Xazy

I am a total meat & potato person, I rarely eat dairy, and if I do it is something like Pizza. I am not big on veggies I just do not like the taste, never really have.

Sorry I guess I should explain the post, I know I eat a ton of carbs and I know carbs are not the best for me. I go through potatoes like there is no tomorrow. Which brings me to the post, how bad really is it, and how do you really go about changing your eating habit. I am a bad picky eater, in that I have certain dislikes and dislike sweet food, fish, etc... I just get nauseous when I eat them.

Anyway thank you again in advance for any thoughts / feedback.

MSD

Fruit and vegetables have a lot of stuff you can't get anywhere else. All you can do to change your eating habits is either find something you like or force yourself to eat something you can tolerate. If you like sweet foods, start with stuff like sugar snap peas and sweet corn.

Xazy

Sorry meant dislike sweet food and fish...

JustJess

If your eating habits are truly narrow, consider supplementing with multi-vitamins so you don't short yourself on important things like B vitamins (we would actually die without them), and all the lipid-solubles, A, D, E, and K. In fact... If I remember, I'll get you my list of essentials, and where you find them. Straight from Biochem, so it should be a bit more reliable than some website.

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abaya

Do you at least take vitamins, to help give your body all that its missing from the lack of fruit and veggies?

And maybe this is too personal, but where do you get your fiber from? (AKA, do you get constipated often?) I find that without the fiber in fruits/veg, I have more *serious* problems, if you know what I mean... so I have to take at least some fiber supplements on a regular basis, if I'm not eating properly.

I'm also a big meat/potato lover, but it helps being married to a veggie-friendly husband. He makes a couple of salads a week with our dinner, and I try to have a few fruits a week (along with pure fruit juice--not the crappy kind with added sugar, corn syrup, etc--dunno if that helps, but at least I get Vit C). It's not much, but it's better than nothing... it was much worse when I was single.

Cross-posted with Jess... but she reminded me of the Vit D capsules/oil that Icelanders have survived on for centuries. They never had much variation in their diet anyway, but in the dead of a very dark and long winter... yeah, they would have actually died without having all the vitamins they got from their cod liver oil. You said you don't like fish, but taking capsules full of cod liver oil aren't so bad. It's seriously amazing... I don't know why I haven't done it sooner, myself.

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Eweser

Carbs aren't bad for you. They are your energy source. It's all the stuff you put on the potatoes, i.e. sour cream, bacon, etc on a baked potato, that you have to watch out for. As for the nutrition aspect of not having more variety, I totally agree with the comments above.

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Xazy

I do take a multivitamin (Twinlab DualTabs Mega Vitamins & Minerals Formula) twice a day. I as well have Clementine's during the day (ok well only sometimes), some watermelon (my wife is a fanatic and we found a place in Brooklyn that still has good watermelon despite it being way out of season).

girldetective

Carbs are not "bad" for you but they will add to weight gain if you are not exercising them off. If you are an avid exerciser or athlete carbs are essential for energy. However, if you want to lose weight without added exercise cut out most carbs and concentrate on protein. After 1000+ evaluations of the morbidly obese, the most consistently successful weight loss plan is high protein/very low carbs.

levite

I hear you, buddy. Took me forever to develop a taste for veggies, and I'm still very picky about which ones I like and how I prefer them prepared.

Try infusing your diet with dishes that involve meat and veggies together, so that the meat flavor dominates, like stews, soups, or vegetable-and-meat ragouts. Indian food is also good for this: meat and veg curries were one of the first kinds of veg-heavy dishes I really enjoyed. Ditto for Chinese and/or Thai food: just be sure that you go to/order from good Chinese/Thai places, because well-made Chinese/Thai food is very healthy; poorly-made, cheap-ass Chinese/Thai food is really not.

You just have to eat some veggies, but it's not wrong to just give up on some. I gave up on salad herbs. I just can't do it. I mean, I can get down some mouthfuls to be polite at formal dinners, but raw leaves do nothing for me. For me, it's all about sharp, lightly cooked veggies, like asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, and fennel. But I found it was easier to focus on acquiring tastes for the vegetables I was kind of toeing the line with, once I just admitted to myself that there were a few things I was just officially giving up on.

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paddyjoe

abaya speaks the truth!

Fibers are ESSENTIAL! you may not realize it now, but a few years down the road you could very well run into some serious problems.

go ahead and google some fun words like:

Diverticulitis
&
Diverticulosis

So, if you're really not going to eat your veggies, at least start eating the potato skins when you bake them. Also, supplements like Citrucil once or twice a day will help alot.

Xazy

I never really worried or thought about fiber, i do take the multivitamin (Twinlab DualTabs ) as I said, I guess i will have to read up on that then.

abaya

Glad to know I speak the truth about something as essential as regular bowel movements.

(two thumbs up) for Citrucel!

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allaboutmusic

You can get soluble fiber from a pharmacist, but it's definitely better to eat fruits and veg - and if you try all kinds of different fruits and vegetables you'll probably find one you like. Part of the trick with vegetables is learning to cook them properly so they taste really nice.

snowy

If you look up some of the other threads regarding nutrition I have replied to, you will notice a common theme, that echoes what abaya and paddy said: EAT MORE FIBER.

If it is a carbohydrate, and doesn't have fiber, you should not be sticking it in your face--or at least not often. Eat more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. You should be able to get enough fiber from your diet without taking a fiber supplement. Buy bread with at least 3-4g of fiber a slice. Cereal should have a significant amount of fiber per serving. Read labels--there is a LOT of misleading advertising and labeling out there on boxes. A lot of foods claim to have whole grains but then only have 1g of fiber. As a guy, your goal should be to eat about 30g of fiber a day. It's actually easier than you think.

As for meat and potatoes--that's fine, so long as you're leaving the skins on the potatoes Think of your plate in thirds--one third protein, one third whole grains, one third fruits and vegetables. A baked potato, in this case, would fit under whole grains (5g of fiber per small potato). So the other two slots would be meat (watch the portion size), and green beans/corn/peas/whatever. I also like to eat a side salad before I even eat my dinner.

Meat and potatoes is fine as long as you're not viewing a potato as a vegetable, and not counting it in your five a day. It's also fine so long as it's not the only thing you're eating--you need to eat a variety of foods.

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grumpyolddude

I've have been advised by a nutritionist to NEVER eat carbs dry... always have some form of fat (butter, cheese, sour cream) with your carbs. The fat actually helps your digestive system metabolize more of the carbs, store less as body fat. Moderation is still a healthy option, though.

Concerning diverticulitis/osis: I've been advised by my G/E to avoid raw veggies, but to take a fiber supplement instead.

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allaboutmusic

Brief aside - what is a G/E?

snowy

Gastroenterologist.

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allaboutmusic

Thanks. Love learning new words like that - searching for G/E was proving tricky.

JustJess

Ahhh, fiber. The toothbrush for your bowels. Truly a king of nutrition. Also, your nutritionist is weird - how can pill-fiber be better than the cellulose and such found in real food?? I posit that it cannot.

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grumpyolddude

The nutritionist didn't recommend the fiber, my doctor did.

The nutritionist said use fats to help metabolize carbs... yummy

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thingstodo

Amen about the carbs. Jesus, why does everyone think they are bad? I mean, they do provide fuel for the tank. If you eat more fuel than you need, you get fat. Simple as that. Doesn't matter what kind of fuel.

The important thing is to create balance. Look at the pyramid. Fruits, veggies, protein (some from animal is good, at least a matchbook size amount) whole grains.

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thespian86

my fiance is meat and potatoes; she's british and moved to Atlantic Canada where seafood is a must. Her whole family hates it. I'm also an amateur chef so I love experimenting. She won't.

I started worrying about her health though so I forced her to start taking vitamins. She tells me she actually feels physically better. Try it.

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