The Weight Gain Challenge

[Arachnid]

OKay, so my girlfriend is on a 30 day cleanse with her clients. She's Personal Trainer and is doing this as a kick-start to implement exercise regime. Some are also doing IsaGenix http://canadian-retail.isagenix.com/ca/ ... iew.dhtml# I'm not a fitness buff. I ride my bike to school, work and for pleasure and play ball hockey once a week (down do to school)

There is a strict grocery list to shop from and I'm a great cook so I can make anything taste good but the challenge for me and my son is not to lose weight over the month.

How the hell do I do that? If anything I want to gain wieght. I'm a tall guy. 6'3" so I can distribute the wieght pretty good. I'm 195 right now and fit. I would like to be 205 cause I like using my body in hockey Spidey Jr. is a growing teen and needs fat, he won't be eating just the foods on the list. He craves red meat, chocolate and milk...

I was already organic dude, and I like everything on the list. Was already making Spelt bread and drinking almond milk, the Quinoa is new though but I like it. My mate is a Pescetarian (fish eating vegetarian) so more deepwater fish the better I say, no unsustainable fish or shellfish though and a nutritionist but the list comes from a naturopath and they recommend a weekly cabbage soup cleanse too and no processed foods.

Grocery List

Legumes

chickpeas
cranberry beans
garbanzo beans
green beans
kidney beans
lentils
lima beans
mung beans
split beans

Nuts/Seeds

almonds
flaxseeds
hazelnuts
pecans
poppy seeds
pumpkin seeds
sesame seeds
sunflower seeds
walnuts

Oils

olive oil
grapeseed oil
nut butter
coconut oil
flaxseed oil
almond oil

Vegetable

alfalfa
apple
artichoke
aparagus
bay leaves
beets
broccoli
brussel spouts
cabbage
carrot
cauliflower
celery
cucumber
red bell peppers
lettuce
lemon
onion
parsley
parsnip
peas
pumpkin
radish
spinach
squash
sweet potato
turnip
green avocado

Grains

brown rice
amaranth
quinoa
buckwheat
millet
teff
spelt

Fish/Poultry

Chicken
Turkey
Wild Deep Water Fish
Organic Tofu

NO's

Juice
sugar
Coffee
bananas
Dairy products
melon
corn processed
potatoes food

Snacks

BrownRice CrackersYeats/Free
Brown Rice Bread
Quinoa Bread
Brown rice Tortillas

Spreads/Sauces

Hummus
Guacamole
bean Spread
baba ghanoush

Milk Substitutes:
almond milk
rice milk
organic soy milk

Any support on how Spidey can stay big would be appreciated, I don't believe in diets or weights just to gain weight (strength training is cool though)

What does everyone do on here for their fitness? Am I all alone here? I want to GAIN weight!
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALP!

Edit: I will not give up beer Maybe that is my salvation..'I must not be drinking enough' -DH

[Robert]

Why Spidey I didn't think you had it in you. I pictured you as a drunken foul mothed ogre mired in the depths of dispair which is toronto.

I was gonna say beer then you already have it on your list. The only other thing is the grains.. wheat grain is not fit for humans.. it's bird food. It turns to sugar and spikes our insulin levels and makes us fat! But I'm not sure about buckwheat, if it's the same or not.

But please, drop that soy off that otherwise healthy list, it's not food unless fermented. It really is a scam foisted upon the "vegan" crowd.

[Arachnid]

Why Spidey I didn't think you had it in you. I pictured you as a drunken foul mothed ogre mired in the depths of dispair which is toronto.

I was gonna say beer then you already have it on your list. The only other thing is the grains.. wheat grain is not fit for humans.. it's bird food. It turns to sugar and spikes our insulin levels and makes us fat! But I'm not sure about buckwheat, if it's the same or not.

But please, drop that soy off that otherwise healthy list, it's not food unless fermented. It really is a scam foisted upon the "vegan" crowd.

Heh, yeah, the interweb where people and things are not as they seem I bean a hemp munch'n bike ride'n hip yippie since my BC bud days. Pretty hard to do it here though amongst all the materialistic greedy yuppies butt if I can be a Canuck fan then I can be healthy here too

Everthing on the 'grocery list' is organic. I love to cook, so the challange is to find recipes that taste good and I can sub some stuff.

I'm making Quinoa burgers tonight for the little lady and I'll have one of those, for der katzenjammer kid it's organic ground beef (I'll have one of those too...).

http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/vegetari ... urgers.php

Make it raw, not store bought...

If you have any good recipes please share

Use to make Whole Wheat bread now just Spelt. Buckwheat is great, not a 'wheat' at all. Used in Russian/Ukraine a lot.

Picked up Wild Brown Millet, Organic Brown Flax Seed and Bragg's Liquid Soy for the burger recipe.
We usually shy away from soy, although I feel better about organic, the more processed something is, the more unhealthy.

Buy local, buy organic, vote with your dollar

(and I haven't even stated in a bout Aquaponics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaponics )

[Robert]

Good stuff, food health is a hobby of mine and I'm slowly starting to act as I preach.

I've got a lot of good friends in the 'creek.. maybe they'll share some recpies. One is hard core raw. I know what I want to eat, but dammit don't know how to cook it. Hey that's great news about the buckwheat, I'm lookin' into that... I want to stay away from the regular wheat.

Ok, I'm outing myself. I'm a manly axe swingin', beer swillin', mountain climbin', grizzly bear huntin', stubble haired guy who wants to take a healthy cooking course.

Strong agreement with buy organic, local, and fresh!

[Arachnid]

Good stuff, food health is a hobby of mine and I'm slowly starting to act as I preach.

I've got a lot of good friends in the 'creek.. maybe they'll share some recpies. One is hard core raw. I know what I want to eat, but dammit don't know how to cook it. Hey that's great news about the buckwheat, I'm lookin' into that... I want to stay away from the regular wheat.

Ok, I'm outing myself. I'm a manly axe swingin', beer swillin', mountain climbin', grizzly bear huntin', stubble haired guy who wants to take a healthy cooking course.

Strong agreement with buy organic, local, and fresh!

I like smart lifestyles, jeez, wotta stereotype eh?! A grisly (I grew a beard for Movember as I all ready had a Goatee), hard drink'n, bully on da boards granola muncher. Ahhhhhhh I'ma pussy in real life, help kittens and little ol' ladies all da time

I have always loved the health benefits of hemp, now I'm adding and discovering millet, quinoa etc. going to try Amaranth next but the big one out there is from the sea...nah fishies...sea vegtables...dulse, kelp... reallllllleeeeee fucking good shyte for your bod...you can get it dried or for $35 a jar of powdered super sea veggie powder goodness at your local health food store...add to everything to cure you from everything...

It's about being smart and not buying over-produced crap the masses feast on (hello double down????? w/o wheat )

Be smart, fuck the captains of industry.

One of my favorite breweries makes an awesome organic

[Joe Rockhead]

My family pretty much shops on the outside iles of the grocery store.

Because Mrs Rockhead has had primary renal lymphoma requiring chemo, salt is out. That eliminates most processed foods.

A question spidey. Why no bananas? Also We eat alot of bread, a good substitute?

Thanks.

[Puck]

Rock,

I agree on the outside aisles approach. Not only is the food less processed, it's generally cheaper, too. On bananas, I was once told that they are heavily sprayed with insecticide and the skin is quite absorbant. This probably makes them the number one candidate for buying organic if you are a pick and choose type. [This doesn't explain why the Spider isn't supposed to eat them, though.]

I'm becoming increasingly annoyed with our local, in-store-baked, brown bread. It's got a list of about 15-20 ingredients. What's with that? Plus the quality is going down and the price keeps going up. I'd like to hear about bread substitutes and better bread options.

[Cornuck]

I'm becoming increasingly annoyed with our local, in-store-baked, brown bread. It's got a list of about 15-20 ingredients. What's with that? Plus the quality is going down and the price keeps going up. I'd like to hear about bread substitutes and better bread options.

One of my pet peeves - why does a local, in store bakery need all of these chemicals? They shouldn't need preservatives since they sell through most days.

I usually go with the 'Earthgrains' brand - don't know if it's available where you are, but at least I know what all the ingredients are on their labels. It's just amazing how something as simple as bread 'needs' all that extra crap.

Personally, I try to eat well, but definitely have my lapses. Like Joe, I'll shop the perimeter only - and head to the dreaded inner aisles for coffee and a couple of other vices.

A good site I read is NaturalNews.com - it covers a lot of areas.

[Robert]

A good stepping stone to eliminating bread would be to start off with sourdough. YOu'd have to make it yourself as the best info I could get from the so called "aritsan" places was they left it over night. A real sourdough needs to ferment for three days. It's still evil grain, but fermentation somehow makes food much healthier.

It's on my list...

[Arachnid]

My family pretty much shops on the outside iles of the grocery store.

Because Mrs Rockhead has had primary renal lymphoma requiring chemo, salt is out. That eliminates most processed foods.

A question spidey. Why no bananas? Also We eat alot of bread, a good substitute?

Thanks.

Hey Jrock, my gorgeous live-in nutritionist says they didn't stay on the list because although they are actually quite good for you, they have a lot of simple sugars such as fructose, glucose and sucrose. The food list is meant as detox of foods that aren't really bad but can jam up your system pretty good if you rely on them as your base...like wheat/gluten, sugars, sodium (even tomatoes and mushrooms ore out because of allergies -tomatoes actually have a lot of naturally occurring MSG in them)
I'm not a diet guy, or food faddy, I like adjusting my lifestyle to good foods that taste great and are actually really good for me. That activate my natural immune system and fat burning system.
I will never give up bananas, I have, however, only bought organic bananas for the past 10 years. It's more about being aware of what is going into our bodies and how it was produced.

Bread, yeah, it's a tough one. I have been making my own organic bread for quite a while now. Using a bread maker and a bread pan. Just spelt flour. The only problem is it has molasses, sugar, yeast and gluten. I hate bread maker bread if you actually make it in the bread maker, too compacted and heavy. It makes the best beer pizza dough though

My girlfriend is German so loves her bread but for her detox list she buys gluten-free unleavened brown-rice, buckwheat, quinoa etc. breads from the health food stores. Expensive but guilt free and very healthy.


I like the outside food isle philosophy, garbage in, garbage out...

[Arachnid]

Rock,

I agree on the outside aisles approach. Not only is the food less processed, it's generally cheaper, too. On bananas, I was once told that they are heavily sprayed with insecticide and the skin is quite absorbant. This probably makes them the number one candidate for buying organic if you are a pick and choose type. [This doesn't explain why the Spider isn't supposed to eat them, though.]

I'm becoming increasingly annoyed with our local, in-store-baked, brown bread. It's got a list of about 15-20 ingredients. What's with that? Plus the quality is going down and the price keeps going up. I'd like to hear about bread substitutes and better bread options.

Puckster, you bring up a good point. What to buy organic and what not to buy. Even while we vote with our dollar and the biologique foods continue to fall in price they are still expensive. And are they all really necessary or just hype? There are a few lists out there and they are not the same. Common sense, preference and your instinct should prevail. As you build your knowledge base of foods you can decide. For bananas it started with a documentary I saw a long time ago about banana plantation workers losing their feet from the pesticides it was so bad. While those pesticides might not reach our tables I just thought it was so unnecessary so I always choose organic bananas (am I a smart ape or a stupid monkey?).

As for bread, see the above post, either make it yourself with organic spelt (tastes like whole wheat only better) which really is quite easy with a bread maker and takes 5 minutes to through the basic ingredients in (like the smell of coffee to greets you in the morning when it's timer starts it? Try the smell of fresh bread ) or you can buy organic/health bread.

My bread ingredients:
water
organic spelt
olive oil
molasses
honey
salt
yeast

I'm going to try and make yeast, gluten and sugar free unleavened brown rice, buckwheat and kamut bread but it's apparently not easy....

Here's the big lists. Above all else I try to buy local. Try farmers markets where you can ask them questions directly. Why would I buy garlic from China when there is a guy down the road growing some good shit within our laws and values? No lead in it. And why do I need to buy out of season raspberries from Chile in February? Never mind the enviromental cost getting them here, where do they really come from?

OK, my rant-mode turned off here's the list (I added bananas because, well because I can...you can google more lists to compare)

The MOST Contaminated Fruits and Veggies (Buy These Organic)

Peach
Apple
Sweet Bell Pepper
Celery
Nectarine
Strawberries
Cherries
Kale
Lettuce
Grapes - Imported
Carrot
Pear
Collard Greens
Spinach
Potato
Banana

On the flipside, the produce with the LEAST amount of pesticide residues were:

Onion
Avocado
Sweet corn (frozen)
Pineapple
Mango
Asparagus
Sweet peas (frozen)
Kiwi
Cabbage
Eggplant
Papaya
Watermelon
Broccoli
Tomato
Sweet potato

Source: http://www.sixwise.com/Newsletters/2009 ... to-Buy.htm

As an epilogue did you know we almost lost bananas as a food? I read an article I think in National Geographic about how way back when Dole was creating their monopoly of the banana industry they settled on one type of edible variation. Well no one thought about species diversification and over the years the banana came under attack from various diseases. But because there was no other varieties they could not develop a new genetically strong strain. They were dying off. An example would be inbreeding of peoples (and why the British Royal family went to Germany to marry and breed new blood into them or a why certain dog breeds have bad hips). Anyways, there was a high risk that this multi-billion dollar fruit would soon become extinct. I took a sustainable ecosystem course last summer and our Prof assured us that they figured out how to save the banana and that we pulled a rabbit out of our arses because we really did almost lose it...

A good paper on this delicious yellow herb from U Vic http://www.islandnet.com/~vipirg/public ... ananas.pdf

[Arachnid]

I'm becoming increasingly annoyed with our local, in-store-baked, brown bread. It's got a list of about 15-20 ingredients. What's with that? Plus the quality is going down and the price keeps going up. I'd like to hear about bread substitutes and better bread options.

One of my pet peeves - why does a local, in store bakery need all of these chemicals? They shouldn't need preservatives since they sell through most days.

I usually go with the 'Earthgrains' brand - don't know if it's available where you are, but at least I know what all the ingredients are on their labels. It's just amazing how something as simple as bread 'needs' all that extra crap.

Personally, I try to eat well, but definitely have my lapses. Like Joe, I'll shop the perimeter only - and head to the dreaded inner aisles for coffee and a couple of other vices.

A good site I read is NaturalNews.com - it covers a lot of areas.

Hey Corny, good site, I try not to read too much about bad news like GMO and foodenstien! Preferring just to go with what feels right. Like local organic free-range chicken tastes waaaaaaaaaay better than a corporate equivalent but knowledge is power and allows us to vote with our dollars...

You really should pick up a bread maker. The bread won't last 2 days it is so damn good and you don't need preservatives.
Make the dough in the maker and bake it in a traditional bread pan and it is far better than store bought...

[Arachnid]

A good stepping stone to eliminating bread would be to start off with sourdough. YOu'd have to make it yourself as the best info I could get from the so called "aritsan" places was they left it over night. A real sourdough needs to ferment for three days. It's still evil grain, but fermentation somehow makes food much healthier.

It's on my list...

Mmmmmmmmmmm sourdough, I love it, I use to buy it all the time when we had a European bakery around the corner. So delicious but it was still gluten and yeast. They moved and then I started making my own.
I've had brown rice from Artisan bakeries, pretty good. I have to make it at home though as it's $6/7 a loaf. Hard to get off bread and I refuse just to eat wraps and crackers...

[Arachnid]

Tofu

I hate it. That is something I cannot stand and it is not all that good for you. Stupid vegans It is a processed food. If I do have it it is only a couple times a month in a stir fry and always organic. You can make it taste a little better with good recipes but something about it doesn't seem that natural.
Raise a organic chicken or fish or turkey or cow, treat it right and it will taste great going down. Good karma

Tofu = Soylent White!

Want soy? Edamame!

Or Braggs http://bragg.com/products/bragg-liquid- ... ative.html

[LotusBlossom]

My rule on grocery shopping is similar to Rockhead's. Outside aisles and buying as many things fresh and organic as possible.

We've just recently switched in the last month to really make a conscious effort to eliminate as many processed foods as possible.

I went to an organic farm out in Langley and purchased a cow with two of my friends. We saved a ton of money, the beef is amazing and got a butcher to do all the right cuts for it. The cost in the long run saves our families ( families of 3-4 people each) a good chunk of change over time.

I'm a chef's daughter and knew how to cook from an early age, but tweaking the recipes that I have once learned I am making far leaner and from better, fresher, and more organic ingredients. I only cook with organic E.V.O.O, Coconut oil, and unsalted organic butter....everything else is ditched.

I also recently cut out wheat products from my diet, although my child and spouse won't do it, I have made it a conscious effort to do such a thing for my own health. For them, I buy sourdough for their sandwiches etc.

I am anemic and refuse to give up meat products because I made a Vegan girl cry. I am leaning towards eating more Paleo/Primal these days. I get my sugars and carbohydrates from organic fruit and veggies. I juice my carrots because I can't stand crunching them. For dinners I make all sauces when I do make them from scratch. I don't buy packaged things. All my soup stocks are home made and then frozen until needed. So high protein dinners with lots of greens.

Luckily for me, I have Choices Market right downstairs from my building so the majority of their produce is actually organic and so are a lot of their meats and dairy products.

Rules I live by for grocery shopping:

1) organic and natural ingredients first (if possible)
2) buy locally when also possible
3) buy ONE treat/snack to reward yourself (I buy organic dark chocolate)
4) become an avid label/ingredients reader...if it looks like it was concocted in a science lab, it probably was.

Now we can't always eat in and some of us have careers/lives that require us to be social and head out. Many places in Vancouver when you do casual-fine dining do offer gluten-free options for those wanting to abandon wheat totally.

Joey's has a gluten free menu, you just have to ask.
As does Cactus Club and Earl's. And of course Vancouver being Vancouver, you'll find specialty dining for your lifestyle.
Choices, Urban fare, Whole Foods, Bosa Foods and Nestor's have little deli areas in their grocery stores that have better lifestyle choices snacks and small meals if you can't pack up a snack or need food ASAP.

I've decided to really change everything about my nutrition plan due to me having PCOSand the health issues I've had come with the condition. In the last four weeks of revamping the grocery list and meals made, I've dropped 12 lbs (a side effect of PCOS is extreme weight gain or obesity). I've started a new fitness regimen as well, but it's more about how my insides feel rather than the outside.

Addition: I still drink wine but have drastically cut down on the beer and other spirits. Besides I'm a bit wine-o anyway. It's my one thing I won't give up to live that 'healthy' lifestyle. I have one or two glasses a day and haven't changed that one bit.