Basically nothing well priced is healthy for you: The struggles of a broke fat loss junkie

Inspired by my recent research and newly acquired depression as consequence of my findings.

.....I've been trying to get my body fat low enough to where I can see my abs without having to flex hard. I went for a BMI analysis at my gym yesterday and I am at 12.5 percent. According to legend, I only need to lose 3% more to be where I want. This is great news, but it has taken me so long already that I really just want to get there faster so I am constantly researching things to eat. My findings are shocking and really put me in a bad position, however.

.....It started months ago, when I decided to cut out processed foods, like sliced cheese and those artificial ass deli meats. This was one of the first steps I made in my dieting. Alongside this, I cut juices significantly. The nitrates and chemicals in the processed ? has a bad reputation for health, and the sugar in juices is known to fan the flames of obesity. This seemed easy enough.

.....As I continued my training my research progressed right alongside with it. When starting out I thought that milk was a good way to get much needed proteins. I then found out that drinking milk is counter productive to fat loss due to lactose being a sugar. This angered me, because milk is delicious. I eventually cut milk. If I could I would drop the whey as well because it is made from milk but I need it to meet my protein quota.

.....With milk removed from my diet I needed some alternative ways to get protein. My first choice was peanut butter. It was ideal because you can eat it with some healthy whole grain bread and you get easy to make protein and carbs which is convenient for pre-workout meals. I then learned that peanuts contain phytoestrogens. In numerous studies when lab rats maintained diets that contained a lot of foods with phytoestrogens their testosterone levels dropped. Broken hearted at this discovery, I abandoned peanut butter, and went to almond butter and raw almonds. This hurts the wallet more, but it is a little healthier. The only problem is it is very calorie heavy and contains a lot of fat; both these things mean I need to moderate my intake a lot.

.....With my almond intake being strictly moderated, meats and other alternative became the ideal candidates to meet my protein quota. I became particularly fond of chili for awhile and thought that a nice combination of ground turkey meat and red kidney beans would be a smart way to get my protein. This was until a professor of mine told me that meat, all meat, has been shown to increase risk of cancer. I could not believe it, so I did the research thinking he was just spreading the results of a single study. The findings are pretty consistent through out though. I still eat meat out of necessity, but knowing that it is increasing my chances of cancer is just crushing. Almost as crushing as when I found out that beans are legumes and all legumes, not just peanuts, contain phytoestrogens. With this new discovery my chili consumption has been halted almost entirely. Man ? and tumors are not appealing to me right now. I ate lentils today, but it was hard to enjoy them when all I could think about the whole time was what they were doing to my testosterone levels.

.....I contemplated going the vegetarian route, but I can not see myself meeting my protein quota eating nothing but vegetables, particularly when many of the more affordable ones that contain the highest amounts of protein are going to give me a mangina. Despite all of this new knowledge and insight I have regarding nutrition I still ? for more, and in my journey I have learned about ? . I now understand why people really wanted marijuana banned. ? is so threatening to so many different markets and industries that if a newcomer were to mass produce ? products they would have an immediate monopoly over everything. Not only does it make insanely strong clothing and more efficient paper, but it is a great source of protein with lower fat content than almonds. Yet I still have another obstacle to get over with this: price.

.....It's hard to eat super healthy as a student working part time with bills to pay. ? particularly is pricey. All of this being said, my protein quota has never seemed like such a dilemma. I like sardines because of the omegas , cost, and low mercury content (although there is still mercury in them) but knowing that fish in general has been shown to increase chances of cancer they have become less appealing. Cottage cheese before bed was something I looked forward to every night but knowing that the lactose may conflict with my goals I am weary of continuing this ritual. Essentially, I feel like every time I indulge in some food now there are a bunch of side effects that I may be unknowingly subjecting myself to. It's basically like I'm jumping out of an airplane unsure of who packed my parachute each time I eat and hoping for the best.

[/rant]


All that ? aside, I thought we could once again discuss diet as it is as important if not more important than training. Anybody here have the luxury of using ? products? Or better yet, does anyone know of any foods that will help solve my problems? Ideally I would like something high in protein, low in sugar, low in saturated fats, with omegas, that doesn't increase chances of cancer, doesn't contain mercury, and won't rob me naked.

If it exists I would love for you to share.