Re:Coronavirus is most deadly if you are older and male – ne...
by 52-6F-62 on Friday August 28, 2020 @11:12AM
(#24305804)
This comment got unwieldy, but I wanted to relate a diet experience to OP after facing a similar health/weight-gain situation. Most people can just ignore me
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This is totally tangential, but I've been forced onto a low-/no-fat diet (fewer than 30g a day) due to a health problem of indeterminate cause (thankfully, COVID was ruled out completely)—of which acute necrotizing pancreatitis was one of the outcomes— which puts me in the place where I'm eating a lot more carbs to make up my caloric requirements than I was when I was in the gym every day.
I'm losing stubborn fat I couldn't drop previously like crazy. That said, I loved cooking and food is not exciting now. But I didn't realize how many calories I may have been missing in my counts due to added olive oil here and there, etc etc.
I know keto/low-carb diets are all the craze right now, and the faddy low-fat diets of the 80s/90s had glaring problems, but it might be worth reassessment given the current circumstances.
My current situation, to sum it up is:
• working from home, at a desk 4-5 days a week
• go for a walk most days, but not every day (I should be doing more, but bouts of pain have interrupted forming better habits)
• no weights — I'd like to reintroduce this to prevent further muscle loss after years of so much hard work, but again—been warned against this for now
• under 30g of fat in my diet a day — doesn't matter if it's "good" or "bad" fat. Just total volume. This means I have to select food options I used to think were awful. If I want cheese I have to pick the cheaper, non-fat options like store-brand plastic-like slices. A lot of chicken and turkey cold cuts. Low-fat bread and bagels (I used to avoid bagels like the plague)—nothing with seeds or nuts. Hardly any oils. No butter, no margarine, no nut butters or spreads. I can have small amounts of low-fat cream cheese.
I previously lost a great deal of weight suddenly due to the inability to eat properly for two weeks, and being taken off solid foods for several days entirely.
In June 2020 I was up to 225 from 198lbs. From mid-June to early July I went from 225 to around 205 (I suspect mostly muscle loss since I was still flabby). Since returning to solid food and the new, unwanted diet I have gone from that 205 down to 186 today. Some of that loss may be due to other health factors as the rate is probably a bit high for healthy, but a large part is due to a much more calorie-restricted diet. It's actually a lot harder to read my caloric requirements without those fats and things I actually want to eat...
This is a prime case of YMMV, and my diet is a bit extreme, but I was in exactly the same case as you prior to the emergence of my health problem and am on a diet I would never have considered otherwise. Also—my heart has been in great shape so I don't know how this would hurt someone with heart issues—I probably get a lot of salt, but my needs for electrolytes recently probably also buffer that a bit.
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This is totally tangential, but I've been forced onto a low-/no-fat diet (fewer than 30g a day) due to a health problem of indeterminate cause (thankfully, COVID was ruled out completely)—of which acute necrotizing pancreatitis was one of the outcomes— which puts me in the place where I'm eating a lot more carbs to make up my caloric requirements than I was when I was in the gym every day.
I'm losing stubborn fat I couldn't drop previously like crazy. That said, I loved cooking and food is not exciting now. But I didn't realize how many calories I may have been missing in my counts due to added olive oil here and there, etc etc.
I know keto/low-carb diets are all the craze right now, and the faddy low-fat diets of the 80s/90s had glaring problems, but it might be worth reassessment given the current circumstances.
My current situation, to sum it up is:
• working from home, at a desk 4-5 days a week
• go for a walk most days, but not every day (I should be doing more, but bouts of pain have interrupted forming better habits)
• no weights — I'd like to reintroduce this to prevent further muscle loss after years of so much hard work, but again—been warned against this for now
• under 30g of fat in my diet a day — doesn't matter if it's "good" or "bad" fat. Just total volume. This means I have to select food options I used to think were awful. If I want cheese I have to pick the cheaper, non-fat options like store-brand plastic-like slices. A lot of chicken and turkey cold cuts. Low-fat bread and bagels (I used to avoid bagels like the plague)—nothing with seeds or nuts. Hardly any oils. No butter, no margarine, no nut butters or spreads. I can have small amounts of low-fat cream cheese.
I previously lost a great deal of weight suddenly due to the inability to eat properly for two weeks, and being taken off solid foods for several days entirely.
In June 2020 I was up to 225 from 198lbs. From mid-June to early July I went from 225 to around 205 (I suspect mostly muscle loss since I was still flabby). Since returning to solid food and the new, unwanted diet I have gone from that 205 down to 186 today. Some of that loss may be due to other health factors as the rate is probably a bit high for healthy, but a large part is due to a much more calorie-restricted diet. It's actually a lot harder to read my caloric requirements without those fats and things I actually want to eat...
This is a prime case of YMMV, and my diet is a bit extreme, but I was in exactly the same case as you prior to the emergence of my health problem and am on a diet I would never have considered otherwise. Also—my heart has been in great shape so I don't know how this would hurt someone with heart issues—I probably get a lot of salt, but my needs for electrolytes recently probably also buffer that a bit.