Thanksgiving has come and gone, the holiday season is fast approaching and many Gusties will soon be camping out in the library to avoid the looming horror that is finals week. In other words, the last month and a half of the calendar year can be simplified thusly for busy students: lots of food, lots of stress and no time to take care of your body.
A quick fix might be to diet hardcore after you’ve weathered the storm, even a fad diet like the Atkins diet. Most research suggests that this is a quick, impermanent fix that may leave you worse-off than when you began.
“Instead of just looking for a quick fix like a fad diet, a person needs to assess their activities and their intake, and make conscious choices about what they eat,” Senior Annika Ferber said.
On the cutting edge of dieting science are professional athletes, who are finding more and more that what goes in your body effects what you put out in play. Teams are hiring nutritionally conscious chefs and are even personalizing player diets to get the best possible performance they can. The Chicago Bulls, for example, have Chef Steve Jackson making everything from scratch for the team.
There are definitely outliers when it comes to the “eat well, live well” doctrine, even among professional athletes. Randy Moss had two Coca-Colas and a box of Hot Tamales candy before his 95-yard and 2-touchdown NFL debut. Even the Bulls’s own reigning NBA MVP Derrick Rose pre-games with Skittles so often that the candy company gave him a three-year supply.
For every such case, however, there are also counterexamples. Steve Nash and Grant Hill both are prolonging the twilight of their NBA careers by following the guidance of a personal and/or team chef.
Just as professionals are shifting toward smarter, personalized diets, our very own Gusties are finding success in individualized eating habits.
Sophomore Callie Wiklund has found a healthy balance by removing meat from her plate entirely.
“I took the transition really slowly. I ate chicken for a while, and occasionally I’ll still eat fish and seafood, that is, if someone else went through the effort to make it for me,” Wiklund said of the switch to a vegetarian diet. “I don’t really crave meat at all anymore. In fact, the smell of it really makes me sick and I find the same nutrients in other places. If I need protein I drink more milk and eat some almonds. If I need more iron I make a wrap loaded with spinach.”
But of course, one size does not fit all, and a different lifestyle demands different intake.
As a January Interim Experience project last winter, Senior Jeff Rossow completed the first thirty days of the P90X diet and workout regimen, which is designed to build muscle and cut fat at phenomenal rates.
“The first thirty days is called the fat-shredding stage, and is very high in protein, mostly from meat, but low in vegetables, fruits and carbs,” Rossow said of the program’s diet plan. “I found that the diet was hard initially, but it got easier as you got used to looking for the right types of food in the [Marketplace].”
“I probably dropped 18 pounds from the workout and diet schedule. It wasn’t that I was eating less, but instead I was just eating differently and probably eating healthier during the program,”Rossow said.
So what about that idealized food pyramid the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) endorses?
“The FDA food pyramid is a good guideline, but you can’t simply follow that and expect to be completely healthy,” Ferber said. “Some people have iron deficiencies or diabetes or lactose intolerance and obviously can’t adhere strictly to the FDA system, but its still a good rough outline of a healthy diet.”
“A 20-year-old NCAA athlete who needs 3000 calories shouldn’t have the same diet as their [relatively] less-active coach,” Ferber said. “There’s no one right way, but a person has to find their own formula for balance and moderation.”
What in the world is going on?Because of medications, pnecrangies and lack of time to take care of myself I’ve gotten to be a thick person over the last 4-5 years over 100lbs thicker. I lost about 60 pounds over the last year by doing absolutely nothing didn’t change my diet, didn’t make an actual effort to exercise regularly, notta. Talk about feeling awesome physically and mentally! Then I plateaued so I thought I’d try to do something’. Since starting an acai/cleansing/slimfast’ diet about a little over a month ago I’ve GAINED almost 10 lbs back! I used to be an EXTREME’ Mt. Dewer but have since switched to diet and lots of water (I have fallen off the wagon and had a real’ pop a time or two). I’ve never really been a big eater, I’d usually just eat a good dinner. I’d nibble on whatever the kids were having throughout the day and rarely ate breakfast, but I’ve started making myself drink a slimfast and eat a protein bar in the am for breakfast and find a little something for lunch. I really try to watch the carbs and try to consume mostly protein. On top of chasing a handful of kids around, housecleaning, and other daily activities, I try to get on my hamster wheel’ for AT LEAST 30 minutes (usually for 45-50 minutes) a day or hopefully everyother day if I can find some time so it’s not like I’m busy holding down the couch all the time! I got on the scale this morning and I’ve gained 3 %(#!^@ pounds just since last Friday alone. It seems the harder I try the more weight I gain and it is soooo discouraging!!! Can anybody tell me what I might be doing wrong and/or give me some suggestions? Please, if you don’t have anything serious to comment or suggest keep it to yourself. I can handle and welcome constructive criticism but I don’t need the negative crap from people who are just looking for points. Thanks in advance for any help.
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diet was very important for our bodies. With this information we no longer think of diet as enemies, but friends for us. THANKS
Personally, I believe the only diet to trust is one enocmmreded by your doctor. I have a lot of health issues, including diabetes, and recently started a diet that included eating grapefruit and/or drinking grapefruit juice. In just a few days, I began to feel horrible. I discovered that grapefruit is an absolute no no with the medications I am currently taking. I know most people don’t have issues like mine, but I’ve known others that have had issues with a self imposed diet, often because they should’nt be dieting at all! Be safe! Call the Doc first.
As a sufferer of kidney disease I’m fully aware of the need to follow the correct diet to optimize my health and delay the progression of the disease. It doesn’t stop me from occasionally opting for the “wrong” types of foods as long as I moderate it accordingly.
I made one change to my diet and that was to cut out meat. Over time I lost weight and combining my diet with a daily walk I also became fitter. I stick basically to poultry, game and fish. However, I will occasionally eat any animal that has been alllowed to grow in the wild such as bore or venison.
How can I start a fitness and heatlh diet program at school?I am EXTREMELY CONCERNED about all of the overweight kids in the halls, blocking my way.They are blocking my way, causing me to be occasionally be late for class, and therefore interrupting my education. I am rather petite and feel that I am going to start lifting weights so I can push my way through.Thank you and good day.Wabby yes I agree. Thank you and good day.All these were all EXTREMELY good answers. Thank you and good day.
Personally, I believe the only diet when used under proper medical supervision. I think Eggs is good diet for food because eggs have a high nutritional value, an excellent quality of protein, are only 70 to 80 calories each, and are not high in fat.
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Before I found the diet solution plan, I ate a diet coiinstnsg of a dangerously low amount of fat each day. I thought all fat was bad. Now I know Almonds, Flax seeds & Walnuts are good for me! At first I was scared to eat HEALTHY fats but once I did the pounds started coming off to my surprise! Calories used to be the first thing I looked at on a box, not caring what the ingredients were.
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