Healthy Gamer Discussion

[Sinshroud]

This is a great post for anyone concerned about Insulin Resistance, Metabolic Syndrome, and Diabetes: http://authoritynutrition.com/insuli...in-resistance/

Insulin resistance implies that the cells are not responding well to the hormone insulin. This causes higher insulin levels, higher blood sugar levels and may lead to type 2 diabetes and other health problems.

The main causes of insulin resistance may be overeating and increased body fat, especially in the belly area. Other factors include high sugar intake, inflammation, inactivity and genetics.

Having high insulin levels and high blood sugar levels are key symptoms of insulin resistance. Other symptoms include lots of belly fat, high blood triglycerides and low HDL levels.

Insulin resistance is at the heart of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes, which are currently among the biggest health problems in the world.

Insulin resistance may cause a variety of diseases, including heart disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease and cancer.

Insulin resistance may be reduced or even completely reversed with simple lifestyle measures. These include exercise, eating healthy, losing belly fat and taking care of your sleep and stress levels.

Low-carb diets reduce the harmful insulin resistance linked to metabolic disease. However, very low-carb ketogenic diets may induce a harmless type of insulin resistance that spares blood sugar for the brain.

[HawkerZA]

Eggs and bacon on toast for breakfast and Pizza for lunch (leftovers from last night)

[Sinshroud]

Eggs and bacon on toast for breakfast and Pizza for lunch (leftovers from last night)

I love Col'Cacchios' Banting pizza. Most cauliflower pizza bases taste like crap, but theirs is actually really good and comes with a relatively decent side salad too.

Last night I had a pizza from Primi though. As much as I love eating meat, I find I don't like it all that much on pizza. I had spinach, feta, and olives on mine which is a really winning combo!

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Anyways this is pretty cool: http://www.sleekgeek.co.za/2015/08/less-this-more-that/

Sleekgeek is an online health and fitness social community and they created this chart as a quick-reference for their members.

"Take this as a best-effort approach where something is better than nothing at all. Keep note that it says “less” and “more“, not “none” and “only“."

[Sinshroud]

Research shows that people who eat slowly tend to digest their food better, lose or maintain weight more easily, and feel more satisfied with each meal.

On the other hand, those who rush their meals due to time constraints, distractions, or simply by habit tend to run into way more health-related problems such as eating more calories than they meant to, finishing their meals way before natural satiety signals kick in, ending up uncomfortably stuffed, and having poor digestion and nutrient absorption.

Getting into the habit of eating more slowly can provide enormous benefit at very little effort cost.

An example is you may often hear the recommendation to eat whole, unprocessed food because it is nutrient-dense and fills you up more. The problem is if you gobble down your food and overeat before your body realizes it is actually full then you may as well have just eaten a box of donuts or a tub of ice cream instead. Either way you are going to be consuming too many calories and putting on or keeping on unwanted fat.

It takes about 20 minutes from the start of your meal for your brain to send out satiety signals and hormones. Next time you eat see how you can slow down your meal by being a bit more social (eat at a table instead of in front of the TV), drink some water in between mouthfuls, put the knife and fork down now and then, don't start cutting your next bite until you have swallowed your current one, and so on.

If you currently finish most meals in 3-5 minutes, you don't need to suddenly take 20 minutes for your next meal. Just work on slowing things down. Aim to slow the meal down by 5-10 minutes or so and see what a difference it can make.

This is an example of what I call Habit-Based Nutrition.

Habit-based nutrition is a strategy where a small handful of simple but effective habits are used to help shape your nutritional choices (regardless of your plan) slowly overtime.

As these habits catch on and become more ingrained, you will have an easier and easier time making smart nutritional choices without even putting much thought into it.

Other Habit-Based Nutrition strategies that I've found to work incredible well include:
- Eating only until 80% full (or hari hachi bu as the Japanese call it).
- Earning your carbohydrates (only eating carb-dense foods after a workout, or using it to fuel a workout).
- Designing for default (health foods at eye level, unhealthy foods hidden away - Google "James Clear Design for Default").
- The first bite rule (whatever food you start eating first in your meal is the food you’ll most likely eat the most of).
- Eating protein and veg with each meal (satiating, promote health, and preserve lean muscle mass - especially in calorie restriction/dieting conditions).
- ALWAYS know 3-4 easy and/or quick meals (you should have a list of dead simple breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes stuck on your fridge).
- Snack rarely (contrary to what you may feel like when you miss your 10am or 4pm snack, being a bit hungry won't kill you).

[Solitude]

That's something that I struggle with. I eat way too fast. Good guide!

[Sinshroud]

That's something that I struggle with. I eat way too fast. Good guide!

It's definitely really tough, I myself struggle hugely with it too and I've found being more mindful of how I eat has helped me hugely.

It takes practice. Tell people to sit at a table and eat 10 raisins in 10 minutes, 1 per minute, and they would rather cut off an arm.

In this day and age, our attention span has become the primary commodity. Every company is trying to grab the attention of their consumers, the celebrities that are atttention-seekers tend to make the most money, and so on. The little attention span that you have left to youself and can use for things like being more mindful throughout the day is extremely precious.