Joined: Aug 2005 Gender: Male Posts: 4,261 Location: New York
HEALTHFUL FOOD & DRINKS « Thread Started on Sept 1, 2011, 12:05pm »
In this thread I want to have members feature foods and beverages that can help keep us healthy both on and off duty. Actually, I thought I already had a thread here regarding this but I guess I was mistaken.
And my initiating this thread actually has to do with asking members for suggestions. I'm having an issue with cholesterol. My doctor and my family are giving me hell about it. I've taken some medicine for it but I go off it when the scrip expires. Pretty soon I'll be on another drug but in the meantime I've been looking into foods that help lower cholesterol and triglycerides (mine are so sky high that I'm scaring myself). In addition to my usual vitamins and supplements I just started taking resveratrol, which supposedly helps in lowering cholesterol and triglycerides. Its found in red grapes (which I've stocked up on!) and in other foods.
All of this leads up to my main question. I'm not a big wine drinker but I've read that a glass of red wine a day actually helps. I'm not joking. And I was wondering if any of you could suggest a good, decent red wine to start out with. I think by the end of today I'll have bought a bottle but any suggestions will be appreciated, if not for today's purchase then for my next one.
I gotta buckle down and take this seriously.
And please....use this space to list good foods and drinks that are healthy for us. We gotta look out for each other!!
So here is a short list taken from Mayo Clinic. and NO they don't cure mayo deficiency.
1. Oatmeal, oat bran and high-fiber foods 2. Fish and omega-3 fatty acids **Mackerel, Lake trout, Herring, Sardines,Albacore tuna, Salmon, Halibut 3. Walnuts, almonds and other nuts <<spare the jokes.... 4. Olive oil 5. Foods with added plant sterols or stanols
Cut back on the cholesterol and total fat — especially saturated and trans fats — that you eat. Saturated fats, like those in meat, full-fat dairy products and some oils, raise your total cholesterol. Trans fats, which are sometimes found in margarines and store-bought cookies, crackers and cakes, are particularly bad for your cholesterol levels. Trans fats raise low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the "bad" cholesterol, and lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the "good" cholesterol.
Garlic is also a good food item to use, plus it keeps Dracula away...Just make sure to brush your teeth before that hot date...
I have been on a diet for a while now too. The thing to remember is to not have crash diets where you loose a lot of weight really quick, you're just going to gain it back, not to mention that drastic of a difference in that short of a time will cause problems on the body. The best method is to work the pounds of gradually. In the last month I am down about ten pounds or so. From what I've been told 2-3 pounds a week is ideal.
Lifestyle factors are huge when managing weight. For me I struggle to have free time to actually cook healthy meals at home so I am eating out a lot. When I do I am ordering a salad instead of fries, having chicken instead of beef, going for more veggies and less mayo. Same thing when shopping for food, I am looking at what's in the box. I like to munch on chips every now and then, instead of Lays I'll buy some tortilla chips, they have the salt I like but less of it and less fat.
Another great benefit is to exercise. This is possibly the best thing to do for yourself. Work out three times a week for thirty minutes. Not only will you burn off calories you will also burn off stress, which we ALL know is a major cause of officer burnout, and you sleep better...that's if your significant other allows you to after you get buff!
When you work out make sure to do some cardio, usually 20 minutes followed by some strength endurance. Remember to always consult a personal trainer for your ideal work out plan.
P.s. I am repeating what I have been told, do NOT mistake me for a medical expert, I am not... Before beginning any major diet or work out regiment make sure to consult your physician to develop a strategy best suited to your individual needs.
For me, the best red wines are Merlot and any kind of Rose. They say they are best with red meat, but I like rose (It has an accent over the E so It's prounounced ROSEAYE) with just about anything.
If you are not a wine officianado, where you can tell the difference between a Cabernet, a Merlot, or a Shiraz with ease, then go with a blend. I prefer white wines, which doesn't help in your quest for information, but of the few red wines I can tolerate, they have typically been blends. I have never liked any red wine enough to purchase one (except for specific recipes, like for Beef Burgundy.) I don't know if the Rose' would be considered a very light weight red, so I don't know if it would have the same beneficial properties as a full bodied red, but that is usually the closest I get to drinking a red wine.
Have fun experimenting! Just find someone interesting to experiment with (your wine tasting of course.)
I enjoy a menage a trois. OH... wait... we're talking about WINE. Ooops.
While I prefer a well-chilled white wine as well, my friends Steve and Carl (whose email address is RedWineCarl@...) are wine snobs and think they know everything there is to know about FINE reds. Somehow, Carl was given a bottle of Menage a Trois (a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot and Cabernet.) He took ONE sip, turned up his nose as it not being "worthy" of his palate, and said, "give it to Bear. He will drink anything." (Later he said something about "swill".)
WELL, I tried it and LOVE IT. AND, here in California, it is $9-11 per bottle, depending upon where one goes. Also comes in a blend of three whites or a blend of three rose's. Makes my tail wag!
If one enjoys a wine that pairs with poultry OR beef OR fish, not sweet and not choke-cherry dry, yet with all the anti-carcinogen and dietary benefits of a glass of red wine, I HIGHLY recommend Menage a Trois.
Thanks for that list, Josh. I use a lot of what is on it already. Garlic is a wonder drug as far as I'm concerned.
I picked up a merlot yesterday and of course, I had a glass....or two...for health reasons only! (hic!) Instead of one glass a day I was thinking about maybe three times a day. Maybe one at breakfast, one at lunch and one after dinner. Or maybe three four or five after dinner. For health reasons only, don't cha know.
Bear, as far as your snooty friends..all I can say is....more for you!!!
I think I'm going to buy a big wooden tub and stomp on my own grapes, just like Lucy!!
But.....really, I'm going to try to have a glass of wine every day in addition to better diet,etc, blah, blah blah and all that. Can't hurt, huh??
I agree with Josh....exercise is the key...don't get discouraged if all you can do is a small walk around the block, street, etc...at least it's a start. When I started really exercising a few years ago, I couldn't go a 1/2 mile on a treadmill at at 5.5mph pace without panting and drooling...and NOT because there was any eye candy in front of me 'cause there wasn't but 4 years, 70 lbs and 8" less around the waist later, I regularily do a 5K run around 6.5 mph and still feel good afterwards....it's all about slow progress....just remember, you didn't get this way overnight and you won't get back that way overnight either...the key is slow and sure progress. Plus it is a GREAT way to reduce stress and you'll be surprised as to how good you feel once you start reaching your goals on a regular basis.
Yeah, I'm a little pissed at myself that I haven't been going to the gym like I used to. I used to go every other day or at least three times a week. But my gym turned into a pigsty because some of the maintenance staff was let go and replaced by morons. And the place went so downhill that I just gave up on the place. After not going for a while, it takes a lot of effort to get off my butt to go back. My membership expires in a few weeks and I have no plans to renew after almost 20 years at the same place.
My plan is to go and squeeze out the last bit of my membership and then try to find another gym that is a little cleaner and has a better clientele. No joke: There were times before I retired that I'd see a gym member in the morning doing a workout and later that evening I'd see him coming into my command in cuffs. And he had to come stand in front of me. Of course, I had someone else handle these guys because I didn't want to out myself to them as a cop. I used to call my gym "Rikers Island East" because there were so many sh*tbags who were members there.
But I digress. The gym is a good thing and should always be used properly. If you haven't been to one in a while, start yourself slowly back up to speed. Walk around your neighborhood and build yourself up before going back. You'll need the stamina and doing little things to help prepare yourself before going to a gym can be a great thing!
Hey BP, I don't know what you are paying for now...but I am a member at Lifetime Fitness. They have a location out in NY, 350 Robbins Lane Syosset NY 11791 (516) 822-1777.
I have always been pleased with lifetime. They sport a more suburban feel and less of a hardcore gym. The ones in the TC are always very clean, upbeat and friendly. THE YOGA CLASSES ARE TO DIE FOR!! I love yoga so much and plus it is free for members!
Lifetime also offers a lot of other incentives for being members like discounts at local businesses and such.
Thanks for this info, Josh. That location is a bit of a hike for me but I may look into some of their other locations. As well as research other spots. I have a little bit of incentive to get moving on getting back into the gym before my membership expires. But I won't talk about that now! (Shhh...it's a secret!)
I'm a big proponent of drinking high antioxidant juices. When I broke my thumb in 2009, I drank a lot of juices rich in antioxidants as part of my recovery, and I am convinced that the juice helped me recover more rapidly than my physical therapist had expected. I often would mix different juices together to get tasty combos and lessen the not so good tastes of some juices. But on my list of juices that I would mix were Blueberry, Pomegranate, Acai, Goji, Blackberry, Cranberry (White Cranberry is tasty), Concord Grape. I also took a Noni supplement at the time for more antioxidant power. I'd say that at that time, juice was at least half of my liquid intake. It normally was either juice or water.
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but 4 years, 70 lbs and 8" less around the waist later, I regularily do a 5K run around 6.5 mph and still feel good afterwards....it's all about slow progress....just remember, you didn't get this way overnight and you won't get back that way overnight either...the key is slow and sure progress. Plus it is a GREAT way to reduce stress and you'll be surprised as to how good you feel once you start reaching your goals on a regular basis.
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