Why am I always tired?

I have always been interested in starting to eat healthy. My problem has been, finding healthy foods that I actually like. I HATE most all veggies, especially salads. I cant stand lettuce and all that. For example, if I order burgers, I order them ketchup only all the time.

 

The scientific community, after much study and consultation, has arrived at the following precise amount one should eat: alot.

Seriously, I'm less about numbers of servings and more just avoiding preservatives, colors, refined sugars, and other chemicals that have no place in the food supply. If you're reasonably healthy your body will have a way of letting you know you're low on something. Figure out what vegetables you like that are reasonably plentiful and lay in a decent supply.

I hear on the news about the diabetes epidemic, heart disease, hypertension, and other chronic conditions popularly associated with age. Rubbish... we are poisoning ourselves slowly. I'm in my mid-40's and enjoy better health and physical condition than most people half my age. If Butters is experiencing chronic fatigue he may not be giving his body complete nutrition and he owes it to himself and those who care about him to think seriously about what he's putting into his system and what might be lacking.

 

Alot is a good number. I'm gonna go eat an apple.


Another question, while on topic... I eat a lot of microwave meals (It's my work-lunch), most of them are the healthy stuff... like Kashi's and Vegan meals... but, they are not truly a good diet, are they? How important is it for me to eat more "real food"?

 

Dump the burger habit, find a vegetable you like and make it a mainstay in your diet, learn to cook. Take it up as a hobby... find creative ways of taking charge of your nutrition.

A close friend of mine is a bodybuilder and one of the cleanest protein sources is cottage cheese. Well, he's pretty strict with his nutrition but could barely stomach the curds. He figured a way to tolerate them and after a couple years he actually likes it... it is a matter of self discipline.

My breakfast of choice: old fashioned oats... a cup before adding water and raisins... NO sugar! Would I rather have a nice big cheesy omelette? You bet! but I have more respect for my body than to assault it with all that saturated fat and cholesterol every morning. If you are feeling marked fatigue you might consider a visit to a doctor to be cleared but I think a well-balanced diet minus all the crap that's in so much out there is your best long term solution.

 

Read your labels and count the chemicals, salts, preservatives and refined sugars (any ingredient ending in 'ose' is a sugar- as is corn syrup)... these are effectively low grade poisons added for marketing purposes and have little if any nutritional value.

A good diet is as much about what you don't stick in your mouth as it is about what you do.

 

I think I should stop drinking my 99% preservatives and corn syrup Mountain Dew then

 

Yeah you probably should but will you?... I gotta respect people's defining life on their own terms. Someone asks a health related question and apart from the initial tom-foolery I felt I should answer as honestly as possible.

 

stinkfoot brought up learning how to cook

a great way to make lots of food with fresh ingredients is making stews, soups, chili. get a slow cooker and have at it with lots of veggies and LEAN meat.

cottage cheese is great, but lots of people have trouble with the curds...i add fruit. raspberries, blueberries, apples, oranges. doesn't matter.

i snack on peppers (green, red, orange, yellow)..just bite into them.

make your own dressing. some olive oil (has healthy fats) and some vinagrette and herbs and your all set.

i don't count anything...and i've been steadily losing weight. i do limit my carb intake to morning and after working out.

theres tons and tons of diets - you know why? because most dont' work...

 

my skinny bf snores, rather loudly actually

more leafy greens. more broccoli! more fruits. try to eat something from every (naturally occuring) colour in the veg/fruit kingdom. eat a tomato for red, broccoli for green, carrots for red, etc. figure out yummy ways to add them. i usually throw in some frozen long green beans into the pasta that im boiling for supper so that i have some veg aside from the tomato type sauce

 

^^^ What he said^^^

The reason most don't work- they stress short term loss over long term health- they're non-sustainable. Plus, like the food industry, the diet industry has but one main objective: to make money. Nearly anyone following a sensible meal plan has no need for crash diets and fat burning pills. They appeal to the vast majority who aren't willing to put any effort into taking charge of their own health and would rather shell out long green to someone promising a quick fix regardless of how it will affect a person down the road.

 

Yeah, I probably will. I've been taking my health seriously for some unkown reason lately.

I've cut back smoking drastically... I only smoke like 6 ciggs per day lately, and that's a record for me. I also plan to switch to all natural American Spirits next week... so that will be even better.

I started cooking myself big breakfasts out of all organic products.

I work at a very physically demanding job, so exercise is not an issue.

So yeah, I truly feel like I want to be at 100%.

 

If you're tired you may want to try a multi Vitamin B-complex.

 

try going for a run everyday, or every other day. I find it gives me energy, even though I hate running with a passion. 30 minutes on an eliptical machine works too

 

Good for you. Information is your best friend.

It would seem that the OP has left... perhaps he dropped from the sheer exhaustion of the few posts made in this thread. I guess he is really tired! - and to think I cracked wide initially. I'm a bad person.

 

it takes time to modify yourself. learning how to eat healthy again, it does take time because your body is used to all that crap...but once you get through that phase, you're golden if you stick to eating healthy

 

I have an aunt by marriage, she's the dean of one of the biggest universities in Israel.

She barely eats, but takes like 20 different vitamins a day.

Seems to work for her.

 

I'm in the same situation. At college but I eat more than just fast food. I live in an apartment and I mostly eat moderately healthy. Cereal for breakfast, sandwich or something for lunch, something frozen for dinner...

I haven't changed my habits over the years and I just seem to be getting tired now. My exercise consists of walking to class, which is about 30 minutes a day. And I work a lot which is standing around and moving at moderate speeds several days a week for 8 hours. I don't know...