Food for Thought

Hi everyone,

We've touched on this here and there with other threads, but I thought I'd start a discussion specifically on food. What type of diets does everyone follow? Weight-loss, maintenence, etc. What types of diets have worked / not worked for you in the past. What tips can you offer to help others?

For example, I find that I do best on a lower carb diet, but not a super-meat heavy version like Atkins. I do better with lighter proteins like fish, chicken and protein shakes. But I am finding it hard to stick to this way of eating sometimes, mostly out of boredom.

I tried a vegitarian diet for a few years, but I admit it wasn't the healthiest diet - I was probably as much a "pasta-tarian" as a "veggie- tarion"

I try to eat fairly healthy, but I still have a weakness of sweets, especially ice cream.

So what's on your mind....and on your plate....on this subject?

Thanks everyone, take care!
Laura

Personally, I don't believe the low-carb approach is healthy. I can't imagine cutting out the foods that provide the real fuel when the physical demands are high. I think it is better to think about eating the "right" carbs. That is, carbs full of processed crap are not the right carbs. There are many great food items made with whole grains and the right organic ingredients. Even the local grocery store has many great food items to choose from. In my view, fresh fruit is among the best choices and bagels made by someone that knows what they are doing provide a great dose of carbs without huge amounts of fat.

The thing is many people have started to buy into the low-carb diet because they don't buy into the burn more calories life style. In other words low-carb eating tries to compensate for low-exercise living. Just burn more calories through your favorite forms of exercise - diving included and then you can eat what you want. Even doing cardio workouts for 30 minutes, 3 times per week makes a huge difference. A very beneficial approach is to achieve and sustain a heart rate that is about 70% to 75% of your maximum heart rate, (base the % on max HR minus resting HR). Adding strength training and/or other forms of physical exertion are even a plus!

I am truly amazed when I read the ingredients in some of these so called low-carb products. There are big doses of protein - which does you little or no good if you're not recovering from progressive strength training. These foods are also fat ladden (so they have some taste and substance) and I can't imagine the health risks associated with ingesting that crap. I mean some protein and fat are fine but they have to be balanced with carbs and fat should be reduced to something less than the 30% level many dieticians prescribe.

These are just my opinions. I think if you keep active and have a regular exercise program, a little ice cream is a nice reward if that's what you like. Sometimes I think I workout so I can drink more beer!

I got agree with David here. Eat healthy carbs(fruits, veggies, whole grain bread, etc...) and exercise regularly. Cardio and strength training. Remember the same weight of muscle will burn more calories then fat. As an added benefit from the cardio workouts you will go easier on your air and be able to dive longer. The only thing I disagree with David about is calling diving an exercise. Diving to me is slow and relaxed and I think I burn more calories taking a walk.

Diving to me is slow and relaxed and I think I burn more calories taking a walk.

I am told, and it makes sense, that if you're cold on a dive you burn an enormous number of calories.

Diving to me is slow and relaxed and I think I burn more calories taking a walk.

I am told, and it makes sense, that if you're cold on a dive you burn an enormous number of calories.

I have no doubt that is true but why do you want to be cold when you dive?

It seems to me that a day of diving burns a fair number of calories. You begin with lots of activity preparing yourself. And, even though diving is relaxing, it also requires full body muscular activity and you are in constant motion. Water sports are among the most physically taxing and although there is a great difference between diving and aerobic swimming I always seem to be physically tired after diving. Then, of course, there is all the action required to take care and stow gear and all that stuff. All this, not to mention the elbow exercises with a high number of reps lifting a cool 12 ounces to your lips, (choose your flavor).

You should try a liveaboard you set your gear up once and take it down at the end of the trip. So I guess I burn a few calories setting it up once and taking it down after 25 odd dives. But how hard is it to setup your gear? I just don't think diving itself is very aerobic. I like to go slow and use as little energy as possible. I think you burn more calories being cold as Peter pointed out. Of course you could just stand outside in the winter and be cold. I guess after going on a number of liveaboards and doing 5 dives a day and gaining weight makes me think diving isn't a good exercise. Then again they continually feed you on most liveaboards.

Hey guys,

Thanks for the posts. I'm starting to "weigh" the evidence on the whole low carb thing. The only way I have ever been able to lose weight in the past was by cutting out or cutting way down on carbs. But it just doesn't seem to work for me anymore. And I do work out- I love to strength train but I have to admit I could probably use more cardio. I just find cardio to be so tedious sometimes. I definately feel that if I were to eat more carbs, I'd have to stick to healthy, non-processed kinds. I've been talking to the Wench about my diet, and she's given me some good pointers along these lines.

As far whether or not diving is truly "excersize", I see both sides of the debate. You would probably need to have an excersize plan other than just diving to get in shape, but I definately feel that diving is good excersize. To me it seems more like weight training, all that lifting and carrying of tanks and other gear. It must be doing something, cuz it always seems to make me feel sore the next day (but it's a good kind of sore!) But unless there is a current, I don't feel like I'm working during the actual dive itself.

What are your thoughts on when to eat healty carbs? do you guys eat them throughout the day? or do you limit them to the AM hours, as I've heard some people do?

Thanks again for the input

Laura

First off, Zena would eat carbs all day long!

I think carbs should be a significant part of 3 balanced meals a day. When I am training at a heavier rate, I eat 5 smaller meals a day and carbs are about 50% or more of the total calories and I still have to struggle to keep from loosing weight. Why? It all depends on how many calories you burn - in a healthy and aerobic way.

Diving is exercise. There is no other way to describe it. While I envy those who can achieve Nirvana or whatever in a state of diving suspension, I see the physical demands of diving as much more significant than the feeling of relaxation that is a wonderful part of our sport. While I don't purport to know all the details of the physiology of diving, I believe that there are many "hidden" physical demands that tax our energy reserves in ways that we do not recognize. For example, the whole process of eliminating excess nitrogen uses energy resources and if by no other means just the feeling of fatigue that follows a long day of diving serves to prove the relativley high demands of the sport.

You think you are relaxing during a SI but your body has all cylinders churning trying to return your physical state to equilibrium and that takes calories to accomplish. I'm open to other opinions? What do you think?

Not sure exactly how it works either, but David you may be on to something regarding diving and exercise. I have found I usually lose one or two pounds on a dive trip in spite of eating whatever I want. When I was first getting started, I suspect I expended a lot of calories in the water until I got the buoyancy under control better, learning the 'not using your arms' thing, learning to chill. In Coz you can spend half a dive turned around kicking in to the current in order to take pictures - that's exercise! LOL More recently I've done liveaboards where my cabin was on the lowest or highest deck and it seemed I was always running up or down 2 flights of stairs to get something or to dive. I also try to carry/do everything myself and not let the guys on a trip do it for me, even though it is very nice of them to offer. It's all been working for me - I have been able to indulge on vacation and not lose any weightloss ground.

Laura - as far as when to eat carbs, I have no idea. Just kidding. The only thing that worked for me was to retrain myself to look at food as necessary for survival (i.e. nourishment) and scale back overall accordingly. Initially I ate a lot of processed prepared meals like Lean Cuisine to jumpstart the weightloss with controlled portions, but now I can hardly look at those w/o getting nauseous. I had to really think about everything I ate for several months to get the habit ingrained. I still think of food that way and make a conscious decision to eat something that is not nutritionally sound (like ice cream - yum) because I want to eat it and I recognize that I will have to cut somewhere else or do some extra exercise. Usually opt for more exercise I try to keep carbs, fat, and protein balanced throughout the day. I started with only cardio for exercise and added strength training much later. The weight has come off slowly (45 lbs. over 2 yrs) but I think it will stay off better this way for me. just my 2psi. - jennifer

Great post Jennifer. Really, you can't say it any better. There is the energy you burn running around doing stuff, including diving, and the energy you don't even know you are using recovering. That's one reason why very highly conditioned athletes can consume so many calories yet must really work hard to keep sufficient muscle mass to perform at elite levels. They burn huge amounts of calories through exertion and than another factor of caloric burn recovering and preparing their body to produce the highest possible energy level when the next demand comes along. Add to that the psychological benefits from the relaxation of diving and I think it provides a good medium to achieve real physical and mental health over time. That doesn't mean you can ignore other beneficial forms of exercise, (aerobic training in particular), or that you can eat anything you want to without consequences. That's why healthy eating is really such a simple way to position yourself for life long health benefits from an active lifestyle. (I probably get run over by a car while I'm running just to prove all this wrong!)