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Old 01-11-2011, 22:49
whackyracer
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How do you rate most people's knowledge of food and nutrition? Before I frequented these forums, I thought most people had a good basic knowledge, but having read some 'diet' threads and threads like 'what I've eaten today' it's quite obvious many people have no idea what constitutes good food and nutrition.

What are your experiences of this?
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Old 01-11-2011, 22:51
RussellIan
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I work in an office full of women

Might seem a sexist, cliched, chauvanistic throwaway remark at first glance. But honestly, at least half everyday's chat content is taken up with their bloody, interminably ineffectual 'diets'
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Old 01-11-2011, 23:00
PhoenixRises
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I work in an office full of women

Might seem a sexist, cliched, chauvanistic throwaway remark at first glance. But honestly, at least half everyday's chat content is taken up with their bloody, interminably ineffectual 'diets'
Remember never criticise the diets they are discussing. I made a mistake of commenting that one diet wasn't healthy - and the three women who were discussing it didn't talk to me for a week and a half
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Old 01-11-2011, 23:16
whackyracer
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Interesting, because on the boards there are a lot of men that also talk about faddy diets, especially no carb. When you quiz someone about why they are following a 'diet' and the nutritional thinking behind it, most people i've spoken to don't seem to have a clue, that's quite odd I find.
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Old 01-11-2011, 23:21
RussellIan
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The majority of the dieting classes don't seem to be able to square the irreducible equation that needing to 'diet' = you were doing something wrong in the first place, which you're never going to be able to go 'back to' if you truly want the change you're constantly moaning about.
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Old 01-11-2011, 23:33
epicurian
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I don't know about no-carb, but when I was an avid low-carber, I had very specific reasons for doing it, and I am not, nor have I ever been even a little bit overweight. It's not a fad for a lot of people as some have been doing it for 20 years. The people I've seen on here defending it, seem to have a very good idea what they're talking about.
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Old 01-11-2011, 23:46
indianwells
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I think "you are what you eat" is the truest saying i've ever heard. You basically know whether what you are shoving in your gob is good or bad. If it's bad, you absolutely know it but you make excuses. I simply don't believe those who eat crap constantly but claim don't know they are doing it.
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Old 02-11-2011, 06:24
kizzie
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I don't know about no-carb, but when I was an avid low-carber, I had very specific reasons for doing it, and I am not, nor have I ever been even a little bit overweight. It's not a fad for a lot of people as some have been doing it for 20 years. The people I've seen on here defending it, seem to have a very good idea what they're talking about.
Exactly and its not a fad as its been around much much longer than low fat. people have been getting fatter and fatter since low fat diets became fashionable.

When grannie wanted to lose a few pound she cut out bread and potatoes, then some bright spark on the telly told her it wasnt the bread and potatoes making her fat , it was what she put on them IE butter
Oh that makes sense she thought, fat makes you fat not sugar as how can sugar thats not fat make you fat.... from that day on grannie fought the battle of the bulge

Without fat you die, without sugar you can live a very long healthy life.

But even if I didn't eat low carb I still know not to eat processed food and other crap.

We are now seeing the results of three generations of convenience food eaters. People think it didn't to their parents and grandparents any harm so carry on with it, but they forget that those generations were still pretty active, now with crap food and a sedentary lifestyle parents are going to be outliving their children and that's horrifying.

Im glad I taught my children all about food and they all love to cook and experiment, yes they have a takeaway here and there but as a treat not as the norm.
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Old 02-11-2011, 07:21
LaChatteGitane
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How do you rate most people's knowledge of food and nutrition? Before I frequented these forums, I thought most people had a good basic knowledge, but having read some 'diet' threads and threads like 'what I've eaten today' it's quite obvious many people have no idea what constitutes good food and nutrition.

What are your experiences of this?
Depends. Do you really mean nutritional knowledge or calorie knowledge ?

Either way, I am shocked, most of the time, reading some threads on here.
The way people use the word healthy when they actually mean 'no fat, no carbs, astonishes me.
On the other hand there are quite a few who live on takeaways, ready meals, fried foods, etc and don't see it as a problem.
Neither is for me. I like a varied diet, including all the food groups.
Women (yes, mainly women), going beserk over eating a banana, avocado or grapes, because they are fattening, are getting on my tits. The real nutritional value of these are more beneficiary than the sugar/fat content are 'bad' for you.
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Old 02-11-2011, 07:35
c4rv
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The way people use the word healthy when they actually mean 'no fat, no carbs, astonishes me.
I think you will find that when people say healthy that does not man NO fat or carbs, it means a sensible amount.

As for knowledge, I work in IT with 95% men and food and exercise is still a major topic probably because most of the office is in late 30's / early 40's and virtually everyone do regular exercise (some a couple of hours every day) and watch what they eat. We seem to be a very fit department, lol
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Old 02-11-2011, 07:58
whackyracer
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I think you will find that when people say healthy that does not man NO fat or carbs, it means a sensible amount.

As for knowledge, I work in IT with 95% men and food and exercise is still a major topic probably because most of the office is in late 30's / early 40's and virtually everyone do regular exercise (some a couple of hours every day) and watch what they eat. We seem to be a very fit department, lol
Our IT department has 4 people and two of then are morbidly obese! Is your department or mine the anomaly?

Back to the question at hand, I wasn't really talking about low carb, as I'm pretty low carb myself and the science behind it makes sense. I was referring more to things like slim fast etc and what someone mentioned earlier where a person will baulk at the calories in a handful of plain nuts or avocado, yet have no issues wolfing down a fun size mars bar and the like because it's 'healthier'. They seem incapable of realising eating healthy is as much about eating nutritionally well as it is about calories.
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Old 02-11-2011, 08:03
LaChatteGitane
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I think you will find that when people say healthy that does not man NO fat or carbs, it means a sensible amount.

As for knowledge, I work in IT with 95% men and food and exercise is still a major topic probably because most of the office is in late 30's / early 40's and virtually everyone do regular exercise (some a couple of hours every day) and watch what they eat. We seem to be a very fit department, lol
Then I must have misunderstood, as always. Don't know why I bother coming here sometimes;
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Old 02-11-2011, 08:21
kizzie
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I think "you are what you eat" is the truest saying i've ever heard. You basically know whether what you are shoving in your gob is good or bad. If it's bad, you absolutely know it but you make excuses. I simply don't believe those who eat crap constantly but claim don't know they are doing it.
There are a lot of people who really do not have a clue, I have a friend who has tried every diet known to man but always puts her own spin on it. and wonders why she fails, Maybe its denial maybe she does know but would rather go with her mantra of no diets work for her.

If she is eating low carb she will get lots of breaded chicken and fish and eat tons of it. when you point out the breaded bit she just says no but the book says eat as much meat as you like, its like she cannot see that, one, the chicken is a pretend drumstick and two, its covered in bread

If she is doing low calorie she will use her calories on chocolate and not a meal, she will eat all kinds of crap on the weekend and nothing in the week.
She will eat low carb for lunch and low fat for dinner
I know she isnt unusual as a lot of her close friends do exactly the same.
She was brought up on healthy food as her mum used to feed me as a kid , so goodness knows where she gets her ideas from.

Our IT department has 4 people and two of then are morbidly obese! Is your department or mine the anomaly?

Back to the question at hand, I wasn't really talking about low carb, as I'm pretty low carb myself and the science behind it makes sense. I was referring more to things like slim fast etc and what someone mentioned earlier where a person will baulk at the calories in a handful of plain nuts or avocado, yet have no issues wolfing down a fun size mars bar and the like because it's 'healthier'. They seem incapable of realising eating healthy is as much about eating nutritionally well as it is about calories.
Yes like the lady i was talking about above, if the healthy meal or snack has say 300 calories and the chocolate bar 299 then she will eat the chocolate and really think she has done well.
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Old 02-11-2011, 08:37
gmphmac
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Most people have an appalling knowledge of nutrition and food. I'm amazed that some of my friends mostly eat junk, but take multivitamins to balance it all out. Ridiculous!
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Old 02-11-2011, 10:12
missymorgan
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Now I am calorie counting at the moment, but thats because what I eat is generally ok anyway, as long as I cut down the booze and chocolate. So without making any major changes I've lost almost 2 stone. No major change=easy to stick to for life.

I've always had a reasonable knowledge of nutrition but have learnt a bit more recently - I have never ever been on a 'fad' diet and never plan too, everything in moderation is more my style.
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Old 02-11-2011, 11:23
RAINBOWGIRL22
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My two closest friends both have excellent food and nutition knowledge, and in the 16 years I have known them neither have ever been a 'diet'. They are both as slim and as health as they day I met them

They are both wonderful cooks as well.

My OH wasn't great with his nutrition to be honest but as he eats what I make, he is a lot more healthy these days. He doesn't get excited by food like I do - and if I am not in to cook he'll happily have a big bowl of cereal or cheese on toast for dinner. It is not laziness it is just he doesn't see the point in cooking for himself. I make myself dinner every evening and if I am home alone I still make the effort to cook. I love my dinner!

My Mum wasn't the best cook and sadly let us all be faddy eaters. However 3 out of 4 of us kids grew out of being faddy and we are all a lot more adventurous with what we eat (we are all half decent cooks as well - my brother does all the cooking in his house!). My youngest brother is still a bit of a fuss pot though!

I eat little and often - my boss at work though will sometiomes get to 3pm and 'remember' she has not eaten. I would have passed out by that stage!

I love food, I always know where my next meal is coming from and the thought of eating always excites me. I have to be very, very ill to go off my food!

I will always cook [to some degree] an evening meal. The idea of bread and soup or cereal for dinner makes me feel

I do have to keep myself in check though. In 2006 I lost 40lbs as I'd let my eating habits get out of control. When I was in my early 20's there was alot of eating out / boozing / takeaways

This year I have lost 20lbs as once again I had let me food habits slip. This time round it was more my portion control that caused the weight gain.

So I am a work in process. I have currenlty been at a healthy weight since June...

I still have everything in moderation but I have managed to stop smoking 6 months ago and still lose the last few lbs.

I am very happy with my current weight and the way I maintain it.
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Old 02-11-2011, 11:56
epicurian
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At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I think that it's important for people to understand that we are all different, and not everyone has the same nutritional needs. Living off takeaways and ready meals aside, I would be very careful about deciding what is healthy or unhealthy for anyone else but myself.
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Old 02-11-2011, 12:14
c4rv
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Our IT department has 4 people and two of then are morbidly obese! Is your department or mine the anomaly?
Sorry, I mentioned IT because it is a desk based job. And I think age has a lot to do with it. 10 years ago we were all eating loads of cakes and soft drinks in the office. Now we are approaching middle age that has changed.
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Old 02-11-2011, 13:17
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My personal bugbear is that people are determined to divide things into 'healthy' and 'unhealthy' foods, when in reality it's the total diet that is healthy or not. If you do not look at your diet and lifestyle holistically, then you are going to have issues.

If your calories are controlled for youtr needs, you are getting all the vitamins and minerals that you need, and you are controlling those ingredients that may increase your chances of health issues to a reasonnable level, a bar of chocolate, a packet of crisps, a couple of pints, a curry etc is not going to do any harm. Eating nothing but these things (while fun) would be bad.
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Old 02-11-2011, 18:40
BrunoStreete
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The number of people who think Innocent Smoothies are good to drink on a diet is pretty high.
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Old 03-11-2011, 09:15
John_Elway
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The number of people who think Innocent Smoothies are good to drink on a diet is pretty high.
The number of people that think going on a 'diet' will help them lost weight is pretty high too.
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Old 03-11-2011, 13:11
BrunoStreete
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The number of people that think going on a 'diet' will help them lost weight is pretty high too.
Yes, although not sure what that has to do with my post.
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Old 03-11-2011, 13:44
Watcher #1
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The number of people that think going on a 'diet' will help them lost weight is pretty high too.
The 'Eat less / Do More' diet (or ELDM (TM) ) works pretty well
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Old 03-11-2011, 14:16
Teddybleads
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I think most people do know the basics but they choose to ignore or sidestep the facts.

My body's pretty good at telling me when I need to get back on the straight and narrow consumption-wise.
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