The Diet/Fitness Thread

[YesNo]

I wonder if one adjusts one's pH by swimming in the ocean? I normally don't like to swim and I'd rather walk through the woods than walk on a beach since after you've seen one wave you've seen them all, but Lake Michigan beaches do have sufficient scenery on nice days if one is not looking at the water as Calidore remarks.

I have heard stories of rare sightings of bull sharks in Lake Michigan: http://wgntv.com/2014/08/14/is-that-a-shark-in-lake-michigan/

Iain Sparrow is probably right that one can get the appropriate pH from a proper diet which would probably be closer to a vegan diet than the one I currently have. We checked some bottled water we bought and the indicator says it was more acid than the tap water.

[Tyrion Cheddar]

Sorry Iain, me n Pompey were doing movie quotes. That was General Buck Turgidson 'splaining to President Merkin Muffley what General Jack D. Ripper had in mind with his precious-bodily-fluids comment.

You said 'splaining! It's love at first sight! Or at least phonologic inphatuation.

[Clopin]

I'm of the opinion that red meat is healthy and I think the "science" on that will change as it has for eggs and as it does for dairy every few years.

[YesNo]

The views of the health value of drinking coffee seem to flip-flop also. It is on the bad side for the alkaline pH diet like meat is. I wonder if drinking an espresso is more or less damaging than a 20-oz drip coffee?

We tried the baking soda with water and molasses and the indicator tests show an increase in the alkalinity of urine overnight. That was a faster change than I thought would occur. What may be more important is it seemed coincidental with less allergy symptoms and I think I can see better. So, now it has my interest. I don't have good data to support any of this, but I'm flip-flopping myself between letting diet take care of pH or giving it a boost with the baking soda.

Another thing I've run across is fasting one day a week to detox the body. You only drink water on that day. I don't know what benefits I should be seeing with the detoxing process.

[Calidore]

Another thing I've run across is fasting one day a week to detox the body. You only drink water on that day. I don't know what benefits I should be seeing with the detoxing process.

Probably nothing to match the issues caused by not eating for a day, which isn't good for your body in any way. I'd also question whether the supposed benefits of ingesting baking soda are worth the very real and well-documented problems caused by excessive sodium intake.

My unsolicited advice: Don't focus so hard on little tweaks that you miss the big picture, especially when you're "fixing" what ain't broke in the first place.

[YesNo]

In my case, there isn't much broke. If I had cancer, I would be downing the baking soda without question and any other remedy the internet offered. But if I listed the things that were "wrong", they would be minor:

1) I want my weight to be 170 pounds for no special reason. It logged in at 173 this morning. At 6 feet that is on the high side of normal weight. So the three pounds are not important.

2) My eye-sight is just bad enough to require glasses for night driving but good enough to watch a movie without glasses and not feel I'm missing anything important.

3) I can't get my body to balance for more than a few seconds on one foot with the other one stretched out in front of me like some can do at the Bikram Yoga class, but I wonder if that is an accomplishment that is necessary. For that matter, I also can't levitate which I hear some people were able to do in Patanjali's "Yoga Sutras". But no matter how cool that skill would be, is it really necessary?

So, the sodium issue does bother me.

[Clopin]

I wish I could enter a contract with someone whereby I gain the weight they lose and we both work together. I never get any sympathy when I tell people how hard gaining weight is :(

[Gladys]

I'm of the opinion that red meat is healthy and I think the "science" on that will change as it has for eggs and as it does for dairy every few years.

The issue is rather whether farmed red meat is healthy. As for dairy, the jury is still out. I do have an egg a day for breakfast.

Good news last week suggests my high complex carbohydrate (low salt and sugar) diet scores as well as the five-two diet on metabolic heath.

As for putting on weight, I also struggle despite eating myself silly.

[Calidore]

I wish I could enter a contract with someone whereby I gain the weight they lose and we both work together. I never get any sympathy when I tell people how hard gaining weight is :(

I used to be there. 25 years ago I was 6'3" and 160 pounds and could eat as much of anything as I wanted. Then you turn 30, then you turn 40.... Enjoy it while it lasts.

[YesNo]

I've noticed that some people look way too thin at the yoga class. Thankfully, the teachers seem to be reasonably sized or I might have to reconsider doing that.

My cure for thinness is a diet of omelettes and coffee for breakfast, hamburgers and milkshakes for lunch followed by pizza and beer for dinner. Carbonated beverages throughout the day helps. It might take some time, maybe decades.

But that may be all wrong. If this pH thing is right, just get the body more acidic. I'm reading Robert O. Young and Shelley Redford Young's "The pH Miracle: Balance Your Diet, Reclaim Your Health". The back cover says, "Never count calories, fat grams, or portion size again!" I never have counted such things.

I'm oscillating between 170 and 175 pounds. I keep telling my body that I am 170 pounds, that is, between 167 and 173 pounds. I'm still waiting for it to happen.

[YesNo]

1) I want my weight to be 170 pounds for no special reason. It logged in at 173 this morning. At 6 feet that is on the high side of normal weight. So the three pounds are not important.

2) My eye-sight is just bad enough to require glasses for night driving but good enough to watch a movie without glasses and not feel I'm missing anything important.

3) I can't get my body to balance for more than a few seconds on one foot with the other one stretched out in front of me like some can do at the Bikram Yoga class, but I wonder if that is an accomplishment that is necessary. For that matter, I also can't levitate which I hear some people were able to do in Patanjali's "Yoga Sutras". But no matter how cool that skill would be, is it really necessary?

So, the sodium issue does bother me.

Here's a status.

1) I have been around 170 pounds for a few weeks now. I did listen to the hypnosis app telling myself that my weight was 170 and did not fall asleep this time. I don't know if that helped.

2) I got an eye exam and apparently my eyes are better than they were three years ago when I had my last exam. The doctor said there was still astigmatism issues in my right eye. We are not only left and right handed, but left and right eyed. In my case, I'm left handed and left eyed. I'm now telling myself that I can see perfectly and hoping that will fix things.

3) I still can't levitate.

Regarding salt, I think a sea or rock salt is probably good for you. I've been testing my pH every morning and the days when the pH is high, I feel better. We're also using a pitcher with a filter that increases the pH of the water.

[Calidore]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/08/14/scientists-sort-of-settle-debate-on-low-carb-vs-low-fat-diets/

[Kinsddlock]

Now that sounds painful qimi. Good luck Calidore.

[YesNo]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/08/14/scientists-sort-of-settle-debate-on-low-carb-vs-low-fat-diets/

It looks like both diets should work.

[Clopin]

I used to be there. 25 years ago I was 6'3" and 160 pounds and could eat as much of anything as I wanted. Then you turn 30, then you turn 40.... Enjoy it while it lasts.

I'm 6'3 and 160 pounds! And sure it could be worse.

I started (or resumed, I used to run very frequently) running ten to fifteen kilometers four+ times a week recently and I forgot how good it feels.

[Clopin]

The issue is rather whether farmed red meat is healthy. As for dairy, the jury is still out. I do have an egg a day for breakfast.

Good news last week suggests my high complex carbohydrate (low salt and sugar) diet scores as well as the five-two diet on metabolic heath.

As for putting on weight, I also struggle despite eating myself silly.

Yeh you're right about the industrially farmed red meat, industrially farmed eggs, industrially farmed fish, etc etc. But really what can you do? If I want to gain weight and eat a high calorie diet, consisting of foods like chicken, beef, rice, vegetables, fruit, eggs, yoghurt and whatever else I am already cracking $17 (CAD) per day WITHOUT making sure everything I eat is free range, grass fed, organic, or whatever other health label you can buy. If I were to purchase those products I would actually not be able to afford my rent. Grass fed beef for example is something like $30 per kilogram, and this is Alberta a beef producing region.

[YesNo]

I'm 6'3 and 160 pounds! And sure it could be worse.


According to this site https://www.rush.edu/health-wellness/quick-guides/what-is-a-healthy-weight, your weight is normal. You would have to weigh below 152 to be too thin, but I can see your concern if your weight looks like it is dropping.

I'm 6 ft and 170 pounds. The chart says I'm currently normal.

[Clopin]

I would rather be around 185.

[Margerma]

I'm 6'3 and 160 pounds! And sure it could be worse.

I started (or resumed, I used to run very frequently) running ten to fifteen kilometers four+ times a week recently and I forgot how good it feels.
I can recommend this book for runners, very inspiring! http://www.amazon.com/What-About-Running-Vintage-International/dp/0307389839

[Gladys]

Yeh you're right about the industrially farmed red meat, industrially farmed eggs, industrially farmed fish, etc etc. But really what can you do? If I want to gain weight and eat a high calorie diet, consisting of foods like chicken, beef, rice, vegetables, fruit, eggs, yoghurt and whatever else I am already cracking $17 (CAD) per day WITHOUT making sure everything I eat is free range, grass fed, organic, or whatever other health label you can buy.

My solution involves no red meat; occasional chicken; plenty of legumes, nuts, seeds, and canned fish. I ignore organic foods, for better or worse. Fresh fruit and vegetables are my biggest expenditure.

As for containing weight in middle age and beyond, my high complex carbs, low salt, low sugar and low fat diet has worked almost too well.

[YesNo]

I heard recently that one should sleep on the left side, not on one's back, front or right side. It is supposed to help digestion and so that's what makes me think this bit of information might fit in this thread.

Here is just one link discussing that: http://lifespa.com/amazing-benefits-of-sleeping-on-your-left-side/

[Clopin]

Having a lot of trouble falling and staying asleep the past few days. It's pretty frustrating because I feel like I'm doing everything right, and should have no problem. Oh well.

[Lykren]

It's your conscience, Clopin.

[Clopin]

Actually I blame you.

[Lykren]

I am your conscience.