Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Achilleas Petrakos (Chief Science Officer) in Side Sim: At the Gym (Open to All)

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Achilleas had added onto his own weight before resuming his exercise alongside Alexis. When she finally stopped after the third set and got up he also got up and followed her to get a drink. He had been pondering her words about dieting and brought the subject back up. “I’ve never considered going on a diet but that’s likely because I keep pretty active even when I’m not exercising. A good diet compared to cutting out caloric intake sure has a lot of difference to it. It seems like it’d do far more harm to starve yourself then to adjust what you eat.”

CSO Petrakos

Alexis nodded, “The term ‘diet’ in scientific terms indicates the food and nutrient sources that are best for a species. Some time or other it has, in social terms, changed to mean starving one’s self in order to be ‘healthy.’ And that simply is not the way it works. It’s like how we were talking about the amount of water intake needed when exercising. What type of food you need to eat depends on what type of exercise you are doing. Cardio requires carbs, simple and complex. Weights, depending on if you are working towards building mass or stamina needs proteins and possibly fats as well. And what types of foods you use to get those nutrients depends on your body’s metabolism.” Alexis could spout this stuff all day long. She lived and breathed the medical world.
Lt. Bonner, AMO

“Well that seems pretty obvious to me.” Achilleas replied with a grin. “Your brain naturally requires sugars as well especially during long periods of intense use. The balance is where it’s key, I would think. Too many carbs or fats and you get fatter, but too few and you starve and get emaciated. A diet mostly seems to stem from body image issues. What would you recommend for those who diet but are never happy with the results?”

CSO Petrakos

Totally serious Alexis looked at him, “A visit to a counselor. That would be first on my list. If someone has already been dieting and isn’t happy it is possible it stems from an issue that psychology should address. Medically though I would have to evaluate exactly what they are doing. Are they following the diet first off. Lots of people ‘claim’ to follow their diets but they don’t. And then get frustrated when they have no results. The second thing would be a complete physical. Their diet may simply not be a match for their body’s needs. People cut carbs, but carbs aren’t the reason. It may by that their body naturally burns fat faster and if they are not eating enough fat, but cutting carbs, the body will take all those carbs and convert it to fat so that body has the fat stores it needs. And because it has gone into survival mode from the lack of nutrients it needs it will store more fat than it actually needs. It’s actually an in depth process to determine. You can’t just say, ‘hey I like the food choices here’ and expect results.” Alexis shrugs, “Supposedly our replicators provide a perfectly balanced meal when you order it. And it does, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfectly balanced for you. Your specific needs can actually be put into the replicator so whenever you use your credits to get food it is matched to your needs. Most people don’t realize that.”
Lt. Bonner, AMO