How healthy do you eat?

[Rain Man]

When it comes to food, how much emphasis do you place on health and nutrition?

Poll coming as soon as I mix it with a nice quinoa.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

How old are you? That problem may solve itself over time.

I was the same way through my 20s. In my 30s I started picking up weight, and now in my 50s I have to be careful about watching my weight.

I'm 26.

I haven't noticed any appreciable difference in my metabolism from now and the time that I was 17/18, but as everyone tells me, the 30s are a different animal.

We'll see how it goes.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

I'm 26.

I haven't noticed any appreciable difference in my metabolism from now and the time that I was 17/18, but as everyone tells me, the 30s are a different animal.

We'll see how it goes.

I never thought I could be overweight. I was about 145 out of high school and about 160 coming out of college. I was delighted to get up to 160.

After working a few years and going to graduate school, I was up to about 170 in my late twenties, and I was fine with that. Then around age 35 I hit 185 and was quite unhappy about it. It just kept sneaking up on me a pound or two per year, and I'd never thought about it or had a reason to think about it. So I ignored it. Then 190, 200, and finally topped out at 210 at about age 45. I didn't like that at all and had to do something about it, which actually wasn't that hard with a little discipline. I'm now back around 185, but I have to be very careful to keep that weight and have figured out that my ideal weight is in the low 170s.

But the moral of my story is that it doesn't happen overnight. It's a pound or two per year for a couple of decades. Hopefully you won't have the same creeping issue, but the odds are that you will. I think it happens to almost everyone.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I never thought I could be overweight. I was about 145 out of high school and about 160 coming out of college. I was delighted to get up to 160.

After working a few years and going to graduate school, I was up to about 170 in my late twenties, and I was fine with that. Then around age 35 I hit 185 and was quite unhappy about it. It just kept sneaking up on me a pound or two per year, and I'd never thought about it or had a reason to think about it. So I ignored it. Then 190, 200, and finally topped out at 210 at about age 45. I didn't like that at all and had to do something about it, which actually wasn't that hard with a little discipline. I'm now back around 185, but I have to be very careful to keep that weight and have figured out that my ideal weight is in the low 170s.

But the moral of my story is that it doesn't happen overnight. It's a pound or two per year for a couple of decades. Hopefully you won't have the same creeping issue, but the odds are that you will. I think it happens to almost everyone.

Sounds like I'll go through something similar to you then.

When I graduated high school I was about 5'7" 135. When I graduated college I was 5'10" 150. Now I'm 170, but I actually put on these last 20 pounds purposely over the past year or so. As I mentioned, it's still a struggle to keep the weight on.

My dad was also a short, slim guy all throughout his younger years but he's packed on the pounds lately. He just turned 47 and I'd bet he's 5'8" 200-ish pounds. He's probably the single safest predictor of my future physique.

[Bugeater]

Texas Double Whopper, fries and a coke for lunch today.

[BucEyedPea]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

I'm 26.

I haven't noticed any appreciable difference in my metabolism from now and the time that I was 17/18, but as everyone tells me, the 30s are a different animal.

We'll see how it goes.

I pretty much ate what I wanted in my thirties without getting fat. If was active would lose weight by about 5-7lbs. Did aerobic and other dancing. Now I have to watch but I find I don't have the same level of appetite to compensate.

I dieted constantly in my teens and twenties except when pregnant. I had to really work hard to get the half of the pregnancy weight off even though the first half came off the first week.

[BucEyedPea]

Originally Posted by Baconeater

Texas Double Whopper, fries and a coke for lunch today.

Awesome. Just switch to water or unsweet ice tea to start gradually if you want to improve on that.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

Sounds like I'll go through something similar to you then.

When I graduated high school I was about 5'7" 135. When I graduated college I was 5'10" 150. Now I'm 170, but I actually put on these last 20 pounds purposely over the past year or so. As I mentioned, it's still a struggle to keep the weight on.

My dad was also a short, slim guy all throughout his younger years but he's packed on the pounds lately. He just turned 47 and I'd bet he's 5'8" 200-ish pounds. He's probably the single safest predictor of my future physique.

Yeah, I kind of watched my dad and determined that, too. He was always very slim, but he has a terrible diet and now he's paying for it. He eats fast food constantly and the closest thing he eats to vegetables are potato chips. He's in his 70s now and I think he's gained 50 pounds over the last decade. I don't want to go that route, but he and I have exactly the same build.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Yeah, I kind of watched my dad and determined that, too. He was always very slim, but he has a terrible diet and now he's paying for it. He eats fast food constantly and the closest thing he eats to vegetables are potato chips. He's in his 70s now and I think he's gained 50 pounds over the last decade. I don't want to go that route, but he and I have exactly the same build.

Getting old sucks.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Getting old sucks.

Yeah. I'm searching for a better alternative, but it's elusive.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Yeah. I'm searching for a better alternative, but it's elusive.

Drop me a line if you find it.

It's crazy because in my 20's, I weighed about 190-195, no matter what I ate. I could eat a double cheeseburger for lunch and another for dinner, a bag of Lay's and drink 12 beers, every stinkin' day, and not gain an ounce.

I was just past 30 and noticed my jeans getting tighter, so I joined a gym across street and started exercising a few days at week. But even with a crappy diet of cheeseburgers and frozen pizzas, I lost weight if I worked out more than twice a week.

But by my late 30's/early 40's, that all changed. I had to exercise five days a week doing at least an hour of cardio in order to not gain weight. My diet changed completely from crappy junk food to egg whites, turkey bacon, grilled chicken salads, sushi and very, very little red meat.

After having two children and a wife with cancer the past few years, working out 5 days a week became impossible, so I put on more weight. Now with the kids both in school fulltime (finally!), I can usually get in an hour of cardio about 4-5 times a week. I've started keeping a food journal, too, which makes me think twice about that late night or mid-afternoon snack.

But even with a healthy diet and exercise, it's incredibly painful to lose weight. I mean, just freaking awful. In May, I put in 3.8 miles of walking per day, averaging about 12.5 minutes a mile, five days a week or 25 times that month. I gave up chips and salsa (which was brutal!), ate lentils for lunch, had 3 ounces of tree nuts as a snack, ate cod and grilled chicken only.

After all of that, I lost four pounds. Four stinkin' pounds.

If I had exercised and eaten like that in my 30's, I'd have lost 20 pounds and would look like a skeleton.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Drop me a line if you find it.

It's crazy because in my 20's, I weighed about 190-195, no matter what I ate. I could eat a double cheeseburger for lunch and another for dinner, a bag of Lay's and drink 12 beers, every stinkin' day, and not gain an ounce.

I was just past 30 and noticed my jeans getting tighter, so I joined a gym across street and started exercising a few days at week. But even with a crappy diet of cheeseburgers and frozen pizzas, I lost weight if I worked out more than twice a week.

But by my late 30's/early 40's, that all changed. I had to exercise five days a week doing at least an hour of cardio in order to not gain weight. My diet changed completely from crappy junk food to egg whites, turkey bacon, grilled chicken salads, sushi and very, very little red meat.

After having two children and a wife with cancer the past few years, working out 5 days a week became impossible, so I put on more weight. Now with the kids both in school fulltime (finally!), I can usually get in an hour of cardio about 4-5 times a week. I've started keeping a food journal, too, which makes me think twice about that late night or mid-afternoon snack.

But even with a healthy diet and exercise, it's incredibly painful to lose weight. I mean, just freaking awful. In May, I put in 3.8 miles of walking per day, averaging about 12.5 minutes a mile, five days a week or 25 times that month. I gave up chips and salsa (which was brutal!), ate lentils for lunch, had 3 ounces of tree nuts as a snack, ate cod and grilled chicken only.

After all of that, I lost four pounds. Four stinkin' pounds.

If I had exercised and eaten like that in my 30's, I'd have lost 20 pounds and would look like a skeleton.

Heh, glad to know it's not just me then. and at 52 now my knees are shot, lower back always hurts, a herniated disc in my neck ,carpal tunnel in both arms . I don't see life getting any better.I was actually worried I'd win the powerball and not even be able to enjoy it.