Diet??

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i'm not in med school, but diet and exercise is a really strong thing I try to promote and something i will try to when i can make it (hopefully getting in next yr's cycle...)

first off, plant based diets are the best. not to be religious, but just reading the bible, vegetation's made first, then animals. not the best evidence. they digest slowly, low calories, have fiber, and important fats (unsaturated and in good amounts like beans). animal products on the other hand, you may get your protein and carbs in one serving as opposed to more than one serving for plants, but you also get unnecessary fats along with other byproducts (Since you are eating mainly primary and secondary consumers).

then, take into consideration your body type and activity. as for me, i'm a lean ectomorph. ectomorphs eat whatever and they're most of the time either skinny or lean. If you notice that you don't eat too much (whether your diet sucks or not), but your weight fluctuates like balls, you're probably an endomorph. if you can gain mass fairly quickly and retain much of it, you're probably a meso. then according to that, you work on your diet.

I've had to work out a while and eat like a truck just to get to where i'm at (175 lbs); i run the 800m and do weights so the running burns even more extra calories. i'm going to have to cut down on the training and won't be able to compete anymore but will still hit the weights hard (max work out time for running + weights is normally 1 hr 45 mins). My daily caloric intake is about 2800 for minimal activity. Factoring in the body type and activity, i eat 2x that so that I can gain/repair muscles. if i weren't trying to gain and just maintain, i'd still have to do about 1.5x since i have a really fast metabolism. because of the super fast metabolism, i can also eat whatever i want just to meet the daily needs. Of course, if you take into account how healthy i'd be if i just ate bad foods, I'd eat mainly plants + occasional seafood + meat. however, for me, i eat like a truck so it costs more. Cost is also another factor.

I'm guessing you're a girl (OP); women's bodies have a higher ratio of fat to water than men, even when matched for weight and size. keep this in mind as well..

accidentally wrote a mini paper here, but factoring into body type, activity, cost of food, and gender, you can get your general idea of calories needed. if you're a girl with minimal activity, you generally want to maintain a healthy diet of lots of dark greens + seafood + occasional chicken. basically, with minimal activity, proteins + fiber + calorie is what you really aim highly for. if you work out, you have a medium activity, so you want to prioritize protein + carbs + calories + fiber. so meat/seafood/beans (high protein) meal with carbs (rice/pasta) + greens will basically be your meals.

like someone said, crock pots are your friend.

i'm pretty interested in this stuff, so you can pm me if you have any more specific questions like workouts or diet

p.s. sorry if i seem like a pre-med just invading actual med students' territory... just kept seeing this on the first forum pg and wanted to give some advice
 
i'm not in med school, but diet and exercise is a really strong thing I try to promote and something i will try to when i can make it (hopefully getting in next yr's cycle...)

first off, plant based diets are the best. not to be religious, but just reading the bible, vegetation's made first, then animals. not the best evidence. they digest slowly, low calories, have fiber, and important fats (unsaturated and in good amounts like beans). animal products on the other hand, you may get your protein and carbs in one serving as opposed to more than one serving for plants, but you also get unnecessary fats along with other byproducts (Since you are eating mainly primary and secondary consumers).

then, take into consideration your body type and activity. as for me, i'm a lean ectomorph. ectomorphs eat whatever and they're most of the time either skinny or lean. If you notice that you don't eat too much (whether your diet sucks or not), but your weight fluctuates like balls, you're probably an endomorph. if you can gain mass fairly quickly and retain much of it, you're probably a meso. then according to that, you work on your diet.

I've had to work out a while and eat like a truck just to get to where i'm at (175 lbs); i run the 800m and do weights so the running burns even more extra calories. i'm going to have to cut down on the training and won't be able to compete anymore but will still hit the weights hard (max work out time for running + weights is normally 1 hr 45 mins). My daily caloric intake is about 2800 for minimal activity. Factoring in the body type and activity, i eat 2x that so that I can gain/repair muscles. if i weren't trying to gain and just maintain, i'd still have to do about 1.5x since i have a really fast metabolism. because of the super fast metabolism, i can also eat whatever i want just to meet the daily needs. Of course, if you take into account how healthy i'd be if i just ate bad foods, I'd eat mainly plants + occasional seafood + meat. however, for me, i eat like a truck so it costs more. Cost is also another factor.

I'm guessing you're a girl (OP); women's bodies have a higher ratio of fat to water than men, even when matched for weight and size. keep this in mind as well..

accidentally wrote a mini paper here, but factoring into body type, activity, cost of food, and gender, you can get your general idea of calories needed. if you're a girl with minimal activity, you generally want to maintain a healthy diet of lots of dark greens + seafood + occasional chicken. basically, with minimal activity, proteins + fiber + calorie is what you really aim highly for. if you work out, you have a medium activity, so you want to prioritize protein + carbs + calories + fiber. so meat/seafood/beans (high protein) meal with carbs (rice/pasta) + greens will basically be your meals.

like someone said, crock pots are your friend.

i'm pretty interested in this stuff, so you can pm me if you have any more specific questions like workouts or diet

p.s. sorry if i seem like a pre-med just invading actual med students' territory... just kept seeing this on the first forum pg and wanted to give some advice


Agreed on many fronts. As doctors/future docs, let's focus on diet & exercise for maximum health, and leave the weight loss number-crunching to the personal trainers and coaches.

If you're looking for cooking advice for medical school (which I believe is what this thread is originally about), then a crock pot can serve as one of many wonderful options to cook a healthy, flavorful, plant-based meal with minimal preparation time.

That said, the benefits of eating raw cannot be understated either. Both cooked and raw fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes have their benefits, and both are an important part of a well-rounded diet. The sweet thing about eating raw is that it can either a) take no time at all (save for rinsing whole fresh produce and eating it in its natural state) or b) if you're into cooking, open up a whole new world of intricate and inspiring culinary feats. Check it out: http://goneraw.com/

Bon apetit!

-z-line-
 
Agreed on many fronts. As doctors/future docs, let's focus on diet & exercise for maximum health, and leave the weight loss number-crunching to the personal trainers and coaches.

If you're looking for cooking advice for medical school (which I believe is what this thread is originally about), then a crock pot can serve as one of many wonderful options to cook a healthy, flavorful, plant-based meal with minimal preparation time.

That said, the benefits of eating raw cannot be understated either. Both cooked and raw fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes have their benefits, and both are an important part of a well-rounded diet. The sweet thing about eating raw is that it can either a) take no time at all (save for rinsing whole fresh produce and eating it in its natural state) or b) if you're into cooking, open up a whole new world of intricate and inspiring culinary feats. Check it out: http://goneraw.com/

Bon apetit!

-z-line-
I agree! it's so refreshing to see others that prioritize their health...my friends and family thought I was crazy for going vegetarian about a year ago... my friend's dad even told me that it was a bad choice because "pork is the healthiest thing you can eat", I kid you not. I'm becoming more and more vegan and will eventually go raw vegan, imagine what they will think then? XDD haha
 
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5'3" people or shorter who aren't overweight can get away with that amt; probably when they're attempting to lose weight instead of mainly maintaining
 
"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." -Hippocrates

🙂
 
first off, plant based diets are the best. not to be religious, but just reading the bible, vegetation's made first, then animals. not the best evidence. they digest slowly, low calories, have fiber, and important fats (unsaturated and in good amounts like beans). animal products on the other hand, you may get your protein and carbs in one serving as opposed to more than one serving for plants, but you also get unnecessary fats along with other byproducts (Since you are eating mainly primary and secondary consumers).

I've been researching for the past month or so and I would have to agree with you (of course in my most humble pre-med opinion) and planning to start transitioning into an all plant base diet in a couple of days.

How do you eat only 1800-2100 daily calories if you workout 6 days a week?! Are you a smaller female?

5'3" people or shorter who aren't overweight can get away with that amt; probably when they're attempting to lose weight instead of mainly maintaining

What Danlee said.😀
 
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What does anemia have to do with protein intake?

While I don't agree with his euphemism, he's right. Fruits and vegetables do not have enough protein for someone who lifts weights and participates in athletic events regularly. Sorry, not even close. I eat nearly my body weight in protein a day and I still don't get enough to make gains at my size.
 
We were talking about making gains? I must have missed that. Regardless, hemp protein alone can supply you with a good source of protein and omega-3s.

You should consider an algae source (supplement) for DHA at least. Relying on hemp or flax will likely leave you short due to our enzymatic inefficiencies in getting ALA to EPA/DHA.
 
What does anemia have to do with protein intake?

Wait, what? Pure vegetarians, particularly children, are more prone to anemia than their carnivore counterparts. My euphemism was spot on.

I eat a diet primarily consisting of meat, vegetables, nuts and seeds. I throw in a little fruit and some oatmeal here and there. I am also considered a Double Donor by the Red Cross because my hemoglobin count is so high.

Protein consumption is absolutely necessary to live, but you only require minimal carbs to live. Hell, the Inuit essentially only eat seal meat and they have a life expectancy higher than the US population despite living in tougher conditions.
 
How do you eat only 1800-2100 daily calories if you workout 6 days a week?! Are you a smaller female?

I did marching band (plenty intense if you're in a strong program) on ~1000 cal / day when I was trying to lose weight. Drank a lot of water to feel full. Small breakfast + multivitamin, grilled chicken salad at lunch with no dressing but with some sunflower seeds and croutons for flavor, cut a 1/3 off of my regular dinner size, allotted one ~120 cal snack. I'm a small male (5'6", XS shirt size).

You just don't build any muscle and you feel cold a lot. Dropped like 25 lbs. in 5 months. Would've lost more except that the diet wasn't so extreme in the beginning. Also, I did eat plenty at special events.

The most important thing was that I recognized how little I could survive on and adjusted my food intake / portions accordingly to a healthy level. My food quality also increased - after being without stuff like french fries and greasy burgers for so long, I really didn't miss it. Even today, the idea of eating a really greasy burger isn't appealing. My body just isn't used to dealing with a huge amount of fat. I also began light workouts at the gym and pushups/crunches. The added muscle mass really helped keep fat off.

As far as Weight Lost = Calories in - Calories out, I don't see how that's offensively untruthful. Different foods have different impacts on the body, that's for sure. However, your body still burns calories in a calorie-restricted mode and even in a state where your body is conserving calories, exercise uses calories. It has to. Just keep everything in balance. Don't starve yourself, don't workout until you collapse. It's not at all unreasonable to ask a person to exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, cut most fatty foods out of their diet, stop eating when they feel reasonably full, drink water instead of pop (soda for you heathens), and take the stairs instead of the elevator.
 
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And they are not carnivore counterparts; they are omnivore...

I actually knew a kid who had a carnivorous family. It was weird - I went to their house once for a barbeque and they had nothing in the way of plant matter on the table besides the buns for the burgers/sausages. I later asked the kid if there were any vegetables but they didn't even keep any in the fridge.

Nothing. Not even canned or frozen.
 
I actually knew a kid who had a carnivorous family. It was weird - I went to their house once for a barbeque and they had nothing in the way of plant matter on the table besides the buns for the burgers/sausages. I later asked the kid if there were any vegetables but they didn't even keep any in the fridge.

Nothing. Not even canned or frozen.

My parents house when I was growing up was kind of like this. Actually, we weren't so much carnivorous as junk food-ivorous, and I guess things like onion rings and corn chips at least involved a vegetable at some point.
 
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