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[wombat]

I'm pretty obsessive and addictive in general, so moderation and not over-doing health now will probably be a bigger challenge than laying off of the desserts.   

You probably have to be obsessive to manage it, but since you say you are, it is possible to drink too much water.  It must be true because it says so on the internet. http://chemistry.about.com/cs/5/f/blwaterintox.htm

[theinevitable]

I am not yet at a part of my life where I am caffeine-addicted.
this is probably my one healthy characteristic.

and yes, you can OD on water.

[jough]

The bottom line is this: it's possible to drink too much water, but unless you are running a marathon or an infant, water intoxication is a very uncommon condition.

I don't think that's going to be a problem for me.  Worst case scenario - I replace one or two bottles of water with Gatorade.

I already tend to drink a LOT of fluids, but I like to fill a pint glass up with ice now, drink the water in it, and then over trhe next hour chew the ice.  It keeps me not eating food (not that I eat constantly anyway - like I said, I tend to eat way way less than my fit friends do) and I like the cold and slow water intake throughout the day.

I'm pretty much done with soda now.  I've been drinking 4C Sugar-Free Iced Tea for about a year now, and while I probably drink too much of it (it has Splenda, and tastes sweeter than their sugar-filled offering) I'm just replacing the iced tea with water now, and not really missing the tea much.  I tended to make it pretty weak anyway since it is so ridiculously sweet.

[AlohaDawg]

In terms of the fitday thing - I'm trying to use it as a general guide - I'm not about to research everything that goes in my mouth for really fine details like how much seleniumn there is (I have found no source for this information if it's a custom food) in it, but it is interesting to look at the charts that tell you if you are getting your vitamins and minerals or not. I definitely need to supplement. Also, I'm noticing that without conscious effort, I tend not to get enough dietary fiber. I may need to supplement that as well.

Yeah, McDonald's. Right next to my office. One thing about McDonald's is that I can readily get detailed nutrition information for everything there. Also, I love the Asian Chicken Salad. I'm gonna skip the McMuffins and get the fruit and walnut salad from now on, though. And sometimes go to Jamba Juice.

As for the excitement - baby is due July 14th; we are moving this weekend; The rent is $520 higher plus another kid = more child care, so I also need to either find a new job, develop a new income stream, or buy some pantyhose to wear on my head while I'm saying "I'll take all the cash in the drawer and these here huggies".

[wombat]

Whole grain update: I just tried a brown rice pasta, brand name Tinkyada. Hang on to your seats while my Italian grandmother spins fast enough in her grave to disturb the rotation of the planet, but, it's really not bad.  Not nearly as bad as whole wheat pasta, even the one I tried that was recommended by Cook's Illustrated.  I reserve complete judgment until I try it in the finished dish later tonight.  But with just a slug of olive oil and salt, and NOT cooked as long as they say, it's pretty tolerable.  If you weren't a lunatic like me about pasta you'd probably have no complaints.

HOWEVER:  Despite being made of brown rice with extra rice bran, its fiber and carbohydrate numbers are not noticably different from those of white wheat pasta.  So, does anyone know - is it still better for you? Is there a Secret Power of whole grains that isn't reflected in the nutrition labelling?  For comparison, whole wheat pasta has the same carbohydrate number, but 5 grams of fiber per serving compared to 2 grams for those other guys, although it also unfortunately has the property of being disgusting.

AD:  Don't you need to start a bed and breakfast?  You like to cook.  You are surrounded by tourists.  And soon you will have plenty of child labor to help make the beds!

[Ben-San]

Worst case scenario - I replace one or two bottles of water with Gatorade.

Unless they've significantly changed their formula in the past couple of years, Gatorade's nutritional qualities are interchangeable with those of orange juice diluted 50/50 with water.

[AlohaDawg]

HOWEVER:  Despite being made of brown rice with extra rice bran, its fiber and carbohydrate numbers are not noticably different from those of white wheat pasta.  So, does anyone know - is it still better for you? Is there a Secret Power of whole grains that isn't reflected in the nutrition labelling?  For comparison, whole wheat pasta has the same carbohydrate number, but 5 grams of fiber per serving compared to 2 grams for those other guys, although it also unfortunately has the property of being disgusting.

AD:  Don't you need to start a bed and breakfast?  You like to cook.  You are surrounded by tourists.  And soon you will have plenty of child labor to help make the beds!

Fiber delays the metabolism of carbs and some get flushed out, so some diets allow you to eat more carbs if you eat more fiber (to a point). So if the numbers are kind of close, but the fiber is higher and the carbs are lower, the 'low carb' effect is magnified.

Bed and Breakfast sounds fun. But Median Home Price on Oahu just went over $668,000 so it's not gonna happen soon.

[wombat]

OK, so if the brown rice pasta somehow manages to have the same amount of fiber as normal white pasta - should I just forget about it and eat the white pasta? (Because I am sure as heck not eating that whole wheat crap.)  Does it have no other benefits if it's not higher in fiber?

[AugustWest]

Whole wheat pasta is teh suck.

That is all.

[Mite]

Whole wheat tortillas also suck chonk balls. I wonder why it's so hard to make good whole grain stuff?

Oh, and I talked so much about good dietary habits, and then ate roughly 4 billion cookies today. I'm totally weak around free food! I can avoid junk all day long if I have to pay for it, but as soon as it's just lying around, I'm done.

[side_show]

Bad Moments in Healthy Living Part One:  Walking to work this morning as I have for every day since last Wednesday.  It is quite hot, and as the walk takes 50 minute going East, I am walking directly into the sun, and am nice and sweaty when I get to work.  So I am walking, and I get to an intersection, with the little happy-walking-man-symbol, I proceed to cross, only to hear the horrible sound of squealing tires as a mini-van turning right nearly plows into me.  It stops about six inches away from my face, with it's front bumper about 3 ft past where I am standing.  As my brain is realizing I was nearly killed, I proceed to walk around the van that nearly killed me, and the driver honks at me.

Bad Moment in Healthy Living Part Two:  I normally take my breakfast with me to work, where I eat it while starting my day, but this morning a crisis arose that took me away from my normal routine and I only ate my banana, and not my All Bran Bar. I was out of time.  By the time I realized this it was 1 PM.  On the way home I began to worry about the inevitable diet boredom that leads to surrendering to the deep fried, and decided that I need to take preventative action stop this before it happens by ensuring good variety.  I go to Chinatown in search of dragon fruit, star fruit, or some strange spice to challenge my taste buds.  I am walking around when suddenly my body is very fuck*ng angry at me, and I realize it is 3:00 PM and the only thing I've eaten all day is a banana.  Oh the hunger.  I leave the store without buying anything and get myself home and eat something.

Anyway, as of tomorrow morning it's been a week, and I've promised myself to not be obsessive and only weigh myself once a week.  I've had a lot of big triumphs like running for 30 minutes straight yesterday (I'm nowhere near my goal of 3 miles in 30 min, but it was nice to get ridiculously sweaty), and not surrendering to drive through when the insane hunger hit in Chinatown today.  I feel good.

Also, AD - holy hell that is a lot of stress headed your way, but I'm sure it will all be worth it.  The advice you would give me if I were you, is to remember to take care of all aspects of your life.  Try not to get into a mode where your putting out fires, eh?

[AlohaDawg]

OK, so if the brown rice pasta somehow manages to have the same amount of fiber as normal white pasta - should I just forget about it and eat the white pasta? (Because I am sure as heck not eating that whole wheat crap.)  Does it have no other benefits if it's not higher in fiber?

I would say only eat the whole wheat pasta if the carbs are significantly lower in that case. Assuming you are doing it for the carbs primarily. If the enjoyment of the food is very, very important to you, I would find ways to eat/use less regular pasta. Enjoy it but enjoy less of it. Or, maybe there is a way to mix the two in an acceptable ratio that gives you a satisfactory amount and still less carbs...if you can make that palatable.

[AlohaDawg]

Also, AD - holy hell that is a lot of stress headed your way, but I'm sure it will all be worth it.  The advice you would give me if I were you, is to remember to take care of all aspects of your life.  Try not to get into a mode where your putting out fires, eh?

My wife and I were enjoying an hour of schadenfreude watching "Shalom in the Home" last night when we realized, while watching a woman make every little molehill into a mountain (and screaming at everyone the whole time), that what drives Elinor crazy about me is that I see everything as molehills, and it's really hard to prod me into rapid panic mode.

So, I'll probably put out some fires, others we'll just toast marshmallows over. And then I'll go out on the water and It'll be fine.

[side_show]

How very Hawaiian of you.

Also, in regard to personal fitness and health, I just realized that I live within an hours drive of Lake Winnipeg and hence the beach (AD is laughing at me right now, I know, but for the middle of the prairies, that is not a long drive).  I am all about just driving out to the beach alone, and just spending some time with myself.  That sounds so nice.  Last summer we were so consumed with our new house and me writing my play.  This summer, I am all about sand... and giving my body the right fuel.  Ah, but first the horror of buying a new swim suit.  It's the only time I think of those stupid Cathy comics.  I'm thinking practical and cheap, rather than fashionable and not.  Ack!

[jough]

If the enjoyment of the food is very, very important to you, I would find ways to eat/use less regular pasta. Enjoy it but enjoy less of it.

Pasta will be the hardest thing for me to not eat.  Especially on Wednesday, which is traditionally "pasta night" at Chez Jough.  I probably will have a little tomorrow, as I have about a cup of leftover tortolinni, which is kind of auto-portion controlled just because I don't have that much of it.

I was doing spaghetti squash instead of pasta before, not because it was healthy, but just because it's delicious, and it's a very nice substitute.  It has a little crunch to it, too, which even my al dente pasta does not.

I've been thinking though that instead of having PASTA and a side salad I'd have a SALAD with maybe a little pasta from time to time on the side.  Tomato sauce is pretty healthy (I make it from cans of peeled tomatoes) and I tend to run hot water through my ground beef anyway to get the fat out of it (it makes the sauce too slimey) so that shouldn't be too bad.

Wombat, maybe take a look at some healthier starch over which to put sauce and meat, like rice.  Do you like risotto?  Maybe use some kind of whole grain rice and then cover it with tomato sauce. 

I'm still experimenting.  I'm finding that the Atkins craze means that a lot of low-carb stuff is available for people like me who just want to eat healthier.

Speaking of, though, the "high nutrition" part of my diet is kicking my ass.  I am really having a hard time eating enough to get my nutrients.  I know, I know, I could add supplements, but the whole point is to eat healthy live things.  Plus, the room in my tummy that healthy stuff takes up means that awful things do not fit there.

So far (less than a week) I have not had any cravings for anything other than dark leafy greens.  Come Friday, though, which is traditionally take-away Chinese food night, things may be different.  I *may* be able to order something healthy from the local place, but I don't know.  It will be tough to not say "Oh what the hell, one order of shrimp toast (the greasiest thing on the menu) won't kill me."

But of course, it just might.

I am thinking back to Narcotics Anonymous meetings and their slogan of "Just for today."  I may have to be a fried foodaholic, just staying completely away from the stuff forever.  But I won't think about it like it's forever.  I just won't eat fried things today. It's not so bad to give up something just for one day, right?