The Nutritional Thread

Well, in a nutshell, a healthy diet is lots of fruits and veggies, easy on the meat and pretty much no processed carbs. But we all have to fine-tune that.

What I won't go near are supplements and energy drinks and all that. Ways of extracting money from people with no guarantee what you're getting.

Your dinner sounds good, though for me I'd have only one meat patty and probably enjoy some spuds or brown rice and/or salad

There's another whole range of food issues that I think about, though budget considerations limit how much I can act on it, and that's the environmental impacts of food choices. Grass fed beef is better, but if it comes from NZ all the way to the US, that's another problem. Being in CA I do have the option of eating a lot more locally year-round than most of the US does, and I eat seasonally, too (so no fresh blueberries in winter when they come from Chile. SOOOO happy the US season has opened!).

Pretty good advice.I do tend to do more fine-tuning than most, as I vary the priorities of my training.


I have had good luck buying bulk supplements from wholesalers/distributors skipping the supplement companies that add fillers,flavoring,packaging and the like(and can't be trusted).Most of the ones I use are anabolic/endurance root/bark/berry powders.Root powders from extreme climates ,in particular, are nutritional powerhouses,such as Maca from the high Andes plateaus,Rhodiola rosea from the Siberian arctic, and Tonghat Ali from Indonesian rainforests.


So would I, if I was between 40 mile bike rides rather than in the middle of an intense weight training schedule.Except, I would be less likely to eat meat and more likely to rely on protein shakes.I'm a believer in eating for function/activity level and when I am weight training I am using the anabolic properties of the beef for workout strength and to build anabolic hormones and muscle.So my meat consumption goes up while the starchy carbs/grains that fuel my bike rides go down.


It's amazing how much organic,grass fed and healthy foods you can get now at even the conventional grocery stores and local farms.Everyone is eating Whole Foods lunch now.I just get a few specialty items there now,and snacks while cycling.I get the NZ grass fed/finished beef for about the price of conventional beef at Whole Foods, and half of their grass fed/grain finished(they don't even have grass finished).

One of my college nutrition professors said
"There is no such thing as an unhealthy food. There is such a thing, however, as an unhealthy diet."

His implication was a double bacon cheeseburger and chocolate shake could still be part of a healthy eating plan. Just not the main part. An occasional treat does no harm, and may do good if it helps you maintain a healthier lifestyle in the long run.

We get most of our beef and chicken locally, from a local meatmarket. I can select the farm or ranch, and all the ranches use open range/public range at least part of the year (open range county). I sometimes wonder if I have met my dinner along the trail earlier in the year.

Their price for grass finished ribeye is well over $40/pound.I am paying around $13-14/pound for NZ 100% pasture raised ribeye ,and NZ has a reputation for the highest quality pasture raised beef in the world.A local source here is well over $20/pound, and I have to drive quite a ways to buy it.I'll stick with the NZ for now.

And,of course, for US beef fed any grains as supplement, you have to take into account that considerable energy usage.

I buy from local farms when I can and for some products am willing to pay more.However,I think this example shows the benefits,as well, of economies of scale and global trade in bringing quality,healthy products to more people at a lower overall cost ,including environmental/energy considerations.

I was feeling slightly over-trained and behind on calories when I woke up today.So,after some coffee,I had a 1/2 grilled chicken with boiled yucca and balsamic tomatoes from a Caribbean drive thru restaurant.Yucca is a root vegetable that is a staple in the Caribbeans,much like maca is a Peruvian staple that supposedly gave the Inca warriors their incredible strength and stamina.

You didn't do a very thorough job.You might start with the scientific studies that have been done on it.