Potatoes Are Not Evil

 

shutterstock_181579721He said ‘quinoa’ and my mind went blank. I could see his lips moving, but, like the shell shock scenes in Saving Private Ryan I couldn’t hear anything he said after that explosion went off. I rejoined the conversation around when he was explaining that a Mediterranean diet is mostly plant-based. I should listen to this man, I told myself, because he’s my doctor and because — unlike the super-skinny, marathon-running doctor who failed me on my DoT physical — this guy is a little pudgy around the middle and understands the struggle. But the good doctor had the temerity to look right in the face of a guy whose last name is Patrick and say no potatoes.

I turned next to a trusted fount of wisdom, my mother. She has been on a health journey for the last year or so that has born great fruit. She’s lost nearly 60 pounds and has eliminated sugar from her food intake. She’s the one who taught me how to make chicken fried steak and, more importantly, the amazing gravy to go with it. I’ve watched and learned from her as she’s gone through various changes in life – from drunken heathen to sober saint, and now from her once matronly figure to a picture of vigor and health. Surely I can trust her on this matter. But, like my doctor, her prescription sounds way worse than the disease. Her advice mirrored the doctor’s, only she added a spiritual dimension I’m also not ready to confront just yet.

Searching online for healthy eating advice reminds me of why Ricochet is so glorious: the internet is where we keep the crazy people. I’m certainly not going to entrust my health and happiness to Mrs. Obama and her broccoli-pushing nanny state. Everywhere I turn, however, the same thing comes up over and over again. Everything I like to eat, everything I know how to cook is just short of putting a gun to my head and pulling the trigger. It probably doesn’t help that the list of things I can/will eat is vanishingly small compared to the list of things that just won’t enter my pie hole. The problem is me; the solution is elusive.

So I turn now to the last bastion of good sense and reason. People of Ricochet, how does one change his eating habits entirely? Is life without bread and pasta, tortillas, and potatoes really life at all? If I must graze in the lawn for my sustenance, how can it be done without longing for Smod to end my misery?

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  1. iWc Coolidge
    iWc
    @iWe

    My regime is simple.

    I weigh myself every day, and set weekly targets. I work out a reward system that motivates me, and slowly, slowly, keep working at it. I eat whatever I want: I just try to eat less of it.

    It is a constant battle. I absolutely adore food. Staying hungry is no fun. But I have too many important things to do than to give into my gustatory lusts.

    • #1
  2. user_1065645 Member
    user_1065645
    @DaveSussman

    Moderation. You want pizza or burritos? Enjoy… but not every day. Throw some salads, fish and 70 minutes of cardio (a week) in between the carbs, and you will lose weight.

    I saw on another thread the coffee/butter thing. I add a teaspoon of natural coconut oil (Trader Joes) to my coffee each morning. I am not hungry the entire day.

    • #2
  3. Frank Soto Member
    Frank Soto
    @FrankSoto

    iWe:My regime is simple.

    I weigh myself every day, and set weekly targets. I work out a reward system that motivates me, and slowly, slowly, keep working at it. I eat whatever I want: I just try to eat less of it.

    It is a constant battle. I absolutely adore food. Staying hungry is no fun. But I have too many important things to do than to give into my gustatory lusts.

    I’m with iWe on this.  I’m not in favor of utterly overhauling my entire diet. Crashed and burned on too many diets this way.  I make small changes that I know I can live with.  I still eat things I want, but eat less of them.

    Some people have more success by completely submitting themselves to a regimen set out in a specific diet.

    If that works for you, great.  If not, don’t make it such an all or nothing proposition.

    • #3
  4. Mike H Inactive
    Mike H
    @MikeH

    I lost 12 pounds that I gained from medication and possibly my wife’s pregnancy by trying to keep my lunch and dinner to around 500-600 calories. I only have a 200 calorie protein bar for breakfast, but it’s tasty. If this sounds like way too few calories it’s because it doesn’t include my fourth meal of the day, beer, at around 700 calories.

    How to I eat so little actual food and stay satisfied? By trying to eat as much fat and protein as I can. This does mean making a conscious effort to lower carbs, but I have by no means eliminated anything from my diet. I’m lucky in that I only really crave carbs and sugar when I’m migraining.

    It’s all about staying full on as little calories as possible if your goal is to lose weight. Is my diet terrible? In a lot of ways, yes, but it’s pretty easy to keep the weight off this way. (I also compensate with taking a large amount of supplements, but most people don’t believe those could possible help) I get to load up on meat and butter and various dairy products. All devils foods in someone’s opinion. It works for me. We’ll see how I turn out long term.

    • #4
  5. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    Moderation seems to be a bad word in the world of health these days. I’ve had great success before by actually tracking what I eat and eliminating soda (because I can eat enough to stay sane or drink soda, but not both), but everywhere I turn it seems the authorities on the matter scowl at keeping things rational and simple.

    • #5
  6. iWc Coolidge
    iWc
    @iWe

    Mike H:  We’ll see how I turn out long term.

    I am pretty sure we all turn out about the same in the long term.

    • #6
  7. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    iWe:

    Mike H: We’ll see how I turn out long term.

    I am pretty sure we all turn out about the same in the long term.

    Probably the only thing I agree on with Keynes.

    • #7
  8. Son of Spengler Member
    Son of Spengler
    @SonofSpengler

    I’m a low-carb guy, a la Gary Taubes. Lost 30 lbs that way.

    The idea behind the low-carb diet is that insulin spikes are the big driver behind adiposity. In a nutshell, if you can reduce your insulin spikes, more of the calories you ingest will be burned as energy and less will be stored as fat.

    The key measure for any food is its glycemic index, which is a measure of how quickly it boosts your blood sugar. Foods like candy and cookies and bread and pasta (and potatoes) have a high glycemic index. Some foods with high sugar content, such as fruit, actually have a low glycemic index because the fiber slows digestion and absorption. The worst GIs are for liquid carbs — sodas, beer, and (for some, unexpectedly) fruit juices. There are online databases of GI for common foods.

    In practice, this translates to: (1) You do not need to count calories or go hungry. Instead, replace high-GI carbs with low-GI foods. (2) Eat as much meat, eggs, fish, and leafy vegetables as you like. (3) Eat more fat. Dietary fat does not make you fat, and will fill you up. Also low-fat products often add more sugar.

    Most books recommend going cold turkey on the carbs, and then adding some back bit by bit. My approach — which I think leads to better long-term persistence — is the opposite: Start small. Replace high-GI potato chips with moderate-GI popcorn. (Later, you’ll replace the popcorn with peanuts or almonds.) Substitute sweet potatoes for white potatoes. (Later you’ll eliminate the sweet potatoes.) Substitute rice for pasta. (Later you’ll ditch the rice too.) The effects are slower, but because the change is gradual, you will get fewer cravings and be more likely to stick with it.

    • #8
  9. iWc Coolidge
    iWc
    @iWe

    The King Prawn:He said quinoa and my mind went blank.

    I am with you. Quinoa is not food.

    I like having food in the house that I do not like (certain kinds of kid-friendly junk). It allows me to meet my instinctive need to hoard, without craving the awful food.

    • #9
  10. iWc Coolidge
    iWc
    @iWe

    I also strongly prefer full-fat foods of all kinds. Definitely reduces the appetite.

    • #10
  11. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @OldBathos

    I recommend the 4-Hour Body Book and Why we Get Fat for thoughtful, empirical approaches.  I dropped close to 30 pounds in a month relying on the first book cited, eating large quantities of chili or chicken curry for lunch and dinner, eggs for breakfast and large gobs of carbs once a week on Sundays (not a big sacrifice because the daily quantities were large, I only had to cook one day a week to make enough for the week and I happen to be a gifted cook, even if I say so myself).

    Then I put more than half the weight back on in ensuing months because I did not follow the long-term guidance explained in the second book cited above but am now back on track.

    Bottom line is that it is not about calories per se but all about the carbs that affect hormonal activity.

    Potatoes can, in fact be evil.  But I would rather be fat that eat quinoa which I am convinced is not really food but cleverly dyed dirt.

    • #11
  12. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    That GI is what will get me. I know that eliminating the 1K+ cal per day in Mountain Dew is the first (and possibly biggest) step to success. After that it actually gets hard. White rice is, from my understanding, horrible for you, and I put brown rice right in the quinoa category of things to toss on the barn floor to absorb liquids. As for adding more protein, that would be awesome is shoe leather quality beef wasn’t running at $10/lb. There’s only so much chicken my family is willing to eat, and we’re right at a 1.5/4 fish tolerance ratio. I know, I know…excuses.

    • #12
  13. iWc Coolidge
    iWc
    @iWe

    The King Prawn: As for adding more protein, that would be awesome is shoe leather quality beef wasn’t running at $10/lb.

    Cheek. Quite cheap. And if you cook it REAL slow (12-24 hours) it is magnificent. Really amazing.

    • #13
  14. DrewInWisconsin Member
    DrewInWisconsin
    @DrewInWisconsin

    The King Prawn:So I turn now to the last bastion of good sense and reason. People of Ricochet, how does one change his eating habits entirely? Is life without bread and pasta, tortillas and potatoes really life at all? If I must graze in the lawn for my sustenance, how can it be done without longing for Smod to end my misery?

    As someone who was rotund from the age of 10, I can only tell you what finally worked for me.

    Yes, cut carbs. (Those delicious breads, pastas, tortillas, potatoes.) Cut sugars. (Yeah, don’t do sugared drinks.) But do not try to replace them with vegetables, because you won’t make it. You will feel hungry all the time. I don’t know how vegetarians do it, because vegetables only make me hungrier. And they don’t taste that great. But what did and does work for me is to dramatically increase the protein.

    For quite awhile now, eggs have been my go-to food. When I can’t think of what to eat, I make eggs. Remember when eggs were these terrible things we weren’t supposed to eat? Dumb advice. Whoever came up with that should be shot.

    I eat eggs every single day.

    Don’t try to cut carbs out completely. That’s just not going to happen. They’re everywhere. But cut back on them drastically. And then eat lots and lots of protein.

    • #14
  15. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    iWe:

    The King Prawn: As for adding more protein, that would be awesome is shoe leather quality beef wasn’t running at $10/lb.

    Cheek. Quite cheap. And if you cook it REAL slow (12-24 hours) it is magnificent. Really amazing.

    Part of it, I’m sure, is this backward state I’m in that thinks beef brisket, a meat renowned for being temperamental and requiring a 12 hour investment of time, is worth more than about $2/lb. I’ve seen it as high as $6/lb and just about choked.

    • #15
  16. Son of Spengler Member
    Son of Spengler
    @SonofSpengler

    The King Prawn:That GI is what will get me. I know that eliminating the 1K+ cal per day in Mountain Dew is the first (and possibly biggest) step to success. After that it actually gets hard. White rice is, from my understanding, horrible for you, and I put brown rice right in the quinoa category of things to toss on the barn floor to absorb liquids. As for adding more protein, that would be awesome is shoe leather quality beef wasn’t running at $10/lb. There’s only so much chicken my family is willing to eat, and we’re right at a 1.5/4 fish tolerance ratio. I know, I know…excuses.

    Do you like cheese? I eat mozzarella sticks in place of Snickers bars. How about eggs (and bacon or salami) for breakfast? Anywhere you can substitute makes a difference. I’m guessing you’re not into tofu, but there are great ways to make it (deep fried, say, or marinated in teriyaki sauce and broiled).

    • #16
  17. user_605844 Member
    user_605844
    @KiminWI

    If I want to change my eating habits, I need to first win the mind game. I LOVE toast with lots of butter.  But when I realized that toast is merely a platform for my real love, butter, it was easier to transfer the bit that I love to make something else (green beans)  more tantalizing and eat less calories overall. Same with pancakes. The only reason to eat them is the maple syrup (tapped just over the hill and processed just down the road.) So I have one, really drenched in maple syrup, instead of a stack with a dribble. I end up eating less overall.

    Quinoa.  I actually like it, but my family doesn’t. So I’ve been experimenting. If it is overwhelmed with spices, herbs, vegetables or protein they like, it becomes filler rather than the main event.  But it’s really nutritious filler. There are other things that fit the bill as well. Lentils. Barley.

    Meat and fish are always satisfying, and if it’s a good piece to begin with, needs very little prep to be luscious.  So I really concentrate on making the vegetables and a bit of whole grain really attractive. That encourages us to fill the plate 2/3 with plant based foods to accompany the small but precious spot left for protein.

    All these tastes are far more complex than potatoes and bread, so if you can keep them in front of you, you will break the starch habit.

    • #17
  18. V.S. Blackford Inactive
    V.S. Blackford
    @VSBlackford

    I love the Mediterranean diet, which is not about going on a diet to lose some weight, but is instead about rethinking what kind of food you will eat on a regular basis for the rest of your life.  And that kind of food is delicious.  Olive oil, legumes (chickpeas!), vegetables, seafood, poultry, and wine! (in moderation).  I keep my family’s red meat consumption to about once a week.  I do love to cook, so that helps too.

    It is also a good idea to look at what beverages you are drinking throughout the day.  I would cut out soda entirely (even if it is diet), and drink tea or coffee if you want caffeine.  We view soda as a treat in my house.

    Lastly, walk!  For my first two pregnancies I had to get back in shape really quickly because I was serving in the military.  For weight loss after my most recent pregnancy I did not have a fit test looming, but I have still lost weight by eating well and going for extended walks with my husband and children.

    • #18
  19. Vance Richards Inactive
    Vance Richards
    @VanceRichards

    When I went to he doctor back in April I put up Vince Wilfork type numbers on the scale. The doctor wanted to scare me with Blood Pressure and Cholesterol readings, but when she opened up my file she was almost disappointed to see that those numbers were all really good.

    Still, I didn’t need a doctor to realize I’m overweight, so I asked for some suggestions:

    “Eat less sugar”

    “OK”

    “Cut down on starches”

    “OK”

    “Don’t eat cheese”

    “Bite me!”

    Anyway, since then I downloaded some free app (MyFitnessPal) that helps you track calories. So I haven’t eliminated anything, but I keep track of everything and end up eating less. I have lost about 20lbs so far (which means I’m still really big) but it’s a start.

    • #19
  20. iWc Coolidge
    iWc
    @iWe

    Other suggestions:

    Plate your food, don’t put the whole pot/dish on the table in front of you.

    Use small plates – a full small plate is more satisfying than an emptier big one.

    Put up a sign: “Better in the trash than my stomach.” Very, very hard for this Jew to live by. But I know it is true for everything after my first helping.

    • #20
  21. Frank Soto Member
    Frank Soto
    @FrankSoto

    I’m going to take this moment to check out of this thread.  Too many people being awfully specific in terms of what diet will work for a man they don’t really know.

    Rather than refute the notion that because something works great for you (Such as, you won’t miss the taste of X if you eat Y.  Taste preferences vary so widely, you can’t possibly know this in regards to other people.) I’m just going to unfollow the post and save myself the hassle.

    Everyone is not you.  What works for you will not work for everyone.

    • #21
  22. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    V.S. Blackford:Olive oil, legumes (chickpeas!), vegetables, seafood, poultry, and wine! (in moderation).

    I modified the list a little for what I would eat. I have the palette of a 3 year old.

    iWe:Other suggestions:

    Plate your food, don’t put the whole pot/dish on the table in front of you.

    Use small plates – a full small plate is more satisfying than an emptier big one.

    Put up a sign: “Better in the trash than my stomach.” Very, very hard for this Jew to live by. But I know it is true for everything after my first helping.

    Surprisingly enough, the last successful go round of this mess I found that forcing the family to the table more, talking a lot during the meal, and setting down the fork between bites was actually very helpful.

    • #22
  23. DrewInWisconsin Member
    DrewInWisconsin
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Peanuts and almonds replaced chips for me. My body doesn’t like too many of them, but they’re handy.

    I see we cross posted and you mentioned the cost of beef. Yes, that’s true. Eggs are still quite economical, though. And a good source of protein.

    The deal is that protein leaves me feeling full where carbs didn’t. (And for me vegetables don’t either.) So a good ol’ American Breakfast of Bacon and Eggs kept me satisfied until lunch. No mid-morning snack required.

    Oddly, energy drinks (sugar free), which cause all health-conscious people to recoil in horror, help me feel full, too.

    And I eat butter and refuse to give up cheese.

    • #23
  24. DrewInWisconsin Member
    DrewInWisconsin
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Frank Soto:Everyone is not you. What works for you will not work for everyone.

    Yep, absolutely true.

    Like I said, I can only say what worked for me.

    And cutting carbs was only half of it. Also, lots of cardio wasn’t working either. It wasn’t until I switched my form of exercise to weight training that I actually started seeing a difference.

    So that’s my advice, take it or leave it. Increase protein dramatically. Decrease carbs dramatically. Lift things up and put them back down.

    • #24
  25. Metalheaddoc Member
    Metalheaddoc
    @Metalheaddoc

    Change one thing at a time.

    Stop drinking your calories. Switch to diet soda or tea or no calorie flavored water or whatever  you like that is non-caloric. Do it gradually, one drink a day.

    Protein in every meal.

    Vegetable in every meal.

    Cut back on processed carbs as much as possible. Stay with whole food carbs, even if they are potatoes as long as they aren’t fried.

    Start with those habits gradually, one at a time and see how it goes before you start going with crazy strict dietary changes.  The secret is changing one thing at a time until it sticks as a habit. The more things you try to change at once, the more likely you are to fail at it.

    • #25
  26. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    Metalheaddoc:Change one thing at a time.

    Stop drinking your calories. Switch to diet soda or tea or no calorie flavored water or whatever you like that is non-caloric. Do it gradually, one drink a day.

    Protein in every meal.

    Vegetable in every meal.

    Cut back on processed carbs as much as possible. Stay with whole food carbs, even if they are potatoes as long as they aren’t fried.

    Start with those habits gradually, one at a time and see how it goes before you start going with crazy strict dietary changes. The secret is changing one thing at a time until it sticks as a habit. The more things you try to change at once, the more likely you are to fail at it.

    This is much more reasonable than most of what I hear. Vegetables are still a big issue. Processed food not so much. I’m the cook, and I do almost all of it from scratch. My kids’ friends are always amazed when they come over for dinner and see food cooked from the fridge instead of a box.

    • #26
  27. DrewInWisconsin Member
    DrewInWisconsin
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Between April and November last year, I dropped 40 pounds, and somehow have kept it off over the winter (near impossibility here). People would say “Oh, you’re on a diet!” or “What diet did you follow?” . . .

    . . . and I really couldn’t say. I’m not following any particular diet, except the one I’ve made up in my head. I don’t like the word “diet.” It suggests some kind of strict regimen that’s all about denying yourself.

    Feh.

    I still grab a spoonful of Mac and Cheese when I see it cooking on the stove. And since I work at a church, baked goods appear in our staff room every morning like manna from Heaven. And when a church lady says “try these kolaches I made!” what are you gonna say?

    So it’s okay to leave a little space.

    But the weight training is magical. I’m in the best shape of my life. I’m wearing a clothing size I haven’t seen since high school. It’s just annoying that I waited until my late 40s to figure it out.

    • #27
  28. Metalheaddoc Member
    Metalheaddoc
    @Metalheaddoc

    As far as exercise. It sort of depends on what you do for exercise for now. Resistance training is best for long term success. In the short term, start out light and go heavier as you can tolerate. Cardio should start slow too. Low intensity cardio will start you out fine for health benefits, but will quickly lose effectiveness for body composition changes as you get more efficient at it. Then you would move on to  more intense forms of cardio exercise rather than longer duration of low intensity cardio. Your best bet for long term success is to do something you enjoy and add in some of the exercise you don’t enjoy but know you need to do.

    But, you can’t out-exercise a bad diet. Diet is king and should be your focus.

    • #28
  29. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @ArizonaPatriot

    KP:  If you find an answer to your plea, please let me know! I think that we’re in the same boat.  The problem isn’t knowing what to do — the problem is doing it.  I, too, don’t know how I could give us bread, or pasta, or potatoes, or real rice.

    I love your line about “longing for Smod.”

    I’m hoping that in Heaven, chili cheese fries will be lo-cal and fat free.

    • #29
  30. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    Metalheaddoc:As far as exercise. It sort of depends on what you do for exercise for now. Resistance training is best for long term success. In the short term, start out light and go heavier as you can tolerate. Cardio should start slow too. Low intensity cardio will start you out fine for health benefits, but will quickly lose effectiveness for body composition changes as you get more efficient at it. Then you would move on to more intense forms of cardio exercise rather than longer duration of low intensity cardio. Your best bet for long term success is to do something you enjoy and add in some of the exercise you don’t enjoy but know you need to do.

    But, you can’t out-exercise a bad diet. Diet is king and should be your focus.

    I’m starting with walking because the last baking season was unreasonably successful. I need to drop about 10 before I can trust myself to not overdo it on the elliptical. Once I get there I’ll be back on the 3xcardio/2xresistence regimen that works well for me.

    • #30
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