The "whatever tastes good" Diet

[Manomanman]

I moved out of my house into an apartment 2 weeks ago today, and due to the catastrohpic nature of my kitchen, I haven't been able to cook until today. For the past 2 weeks, I've been eating mostly fast food, frozen food, and food available at supermarkets. I have eaten mostly non-organic foods.

I figure that since I'm going on a "real diet" soon, it's been okay to go back to my old ways and see what it feels like to eat the food I used to eat about 2 years ago.

The main thing I've noticed is that I just don't have the energy and drive I used to have, which has been consistent over the past 2 weeks. I've been eating frozen pizzas, restaurant pizzas, fried chicken with the skin removed, frozen dinners (Claim Jumper), Vietnamese, etc. etc. Just a mix of different types of semi-healthy and unhealthy Standard American Diet food.

The main thing that jumps out at me is the lack of vegetables. It's really hard to get vegetables in the American diet - and I have no clue how most people go throughout their day without some kind of vitamins in their diet.

My digestion has been okay - nothing major to complain about. But I have been feeling sluggish and my motivation to just "get up and go" has dropped off a lot. I'm looking forward to getting back onto a solid/healthy diet.

I had forgotten what it was like to lack energy. It just feels terrible and life kind of sucks on this kind of diet.

[Fullcrum]

My observations match yours. Hallelujah .

[Manomanman]

One thing I forgot to add is the psychological component: WHY it's so damn easy to let your health slide one way or the other.

The weird thing about physical bad health (as well as mental bad health - depression) is that it's HARD to see yourself sliding, and it's hard to remember what it feels like when you were in the "good" state.

An example is: in the winter, I always feel like it would be so nice to spend a day on a warm beach. In the summer, when I'm on that warm beach, it would be soooo nice to cool off in the A/C. When you're in one state, you've forgotten what it was like to be in the other state. It's not until you have some contrast that things become clear.

In the case of health, I ALWAYS (DAMMIT!!!) forget what good health feels like until it slips away from me. Then, when I'm back in good health, I'm like, "Why the f--- did I let me health slide. Jesus that's a stupid thing to do." (Same applies to diet, physical exercise, and mental exercise = dispcipline).

[Kasha]

I just went through the same thing! I took a 4-day vacation and decided to just eat whatever I wanted, only when I was hungry and stopping when I was 80% full.

I didn't gain weight, but felt like absolute crap. Now I'm back to eating my fruits and veggies and lean proteins + raw nuts/seeds. I feel great! :-)

[ginkgo]

As long as you are alive, you can improve yourself or develop yourself.