What are the foods you stay away from?

[Billie]

List what kind of foods you stay away from and the foods you try to lean towards more...as well as let us know how this change in your diet has helped you.

[PatheticJoe]

Mainly for cholesterol reasons I stay away from fast food like the plague now and lean toward home cooked stuff with an emphasis on chicken, brown rice, tuna, and oats. Its been huge in dropping my cholesterol and I'm making great muscle gains with it as well. I also replaced chips, crackers, and other snacks with sunflower seeds and cashews to help the whole health thing.

[brihead301]

Sugary foods and drinks mainly. Donuts, soda, etc...

[whiteman90909]

I try and avoid anything heavily processed. Chemicals that are made to preserve food don't break down too easily in your body...

[Bupp]

Right now baked potatoes, pasta and milk.

[Killa Kurt]

Food with little to no calories.

[KingWilder]

Food with little to no calories.

[Wednesday.]

No sugar, very few artificial sweeteners, and very few high glycemic carbs. Once a month I let myself have real pancakes from IHOP, I look forward to it all month, I have a friend who goes with me and we just pig out. That flaxseed/buckwheat stuff just doesnt cut it.

I love Jennie-O turkey stuff, I stock up on that and big bags of chicken breasts and tilapia filets. I am freakishly devoted to frozen brussels sprouts. I love those bags of veggies that go right into the microwave. Yeah, all that stuff is expensive.

My diet is so pristine I feel like a virgin. All my jeans are too big and i'm just waiting for this plateau to be over, because I know if I go buy new jeans now, they wont fit in a couple months and Ill just have to buy more.

Now I just need to work harder, I'm finding out that I'm kind of a wuss, that was a surprise to me. I thought I was stronger than I actually am. It doesnt help that I only have men to compare myself to, all my female friends think I am insane and tell me Im going to get bulky. (Even if I could, I wouldnt really mind, ha!) Hello? Ive been in a calorie deficit for months! My progress is embarassing compared to the guys. Ive started taking creatine and Im drinking protein (approx 20g) every 3 hours.

Just trying to pull it all together. For me, the food is now the easy part.

[MrWebb78]

I stay away from foods that don't taste good. Fortunately most food tastes good.

This is not a change in lifestyle, but more of a natural thing for the last 29.5 years.

[HP666]

Anything WHITE; as in: flour, sugar, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc. Simple carbs.
If bread/pasta needs to be eaten, whole wheat, and brown rice, sweet potatoes. Complex carbs.

Simple carbs = bad
Complex carbs = good

[BFGUITAR]

Anything WHITE; as in: flour, sugar, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc. Simple carbs.
If bread/pasta needs to be eaten, whole wheat, and brown rice, sweet potatoes. Complex carbs.

Simple carbs = bad
Complex carbs = good

Simple carbs arent bad... Trans fat is bad because it can directly hurt you. Having some sugar can have great benefits like increase insulin levels (when needed) and help you for your work out. If you abuse sugar it's bad, but otherwise there is no reason to say that simple carbs are bad.


I stay away from deep fried foods in general. That includes chicken fingers, donuts, KFC.... I dont even think it tastes that good (cept for donuts!). I try to eat healthy but by being a lazy/busy student my sodium intake is quite high. Luckily im a very big water drinker so I shouldnt have too many problems.

Im not a stickler for sugar... I will eat tomato sauce on my whole wheat pasta... I will put some ketchup on my burger... I dont understand why you guys want to stay away from all sugar. If your diet is good and you eat those simple carbs with a fatty meal it shouldnt be a big problem.

[BFGUITAR]

I try and avoid anything heavily processed. Chemicals that are made to preserve food don't break down too easily in your body...

That's the point in some cases.

Preservatives aren't as bad as people think. But the only reason I would stay away from processed foods is because they have little to no nutritional value.

[RhodeHouse]

Only avoid food that doesn't taste good.

[Wednesday.]

... I dont understand why you guys want to stay away from all sugar. If your diet is good and you eat those simple carbs with a fatty meal it shouldnt be a big problem.

I'm convinced that for me, sugar is the enemy. It's what was making me fat. I eat a LOT of fruit tho, maybe 3 or sometimes 4 pieces of fruit a day. I love oranges. There are still small amount of sugar in most condiments and packaged foods. I get plenty of sugar even tho I avoid it.

There is also the fact that my father died an early death due to complications with diabetes. I have healthy blood glucose levels, but I want to make sure I stay that way. Genetics are a bitch.

I know some of you are just trying to gain weight anyway you can, I cant really relate to that so I'll take your word for it.

[BFGUITAR]

I'm convinced that for me, sugar is the enemy. It's what was making me fat. I eat a LOT of fruit tho, maybe 3 or sometimes 4 pieces of fruit a day. I love oranges. There are still small amount of sugar in most condiments and packaged foods. I get plenty of sugar even tho I avoid it.

There is also the fact that my father died an early death due to complications with diabetes. I have healthy blood glucose levels, but I want to make sure I stay that way. Genetics are a bitch.

I know some of you are just trying to gain weight anyway you can, I cant really relate to that so I'll take your word for it.

You didn't get fat because you ate sugar, you got fat because you ate too much in general. And if you exercise and eat PROPERLY than you should be fine. Eating properly includes eating sugar every so often.

People who try to be healthy take things to the extreme by saying "these things are bad for you". If you want to be healthy, eat in moderation.

Balanced lifestyle= healthy
Balance includes sugar, alcohol, saturated fats... all CAN be beneficial.

[Wednesday.]

We will have to disagree. I eat plenty of sugar simply with the fruit I eat for someone with my genetics. You cant attack my diet, Im rock solid.

You want to criticize me, well my workouts need some help.

Do you honestly think you know my blood glucose issues better than I do? Think about it for a second.

Im sure your nutrition works for you, I doubt it will work for me.

[dougyp]

I stay away from processed foods as much as possible. I like to eat whole foods ... I especially hate fast food (**** is nasty son) because it's full of trans fats and soft drinks are sick (I hate soda)... I'm definetely a meat and potatos kind of guy... I love a cooked meal, I like chicken a LOT... I loves me some protein. I love food... I'm hungry...

[SDS]

I try and avoid:

dairy
fried stuff
fast food
sugary sodas and tea
stuff with HFCS in it
stuff with carrageenan in it
stuff with MSG in it
stuff with an excessive ingredients list

[McVein]

meals without meat in them, im lucky that i can pretty much eat what i want and still be able to control whether or not i gain weight by just tweaking my workout, but i still feel weird eating a meal without meat in there.

[Rodzilla]

No Fast Food, No soda's, trying to stay away from coffee as well.

[McIrish]

meals without meat in them, im lucky that i can pretty much eat what i want and still be able to control whether or not i gain weight by just tweaking my workout, but i still feel weird eating a meal without meat in there.

Yeah, y'know, I'm the same way - I don't know what to get when we go to a vegetarian restaurant or my kitchen is out of meat for whatever reason. I feel like meat is the backbone of any meal and you just base the rest of the meal around the protein (not for protein's sake, but for culinary sake).

[Bicster]

We will have to disagree. I eat plenty of sugar simply with the fruit I eat for someone with my genetics. You cant attack my diet, Im rock solid.

You want to criticize me, well my workouts need some help.

Do you honestly think you know my blood glucose issues better than I do? Think about it for a second.

Im sure your nutrition works for you, I doubt it will work for me.

Re-read his post. He was not attacking your blood sugar levels. He said (and was correct) that you were fat b/c you took in more calories than you burned, not becuase you consumed too much sugar.

[BFGUITAR]

We will have to disagree. I eat plenty of sugar simply with the fruit I eat for someone with my genetics. You cant attack my diet, Im rock solid.

You want to criticize me, well my workouts need some help.

Do you honestly think you know my blood glucose issues better than I do? Think about it for a second.

Im sure your nutrition works for you, I doubt it will work for me.

Like what was said above, im not attacking your blood glucose levels. Im saying that the sugar itself didn't make you fat, but rather you were eating too much food in general. If you replaced that sugar with protein you would have gotten just as fat (more or less). This is because protein and sugar have the same caloric value (I said more or less because your body has to put in energy to use protein as energy).

And my diet is based on balance. That includes sugar, alcohol, and all that "bad stuff" out there. It can work for anyone without preexisting health problems.

And just because your dad got it doesn't mean you will. For example, my grandfather lived with 4 different types of cancer for a very long time. Will I get it? Probably not, he lived through the worst things human history has to offer (literally). He had a horrible diet (if he ate), was put through horrible conditions. Even when he was older he wasn't exactly the healthiest person. His lifestyle was probably the biggest factor for his cancer. I dont know what your dad's lifestyle was like but try and put things in perspective rather than "He had it so I will as well".

[Bupp]

BFGuitar:

I think he would have to eat 1/3 more protein than he did sugar to gain the same weight because of the higher TEF.

[BFGUITAR]

BFGuitar:

I think he would have to eat 1/3 more protein than he did sugar to gain the same weight because of the higher TEF.

That is why I said more or less, he would still get fatter either way.