Overweight climbers.

[Dave B]

Oh boy, a good ol' evangelical fight over which diet is the true path to salvation and which will lead sTrAiGhT tO hElL!

Anyways, as much as it's geared towards old-ladies, I had a lot of success with Weight Watchers when I needed to drop 30 lbs. I'm like Cruiser in that my weight fluctuates +/- 10 lbs over the course of the year. I'd put on weight during winter when food and beer is more fun than being outside, and then lose it in spring/summer/fall when the weather is nicer. However, after a couple years of injuries, work, and general-s**t-happenings, I found myself at +30 lbs and I wanted a quick kick to get my weight back down and recalibrate my diet and perception of food, I feel like WW did a pretty good job with that.

Yes, you do need to count points, but it's easier than counting calories and gives a good idea of what kind of impact different foods have. I also like the fact that there are a lot of good satiating foods with zero points: veggies, chicken, eggs, lean fish, turkey. So you can eat all you want of those. You tell the app how much weight you want to lose, and how long you want to take to lose it and it estimates your daily points. Pretty easy, IMO.

[Jorts]

A cow is plant-based, the word you're looking for is "vegan." Vegan diets are inherently nutritionally deficient, especially if you're going with the "eat real food" thing. You'll be majorly short on protein, essential fatty acids, and countless micronutrients. You can eat buckets of heavily processed soy or peas to catch up on protein but that's sub-optimal.

Interesting. Why the militancy toward plant-based/veganism/vegetarianism Bean?

Representative list of vegan athletes:
Scott Jurek
Carl Lewis
Dotsie Bausch
Lewis Hamilton
Rich Roll

You should tell them all they are not getting enough protein, essential fatty acids, and countless micronutrients and that whatever they're doing is suboptimal. Ball busting aside, there's plenty of evidence to support you can get what you need from a plant-based/vegan diet. I'm not vegan however.

I think the real issue with our culture is: we treat fruits and vegetables as a side, and meat and starch/carbs as the primary. It should be around 80% vegetables where a small serving of meat is the side. But athletes and humans in general can still get what they need without meat, takes some discipline and awareness though. I'm not opposed to veganism or a diet supplemented with meat.

Less sugar. Less meat. More plants. Works well for me personally.

[justiner]

Haha Bean is on a tear!

Like religion, there's many paths to enlightenment, and you have to find what works best for you.

Similar to what's the best workout to do? The one you'll stick with, of course. So with diet, is it a life long healthy habit? No crash diets allowed.

Also absolutely critical to love your body. Bodies comes in all shapes and sizes and what you would normally stay at is different that me.

[pcsongei]

I got a real good sense for what I personally needed in my diet and what I could cut out without missing it too much after doing the Whole30. Kind of a fad diet type thing, but I learned a lot of good habits during that month and half when I was really strict about what I ate. Now I eat way more fruit, a larger breakfast, and I've cut out all the processed junk that I used to snack on. The bigger breakfast really helped me stay full throughout the day, which led to less snacking overall. When I am hungry between meals, I eat a couple of mandarins or a banana or some nuts. Cashews have been a huge staple for me over the last several months.

[SchralpTheGnar]

I’ve dropped 10 pounds since tearing my ACL 4 weeks ago, not a recommended weight loss approach if you want to hike though, but it’s awesome cause I’m just drinking beer and watching golf

[justiner]

Seems like it's worth a shot *tears own ACL*

[bergsteigen]

Ones diet in Colorado is like religion or politics - everyone has strong opinions. Everyone.

I’ve changed my diet a decade ago, not to lose weight, but to be healthier. I’m still experimenting. I only listen to biochemists and other scientists who are not emotionally biased. I also don’t trust under 30 year olds who’ve “won the golden genetic ticket”, since they could eat junk and still out perform someone who has had health issues. So I tend to trust those who’ve turned their health around more.

Bottom line: cut out the junk (sugar, processed foods, frakenfood, alcohol) and be more active - even if it’s just walking in the neighborhood daily.

[painless4u2]

Bottom line: cut out the junk (sugar, processed foods, frakenfood, alcohol) and be more active - even if it’s just walking in the neighborhood daily.

That doesn't include tequila, does it?

[CoHi591]

Manage your protein numbers and plant based protein is just fine.

A cow is plant-based, the word you're looking for is "vegan." Vegan diets are inherently nutritionally deficient, especially if you're going with the "eat real food" thing. You'll be majorly short on protein, essential fatty acids, and countless micronutrients. You can eat buckets of heavily processed soy or peas to catch up on protein but that's sub-optimal.

This is inaccurate. Endurance athletes are very frequently vegan as are a not-insignificant number of athletes in strength based sports. I'm not trying to say it will work for everyone - plenty of people won't thrive on a certain kind of diet because of their body types - but the idea that a vegan diet is inherently deficient is silly. Source: am a 30 year old, 15 year vegan with absolutely zero health problems and zero problems climbing mountains, riding centuries, building muscle when I want to, having high levels of energy as well as recovery.

Every body is different. Blanket statements are naive.

[Harrison1991]

Like most people have stated, you need to eat healthy, fresh foods. Whether you are vegan or not is up to you. I eat animal protein everyday, and it works for me. Stay away from processed foods, sugars, seed oils, and refined carbohydrates. It’s super important that you don’t rely on sugar (glucose) for energy. You want your body to run on ketones (fat). It’s also important to monitor WHEN you eat. I’ve been fasting 18-19 hours a day (2 meals), for about a year now, and I’ve never felt better. I know it’s not for everybody, but it’s a great way to limit how much you eat, and the fasting period is great for your body and mind. Another overlooked aspect of weight is how much you’re sleeping. Lack of sleep will cause you to be more hungry, and crave junk food.

[Carl_Healy]

5 ish years ago I worked a short 3 ish week stint offshore oil and gas.

So. Many. Stairs...

I ate horribly. Huge portions in the cafeteria, candy and potato chips from "the Bond."

When I got back I was expecting to have put on 10 lbs.

In fact it was the opposite. I lost nearly 15 lbs and was the lightest I had been since my freshman year of college.

12 hr shifts and all those dang stairs.

Every body is different, but at least for me exercise makes far more of a difference than diet.
Not to say diet isn't as important.

[Jorts]

Ones diet in Colorado is like religion or politics - everyone has strong opinions. Everyone.

Didn't think my opinion on diet was particularly strong. But okay.