Diet Food :(

[mertz]

I don't want to be mistaken for a beached whale this summer.
 It's  time to double the work outs and stop eating like I was starving in another life. I made an amazing salad for lunch (forgot to take a pic). Hearts of romaine, grilled chicken, shaved apple , and a bit of raspberry balsamic vinaigrette.

[Dunedin]

Mertz, I need to join you on the workout front. My wife's gone on a major health kick and I reckon she'll trade me in for a younger model if I don't start making an effort to shift my gut!

[mertz]

We need to do an international SR workout challenge.

[bitter]

Yeah I need to get in shape. I should buy some additional weights, go walking, and try dieting.

[Dunedin]

I walk my dog for an hour every day but it's not enough to lose weight. I really need to start running again and take the dog with me.

[mortlock]

i just bought a bike..not really changing what i eat but i eat healthy for the most part anyways..im hoping riding all summer will take a few lbs off and get me in better shape.

[RAGER]

Smaller portions, no fast food, walk 3 miles every other day.  it only takes 40 minutes.

edit: drink more water.

[bitter]

^ That I can do. I basically only drink water, almond milk, and juice (that I water down).

[libertycaps]

I threw out all my huge plates and got some smaller antique plates at GW. I only eat 2 big meals a day and snack on healthy stuff like bananas, apples, low salt peanuts, raisins, jerky. I stopped eating after 8pm. I jog 2-4 times a week (weather fucking permitting) and do a long 2-3 hr bike ride on weekends (weather fucking permitting.) I do lots of push ups at work and at home. I could do 80 in less than 2 minutes when a was a soldier. Getting back to that is another personal goal of mine. They are getting easier. I'm doing sets of 40 already. I'm currently down to 220 from 250. Lowest weight was 212 back in October last year and it felt fucking great. I want to get to 205 this Summer/Fall. I'm 72" tall.

All that said, i still drink too much. No fucking way am i giving up PNW craft beer or killin' home cooked food. So i gotta exercise.

[mertz]

I thought there was a normal decent guy in there...caught ya LC

[RAGER]

sssshhhhhhh

[mertz]

I won't tell if you don't tell.

[rayinreverse]

I try to avoid processed foods. I balance my diet about 50% protein,30% carbs (complex) and 20% good fats.
I started back on a gym plan too. Had to cut out beer during the week though.

[mutantcolors]

Eat whole fruit and veggies (duh but worth saying)

Meat is not your enemy

Fat is not your enemy

Build you some muscle. Cardio is better than not exercising but there are faster, more long term changes you can make to your body by lifting weight (not little weenie 20lb squats either!) that will transform you into a calorie burning machine.

[El Zombre]

http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2009/06/how-to-wrap-rice-paper-rolls-summer-rolls.html

I always thought the above were great for dieting because you're wrapping up lots of veggies along with whatever your savoury meat source happens to be. It's kind of a bottleneck effect that mostly one only see the shrimp and pork variety in the States. One can roll up anything - it's a nice way to jazz up left-over. Put in meat, leafy greens like lettuce, spinach, or mustard greens, fresh herbs like basil and mints, and roll up and you get a balanced meal. If it's kind of bland, dip in a sauce that's got salty, sweet and sour - say diluted hoisin sauce w/ a bit of vinegar or lemon juice. Diluted fish sauce w/ lemon juice and sugar also works.

[RAGER]

^^ yeah dude totally.  Ya ever see a fat Vietnamese?  i didn't think so.

[mutantcolors]

I think the caveat there is that they're delicious and you may be prone to eating a load of them, heh.

[rayinreverse]

Eat whole fruit and veggies (duh but worth saying)

Meat is not your enemy

Fat is not your enemy

Build you some muscle. Cardio is better than not exercising but there are faster, more long term changes you can make to your body by lifting weight (not little weenie 20lb squats either!) that will transform you into a calorie burning machine.

This exactly! Lean animal protein is the way to go. I have a home made smoothie in the morning consisting of a yogurt, banana, berries and some OJ blended up with some protein powder.
Then its lean protein for lunch like chicken, or maybe a home made sandwich with mustard (no mayo) whole wheat bread and some veggies. Been doing a chicken breast, cheese and balsamic lettuce wrap for lunch lately that is killer.
Dinner is a similar lean protein with veggies affair.
I also use whey protein for after workout shakes. Lifting weights will really ignite your calorie burning.

[mutantcolors]

It's not like you're gonna get all beefed out and body builder looking. You gotta really fucking try for that.

I like coming up on the 3-0 while being in my best shape ever. Shit works. (granted I never had weight issues to begin with)

[bitter]

Been walking, eating less, eating a little healthier, and lifting light weights.

There's a fresh box of doughnuts downstairs  I opened it and looked inside to see which I'd like to grab. Knowing I'd want to try the different types, I closed the box with a sigh. Instead I grabbed a hard candy and walked away.

[yeezuz]

http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2009/06/how-to-wrap-rice-paper-rolls-summer-rolls.html

I always thought the above were great for dieting because you're wrapping up lots of veggies along with whatever your savoury meat source happens to be. It's kind of a bottleneck effect that mostly one only see the shrimp and pork variety in the States. One can roll up anything - it's a nice way to jazz up left-over. Put in meat, leafy greens like lettuce, spinach, or mustard greens, fresh herbs like basil and mints, and roll up and you get a balanced meal. If it's kind of bland, dip in a sauce that's got salty, sweet and sour - say diluted hoisin sauce w/ a bit of vinegar or lemon juice. Diluted fish sauce w/ lemon juice and sugar also works.

N??c ch?m !!!
this is a great reminder, i love these things. once upon a time, i went to this restaurant in Hue and all the servers were deaf. the specialty was spring rolls. there is also a club called Apocalypse Now in that town, weird vibes man just weird. all the Vietnamese places in town serve bubble tea, so it's a bit of a risk to go in there if i am trying to lay off the calories.

[El Zombre]

I switched my afternoon snack from cake to trail mix recently. Hope that means I'm on my way to well-marbled, nutty flesh like those acorn fed jamon iberrico pigs.

@Xina, yup nuoc cham. I like Hue. Can't barely understand the natives because of the wild melismatic Central Vietnamese accent, but Hue's my favorite city of the big 3. Way chiller and cheaper than Saigon or Hanoi.

[RAGER]

Made nuoc cham last night for our rolls.  Don't really know what the rolls are called but over 15 years ago i worked with some Vietnamese people and I would have lunch with them when they brought this stuff.  they called it ( phonetically bah-beeya)  usually had mint, shrimp, jicama, fried egg mung bean thread and a couple different sauces.  I was the only white person that bothered to interact with them so we laughed at all the other white people  i wish I rememberd more of the language.  It also helped that Amy (Chau) was smokin hot.

[black]

White People, pfffttt.

[El Zombre]

they called it ( pheonetically bah-beeya)  usually had mint, shrimp, jicama, fried egg mung bean thread and a couple different sauces.

Wow, that's impressive remembering that for 15 years! I know exactly what you're talking about - bò bía, pronounced baw beer - is one of my favorite foods growing up. It's actually brought over from China by a group of people called Hokkiens or Hokka. In Vietnam, it's also suffered from a bottleneck effect and is static exactly as the roll you described. But in Malaysia and Singapore where there are larger populations of Hokkiens, recipes are all over the place. Some even say to use whatever's on hand iirc. The Hokkien version is usually transliterated as poh pia or popiah.