What's missing in my diet?

[simon43]

After reading what I typically consume each day, some pundits might suggest beer, ice-cream, beer, pizza and more beer :)

Anyway, for about 13 months, I've been following a healthy diet and regular exercise routine.

Prior to commencing this, I had a full health check-up in Bangkok and all figures (BP, choresterol, sugar levels etc) were fine.

In a couple of days, I'm back in Bangkok for the same health checks. I'll compare the results with those from last year and update here if there are any significant changes.

So, here's my typical Monday - Friday daily food and drink consumption:

Breakfast:
Muesli (I can't buy rolled oats in Naypyitaw), with a little full-cream milk on it
A small glass of home-made keffir milk

Mid-morning Snack:
Dried cherry tomatoes
Coffee

Lunch:
Home-made salad (cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumber, sliced red cabbage, walnuts, pecan nuts bell pepper, sprinkling of black pepper, quinoa and chia seeds, all covered with a probiotic yoghurt).
Some slices of lean chicken

Mid-afternoon snack:
Cup of seedless grapes
Green tea or ginger tea

Dinner:
Fresh fish (typically mackerel) with a teaspoon of extra virgin oil
Glass of red wine
Glass of home-made keffir milk

At the weekend, I consume a plain omelette for breakfast, eat the same dinner as during the weekdays, but eat out at restaurants for lunch, typically Thai curry (no rice) or Shan noodles

To be honest, I feel great. But maybe I can still improve upon this diet.

Oh, I forgot to add that I also drink a whey protein shake before I do some weights work in the gym, (typically pull-ups or chin-ups to try to increase my puny arm muscles and to strengthen my core). I cycle about 15 Km a day, maybe 25 Km at the weekend.

I take daily supplements ==> multivits, Saw Palmetto, Omega 3, Ginseng, Calcium+Vit D for bone density and Glucosamine for knee joints.

Am I doing it right? Or have I forgotten some vital food item or supplement (boron?)? (I do drink beer and eat ice-cream when I fancy them, but I don't have hunger pangs for them any more)

Edited March 29, 2018 by simon43

[Jdietz]

I've looked closely, but it seems like you've forgotten to put actual *food* on there.

 

[DonnyT]

Where's the bacon?

[Sheryl]

leafy green vegetables

 

Fruits & vegatvles high in Vit A (mango/pumpkin/carrot).

[jenny2017]

Try that twice a week, protein pure, no Chemie and it makes your partner happy too. 

 

  PS. Silkworms 

Edited March 29, 2018 by jenny2017

[simon43]

Good advice from Sheryl. I find eating lettuce makes me feel like I'm a rabbit. Any other suggestions for leafy green vegs? (There are some weird green vegs in the local supermarket, but I'm not if they are pet food or food for humans...)

Carrot I missed because I have no cooking facilities and raw carrot gets boring. But it's possible that my new hotel accommodation (next month) might allow some basic cooking items (I covered this in an other thread last year).

Pumpkins? Hmm, plenty of those in the supermarket here. I know nothing about pumpkins, other than being freaked out by them at Halloween. Can you eat them raw?

[simon43]

Try that twice a week, protein pure, no Chemie and it makes your partner happy too.

LoL, I don't think I can buy silkworms in Naypyitaw!!

[poanoi]

5.5 min boiled eggs with caviar,

guessing its too obvious for anyone to mention,

but a list is not complete without it.

 

also smoked salmon with hovmastarsas

[carlyai]

Sounds great simon43.

I did see a TED talk on a recent study with a fairly large sample population, where the results suggested that the correct food one eats is unique to the individual.
The thought seems to be that while some people eat greens and they don't get a spike in sugars, but do with icecream, others get a spike with greens but not with icecream.
So the best food for you is not necessarily the best food for someone else. So the typical healthy diet may be healthy for some but not others.

I think the research conclusion was that the best diet for an individual is one that doesn't produce big fluctuations in your glucose levels. So you drink a beer and see how your blood sugar levels go, or eat icecream or green vegetables and check your blood sugar responses. Then pick the foods that don't cause blood sugar spikes.


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[rak sa_ngop]

Carrots and pumpkin (and lots of other vegetables) can be easily cooked in a microwave. Whether you have kitchen facilities or not, you can always buy a cheap microwave yourself and start noshing away at cooked vegetables.  Pumpkin is my favourite vegetable here in LOS.

[The manic]

Anti inflammatory supplements spices and anti oxidants and good quality fish oil and certain Japanese mushroom and CQ 10

[JSixpack]

On 3/29/2018 at 10:24 PM, simon43 said:

Any other suggestions for leafy green vegs?

 

Got any spinach or kale around there?

[HLover]

Just now, JSixpack said:

 

Got any spinach or kale around there?

Good suggestion as well as sunflower sprouts, widely available and inexpensive.

[JSixpack]

4 hours ago, The manic said:

 good quality fish oil

 

Bummer:

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/31/well/live/omega-3-supplements-dont-protect-against-heart-disease.html

Edited March 31, 2018 by JSixpack

[jvs]

Very good effort and if you feel good all you can do is wait for your

test results.

In my younger days i did what you are doing,eat healthy and exercise a lot.

I ran somewhere around 75 km every week and sometimes a lot more then that and did a lot of weightlifting.

Never increased in size,the problem is if you want to grow you will need to eat a lot more.

Any body builder would tell you they'd rather skip a training but never a meal.

You will get stronger but not grow much if any at all.

Again if you feel good you are doing the right thing.

[NancyL]

You don't need kitchen facilities to enjoy more veggies.  A rice cooker with a steamer basket is a very versatile appliance.  Veggies like carrots, pumpkin, snow peas, snow peas, sweet potatoes can be prepared in the steamer basket.  I like steamed white potatoes better than ones prepared in a microwave.  You can put a woven basket in the steamer tray and steam smaller veggies like peas and corn.  I even put a small oven-proof glass bowl in the steamer tray and poach eggs that way.

 

Also, pasta and macaroni can be prepared in a rice cooker.  

 

I use my rice cooker much more often than the microwave.  I prefer a simple model with a glass lid, so I can view what I'm cooking, not one of those fancier rice cookers where the lid locks down and you program in the cooking time.  Just something with two settings -- boiling hot and barely warm.  When I make broth, I just toggle between the two settings to keep the broth at a slow boil.

 

As for Sheryl's suggestion to eat more fruit, I haven't found a place in Thailand where you can't find cut fruit sold as a snack.  It's one of the things I love about Thailand and one of the things that shocked me during a recent trip to the U.S. -- how expensive fruit is in the grocery stores there.

[hathairat2711]

Marmite or vegemite on Ryvita.

[NancyL]

33 minutes ago, hathairat2711 said:

Marmite or vegemite on Ryvita.

**gag**  Better to take a good multivitamin every day.  If you didn't grow up on this stuff, there's no way you can start eating it as an adult.

[tutsiwarrior]

nancyL's suggestion is a good one with the rice cooker...look to see what's available at the market and organise yer diet around available ingredients...any adherence to prepared foods or fast food (ie, street food) is bound to go wrong healthwise...

 

I've managed with a hot plate, skillet and a sauce pan to eat very well with locally available ingredients in remote areas in asia, there's always plenty of water available fer the washin' up...check it out...but eating well requires concentration...rising to the challenge of good eating with limited resources is satisfying in more ways than one...(striding aggressively with a pronounced swing of the shoulders: 'can't mess wid me, man...')

 

 

[tutsiwarrior]

4 hours ago, NancyL said:

**gag**  Better to take a good multivitamin every day.  If you didn't grow up on this stuff, there's no way you can start eating it as an adult.

I had a girlfriend in the early 70s and she like to eat what was called 'brewer's yeast'...smelled a lot like marmite...she useta put it on toast like the brits...

 

'salad, darling?' and she would then pretend to barf...unwell, she spent most of her time in bed in her dressing gown in front of the TV with tissues...

 

 

[MuntyC0re]

diet without exercising is pointless

[simon43]

Marmite or vegemite on Ryvita.

Sadly, Thai customs confiscated the jar of Marmite that I bought during my visit to Bangkok - the jar was 125g and they only allowed 100g maximum size :(

[Bonobojt]

I'd personally remove the dairy,  all the hormones and IGF 1 in dairy products has been linked to cancer, just search about it on YouTube, I'm not vegetarian or vegan myself but think dairy is bad. Can easily be replaced with soy milk. 

 

Fibre is very important, wholegrains, beans, fruits and vegetables are great sources of fibre. 

 

Antioxidants are important, green tea from Japan is good, berries have tons of antioxidants, dark leafy greens, purple cabbage. 

 

Sweet potato, carrots, etc are great. 

 

Check out nutritionfacts.org

Check out the blue zones. 

[evilebxxx]

On ‎4‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 4:56 PM, MuntyC0re said:

diet without exercising is pointless

meats, fish, olive oil, cheeses, salads, wholegrain cereals, nuts and fruits. All these foods give the protein, amino acids, unsaturated fats, fibre, starches, vitamins and minerals to keep the body – and your immune system, the biggest protector from ill-health – functioning perfectly.

[evadgib]

Pumpkin & Basil with a hint of mint sauce

 

Aubergines & shiitake mushrooms 

 

Two recent additions to my weekday lunch menu after the quack ordered me to lay off the red meat.

 

I quite like Kale too, despite being a committed carnivore! 

 

HTH

[JSixpack]

On 4/18/2018 at 10:15 PM, Bonobojt said:

Can easily be replaced with soy milk. 

 

Not so easily as most of the soy milk in Thailand has sugar and the brand w/o it seems to be disappearing. 

 

 

There's a variety sometimes found in the chilled section of large stores and sometimes local Thai markets might have it.

[JSixpack]

On 4/18/2018 at 4:56 PM, MuntyC0re said:

diet without exercising is pointless

 

No.

 

[jak2002003]

Seems a good diet.  

 

The best advise is to vary the diet as much as you can.  Too much of the same thing, no matter is experts say that food is healthy, will cause imbalances.  

 

The traditional Mediterranean diet is the most health in my personal opinion.

 

I would cut out the breakfast muesli with soy milk / cows milk is not really a healthy food.  Eat the fish or your salads for breakfast instead.

 

Soy is has been found to be very bad for our health.  Only the fermented soy is OK.  

 

You don't need cooking facilities to eat the pumpkin or other vegetables.. just go the market or supermarket and buy already freshly roasted ones.. they are delicious!!  You can eat them as they are or mix them with salad or other food.

 

 

 

 

[jak2002003]

On ‎18‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 4:56 PM, MuntyC0re said:

diet without exercising is pointless

Why?  

 

Weight loss is more to do with calories and diet than exercise.  However, for HEALTH of the heart and to make you body toned then exercise is a must!

https://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/the-myth-of-exercise-and-weight-loss

 

 

[jak2002003]

For everyone advocating replacing dairy with soy milk and eating soy products, be aware that soy has been found to have many dangerous and harmful effects on our health and is better avoided.

 

hiddensoy.com/soy-milk-dangers/

 

https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/170-scientific-reasons-to-lose-the-soy-in-your-diet/