The Diet Fad

[Feng_Li]

Modern Western lifestyles are largely sedentary and poorly nourished. Many people recognize this and wish to take better care for their health, and we need a measurable goal in order to track our progress. Weight is an easy thing to measure at home.

That said, there's a commercial playing on the radio right now for "LipoDissolve." I'm sure lots of people are indeed motivated by vanity or warped body image, but I like to think that most of people looking to lose weight are indeed concerned with improving their health and fitness.

 

[Miss Brill]

I like to keep my weight down so I don't have to buy more clothes. Plus, I like being smaller, rather than bigger, but my smaller is bigger than a lot of people's smaller. A lot of girls would die if they wore anything bigger than a 00, 0, or size 2. But even at my thinnest I am never smaller than a 6 (usually about a 37-26-37).

 

[Paisley]

I got this book on "The Negative Calorie Effect" wherein you could actually eat your way into losing weight in unlimited portions as long as you stick to these 20 foods in any combination...

Corn, Rice, Potatoes, Lettuce, Brocolli, Carrots, Black Beans, Kidney Beans, Spinach, Lentils, Celery, Peas, Cauliflower, Pineapple, Cabbage, Oranges, Apples, Grapefruit, Bananas, and Oatmeal.

The thing with the negative calorie effect is that it would take a certain amount of energy from your body to process all of the nutrients and vitamins from these foods that after consuming them, your body is left with a net calorie result which is a negative calorie deduction.

I think it all boils down to one point ... Be A Vegetarian

I don't imagine you'd lose much weight if you loaded up on all those carbs. A high carb diet was in vogue about 10 years ago, and you can see what the general result has been. You need protein to build muscle, which burns calories even while you're resting. (Fat just sits there.)

 

[Dr Doran]

As for why bother if you're married, well, wouldn't you want to keep being attractive to your spouse for your spouse's sake, if not for your own? Wouldn't you want your spouse to be proud of you? If you let go of yourself and thought that now that you've got him/her, you don't need to take care of yourself, isn't that somewhat insulting to your partner? A kind of statement that your partner isn't worth the effort on your part. Caring about how you are weight-wise isn't necessarily vanity, it can become about health, and so it can become about whether you will be around healthy and active for a long time for your family. (Incidentally, I've been happily married for 32 years now. )l

I strongly agree. It is already difficult and rather unnatural for humans to remain faithful to one partner for a lifetime. (Cheating and divorce rates prove this conclusively.) Monogamous lifelong marriage has many benefits for resource acquisition, for some semblance of sexual democracy, for the stability of communities, and most importantly for the offspring, but it is unnatural. (I say this as a proponent, not detractor, of marriage.)

Given the inherent permanent difficulty of monogamy, I believe it is a great sign of respect to stay as sexually attractive to your spouse as you possibly can. I certainly try to.

 

[texasgirl]

I joined Weight Watchers back in July and it's been awesome. For the first time I am really learning lifestyle changes, and the weight is slowly coming off. I even lost weight over the holidays, in which I normally would have gained. But I don't feel deprived, I still splurged a little here and there within limits. But what was funny was this week in our meeting. We normally have around 20 people and there were probably about 50 people there on Wed night. It will be interesting to see how long it stays that busy.

 

[ohairas]

This is the first year in perhaps 18 years that my New Year's Resolution is NOT to lose weight, wooohooo! Tho I did gain my holiday 7+, I'm not worried about it, it's already comming back off.

There are several reasons why I wanted to lose the weight, (been fat twice, lost 60+ pounds, then got pregnant and gained about 70 back). I've now lost all of that on Weight Watchers, using their CORE program. I'll never "diet" again, and I had tried every one in the book.

I want to look good for ME most, but also for my husband, and to stay healthy for my son and family. Also, people can be cruel, and even innocent kids have made horrible remarks to me when I was heavy. You are certainly treated differently when heavy.
Plus, humans are just not supposed to be so big. And I don't think we should all be health nuts with six pack abs either. But I look around in disgust at how obesity has risen, esp. in children. It's a real shame. Too many processed, refined, and fast foods. It also would seem to be that depression has increased, and many bored kids that long for nothing but a bag of Cheetos and the new Wii.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gilbey
I got this book on "The Negative Calorie Effect" wherein you could actually eat your way into losing weight in unlimited portions as long as you stick to these 20 foods in any combination...

Corn, Rice, Potatoes, Lettuce, Brocolli, Carrots, Black Beans, Kidney Beans, Spinach, Lentils, Celery, Peas, Cauliflower, Pineapple, Cabbage, Oranges, Apples, Grapefruit, Bananas, and Oatmeal.

The thing with the negative calorie effect is that it would take a certain amount of energy from your body to process all of the nutrients and vitamins from these foods that after consuming them, your body is left with a net calorie result which is a negative calorie deduction.
I think it all boils down to one point ... Be A Vegetarian

I don't imagine you'd lose much weight if you loaded up on all those carbs. A high carb diet was in vogue about 10 years ago, and you can see what the general result has been. You need protein to build muscle, which burns calories even while you're resting. (Fat just sits there.)

Core is very much like this Neg. cal. effect. But all lean means are included. I can eat however much I NEED to feel satisfied of all vegies, fruits, lean meats, and whole grains. I also get 35 "points" to eat whatever I want. It's so incredibly practical for life. I agree, protein will burn fat quicker, and keeps you from being hungry longer. But there were several times that I would eat more grains and fruits and still saw the scale move. I just have to eat the right carbs.
Nikki
before and after album here; http://www.flickr.com/photos/85469550@N00/sets/72157600477997579/detail/

 

[Gilbey]

I don't imagine you'd lose much weight if you loaded up on all those carbs. A high carb diet was in vogue about 10 years ago, and you can see what the general result has been. You need protein to build muscle, which burns calories even while you're resting. (Fat just sits there.)

That's what I thought too until I understood the basic concept of the negative calorie effect on this food group. While carbohydrates provide calories for the body, they also have ways of counteracting the storage of some of these calories as fat, and also encourage the burning of stored calories: For every 100 calories of carbohydrate that your body tries to store as fat, 23 are lost in the process of breaking down carbohydrate molecules and building fat molecules from them. That means that, of the 220 calories in a cup of rice, about 50 calories are used up just in the chemical processing.

But that is just the beginning. In addition, because carbohydrate increases the body's metabolism, more calories are burned off as the metabolism increases. The metabolism-boosting effect causes more of the calories in all the foods you eat to be burned. When that happens, they cannot be turned into fat.

Proof: This is only my first week in this negative calorie diet but have already lost 2 lbs.

P.S. It's not the complex carbs in the grains that will make you fat, it is the toppings that you put (butter, cheese, mayo, animal products, etc.) that will triple or quadruple the calories on the food and will make you gain the weight. That's why you should only eat them as is.

 

[Paisley]

Body For Life (which is the program I follow) includes carbs as well as lean meat and vegetables. All the foods that Gilbey listed are good foods--you just can't eat all you want of them and still lose weight.

Back to the original topic, I am losing fat (not weight) for myself, to look and feel better and fit into my clothes. I don't even own a scale; I go by the clothes-o-meter. I threw out all my size 8 clothes a few years ago when I'd been on BFL for a few months, and I'm not going back.

 

[LaMedicine]

P.S. It's not the complex carbs in the grains that will make you fat, it is the toppings that you put (butter, cheese, mayo, animal products, etc.) that will triple or quadruple the calories on the food and will make you gain the weight. That's why you should only eat them as is.

A lot of people don't know the difference between *good* carbs and *bad* carbs. Processed carb foods don't use much energy to be broken down and absorbed, and they also don't have much *parts* such as cellulose--wich is the main material of fibers which help digestion and the bowel movement, then leave our body together with the rest of the waste--so at the same bulk, processed food stay in our body and are turned into fat because they aren't used then and there.

The reason people in the past were able to eat a lot but didn't gain as much weight is not only the life style, but it's how the food were prepared. Back in the old days, food that were set on our table were made from scratch-- if you lived in the rural areas, you may have made the veggies/cattle, whatever, yourselves, or were aquainted with people who made them, if you lived in towns and cities, you went to grocery stores and butchers to buy the raw materials, then cook in your kitchen. Processed food was a rare treat. Now, it's the other way around. Meals prepared from raw materials will retain their bulk and it takes time and energy to digest them, so you stay full longer, and also use a lot of calories just digesting and turning them into materials to build your body (by which I mean muscles, and the necessary organ repairs, not stock up fat). Our body literary worked to nutur ourselves. Now, factories do most of the work, so all we have to do is absorb--and get it stuck on us.

On another note. Beans, though many people think of them as carb food, actually have a lot of protein in them, many of them have more protein than fat, and up to a quarter of the calories can be from protein.

 

[Dr Doran]

I joined Weight Watchers back in July and it's been awesome. For the first time I am really learning lifestyle changes, and the weight is slowly coming off. I even lost weight over the holidays, in which I normally would have gained. But I don't feel deprived, I still splurged a little here and there within limits. But what was funny was this week in our meeting. We normally have around 20 people and there were probably about 50 people there on Wed night. It will be interesting to see how long it stays that busy.

My wife does WW and LOVES it. It is exactly as you say. Small lifestyle changes. She sloooowly lost a great deal of weight and looks like $1,000,000.

 

[Bill Taylor]

I guess my wife and I are lucky. We have never been on a diet in our lives and both of us are about the same weight as when we graduated from high school. I am 75 and my wife is 76. I suspect heredity has a lot to with it. We have very few, if any, relatives who are overweight. But, I guess out of habit, we also eat moderately. My mother used to say the best way to control weight was the excercise of pushing back from the table sooner. Pure and simple, many people today just plain eat too much and especially, too much bad foods. Mickey D's just doesn't cut it.

Along with good eating habits, I do think excercise is important. I noticed after I retired last year and we moved from California Bay Area to our farm in Alabama that all the activity and walking involving farm work and riding my horse, I lost about 5 or 6 pounds, from 150 to about 144 pounds, even though I think I was eating more. Since I am 6' 1", that is pretty thin.

Also, eating the evening meal late all the time is a bad idea. Late (8pm or so) should be reserved for special dinners. Otherwise, an early light supper no later than 6 or 6:30 pm is much healthier and helps control weight gain. If it's not possible to eat that early, just have a bigger midday meal and do without supper. That's especially true for children, and very possibly late, bad evening meals contribute significantly to the youth obesity problem.

Bill

 

[Dr Doran]

Thanks, Bill. Good to know. I had heard about the post-6 o'clock rule but I wasn't quite sure before.

 

[Miss 1929]

Definitely for the clothes

I used to be the tiniest shopgirl in the Haight and could wear anything. Now I have a very hard time finding any vintage that fits! I do have a closet full of too small clothes.
Ultimately, I don't think I can lose the entire 60+ I have gained, but I would be very happy to lose 40!
Yes, my husband loves me anyway, but I would also like to drive him mad with desire...

 

[Chas]

I'm getting with the exercise and backing off on the carbs for twofold reasons. And I happen to think that they're good 'uns.

One: most important...I don't want to end up like my dear old mum. She had a stroke and it took her two years to die, wasting away in a long-term care facility. At the end, I could barely recognizer her. There most definitely are things worse than death. I hope to die quickly. Most preferable.

Second: My collection of vintage clothing, which has taken me years to accumulate, is getting tighter as years go on. And this vintage lifestyle, being a big part of my identity, is important to me. So I have to lose 10-15 lbs; which should take me to 170 at 5'10". I need to at least trim off the flab.

 

[Lady Day]

Back in the old days, food that were set on our table were made from scratch-- if you lived in the rural areas, you may have made the veggies/cattle, whatever, yourselves, or were aquainted with people who made them, if you lived in towns and cities, you went to grocery stores and butchers to buy the raw materials, then cook in your kitchen. Processed food was a rare treat. Now, it's the other way around. Meals prepared from raw materials will retain their bulk and it takes time and energy to digest them, so you stay full longer, and also use a lot of calories just digesting and turning them into materials to build your body (by which I mean muscles, and the necessary organ repairs, not stock up fat). Our body literary worked to nutur ourselves. Now, factories do most of the work, so all we have to do is absorb--and get it stuck on us.

Yes.
In my childhood, I grew up on a lot of processed food, and I felt sick and sluggish and icky. Then I went to college, and traditionally a place where gals gain weight, I lost it. I stepped out of that bad lifestyle of readily available pre packaged food (which was never my only option, but as a kid was what I wanted to eat) to eating things that are as close to the ground as can be.

Now Ill never be thin, and Im cool with that. But I also will try my darndest to never have a cholesterol count over 180, or high blood pressure, or signs of diabetes (all of which I am nowhere near).

I think also realizing what foods you like is a start too. Not a fruit fan. As a kid I ate it, as an adult I always bought it cause I thought I was suppose to eat it. Then it always went bad. So I stopped getting it. Rather have veggies.

Lettuce, ick. Give me spinach.

Also taking a class on food, or a marketing class on how foods are advertised will really open your eyes to a lot of things.

The rambling has stopped.

LD

 

[Dr Doran]

Second: My collection of vintage clothing, which has taken me years to accumulate, is getting tighter as years go on. And this vintage lifestyle, being a big part of my identity, is important to me. So I have to lose 10-15 lbs; which should take me to 170 at 5'10". I need to at least trim off the flab.

My thoughts as well. Whenever my 36 waist trousers get tight ... time to start walking more and doing the pushups again. As Anton LaVey pointed out, the "sin" of vanity is the natural antidote to the sin of gluttony.

 

[ShooShooBaby]

vintage clothing is one major motivator for me to try to keep/get my weight down, along with the fact that i eat more cr@p than anyone should (as do most americans). my ethics and beliefs say i should be eating mostly local, less- or un-processed, vegan food, but i haven't been at all. i need to get back into the habit of eating to fuel myself rather than to satisfy cravings. i don't diet, but when i eat healthier i stabilize at a lower weight. also, eating junk makes riding my bike harder and digestion unpleasant!

has anyone read "the omnivore's dilemma" by michael pollan? i'm really enjoying it so far.

 

[Dr Doran]

has anyone read "the omnivore's dilemma" by michael pollan? i'm really enjoying it so far.

I looked through it and liked it a lot. You know he has a post here at Berkeley, don't you? In the School of Journalism (or "J-School") here.

 

[pgoat]

Twofold: It's better for one's health to not be overweight, and the options for the clothing we collect are better at thinner sizes. Also, in my own case, I was rail thin for ages, so when I see myself getting a little heavy, it doesn't look like "me," which is disconcerting.

+1 on the first two....alas, I've been a borderline fat fat fattie all my born days except for a glorious period in my 20s when I could touch my toes, run a sub-8 minute mile, wear jeans with a waist size smaller than my inseam, etc etc etc.

In the end I think the health is the most important thing. Globally people are getting fatter and less healthy due to being over weight, which is a shame.

Having said that, it's tough to control eating issues; you can avoid and completely eschew tobacco, caffeine, model airplane glue and so forth, but food we all gotta eat to survive......it's just choosing between a salad and that box of Ring Dings that's the problem.....

 

[Dr Doran]

+1 on the first two....alas, I've been a borderline fat fat fattie all my born days except for a glorious period in my 20s when I could touch my toes, run a sub-8 minute mile, wear jeans with a waist size smaller than my inseam, etc etc etc.

In the end I think the health is the most important thing. Globally people are getting fatter and less healthy due to being over weight, which is a shame.

Having said that, it's tough to control eating issues; you can avoid and completely eschew tobacco, caffeine, model airplane glue and so forth, but food we all gotta eat to survive......it's just choosing between a salad and that box of Ring Dings that's the problem.....

Gotta have that snifter of airplane glue de temps en temps. CANNOT ESCHEW THE GLUE.