and vegetables every day? If not then why not?  I think cost might be an issue here as well in addition to convenience.  To keep a ready supply of 12 servings of fruits and veggies for an entire 7 days is quite a task in my opinion.  For 7 days that would mean you would need to have enough on hand for 84 servings.  That is a lot to stuff in your refrigerator.

Maybe it is best to aim for 6 servings per day and then if you can afford it and it is convenient to add the other 6 as appropriate.

Ok off I go to get some veggies and fruits…

What would 4th of July be without some good veggie burgers on the grill or even some veggie hot dogs?  I have to be honest and tell you that every time I even hear the word veggie burger I get all clammed up at the thought of eating one, especially on the 4th of July holiday.  I am not sure exactly why, maybe it is just a guy thing.  Or maybe eating veggie burgers is something I just never got used to.

But maybe keeping an open mind on veggies burgers for the 4th of July is not a bad idea?  I don’t know. Maybe the guys can chime in here.  I just get the feeling that most guys are not too keen on going with veggie burgers most of the time.  But I could be wrong.

Anyway,  maybe it would be interesting to do a little experiment for the 4th of July holiday weekend especially if you have a good crown of people who you are celebrating with.  In addition to regular hot dogs and burgers, maybe offer veggie burgers and veggie hot dogs too and maybe put a label next to them to see if there are any takers.  A simple experiment indeed, but I wonder how many would go for the veggie style variety, and how many guys versus women would go for them.

The American Dietetic Association did a little nutritional breakdown on veggie burgers and veggie hot dogs. Here is what they said:

• Most veggie burgers with 10 grams of protein or less contain vegetables such as mushrooms, onions, celery, carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes, spinach, broccoli, zucchini and whole grains such as brown rice, rolled oats, and bulgur wheat.
• Most veggie burgers with more than 10 grams of protein contain primarily soy protein and wheat gluten with very little actual vegetables or whole grains.
• Many brands offer vegan options without animal products such as eggs or cheese. However, just because it is vegan doesn’t necessarily mean it has more vegetables or less protein than non-vegan versions.
• Veggie hot dogs have many nutrition advantages over traditional meat hot dogs. On average they have fewer calories, less fat, less sodium and more protein than your standard frank.

So it looks like based on their research that if you really want veggies in your burgers you should go with the ones with 10 grams of protein or less.

They also included a table that breaks down the brands of veggies burgers and hot dogs with their nutritional values. You can see it here.

I sorted the table columns so that the veggie burgers with the least amount of calories, total fat and saturated fat would be at the top:

So it looks like the Boca brand veggie burger ‘OriginalVegan’ Style is the winner as far as least calories and leas total fat and saturated fat.

Hey and by the way, let me know how that experiment goes at your weekend barbeque to see how many guys versus women opt for the veggie style burgers or hot dogs :).

I have Gout and I hate it. I am ‘only’ 38 years old but so far already I have had one attack about a year ago, and then another a couple months ago. Do you have gout? If so what has worked for you?

For those of you who are not familiar with gout, it is a condition that occurs in those whose kidneys are not able to break down the uric acid crystals that occur from the digestion and break down of purines ( found in many high protein foods and shellfish).  It is a form of inflammatory arthritis and over 5 million people in the United States are affect by gout every year.

I can tell you from first hand experience that gout is really painful. It sucks big time.  I got it on the right foot when it is at its worst it almost feels like my foot is on fire. Geez. Not good.

But anyway, what does this have to do with diet? Apparently a lot.  You want to avoid foods high in purine content. Many seafoods fall into this category as well as certain meats as well.  Here is a great table which lists most foods and their purine levels. I actually sorted that table in an excel spreadsheet so that it lists all the foods in order from highest to lowest based on total purines content.

I was surprised to see lobster actually not too high on the list. Yes! Because I love lobster.  But my experience with avoiding certain foods in the last few weeks seems to have limited results and it has become hard to determine whether or not my diet is even making a difference at all in my gout attacks.

I have completely quit coffee and caffeine as supposedly that is bad for recurrent gout attacks and I think chocolate is bad too. Geez! All the good stuff and I can’t have it! Wahhhhh. Strangely enough chocolate is not on that list in the large table of purines link above.

Anyway I am going to see my doctor and see what they recommend. I hate to start going on medication but maybe it is time.  Apparently the FDA has approved the first new drug for gout in 40 years called Uloric. So will have to see what the doc says as far as meds go.

Dr. Weil recommends the following natural methods of ridding yourself of Gout:

• Avoid meats that are particularly rich sources of uric acid such as organ meats, sardines and anchovies. Physicians used to advise cutting back on purine-rich plant foods such as lentils, peas, beans, mushrooms, cauliflower and spinach; however, recent research has shown no correlation between eating such foods and incidence of gout attacks.
• Eliminate coffee and all other caffeine sources from the diet.
• Minimize alcohol consumption. Alcohol promotes dehydration and irritates the urinary tract.
• Drink the full complement of eight eight-ounce glasses of water daily to flush uric acid from the system and prevent urate crystal deposition.
• If you are overweight, lose the excess pounds.
• Eat tart cherries in all forms – fresh, or as cherry juice, or in the form of tart cherry extract. Laboratory findings at Michigan State University suggest that ingesting the equivalent of 20 tart cherries inhibits enzymes called cyclooxygenase-1 and -2, which are the targets of anti-inflammatory drugs.
• Take bromelain, a compound of digestive enzymes and other compounds extracted from pineapple stems.

His cherry juice recommendation and bromelain tip are interesting. Anyone here ever had any good results with cherry juice? Cherry juice is not something that seems very easy to find in your local grocery store. I have noticed a bunch of websites selling cherry juice direct to you but at quite a hefty price.  Seems they are all jumping on the bandwagon and the FDA recently warned them to be careful with their claims about gout cures since it cannot be said that cherry juice is a proven cure.

Hey there!

It is me Tom! Since this is the first post on Adietgeek dot com I figure what better way to start then talk about my experiences so far attempting to lose about 20 pounds.  I have never been on a diet before, or at least never before made the conscious decision that I want to lose weight and hit a target weight.

I would not describe myself as seriously overweight, just overweight. I am 5 foot 10 inches tall and a couple months ago I chimed in at 197 pounds.  That is actually the highest weight I have ever been and when I saw it I sort of panicked a bit.  Maybe a lot of it had to do with the holidays during the end of 2008 and just in general very little exercise on my part.

Anyway, after a visit to the doctor I was informed that my ideal target weight is 165 pounds.  When I first heard that it seemed very low for my height.  I think I would feel more comfortable with about 170 so that will be my target weight.

Right now I am 189 pounds and here is how I did it.  A couple months ago I decided to pay more attention to the labels on the foods I was buying so I could get a sense of how many calories are in certain types of food per serving.  I have not been counting the calories exactly, just roughly guessing.  I have been trying to stick to about 1200 calories per day.

What have I been eating? All sorts of stuff to be honest. Pasta, vegetables, meats, cereal, fish, pizza. Just the normal stuff that I usually eat.  I have been trying to keep quantities smaller than I used to eat because I have a better sense of how many calories I am taking i per serving.

This has not been a perfect system. There have been many times when I have broken my pattern of small quantities and then headed for the junk isle in the supermarket. I mean I have broken the rules many times. But when I have done that (for example eating a full bag of tostitos and finishing the salso off too) then I try to be sure not to eat anything else for that day to keep me somewhere near the 1200 calorie limit.  So I think they key has been to try to keep around 1200 calories.  But I must admit that my occasional binging episodes is an area of concern.  I think i am doing that because I feel so starved sometimes, especially in the evenings.  So I am going to have to work on eliminating too much junk or occasional binging!  Perhaps I can come up with some alternative teaser foods to keep me happy :).

I have been going to the gym Monday Wednesday and Friday. I walk on the treadmill for 1 hour each of those days at a 2.5 incline and 3.5 miles per hour.  So it is about 3 miles of walking 3 days a week or 9 miles of walking a week. I do a little bit of strength training with the weights too on those days.

What has surprised me the most so far with this little project is how SLOW and difficult it is to lose weight.  It takes a lot of time.  And I have to tell you I really do not think it would work as well with just eating less.  The 9 miles of walking per week definitely helps to manage and maintain my progress.

So I am at 189 now… Will I succeed in reaching my target? I think so. But I can tell you this is not easy.  It is the first time I have ever seriously tried to work on losing weight.  So this is definitely a good learning experience.

I am occasionally going to update you on this little project as time marches on.

Wish me luck! And by the way, how about we make this the official ‘ My First Diet ’ thread?  So in the comments you are welcome to share your experiences on your first diet and how it went or how it is going…

You can do it! Fighter Spirit!