OT: Fitness and Nutrition Part V

[Kriss E]

You didn’t eat for 10 friggin days?

Not sure how one can do this.
The only reason I could be interested is to find out how much money id spend considering I eat out 3-4 times per day. I reckon I'd save at least 1000 bucks.

 

[DAChampion]

Not sure how one can do this.
The only reason I could be interested is to find out how much money id spend considering I eat out 3-4 times per day. I reckon I'd save at least 1000 bucks.

You can eat out 40 times for a thousand dollars in Hong Kong?

The Kris's E special:

 

[Lshap]

Tonight, I am completing a 10-day fast. I will be eating tomorrow morning (so ~10.5 days), I would go on longer but there's a cocktail/dinner with donors on Thursday that I have to attend, so I'd like to readjust in time.

Obviously I've lost weight, but what's been great are the neurological benefits. I've never fasted for this long, and I finally understand what people mean when they refer to the mental benefits. My mood, my drive, my concentration, my frustration tolerance, my focus have all been amped up to 11 in the past several days. I worked through the weekend and wrote hundreds of lines of code, and then wrote some text as well. I'm remembering things, making connections, and feeling good.

For now, I'm off the adderall. I did not want to take a pill while fasting so I stopped. My concentration actually improved and is better than it's been on adderall. The volume of work that I got done in the past ten days exceeds my previous productivity.

I also reduced my coffee intake from one cup to 2 cups. Around day 4 or 5 I noticed that I was drowsy until my first cup of coffee. Around then I switched from 2 cups to 1 cup of coffee a day. In the last two or three days I've noticed that ... I don't even need that first cup of coffee, I'm already awake by the time I have it.

I think that I understand this though. I read a study abstract the other day (didn't save it) that associated fasting with up regulation of Dopamine-2 receptor. That will explain at least some of the mental benefits that I and many others report.

******

Separately, I own several pairs of waist size 32 pants made by different brands. Some of them are now too loose, and some are too tight, lol.

First of all, congratulations. You set an ambitious goal and reached it, which is impressive.

Second, I'm wondering about the nature of the mental peak you achieved. I get the Dopamine effect, but is your mental spike a symptom of a healthy reduction of calories, or is it some defensive response by the body to an extreme calorie deficit? Ideally, there'd be a happy medium offering the same mental spike but with enough food to live and exercise. You've practiced IF for awhile yet haven't mentioned this effect, so you'd think the mental benefits only kick in after a more prolonged and extreme diet, or maybe it's the elimination of a certain food ingredient. I wouldn't even call my guessing 'educated'; but I am curious.

 

[Kriss E]

You can eat out 40 times for a thousand dollars in Hong Kong?

The Kris's E special:

I said at least, so that's 100$ per day on food minimum...
I don't know many people who spend this much daily on food.
How much money do you spend daily on food?

 

[Mrb1p]

I said at least, and that's 100$ per day on food minimum...
I don't know many people who spend this much daily on food.

How expensive is it to eat out in Hong Kong?

My MIL also went to honk kong on business (and goes there about once every 6 months) and she told me the food is absolutely barf worthy, true/not?

 

[Sorinth]

First of all, congratulations. You set an ambitious goal and reached it, which is impressive.

Second, I'm wondering about the nature of the mental peak you achieved. I get the Dopamine effect, but is your mental spike a symptom of a healthy reduction of calories, or is it some defensive response by the body to an extreme calorie deficit? Ideally, there'd be a happy medium offering the same mental spike but with enough food to live and exercise. You've practiced IF for awhile yet haven't mentioned this effect, so you'd think the mental benefits only kick in after a more prolonged and extreme diet, or maybe it's the elimination of a certain food ingredient. I wouldn't even call my guessing 'educated'; but I am curious.

It's commonly said to occur between 3-5 days into a fast.

 

[Kriss E]

How expensive is it to eat out in Hong Kong?

My MIL also went to honk kong on business (and goes there about once every 6 months) and she told me the food is absolutely barf worthy, true/not?

Barf worthy?? I have no idea where that person went or what their taste is, but if you're a foodie, Hong Kong is awesome.
Food is delicious.

In terms of pricing, really varies. If you want a quick fix for lunch, normal meat+side type of meal, it'll cost you between 20-30$. If you go out to more proper joint, then 30-50. Dinner will hover around 80-100$.
Fine dining...well...I had 4 slices of a tomato last time as an appetizer for 25$ because it came from Japan and had miso sauce on it. You can imagine how much dinner cost from there..

But food is delicious, no idea what where that person ate to find it barf worthy.

 

[MonkeyBusiness]

Tonight, I am completing a 10-day fast. I will be eating tomorrow morning (so ~10.5 days), I would go on longer but there's a cocktail/dinner with donors on Thursday that I have to attend, so I'd like to readjust in time.

The longest fast I've done was a 36 hour one, I can't imagine doing a 10 day one with my workout regimen. Congratulations though, when during the fast was it the hardest for you to control the craving you had for food?

 

[Mrb1p]

Barf worthy?? I have no idea where that person went or what their taste is, but if you're a foodie, Hong Kong is awesome.
Food is delicious.

In terms of pricing, really varies. If you want a quick fix for lunch, normal meat+side type of meal, it'll cost you between 20-30$. If you go out to more proper joint, then 30-50. Dinner will hover around 80-100$.
Fine dining...well...I had 4 slices of a tomato last time as an appetizer for 25$ because it came from Japan and had miso sauce on it. You can imagine how much dinner cost from there..

But food is delicious, no idea what where that person ate to find it barf worthy.

Shes there three weeks on business so i think she doesnt get much adventuring/testing or what ever.

 

[DAChampion]

How much money do you spend daily on food?

Way too much .what I try and do is take out $150/week from the bank and pay as much food as I can in cash. But even that doesn't include restaurants that only take credit card, parties, cooking classes, and restaurant dates.

Let's say $200/week.

******

I just triggered the students.

 

[DAChampion]

The longest fast I've done was a 36 hour one, I can't imagine doing a 10 day one with my workout regimen. Congratulations though, when during the fast was it the hardest for you to control the craving you had for food?

Keeping busy during meal time in the first few days. That's when hunger peaks, possibly due to the circadian cycle of ghrelin. So I went on walks during lunch.

Keeping busy in general. Boredom can lead to thoughts of food, stress, etc.

Avoiding social events that involve food. It ends up being lonely.

 

[Mrb1p]

I spend 60 on food but i got about 15 of my meals paid, so its all gucci. Probably spend something like 140 on food because all I eat is beef and Eggs.

 

[DAChampion]

Barf worthy?? I have no idea where that person went or what their taste is, but if you're a foodie, Hong Kong is awesome.
Food is delicious.

In terms of pricing, really varies. If you want a quick fix for lunch, normal meat+side type of meal, it'll cost you between 20-30$. If you go out to more proper joint, then 30-50. Dinner will hover around 80-100$.
Fine dining...well...I had 4 slices of a tomato last time as an appetizer for 25$ because it came from Japan and had miso sauce on it. You can imagine how much dinner cost from there..

But food is delicious, no idea what where that person ate to find it barf worthy.

A lot of people are unreliable at describing food when they travel.

Think of this woman. She concluded:
"The food in Hong Kong sucks"
rather than:
"I didn't have much luck finding the good food in Hong Kong"

I would say that she's insane, but her narcissisim is pretty standard.

On face value though it is a completely insane statement. It's a rich international city of 7 million people with a mix of cultures contributing and it's surrounded by water. Of course there's good food there. Holy f***.

 

[Lshap]

It's commonly said to occur between 3-5 days into a fast.

Thanks. I'm curious about whether that mental sharpness is achievable by other means than extreme calorie deficit. If the only way to reach your mental peak is during extreme calorie deficit, then it's an interesting but pointless effect.

But maybe it's more nuanced. Maybe the factor was a single ingredient or food group that was eliminated during the fast; maybe it's an overall reduction of calories rather than an almost total elimination. Like I said, I'm not even qualified to make educated guesses.

Maybe I should stop eating for a few days and figure it out myself.

 

[Mrb1p]

A lot of people are unreliable at describing food when they travel.

Think of this woman. She concluded:
"The food in Hong Kong sucks"
rather than:
"I didn't have much luck finding the good food in Hong Kong"

I would say that she's insane, but her narcissisim is pretty standard.

On face value though it is a completely insane statement. It's a rich international city of 7 million people with a mix of cultures contributing and it's surrounded by water. Of course there's good food there. Holy ****.

Wow, be kind, its my mother in law.

Shes not insane, theres an actual reason people like or dislike food. If the departure is too strong from the usual taste you associate with good food, youre not gonna like it of you dont enjoy food. Kinda like Blue cheese or fermented cheese/yogurt like Skyr, its tough for anyone not used to the taste. Ive never set foot in China, but my guess is a lot of the food is a far cry from the usual we get in NA. I wouldnt have any trouble, Im a chef, im used to it, shes not.

She also mentioned food norms and how different it is here than in China.

 

[groovejuice]

Barf worthy?? I have no idea where that person went or what their taste is, but if you're a foodie, Hong Kong is awesome.
Food is delicious.

In terms of pricing, really varies. If you want a quick fix for lunch, normal meat+side type of meal, it'll cost you between 20-30$. If you go out to more proper joint, then 30-50. Dinner will hover around 80-100$.
Fine dining...well...I had 4 slices of a tomato last time as an appetizer for 25$ because it came from Japan and had miso sauce on it. You can imagine how much dinner cost from there..

But food is delicious, no idea what where that person ate to find it barf worthy.

Do you not eat street food @Kriss E? I'd be all over it, myself.

 

[HabsTown]

I'm really into fitness (I participated a lot more in this thread before, especially in the in(?)famous topic of clean eating vs IIFYM).

Currently in a cutting cycle (now 180 pounds at 5'8 aka manlet life getting closer to 10%BF) & I fast 36 hrs once a week to eat close to maintenance for all remaining days.

Also, on eating days, I do IF and eat between 6:00 PM to 11PM. It works wonder!

 

[DAChampion]

Wow, be kind, its my mother in law.

Shes not insane, theres an actual reason people like or dislike food. If the departure is too strong from the usual taste you associate with good food, youre not gonna like it of you dont enjoy food. Kinda like Blue cheese or fermented cheese/yogurt like Skyr, its tough for anyone not used to the taste. Ive never set foot in China, but my guess is a lot of the food is a far cry from the usual we get in NA. I wouldnt have any trouble, Im a chef, im used to it, shes not.

She also mentioned food norms and how different it is here than in China.

Oh I don't mean it personally and I'm sorry if it came off that way. I think that most would react the same way she did. It's a cultural issue.

What kind of food do you make?

 

[DAChampion]

(I participated a lot more in this thread before, especially in the in(?)famous topic of clean eating vs IIFYM).

I didn't follow that, but I figure that clean eating is more sensible. Macros are important but not everything.

Can someone explain how IIFYM isn't naive?

 

[Mrb1p]

Oh I don't mean it personally and I'm sorry if it came off that way. I think that most would react the same way she did. It's a cultural issue.

What kind of food do you make?

What kind of food do chefs these days dont make? I worked a bunch of places that require different expertise. The only thing ive never done profesionally is, italian (at least not on an extended period of time) and sushi.

 

[Mike Mike Caron]

I mostly eat for the feeding, dont really care of it tastes good. That saves me a load of money.

 

[Kriss E]

Do you not eat street food @Kriss E? I'd be all over it, myself.

I do, but that's not healthy food. I'll indulge in some on the weekends.
During the week I try to eat as healthy as possible.

 

[Kriss E]

Shes there three weeks on business so i think she doesnt get much adventuring/testing or what ever.

3 weeks is more than enough time. Either she's misinformed, has terrible taste or just doesn't know where to go. Surprising though...
I can send you a message with recommendations you can pass along to her if you want.

 

[Kriss E]

Way too much .what I try and do is take out $150/week from the bank and pay as much food as I can in cash. But even that doesn't include restaurants that only take credit card, parties, cooking classes, and restaurant dates.

Let's say $200/week.

******

I just triggered the students.

So I'm at 500 per week...twice as much, and yes, not including parties either. I don't get the reference to cheap bowl of rice..lol

 

[Kriss E]

Wow, be kind, its my mother in law.

Shes not insane, theres an actual reason people like or dislike food. If the departure is too strong from the usual taste you associate with good food, youre not gonna like it of you dont enjoy food. Kinda like Blue cheese or fermented cheese/yogurt like Skyr, its tough for anyone not used to the taste. Ive never set foot in China, but my guess is a lot of the food is a far cry from the usual we get in NA. I wouldnt have any trouble, Im a chef, im used to it, shes not.

She also mentioned food norms and how different it is here than in China.

Well, there is a difference between food in China and food in Hong Kong, and then it depends where she was located.
If she's in the expat friendly areas, you really have to purposely look for bad places. There are so many different restaurants, so many good ones, with a wide variety of cuisines.
If she was staying up north in more local areas, then yes, she needs to know what local joints are actually good.

If she was there for 3 weeks, on business, coming from Canada, then she was probably in expat area. I don't really know how she left with a terrible food experience. I'm very curious to know where she ate out.
I mean, if it's american food she likes, well, okay, probably not going to be your favorite spot, but we have a hooters to satisfy those needs...lol

Seriously, Hong Kong is a major Foodie spot. Every month there's about 10 new restaurants opening. You can go from cheap street food to many different Michelin Star restaurants to choose from.
People have this misconception with Hong Kong, or Asia in general. They think of Montreal's Chinatown, I thought the same before moving here, but Hong Kong is more like New York than anything else.