How Do YOU Eat Healthy?

Avoid soy products, entirely. The stuff is bad, it lowers your T levels.

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MonstaMunch wrote:

I only eat vegans.

For my money, I'd rather eat an omnivorous person. Tends to have better fat, better flavor.

I'm talking someone who has eaten a turducken.

Just so we're clear, I didn't say "eaten some turducken", but someone who has eaten an entire turducken.

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D3izhistory wrote:

i wasn't referring to insulin as the hormone but Test and HGH, IF (intermittent fasting for everyone else) has scientifically been proven to increase these levels ultimately resulting in a faster metabolism and increased cognitive functioning

p.s. i wasn't correcting you in the first place, just pointing out that anyone's feeding window will also impact hormonal levels and mood

I am quite interested in the subject of working out and nutrition and have done quite some research. Never trust youtube videos trying to convince on something (Like Intermittent Fasting in this occasion), since they cherry pick research and present them in a way to prove their point, without showing research of the opposing side. Some of the research is quetionable as well (low subject group, not long enough, not statistically significant, testing on animals etc.). Besides, since i am doing my second master degree right now, i have done for papers (including my first master thesis) quite some research myself and i have concluded in one thing. If you are biased on finding something, most likely you will. They are more frequently than not biased. Always try to read research on both sides of the equation, or huge meta analysis and always pay attention to the parametres. Do not trust youtubers supporting something.

Now to the subject of IF. No, it has not been proven that it raises Testosterone levels. Even lifting heavy weights has not been proven to raise your T levels PERMANENTLY, just temporarily, let alone your eating timing. This is a clasic example of misleading interpretation of research. Sure, if you do not eat for 18 hours, and then you bang some meat, your T levels will be elevated temporarily. Shocking lol.

As for Human Growth Hormone. Well there has not been research DISPROVING this, but even the very little scientific evidence that shows increases in HGH due to intermittent fasting, is showing something like 10% increase which is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, and will do nothing for you. Otherwise every elite olympic athlete would be doing IF, but nobody does, cause IMO the downsides are far bigger. Also consider that these guys being on steroids increase their HGH levels by 200%, 300% or more to see real results.

Not to mention the "fasted state workout" bullshit, which has been disproven by extensive scientific literature a hundred times. I do not think that IF is bad though. I think it is practically nothing, just an eating pattern. If it helps you control your calories, and you feel good doing it, then by all means go for it. It has nothing magical about it. Especially the less hardcore guys going for 16 hours fasting and 8 hours eating, this is just a fancy way of saying that they skip breakfast, lol.

I, myself, have practiced unintentionally hardcore IF, without knowing it was called that(i do not think it was back then), back in 2006 on my first years on the university. Due to my schedule i was eating ONE huge meal per day (3000 calories or more), and was surviving on cofee. Practically i was fasting for over 23 hours every day. I did workout. Did not see ANY good results, did not feel good (the magical fasted state alertness and shit). I got used to it but i was feeling like crap most of the time. My workouts sucked, my mood sucked, and the results were not that great. Sure i was fit and had something of a six pack, but it seemed impossible to build muscle. That was me of course, and is not any kind of evidence, but it goes in line with everything else i said. Follow the diet you are comfortable with and makes you feel good.

Also do not get me started on the Ketogenic guys. I would LOVE for Keto to be as good as they claim. Besides Chocolate products i do not like carbs at all. I dislike rice, pasta, bread, anything sweet that is not chocolate. But it does not. Their claims and so called "research" is the worst kind of them all, being ridiculously misleading and even potentialy harmfull. Again it has been proven a million times that carbs increase performance on HIgh intensity training. Even researches comparing low fat and low carb diets failed miserably to find any benefit to either, if calories and TDEE were matched.

The bottom line is, if you wanna have a healthy diet and control your weight:

1) Track your calories
2) Avoid Sugar
3) Avoid Trans fats
4) Avoid processed foods
5) Get sufficient Micronutrients (vitamins, minerals etc.)

And if you wanna build/maintain muscle

6) Get sufficient protein

The above points make up for over 90% of the equation. Now the timing and the portion size of your meals, if you eat more carbs or more fats (HEALTHY carbs and Fats of course) etc. do not have any statistically significant impact if you pay attention to the big picture of the scientific literature.

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MrSmiley21 wrote:

Avoid soy products, entirely. The stuff is bad, it lowers your T levels.

No it does not lol. Another example of misinterpretation of research. These was based on some research done on MICE, where they fed them a fuckload of phytoestrogens and their testosterone fell for 35% or so. Yeah sure, but for a human to consume that amount of soy translates into something like 60 glasses of Soy milk on a single day.

Almost all Papers that researched Soy consumption on realistic levels (and on the high side) did not find any reduction in Testosterone levels. Sure, it is true that if you consume a ton of soy your T might drop abit (i am talking on UNREALISTIC levels of Soy), the same way that if you consume to much protein (like a COW a day or something), you will have kidney problems. Fuck, even drinking to much water can be problematic. None of this proves that there is anything inherently wrong with soy.

That being said i never consume Soy myself. Besides hating the taste, like 80% of it or more is GMO, and i tend not to trust these products.

i can tell astraph is quite interested in arguing at a general level so that he can regurgitate his opinions here

Lol, My opinions are that i have NO opinions besides the absolutely, down to the core, basic points that have been proven scientifically. All i am saying is not to buy into the marketing bullshit and hype that youtubers trying to sell you. I am eating 5 meals per day(small portions etc.). I am not trying to convince anyone that this have any benefits to eating less bigger meals, AS everyone told us a decade earlier (boosts metabolism blah blah), because it doesn't. It just works FOR ME. The cool thing in the fitness world right now is Ketogenic diets and Intermittent fasting. Serious science disputs 99% of the claims of the supporters of said practices. I am not against them. Just do not expect anything magical if you follow them.

What do you think about this chart, fitness-senpai? The article here: https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/rock-hard-abs basically says that I should eat 180grams of protein a day. Wow! That sounds great to me. I'd been pushing down so much salad, but now I can eat a lot more meat than I was. I would eat it all in egg form but I'm concerned about cholesterol.

Also, I've decided not to do the cheat day thing. Instead I'll just eat more or less evenly from day to day as my cheat food of choice isn't something reasonable like pizza, but it's candy which simply gives me a stomach ache when I go ham on it. It's cool because I can count the junk food towards my carb total because everything else I eat won't have any carbs in them. So it kind works out. I even saw Wal-Mart sells 98 cent bags of white chocolate macedamia nut cookies that fit precisely into my daily calorie allowance for carbs.

The chart.

Surprising that article was not that bad, as usually most of these are. It does recommend the old bodybuilding standard of 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight which has been proven to be an exaggeration. You do not NEED to take 180 grams of protein per day. About 145 is the upper limit of what your body might need for protein synthesis (muscle building), but it does not hurt at all to eat more than that if you can fit it in your diet. Protein starts being toxic when you consume huge amounts.

As for spreading your cheats evenly through the week, while controlling your caloric intake. Yeah you can do it. This strategy is called in the fitness world If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM). It is not the "best" or the healthiest option by far, since loading yourself with sugar on a daily basis in kinda unhealthy and not optimal for your hormones, but again, if your caloric intake is in control and you work out consistently, you WILL lose fat and build muscle.

It's the same principle that some people have lost fat and built muscle on just eating McDonald's. Not the best thing in the world, and certainly not the healithiest, but again. Caloric Defict + Sufficient protein + weight lifting = losing fat + building muscle. At least when you are a beginer.

yeah I bought some lean turkey and I was like... dayum they want me to eat this whole fucking package today. Anyway, yeah the sugar snack thing just doesn't seem possible. I'm gonna have to figure out something else and since sugar snacks is the only thing I actually crave, I doubt I'll even want to eat it everyday anyhow.

I'm gonna have to give up sugar again =(

I just don't understand, if spinach is dayum good for us, then why doesn't it taste like donuts? I mean if our body wants so much kale it should taste like gummi worms. I mean. This is logical.

Y'all, I bought a wok, I'm cooking food at the stove. When I was in Wal-Mart standing at the register, all dem women's was watching me thinking "Mmm, he know how to cook. I'mma gimme him my panties." Yeee

And dude all the best looking women shop in the produce section, not the candy aisle. Book it!! Run dat. Uhn.

I'm thinking if I join a dating site soon I will take a pic of myself standing at the stove. Wearing either a business suit or a turtle neck. Perhaps both. Oh dayum, yes

I love it when a good plan comes to fruition.