How well do you eat, and do you drink enough water?

[Artina89]

I only really eat 3 meals a day and don't really snack in between meals (Christmas tends to be the exception) which tends to vary from day to day, but is usually something reasonably healthy, for example for lunch I will have a tuna sandwich, a piece of fruit, some fruit juice and a glass of water. As for how much water I consume, I couldn't really say.

 

[EscapeGoat_v1legacy]

Ehh, my diet's alright. It's certainly not as healthy as it could be, but I always ate well when I lived at home and that habit's continued since I moved out. In any case, I can't afford most fatty foods on a student loan, so that helps keep from putting tons of weight on.

I definitely don't drink enough water. I've drank more since moving out, since it's always there and I don't have to wait for it, like I do with a cup of tea or coffee, but I still don't drink enough.

 

[Dogstile]

I have recently become a vegetarian, after a horrific Christmas eve dinner (which consisted of fried chicken, potato bake, prawns, glazed ham, pork, garlic bread and pasta with meat in it... I ended up vomiting Christmas morning). At the moment, I drink no where near enough water. But, since I'm now vegetarian, I'm going to pick up the slack with my water drinking habits too. Does anyone have any good vegetarian recipes?

I'm also making a switch from cow's milk to almond milk. I should have done it sooner - how can you go wrong with almonds, water and a pinch of honey?

No recipes, but don't slack on getting protein supplements. The issues that can crop up if you don't have them are scary as hell.

OP: I don't eat regularly enough or healthy enough, nor do I drink enough water. I'm learning, I usually get through a litre bottle a day. It used to be two litre's of cola though, so i'm glad i've switched. To anyone thinking of switching to water from a strictly fizzy standard, don't do it at once. The withdrawal symptoms from that much caffeine to nothing are really, really bad.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

My diet hasn't been great since I finished school. I spent most of the summer getting stoned and eating crap, then I went to university and started living off ready meals, which aren't great. There were a few upsides; I started eating less, I ate fewer sweets and I drunk a lot more water (and more tea. I got through a box of 80 teabags in one week. Tea is good).

I was given a student cookbook for christmas though, so my diet should get a bit better next term if I can be bothered. Right now I'm happy to eat crap, it's the christmas holidays!

 

[Beffudled Sheep_v1legacy]

Lately my diet has been awful. I moved in with a different part of my family who only buy and make unhealthy foods. When I'm at work and am on break I can't leave so I have to eat their unhealthy foods. And I don't make enough money right now to go full on grocery shopping for myself yet to get healthier foods. I gained so much weight and I'm too tired and sore from work to exercise a lot

As for water... I hate the stuff. It has a horrible taste and doesn't quench my thirst. At work I drink 1 1/2 - 2 32oz cups of powerade (its free and water ain't) and thats usually my only drink for the entire day except for some orange or applejuice for breakfast.

 

[Hoplon]

Alcohol and Caffeine are diuretic though, they make you pee, so the net balance is loss hence why you need to drink water.

Well, alcohol, yes, but I doubt you (or at least hope you don't!) drink that permanently.

Caffeine, up to a point.

For example, tea is better than water for rehydration http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5281046.stm

Admittedly tea doesn't contain as much caffeine as coffee but it contains a fair bit, around half the amount of instant and a third of filter, so containing caffeine doesn't immediately mean you have drink an equal amount of water.

There is plenty of stuff about debunking this odd obsession with water drinking. Annoyingly I can't find the Oxford University study which obviously has much more weight than some random 'sites. Sorry!

http://www.npr.org/2008/04/03/89323934/five-myths-about-drinking-water

http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/No-need-to-drink-8-glasses-of-water-a-day-3650324.php

Bottom line is there is no scientific reason to drink water unless you feel thirsty and even then tea, milk or just eating an orange will do just as well.

Edit - sorry for double post.

Really have to be careful of main steam news reporting on science though for instance the BBC report notes "The Tea Council provided funding for the work. Dr Ruxton stressed that the work was independent." That's not exactly trust worthy nor was it tested in humans.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying drinking lots of water is totally necessary but it isn't something to dismiss out of hand either.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

1. I generally don't pay too much attention to what I eat. Though I do tend to avoid or minimise the amount of greasy or fatty foods I eat. I also don't eat at places like McDonalds at all. Healthy food wise I try to eat a lot of fruit during the day. Though sugar is probably the thing I'm the worst at keeping in check, as I've quite the sweet tooth.

2. I probably drink a bit too much water I tend to keep several litre and a half bottles in the fridge and just keep refilling them. So it's not uncommon for me to get up to 5-7 litres of water a day.

 

[trollnystan]

1. I don't eat properly at all. I hate, nay LOATHE, to cook, and so I live on toast mostly. Usually with peanut butter, but also Swedish-style caviar, cheese, or whatever else I might have picked up. I even have problems heating food up in the microwave. However, set a proper meal in front of me that I didn't have to cook and I will gobble it up! I will eat practically anything!

2. I drink better than I eat, but it's usually milk not water. I have a glass of water next to my bed to take my pills in the morning with though.

 

[Brutal Peanut]

I'd say I drink about 2-3 liters of water a day, and I generally live a vegetarian lifestyle. I do have what is considered 'junk food' once or twice a week - though I still try to make healthier decisions and pick the lesser of all the evils on the menu. After losing 80lbs. Gaining back a pound or two doesn't bother me because it's usually just water weight and goes away when I drink enough water and really get into my activities the next day, but anything above that actually brings about a fear in me.

Spoiler: My meals, which are pretty routine - since we buy food in bulk and it tends to be the same items every time.

Breakfast (if I eat it):
A.)Toast with "organic/natural" or homemade jam.
B.)Two poached eggs (no oil, salt, or butter), two pieces of whole wheat toast, "organic/natural" Tex-Mex salsa.
C.)Cereal with almond milk or reduced-fat/low-fat milk with banana slices.
D.)Smoothie with strawberries or mixed berries, a banana, some milk or juice, and vegetable powder & a granola bar.

Lunch:
A.) PB&J on whole wheat with carrot sticks and strawberries.
B.) Veggie chili with a bit of shredded sharp cheddar (but only a little).
C.) Grilled cheese on whole wheat with carrot sticks. (I really like carrots, and I tend to have them at almost every meal)
D.) Same as Breakfast D.
E) Ramen noodles (I don't use the seasoning packet) and a vegetable of my choice simmered with a serving of soy sauce, a bit of ginger, as well as onion and garlic powder

Dinner:
A.) Pasta (tomato sauce or Alfredo sauce) with boiled vegetables on the side.
B.) Homemade tortillas, 'vegan' refried beans (no lard), and green beans.
C.) Homemade veggie pizza, with spinach, roma tomatoes and mushrooms.
D.) A simple curry. Tofu and Cucumber for me, Chicken and Cucumber for my Husband. Served with either black beans simmered in garlic and onion power, or white steamed Basmati rice.
E.) Same as lunch E.

Most of what I make, I try to keep homemade or 'from scratch', which allows me to use healthier alternatives while cooking.After every meal, I sip a hot tea. Usually green - to help aid with digestion and generally it just makes me feel better. Other than that, I try to drink non-caffeinated teas. For sodas, I generally buy the "organic/natural" sodas that don't have high fructose corn syrup or aspartame, are very low-sodium, with no calories. My husband thinks they are a bit bland, but I think they are pretty good.

Usually, the key to health is water, daily activity, and of course, moderation concerning your foods. You don't have to restrict the point of insanity (and binging) to lose weight or just feel better.

 

[BrotherRool]

I was vegetarian for 3 years, until I learnt that you have to eat a scary amount of food to avoid Vitamin B12 deficiency (we're talking multiple litres of milk/portions of cheese per day) and I hadn't been eating any at all. I didn't even know about it until a discussion on Twenty Sided about the zombie apocalypse, and yet the symptoms of even a slight deficiency are severe (and include depression). So I decided this was a bad way to find out about things which would have caused death within the next 6 years and now I eat vegetarian meals every other day, which I feel leads to a healthier (and more enviro-friendly) diet than most people because the vegetarian cooking has taught me to eat a lot of variety of non-meat food. There's nothing like vegetarian cooking for meeting your 5-a-day. And the meat keeps my iron and B12 levels up easy peasy.

I'm terrible at liquid though. 3 drinks a day tops. On my best days I drink 3 pints of water and it often leads to headaches. When I was younger apparently I fainted because of it

 

[Suave Charlie]

I intermittently fast so eat my day's food intake in a 4-6 hour window and that typically consists of a main chicken based meal with veg, a shake and a smaller meal and then cereal to finish usually. I can normally go weeks on end without sweets or chocolate but hey, it's christmas, so this has been a pretty unhealthy 2 weeks.

Pretty much every day I try to try a different sauce/seasoning/flavouring for the chicken but otherwise I have a fairly routine diet, makes it much easier to track.

Water wise, I don't drink nearly enough. Usually have 1.5L to 2L but I take creatine so really should be drinking 3. Nothing against water I just forget :\

Right now it just sucks that there's more sweets and chocolate in the house than I've eaten in like 9 months, I know full well I'm likely to have a binge on it. Anyone in manchester fancy some quality street..?

 

[Scarim Coral]

Since I lived with my parent, I eat their cooking which is pretty much healthy I guess abliet maybe a tad too much oily or fat (since 98% of the time, dinner is Chinese) but in saying so I tend to get meat more than anything else. I also have fruit inbetween so I have plenty of fiber.
I also tend to finish drinking 500ml of water per day so I do get plenty of water aswell.

 

[Thedutchjelle]

Depends.

On free days when I'm just casually browsing the internet, I usually forget to eat/drink as I don't always notice my body needing it. I often drink after I went to the bathroom though, as water from faucets are drinkable here.

I work in a greenhouse. At workdays, especially warm ones, I go through atleast 1L. During the warmest ones going over 2-3L isn't strange.

I try to eat as healthy as possible but because I'm not the one cooking here it's not up to me.

 

[Coffeejack]

I have two important words for you, and those words are "fudge" and "lager".

As they say in the adverts, "It all goes down the same hole."

 

[DoomyMcDoom]

I eat too little, only a bowl of rice with some stuff in it, usually tomato soup and cheese with rice in it...
Had a bowl of rice and bacon today.

and all I drink is water or tea right now, cut sugary drinks outa my diet a couple days ago, even then I only occasionally indulged in em anyway.

in the coming year I should have enough money to start buying propper groceries, and everything dietarily will be back to normal for me...

Normal for me, is a healthy balance of meat, vegetables and fruit... no bread or pasta, replaced with rice and Quinoa instead as fillers.

That diet left me feeling great all the time, lotta energy, and with walking or jogging to work every day took my weight from near on 300lbs to 214 in like 6 months, stabilized at that weight for a longish time, so I see no reason not to go back to eating that way.