Started a healthy diet, when do I start to feel better?

[macarose]

Your diet/lifestyle sounds like prison..............

The exact opposite. No medications. No pain. No highs. No lows.

I'm within 10 pounds of my college weight and can do 42 push-ups in 30 seconds... even though I don't work out a lot.

Is that prison? Then so be it.

I value health and well-being over the imprisonment of a dopamine driven lifestyle.

 

[Pablo]

Our diet isn't terrible but it isn't the best, too much flour and sugar, more prepared food like deli ham and pepperoni and breakfast cereals than should be etc. Over a month ago I resolved to clean up my diet, absolute minimum of flour based foods, no prepared things like lunch meats, soup, no snacks, etc. Only limited amount of whole wheat bread more vegetables and fresh fruit, more protein, only drink water and 1 cup of coffee a day. No desserts. Trying to follow the new official nutrition guidelines.

After a month, other than losing some weight I really didn't need to lose I don't feel any different, better or worse. Might feel a bit more tired late in the day than usual. No more energy. You read about people feeling so much better after improving what they eat but I'm not getting it. Maybe my cholesterol numbers are better but no way to know. Might as well go back to being happy with what I'm eating?!

You won’t know what direction you can go without blood tests

A1c
Fasting insulin
Mg level
Vitamin D level
Full blood panel
Lipids with lipoproteins
Uric acid level

This is a minimum with your doctor - if all are in range then look more at your diet. Looks like you may have an unfounded fear of fats for example

As for exercise you absolutely need resistance 2-3 week as well

 

[CKN]

The exact opposite. No medications. No pain. No highs. No lows.

I'm within 10 pounds of my college weight and can do 42 push-ups in 30 seconds... even though I don't work out a lot.

Is that prison? Then so be it.

I value health and well-being over the imprisonment of a dopamine driven lifestyle.

How old are you-if you don't mind? Past certain posts indicate you are on the "mature side".

 

[macarose]

How old are you-if you don't mind? Past certain posts indicate you are on the "mature side".

53. I'm not old. Just barely middle-aged.

 

[CKN]

53. I'm not old. Just barely middle-aged.

No you are not. So your lifestyle may have an affect on your longevity/health. Most guys who start such things that I know do it much later.

 

[AZjeff]

@macarose, thanks for the offer but that diet would break my spirit. I enjoy food and don't see much enjoyment in your menu.

@Pablo, not afraid of fats. We like to bake so of course that means too many carbs. We've found the sugar can be cut way back in most recipes but there's still some. The only cheat was the Sunday homemade pizza and I even left off pepperoni. We never go out to eat in restaraunts, no fast food, no deep frying. I don't have any health problems, not overweight, but have known I (we) could eat a more healthy diet. Looking at 69 fast approaching why not try changing for the better and see how I feel? Wife isn't buying in and I suspect it will go back to our normal, it's just inconvenient to have different menus. The main reason for this thread was I made major changes to my diet for a solid month and didn't feel any different or notice anything positive or negative other than losing some weight. Responses here indicate some notice changes and some don't.

 

[Pablo]

@macarose, thanks for the offer but that diet would break my spirit. I enjoy food and don't see much enjoyment in your menu.

@Pablo, not afraid of fats. We like to bake so of course that means too many carbs. We've found the sugar can be cut way back in most recipes but there's still some. The only cheat was the Sunday homemade pizza and I even left off pepperoni. We never go out to eat in restaraunts, no fast food, no deep frying. I don't have any health problems, not overweight, but have known I (we) could eat a more healthy diet. Looking at 69 fast approaching why not try changing for the better and see how I feel? Wife isn't buying in and I suspect it will go back to our normal, it's just inconvenient to have different menus. The main reason for this thread was I made major changes to my diet for a solid month and didn't feel any different or notice anything positive or negative other than losing some weight. Responses here indicate some notice changes and some don't.

Understood but I will add it could take at least 3 months or longer - a month seems a very short term

I still urge you to find out your health markers. Some are simple like waist hip ratio and most blood tests. Some like Lp(a) might not be fully controllable but it’s good to know as we all learn more. There are many food allergies that people don’t even know they have. I guess what I’m trying to say it’s difficult to feel different with changes in diet by doing it blindly.

 

[ripcord]

Wife isn't buying in and I suspect it will go back to our normal, it's just inconvenient to have different menus.

I find I tend to get served what I want to eat pretty consistently when I jump in and do the cooking myself.

I don't try to eat a perfect diet, I shoot for "healthier." I just keep trying to improve as I go along. Plenty of vegetables, probably too much cheese, few processed foods, mostly cultured dairy instead of milk. Something pickled most everyday.

 

[grasscutter]

It's better to take a short cut and start taking organic vitamins made out of real food.

You can't eat healthy with store bought food anymore.

A carrot from 2026 has only a small fraction of the nutrients that were available in a carrot from 1940.

Genetically Modified Organism food is what you get from the store now. Frankenstein food.

Find a neighbor that has their own set of orange trees. Pay them big money to pick their oranges.

 

[Arc]

Recent numbers are fine except the heredatory slightly high cholesterol.


Currently walk the dogs 2-3 miles a day every day and ride mountain bike on trails strenuously 2 hours 3-4 times a week. Lack of quality exercise isn't a problem.

Sounds like it isn't the food. When I ran five miles a day and 15 on weekends my body burned whatever I put in it. Only after I started having health problems at 50 and had to stop running did I have to watch what I ate.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Maybe this is as good as it gets?

 

[97prizm]

Our diet isn't terrible but it isn't the best, too much flour and sugar, more prepared food like deli ham and pepperoni and breakfast cereals than should be etc. Over a month ago I resolved to clean up my diet, absolute minimum of flour based foods, no prepared things like lunch meats, soup, no snacks, etc. Only limited amount of whole wheat bread more vegetables and fresh fruit, more protein, only drink water and 1 cup of coffee a day. No desserts. Trying to follow the new official nutrition guidelines.

After a month, other than losing some weight I really didn't need to lose I don't feel any different, better or worse. Might feel a bit more tired late in the day than usual. No more energy. You read about people feeling so much better after improving what they eat but I'm not getting it. Maybe my cholesterol numbers are better but no way to know. Might as well go back to being happy with what I'm eating?!

Your A1C is a big part of that along with exercise.

 

[#18FAN]

Maybe this is as good as it gets?

Probably some real truth to that.

 

[jetman]

"Healthy Diet" so ambiguous

When I used to eat a low fat/high carb diet, I thought I was eating a "Healthy Diet". NOT!
What I use to think of as "Healthy" I now think of as poison.

People are sick, getting sicker, and don't know it. So sad

 

[AZjeff]

@Pablo, W/H ratio is .86

@ripcord, I do plenty of cooking. If I cook fish and wife doesn't eat fish something else gets cooked as well. That's okay occasionally.

@grasscutter, good idea but there isn't an orange tree within 75 miles of where we live. Wouldn't even know where to start with organic vitamins, there are undoubtedly good and bad brands of those as well.

Unfortunately the cost of organic vitamins and food and optional doctor visits and blood tests out of pocket has to be considered. Yes being healthy costs less in the long run but the past year has shown we're not as secure as we thought in our retirement and aren't looking to increase monthly costs at this time.

Hey our new health dictator recently reported he was on a meat and fermented food diet and lost 20 lbs in a month and was feeling mentally sharper. FWIW.

 

[Pablo]

@Pablo, W/H ratio is .86

@ripcord, I do plenty of cooking. If I cook fish and wife doesn't eat fish something else gets cooked as well. That's okay occasionally.

@grasscutter, good idea but there isn't an orange tree within 75 miles of where we live. Wouldn't even know where to start with organic vitamins, there are undoubtedly good and bad brands of those as well.

Unfortunately the cost of organic vitamins and food and optional doctor visits and blood tests out of pocket has to be considered. Yes being healthy costs less in the long run but the past year has shown we're not as secure as we thought in our retirement and aren't looking to increase monthly costs at this time.

Hey our new health dictator recently reported he was on a meat and fermented food diet and lost 20 lbs in a month and was feeling mentally sharper. FWIW.

That is EXCELLENT

Blood tests are not expensive (my opinion): https://www.ultalabtests.com/partners/ultdirect
I'm lucky I banked an HSA when working - yet some earlier dictator said we can't use the money for premiums, so I use that credit card for lab tests.

Funny - the perception of feeling can be fleeting - or at least float with the time and gradual. Personally (very much) I weighed 200 pounds in the past. I was feeling OK. I mean I thought I was ok..............now I weigh 155. In some ways I feel about the same, but yet tons more ability to jump about and such. Really more than that: I had zero idea how I was carrying 45 pounds. 45 pounds is a lot to lift for a geezer!

 

[Vil_Riker]

Our diet isn't terrible but it isn't the best, too much flour and sugar, more prepared food like deli ham and pepperoni and breakfast cereals than should be etc. Over a month ago I resolved to clean up my diet, absolute minimum of flour based foods, no prepared things like lunch meats, soup, no snacks, etc. Only limited amount of whole wheat bread more vegetables and fresh fruit, more protein, only drink water and 1 cup of coffee a day. No desserts. Trying to follow the new official nutrition guidelines.

After a month, other than losing some weight I really didn't need to lose I don't feel any different, better or worse. Might feel a bit more tired late in the day than usual. No more energy. You read about people feeling so much better after improving what they eat but I'm not getting it. Maybe my cholesterol numbers are better but no way to know. Might as well go back to being happy with what I'm eating?!

It will be a graduate change how you feel so you likely won't notice any changes.

 

[2005jettatdi]

It has been over three weeks since I stopped all alcohol and most carbs. I also started swimming laps at the wellness center most days and my wife and I walk the dog in the afternoon. I usually manage 250 yards of swimming. I started another 50 yards this morning, but realized I was not quite ready for it. I have dropped about ten pounds, but need to lose a minimum of ten more. I will be 73 in March.

I drink juice and coffee in the morning with the coffee sometimes before and sometimes after the swim. I try to avoid carbs for lunch. Dinner is close to what I used to eat, but less carbs and more emphasis on green vegis. Snacks are pretty much limited to berries, fresh or dried.

I feel pretty good, but cannot say I feel more energy. My wife, formerly an RN who was top of her class for a BS in nursing, says some of the initial weight loss was most likely reduced inflation.

I am willing to go in for more blood work, but will never pay attention to cholesterol. My main immediate concern is my fatty liver, which is a non alcoholic fatty liver.

Like AZJeff, it helps to live in Sunny Arizona so walking daily is easier.

 

[Pablo]

I drink juice

What juice?

 

[ripcord]

Most juice is concentrated carbs without the benefit of the fiber.