OT:Good Calories, Bad Calories....

[Janknitz]

I think there are only a very few things that I eat that have a label, but I don't find it possible to make certain things myself--coconut oil is one. I probably could make my own almond butter, but I have an underpowered, tiny 30 year old food processor (a Little Oskar--darn thing won't break so I can get a modern one!), so I don't think it would be a great idea. I can make butter, but I buy it. I certainly can't make cream, tuna, sardines, etc.

Eating real, whole foods is definitely the goal, but we must be realistic, too. We get our vegies, meat and eggs from organic farms, but some things must be bought at the store. Most of my trips to Safeway these days are for cleaning supplies (and I don't use many of those, either!) or distilled water and vinegar for my CPAP.

My daughter's school had a canned food drive, and all we had to donate in the house were a few cans of sardines and tuna. Lots of jars of homemade things (ghee, coconut butter, dehydrated veggies, etc.) and bulk items that couldn't be donated. I had to go out and buy food for the canned food drive.

[DreamStalker]

Meat has a label, are you off meat Dreamstalker?

If you go to the meat counter (or seafood counter -- though it's hard to find safe fish anymore), you can choose the cut and they will wrap it up for you and the only label is the price. But true, pre-packaged meat has a label and I do still consume meat. I also source some of my meat at a local butcher shop which does not have labels. Of course there is always road kill but I haven't got that desperate yet.

[Kiralynx]

If I thinly spread 1 tbsp peanut butter on celery, I use up 4g carbs. If I can spread more than 1 tbsp of almond butter, then it would probably make for a more filling snack... I'll have to look up almond butter.

http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/3765

The database here lets you look up nutrients in dern near any food. It doesn't play games with "net carbs" but it's quite useful.

[portiemom]

Ha Dreamstalker, too funny roadkill, anything I hit gets obliterated, except of course those horrible looking Possums, why do they look so evil, it's not like they have time to get mad at us for hitting them Maybe they just have, "the look". Anyway I was just being nosey, and wanted to know if you were now a vegan. I remember reading your posts many years ago when you were tweaking the breeze mask. So I was curious.
My father was a butcher back in the days when the shops had sawdust on the floors to sop up the meatblood, and butchers actually hacked up the sides of beef and pig heads hung in the window.....yuck I hated to go to work with him...and that led to a life of sugar and carbs, just the smell of meat made me gag. Now I am LCHF and it takes a great deal of psyching myself up just to eat the protein. That said I am loving how I feel, and have so much less joint pain. Oh yeah we have lots of roadkill here in good ole Virginny! Not so much in N.Y. were I am from. The only roadkill from the Subway is human, and I won't go there, gives The Caveman Diet new meaning.

[jnk]

It's good to see you posting, DS.

[DreamStalker]

It's good to see you posting, DS.

Good to see you back as well.

Mike Papit PM'ed me and it was routed to my email ... I remembered my password and started lurking around a bit.

Amazing the amount of change that occurs after a brief vacation.

[Drowsy Dancer]

My husband shoots a lot of game, and when it comes back from the meat processor the cuts are labeled.

It would take a long time to cut a moose apart. I approve of processors.

[SleepingUgly]

My husband lost a lot of weight by just eating "better", including less food, less fat, less sugar, etc. Recently he was eating low-er sugar, low-er fat, but high carbs. For example, his breakfast consisted of Shredded Wheat and Bran cereal, which is very low in sugar but has a ton of carbs. Then he'd grab a bagel for lunch or whatever was around. He is thin and does not need to lose any weight. The last few days he's trying my low-er carb approach (notice I'm not calling anything low, just lower) and threatened me that if he gains weight, he's done. In the first 4 days, he lost 5 lbs!

[Janknitz]

My husband lost a good deal of weight by eating "better" and exercising a lot. He is OK with eating fats, but he also eats a moderate amount of carbs. When he sometimes eats fewer carbs because he's accomodating my eating style he loses weight, and he doesn't really have any room to lose any more (I think his body fat percentage is something around 14). He actually needs some carbs to maintain his weight. He has no sign of insulin resistance, fortunately.

He still can't quite wrap his head around me "eliminating an entire food group", but he's supportive of my efforts. I haven't eliminated carbs, I just eat a lot fewer of them and mostly from non-starchy veggies--nothing wrong with that.

[Samaniego]

What is opinion of HGH pills? Friend uses and says for me also.

[Janknitz]

What is opinion of HGH pills? Friend uses and says for me also.

No way I'm going to experiment with human growth hormone! Natural whole safe foods don't have side effects. But HGH does:

The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists strongly warns against the use of growth hormone injections for those with overweight/obesity issues or as an anti-aging treatment.

Robert N. Butler, M.D., the noted gerontologist has also weighed in on this matter. According to Dr. Butler, “Although hormone-replacement trials have yielded some positive results (at least in the short term), it is clear that negative side effects can also occur in the form of increased risk for cancer, cardiovascular disease, and behavior changes.”

One of the main dangers of human growth hormone injections is the unregulated effect it can have on the overproduction of IGF-1 concentrations. This can lead to some very serious side effects like:

•Swelling in the arms and legs
•Carpal tunnel and arthritis-like symptoms
•Headaches and general muscle pain
•Diabetes
•Abnormal growth of the bones and internal organs
•High blood pressure
•General bloating
•Hardening of the arteries

from: http://www.aging-no-more.com/dangers-of ... rmone.html

[Samaniego]

Means pills without prescription. No injections.

[VVV]

I haven't studied diet but I have some strong suspicions that much of the information in this thread is bogus. Witness this article:


(http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle ... ml#photo=1)

Gluten and wheat

Decades of studies have found that gluten-containing foods, such as whole wheat, rye and barley, are vital for good health and are associated with a reduced risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and excess weight. Though wheat- or gluten-free diets are popular, many people who don’t eat wheat often end up bypassing excess calories in sweets and snack foods. Then they start feeling better, lose weight and mistakenly attribute their success to gluten or wheat avoidance, Tallmadge says.

Larry W. Smith / Bloomberg News

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle ... ml#photo=1

Potatoes

A recent Harvard study that followed large populations and their disease rates linked potato eating with being overweight, blaming it on the blood glucose rise. But take a close look at that study, Tallmadge advises. It lumped all potato products together, including potato chips and French fries, very fattening versions of potatoes usually eaten in large portions alongside hamburgers, hot dogs and sodas.

Nikolas Giakoumidis / AP

Tallmadge says people often ask her if fruit is too high in sugar, especially for diabetics. This fear of fruit, she believes, is left over from the Atkins craze, which discouraged eating some fruits on the grounds that they are high in carbohydrates. Avoiding fruit could actually damage your health. Study after study over many decades shows that eating fruit can reduce the risk of some cancers, heart disease, blood pressure and diabetes.

Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post

Though popular for centuries in many Asian cuisines, soy is sometimes seen as dangerous after studies found elevated rates of breast cancer among rats when they were fed a concentrated soy derivative. But studies looking at whole soy foods in humans have not found a connection. In fact, the reverse may be true.

Gerry Broome / AP

While it’s true that frying food usually increases its caloric content, that doesn’t necessarily make it unhealthful. As long as food is fried in healthful oil instead of butter, shortening or trans fat, and it’s eaten in moderation, it isn’t less healthy. In fact, fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, and heart-healthy, cancer-preventive carotenoids such as beta carotene (e.g., carrots, sweet potatoes), lycopene (e.g., tomatoes) and lutein/zeaxanthin (deep-green leafy vegetables such as spinach and kale), need fat in order to be absorbed by the body.

Mark Finkenstaedt / For The Washington Post

[VVV]

Means pills without prescription. No injections.

Man, stay away from over-the-counter pills. A waste of money, usually worthless and sometimes damaging.

Eat a balanced diet and exercise and use your CPAP.

[Janknitz]

I haven't studied diet but I have some strong suspicions that much of the information in this thread is bogus

VVV, I'd have to say that nearly* ALL of the statements in that Washington Post article are bogus and aren't supported by science. I sure hope that's the point you were trying to make!

*(We absolutely do need fat in our diet to access the fat soluble vitamins, but fried industrial oils???? )