healthy_eating | hey everybody! let's get things going again, shall we?

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healthy_eating

Life has been crazy for me for the past 3 months, and I obviously haven't been paying attention to this comm. But I'm realizing more and more that if I want to be healthy and successful in school, a good diet is a necessary foundation. I'm on spring break right now, so I'm using the extra time to give my diet a little jump start. Doing daily posts to this comm again will help, I think.

I wanted to get us started back up again in a fun way, so how about in the comments people recommend something tasty they've eaten recently? Give a recipe, if you want, or just wax poetic about some really delicious food ;)

Also thank you very much to those of you who did check in posts over the past couple months. I really appreciate it ♥

As always, please warn for triggers and be respectful of your fellow community members!

Current Mood: cheerful

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

panda

they have 'burrito bowls' which are the fillings of a burrito in a plastic bowl without the tortilla. they are pretty good, but the best part of my local burrito joint is the fresh made wheat tortillas. corn tortillas just can't compare.

From:

claire_chan

Wow O_o Hmm. I'll have to ask them next time about burrito bowls!

From:

panda

I dunno if they have them other places- the burrito place I go to is a local place only in my home town. but they started carrying burrito bowls to cash in on the low-carb thing, so it's quite possible other burrito places have them too.

From:

claire_chan

Worth asking, though! Maybe they could open something new around me.

(I shy away from low-carb stuff - when I eat, I'm trying to get back the carbohydrates I've lost throughout the day. @_@ Although I don't know officially what's going on - I'm not much of a dietician past the sense "eat what tastes good and doesn't make you vomit".)

From:

panda

well, they make the burritos with rice, so it's not actually very low carb at all ;)

your brain gets sugar from carbs to use as energy, so it's very important to have enough carbs! also if you eat more complex carbs, like whole grains, your blood sugar will stay more level, so you'll fee better.

note: i'm not a dietitian either, these are just things i have read over and over again on various health and nutrition sites. if everyone agrees, it's a good bet it's probably true.

Edited Date: 2012-03-15 08:18 pm (UTC)

From:

claire_chan

Hahaha ;P

So that's why eating whole grain cereal is so important.

if everyone agrees, it's a good bet it's probably true.
Good rule of thumb, but not always the case! Have to be careful about that.

From:

panda

You can ask them to leave the rice out, but then your "burrito" bowl is going to be some meat, beans, salsa and cheese ... which isn't really a meal at all. I think most people get burrito bowls because it's much more convenient to carry around a sealable container, than to carry around a wrapped burrito which can start to leak etc.

The very simplified explanation, as I understand it, is if you eat simple carbs, such as refined sugar, HFCS, white flour etc, your body breaks them down into sugar very quickly. that is why they are "simple" because it doesn't take many steps to convert them into the kind of sugar your body can use. So you eat some simple carbs (a can of Pepsi, a cookie, white bread) and then a bunch of sugar hits your blood stream very quickly. This gives you a "sugar rush" but because all of the sugar hit your blood stream at once, you use it up very fast. Then you get a "sugar crash," which you probably know what that feels like. Suddenly you have no energy and you feel like shit.

If you eat complex carbs, like whole grains or things with lots of fiber, it takes the body longer to break them down into sugar because they are more "complex." Thus sugar gets released into the blood stream more gradually, and continues to be released for a longer time, as your body continues to break down the food. You don't get the same "sugar high" that you get from something like a high-refined sugar food like a cookie or a Pepsi, but you also don't get a "crash" either.

Here is a pretty long article that explains what carbs are and how your body uses them. I think it's worth reading because it explains the science of what a carb actually is, and how you digest it and use the energy. It has a lot of scientific terms and stuff, which aren't my favorite, but I think if you get a good understanding of how your body converts food into the energy you need, it will help you make better food choices. It might take you a couple sittings to read the whole thing (at least I know I couldn't read the entire thing in one go!) but I think it's worth it to read all the way to the very end.

if everyone agrees, it's a good bet it's probably true.
Good rule of thumb, but not always the case! Have to be careful about that.

This is very true! 15-20 years ago, nearly everyone agreed that fat was bad bad bad, but now we know certain kinds of fat are very good for us.

I know the thing about simple vs complex carbs is true tho, because my mom is a type 1 diabetic (her body doesn't produce insulin so she has to give herself insulin shots). So she has to watch how many simple carbs vs complex carbs she eats carefully, because they require her to take different amounts of insulin. Sher has to be very educated about how her body digests food to stay healthy.

Here's another link about carbs and whole grains you might find informative too.

From:

claire_chan

You can ask them to leave the rice out, but then your "burrito" bowl is going to be some meat, beans, salsa and cheese ... which isn't really a meal at all.
You don't know some college kids, the ones who have just gotten out of a strictly-regimented life.

*nodnodnod*

You don't get the same "sugar high" that you get from something like a high-refined sugar food like a cookie or a Pepsi, but you also don't get a "crash" either.
So that's why it feels better to eat THOSE kinds of foods... *srsly learning!*

Thanks for both links! The first looks like stuff I've had to read for uni. Second easier.

~~I don't think any of my relatives are diabetic...~~

From:

panda

Aha, true! It's been so long I forgot what I sometimes ate like when I was 19 XD

Yep! It really does make a difference. I'm glad it's informative.

Type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune disease where the pancreas doesn't work right. Type 2 diabetes isn't good either. It's good if none of your relatives have either kind.