Breaking Conventional Wisdom page 5

[sbhikes]

I know many of you are past the days of "Eating numbers". However, did you all have to start somewhere? Surely, you had a starting point and have tailor-made your lifestyle around that. To the point that you are most likely on auto pilot.

Could you suggest where a 38 year old, 306lb, 5'9", man who is currently lightly active could/should at least start as far as calorie intake? Fat/Protein/Carb breakdown?

Thanks again.

You could just go with using your hands for portion size and see if that works for you. Here's an example:
Precision Nutrition » Calorie Control Guide For Men and Women
Here's the tl;dr

For men:

2 palms of protein dense foods with each meal;
2 fists of vegetables with each meal;
2 cupped hands of carb dense foods if including extra carbs;
2 entire thumbs of fat dense foods if including extra fats.

For women:

1 palm of protein dense foods with each meal;
1 fist of vegetables with each meal;
1 cupped hand of carb dense foods if including extra carbs;
1 entire thumb of fat dense foods if including extra fats.

See if that works for you. Adjust as you go.

[dirk41]

A detailed read.

Very interesting. I had taken for granted that Keys cherry-picked his data because he was so desperate to prove his hypothesis was correct. Leave it to the media (namely, Time Magazine) to make a god out of a scientist.

You can watch King Corn for free on Youtube

[BigBipper]

You aren't the only one struggling with "break conventional wisdom." A primal co-worker and I discuss it a lot. I mean really, all you do is just STOP eating some stuff, right? Yet, along the way, you have to re-tool a lot more of your life than you think. For me, a trip to the grocery store is a revelation. For my co-worker, it was the realization why he exercised his life out, yet never went below a certain weight.

Speaking of documentaries, you may like "King Corn." You can watch trailers and stuff here:

King Corn | The Peabody-winning documentary from Mosaic Films Incorporated

At the end, the filmmakers interview the "villain" of King Corn, former Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz. One of the filmmakers wrote an article about the interview here:

Meeting King Corn — Earl Butz was a product of his time :: by Curt Ellis :: Culinate

Thanks, Ox.

I went to the market last night and I felt like I had x ray vision glasses on. I mean, I saw the foods like I have never seen them before.

I watched "King Corn" a while back and was disgusted by what became of all those beautiful rows of corn....Hawaiian Punch...Lollipops....Candy Corn.

It was a great expose' on something I had no idea was happening.

[Finnegans Wake]

The supermarket experience will become horrifying.

It literally skeeves me the hell out to see what people eat, and worse, what they feed their children.

[whitebear]

I know many of you are past the days of "Eating numbers". However, did you all have to start somewhere? Surely, you had a starting point and have tailor-made your lifestyle around that. To the point that you are most likely on auto pilot.

Could you suggest where a 38 year old, 306lb, 5'9", man who is currently lightly active could/should at least start as far as calorie intake? Fat/Protein/Carb breakdown?

Thanks again.

This seems like a good spot to point out something I've been thinking about. For all you calorie counters, how can you explain how I have lost 70-80 pounds in two-three months? I have done this about three times now. How did I do it? I did it eating low carb. Here is an honest example of my daily menu.
Breakfast: 3-4 eggs cooked in bacon fat,1/4-1/2lb sausage/bacon,2oz cheese,3tbsp salsa and half an avocado
Lunch: 10oz tuna, the other half of the avocado,3-4 cups salad/veggie, olive oil or mayo for dressing(3 tbsp avg.) and 1/2 cup shredded cheese
Dinner: 16-20oz beef,pork,chicken,etc., usually beef or pork(I always eat all the fat), 3-4 more cups of veg.,2-3 tbsp fat(butter,evoo or coconut oil
Snacks: 4-6oz nuts/peanuts, 2-4oz cheese(in addition to the cheese from breakfast and lunch)and 2-3 hard boiled eggs
Beverages: 80-100oz water, occasional liquor/sugar and calorie free mixer
I am a 5'8" male that gets moderate exercise. I have not done the math but I'm pretty sure I was carrying a calorie surplus as apposed to a deficit and still losing lots of weight. Taking the initial 10-15 pounds of water weight loss into account that is still 65-70lbs that I know was not water. Maybe I'm wrong. Who wants to volunteer to add up the calories? All I know is I lost weight eating a lot of food.

[Sandra in BC]

I know many of you are past the days of "Eating numbers". However, did you all have to start somewhere? Surely, you had a starting point and have tailor-made your lifestyle around that. To the point that you are most likely on auto pilot.

Could you suggest where a 38 year old, 306lb, 5'9", man who is currently lightly active could/should at least start as far as calorie intake? Fat/Protein/Carb breakdown?

Thanks again.

I started with food. Just one change at a time. No measuring, no counting. We already ate pretty clean and mostly home cooked, so it wasn't that big of an adjustment. Most meals around here can be made "starch on the side" for those who want it.

First I replaced the margarine and industrial seed oils with butter, coconut oil, olive oil, and animal fats. I use fat liberally for cooking and salads, but dont add much more to my diet on purpose except for looking for more ways to eat avocado (ok maybe I eat butter straight from the dish sometimes.)

Then I cut out wheat, corn and soy and all prepared foods made from them in any form. That will take care of about 90% of what you were eating before.

We already eat grass fed beef and wild game, so I just started cooking it more, and eating grocery store chicken and pork less.

All our eggs are family raised and pastured. I know where they come from.

I always ate veggies and fruit. Now I eat more veggies, and probably the same or less fruit (depending on the season).

We eat at home most of the time. No fast food. When I do eat out its ethnic and authentic.

I started off snacking on nuts and cheese and such, but found out pretty quick that I don't need it. I'd rather wait until I'm hungry and eat something substantial and awesome. I won't deny cooking up a steak for myself for lunch while the rest of the fam is at school or work.

Planning food is essential to this way of eating. Planning your food is not the same as obsessing about food. I really dont get cravings. More often I spend half the day with my mouth watering thinking about the fantastic meal I'll be making later.

[Sandra in BC]

It literally skeeves me the hell out to see what people eat, and worse, what they feed their children.

They're all going to diiiiiiiiiie!

But seriously, HFCS and all the processed foods that contain it are killing the up and coming generations.

[Graycat]

Well just last night on an news talk show someone said that 36% of americans are obese. Not overweight, but obese. If that's not scary enough I don't know what is. Obviously something has gone wrong somewhere over the last 30 years or so.
It gets very confusing when reading diet advice on the web. This forum alone is a good example. Watch calories, eat till you are full, low carb is the way to go, no it will mess up your hormones eat your sugar and plenty of starch or only potatoes for weeks on end etc......Gives me a headache sometimes.
Here's my opinion for whatever it's worth.
Go ketogenic, very low carb for a couple of weeks or so. Just eat fats, proteins and a little bit of vegetable carbs. It will regulate your apetite and help you rid of sugar cravings.
Then after a while just eat any primal foods that you like, not necessarily that low carb anymore. Eat, sleep, move around a lot. Repeat.

[BigBipper]

This seems like a good spot to point out something I've been thinking about. For all you calorie counters, how can you explain how I have lost 70-80 pounds in two-three months? I have done this about three times now. How did I do it? I did it eating low carb. Here is an honest example of my daily menu.
Breakfast: 3-4 eggs cooked in bacon fat,1/4-1/2lb sausage/bacon,2oz cheese,3tbsp salsa and half an avocado
Lunch: 10oz tuna, the other half of the avocado,3-4 cups salad/veggie, olive oil or mayo for dressing(3 tbsp avg.) and 1/2 cup shredded cheese
Dinner: 16-20oz beef,pork,chicken,etc., usually beef or pork(I always eat all the fat), 3-4 more cups of veg.,2-3 tbsp fat(butter,evoo or coconut oil
Snacks: 4-6oz nuts/peanuts, 2-4oz cheese(in addition to the cheese from breakfast and lunch)and 2-3 hard boiled eggs
Beverages: 80-100oz water, occasional liquor/sugar and calorie free mixer
I am a 5'8" male that gets moderate exercise. I have not done the math but I'm pretty sure I was carrying a calorie surplus as apposed to a deficit and still losing lots of weight. Taking the initial 10-15 pounds of water weight loss into account that is still 65-70lbs that I know was not water. Maybe I'm wrong. Who wants to volunteer to add up the calories? All I know is I lost weight eating a lot of food.

WOW! I just started to weep! How could you lose so much with with so much food?

[healthy11]

Hello All,
I am so happy to have found this lifestyle and this wealth of knowledge that MDA provides. The most difficult time I am having is NOT believing that Saturated Fat is Bad...Cholesterol is Bad... and that Whole Grains are good. I guess this is like believing that the Earth was flat, then being told it was round.

I am 38 years old, 306 pounds, and my entire life I have struggled with my weight. I have also been told, and believed that the Earth was flat, so I am struggling with the comprehension that I should be eating more meat and less wheat. Grok is telling me that the Earth is indeed round. I am trying to undue 38 years of "knowledge"

The problem is that I cant seem to wrap my head around it. Its like trying to feed myself with my left hand now. I have been tracking my intake and I am horrified to read daily numbers like 125 grams of fat! 40 grams of Saturated fat!! A Paltry 70 Net Carbs, and 150 grams of Protein. That is STILL under 2200 calories a day. I mean, my usual diet generally put me at around 3200-3500 a Day. There is no way I could hit 3500 calories without Pizza, my beloved M&Ms, and Bagels.

However, I have been so predisposed to the "Fat is Bad" theory that I worry that I may drop dead by Saturday morning at this rate. I do feel a little better. And my nasty addiction to Chocolate has been pretty tamed. But I am still worried. I mean, 1000mg of Cholesterol consumed in 1 day? That's insane right? Or is it?

Conventional wisdom has been deeply ingrained in us. Do your reading and eat a primal diet and you will get over it quickly once you realize and experience what eating saturated fat and cholesterol does for you and what eliminating grains and toxic vegetable oils does for you. Eating this way has changed many lives for the better, including mine. You will start to realize that conventional wisdom has ruined our health and is the wrong way. There are many books, studies, and scientists who back this way of eating... you will learn it and never go back! Welcome to your new life!!