eadon on dieting

Below I explain a useful insight into the concepts of losing weight and feeling more energetic.

The dieting industry makes a fortune out of gullible people. Don't be a mug. Take my free advice. Here are my observations:

The body has a pre-set value, a value which it maintains as best it can. If you diet via calorie deprivation, then your body will strive to put the weight on, and you'll feel like shit. If you eat too much, the body will be forced to put on fat, and you'll feel like shit.

I've been there. When I was 20, I went on a diet. It worked in the short term only. Soon the carbohydrate cravings consumed me, and I overate until I was back to my starting weight. And stayed there, the food cravings stopped right there, back at square one! This starting weight is my body's pre-set value. You can't win in the long term by starving yourself. You'll ruin your life trying.

Likewise I have gone the other way - during the last winter I stuffed my face with too much pasta and sweet shite and I became a bit of a fat bastard. In the summer, my appetite subsided and I lost the weight again. Maybe this is some hibernation effect, a legacy from our feral past. This winter I hope to avoid the hibernation effect, I want to avoid weight gain and I think I have figured out how.

This summer (2001) I was chatting to somebody who had been told to lose weight by their doc. This person heard about (not from the doc) and decided to try out the dodgy 'Atkins diet'. He told me it was working. But my scepticism about this Atkins diet was soon confirmed. Research on the web indicated that people do not stick to the Atkins diet for long, maybe a month or two. Then the lethal carbohydrate cravings kick in, and they regain the lost flab. So therefore I did not try this faddish diet. But I had a fascinating insight.

Allow me to explain. The Atkins diet says you can eat meat, fat and green vegetables, but you are not allowed anything with carbohydrates. So bread is a no no, for example. The idea is that the body will be tricked into thinking it is starving, and will start to burn fat reserves (a process called ketosis.) This will make you thinner - the holy grail of the dieter.

However it turns out very few people on the Atkins diet actually reached this starvation style fat-burning state. The chief cause of weight loss on the Atkins diet was simple: people simply ate less!

A semi-revelation! Following this clue, I cut out most, but not all of my carbohydrate intake. In other words, I cut right down on bread, cereal, chips, fries, pizza, white rice and pasta. I avoid chocolate and anything with sugar like the plague. Instead I eat more meat, fish, diary products and veg (not potatoes), fruit, that sort of stuff. The result: my appetite is greatly reduced. It's an amazing change.

I'm slightly overweight (always have been) so have I lost any weight yet? It is too early to say. I'm not obsessive about such things, thank [insert deity here]. But its great not feeling hungry all the time, like I did when I ate that yummy, carbohydrate-rich stodgy crap. My energy levels have improved too. I now realise that carbs used to make me feel high for half an hour - and then they make me feel low for a couple of hours, and then they make me hungry for another fix of carbo. The stuff is crack.

Carbohydrates, and here I'm talking mainly about simple carbohydrates, such as white flour, are your enemy. But you may need some, complex carbs (veg/fruit), so don't cut those out. Sugar, a simple carb, is a particularly nasty toxin because it causes the liver to release fats into the bloodstream, which in turn make you fat. In effect, eating sugar is as bad or worse for you as eating lard. Most processed food is stuffed with sugar these days. And salt too, salt being another chemical we are overexposed to. *Sigh* Damned food industry! I buy salt free and sugar free stuff where ever possible.

More on the evils of sugar (fructose) - sugary drinks and snacks are a no-no. They make you fat and they make you feel shitty once the rush has passed. This is because your liver has to deal with the poisonous effects of the sugar influx. Sugary drinks and snacks are one reason why even young people are increasingly developing insulin resistance. One word: diabetes. (Sugar also caramelises cellular proteins - it prematurely ages you.) But who cares? Sugar makes you feel bad. Avoid.

Combine all this with a bit of exercise and you should feel better and you might even lose some flab, you lazy arse :)

On the talkback comments
	In reply to Nicki, Did the weight *stay* off? Last time we met, you'd put on a few pounds :) But I'm sure you've lost it again on your travels around the world! Assuming you avoided the United States of course :) In reply to Jane, I am not a medic, but scientific research suggests that people who are overweight seem to eat more than their calorific needs. (Though I wouldn't like to say this is a proven fact, few things in nutrition are). Good evidence comes from a race of "Native American" Indians who are, in tribal environments, thin, but in a modern USA environment (Fast Food everywhere; obscene, gut-busting portion sizes; food stores bursting with unnatural carbo-rich/sugary shit) entire families of these guys are the shape of lardy hot air balloons. Folks like these may be very efficient at storing excess calories as fat, regardless of diet. Either that, or they are genetically programmed to eat too much, as an evolutionary defence against starvation in lean times. Conversely, it seems that some people (lucky bastards) can seem to consume more than they need, but not put on weight. That could be another area where genetics blesses some, and screws others. Also, once you are overweight, it might be impossible to look totally thin again due to saggy fat cells that refuse to give up their load, even under starvation conditions. In reply to Wendi, I find that if you say, "I will avoid simple carbs", and stick to it, then after a while you might find you don't feel the need for "cheat days". I used to crave chocolate but now I don't, strangely, having spent about half a year denying myself simple carbs. Except for an occasional nostalgic memory of chomping on choc-chip cookies, haha! Sacrifices are to be made. You get owt for nowt. I too "cheat" though, I might have a "normal" (i.e. unnatural crap) nosh up in a restaurant from time to time, or an ice cream or three on holiday. I agree, there shouldn't be a need to be fanatical, life's too short :) In reply to Madpole, Quoth Madpole: "I am overweight as a rule but have lost weight on few occasions - when I was really 'in touch with myself'.. when I was fully aware of my body" That's a fascinating point! There may be something in this! And yoga is amazing for making you aware of your body, absolutely! I've found that routinely confuse stress for hunger, and eating makes a deadly displacement activity. Also, what you suggest later on reminds me of my own, possibly independent discovery of a few months back. If I feel a bit peckish, but don't want to eat just yet, green tea staves off that attack of the nibbles for a while! And as for will power, indeed, certain types of will power will not work. Losing weight via a starvation diet does not work, will power or no will power! You need will power to avoid simple carbs, but that is more of a lifestyle change, and after a while, you need little self discipline to keep it going. In fact, the opposite is true, you feel little desire to revert! In reply to Natasha, spot on, I wish more people would think like you, instead of having the media decide for them! Stick with the body you like, the body that feels natural! Where as obese hamburger-and-coke addicts should diet for medical and happiness reasons, many normal people take dieting far too far and expect to possess perfect bodies. The reality is very different, you can lose weight in the wrong places and/or just end up skinny and, frankly, sensually repulsive. Ex-goddess Cameron Diaz is as ugly as a ringwraith now that she is all skin and bone. As Madpole said, dieting is a modern religion that has little to do with weight loss. And religions are disastrous when taken seriously or exploited: with irrational denial of scientific facts such as evolution; TV evangelical scamming; and religious terrorism resulting. Nancy wrote directly to me, I reproduce her words: Your diet. How's it going? I eat just these fresh and unprocessed foods (lean meats/poultry, fish and seafood, dark green NON-starch vegetables, LOW glycemic fruits (mostly only berries), and I limit cheese/nuts/mayo/butter and bacon (which I love and refuse to cut out) to ONE serving (and that's not a lot) when I do add them to meals. I don't count carbs or calories. I eat the same thing most days. I prefer to eat a breakfast and dinner and only snack during the day (no lunch). Just works better for me. No coffee, cigs, caffeine, alcohol, chocolate/fast food or junk food. It's not Atkins because I am not just cutting carbs/but like you said cutting BAD SIMPLE JUNK carbs and keeping all the fiber, protein with JUST A TOUCH of (hopefully healthier/non-trans) fats. I use stevia as a sweetener and xanthan gum in my smoothies as a thickener. I'm not hungry during the day. I do NOT mind portions except when it comes to fatty foods. And like a lot of responders you've had I ONLY drink HOT WATER w sweetener in it / no matter what anyone says ... I call it my "tea". I think I've found low fat AND low carb AND low glycemic all in one diet. Just stick to REAL fresh lean proteins, whole (non tropical) fruits and nonstarch vegetables / keep fats (all) to a minimum but have them and drink a lot of hot water. What say you? In reply, "Your diet. How's it going?" - I feel less lethargic and I am fitter than I was. Bear in mind that I've not been careful with the calories, I'm not desperate to lose weight, per se. I should weigh myself one day, but I am certain I've lost an inch or three around the middle in the last six months. I'm still slightly over weight, but not by much, and I doubt I can ever be much thinner, this is the way I'm built, methinks - not bad for 35, not perfect and proud of it - the genetic factor again! My cousin suddenly got alarmingly podgy recently, probably caused by a switch to a stressful office job. He went on Atkins and lost the excess weight. I think in his case, because he was thin for most of his life, becoming thin again was easier for him than for most. I was impressed he did it, though. This story isn't meant to recommend Atkins, mind you, I've not researched full blown Atkins very deeply. Some of the theory behind it is controversial as I mention in the main article above. "What say you?" Nancy, your diet sounds excellent to me, seems like we have similar ideas, only yours are more carefully thought out than mine. Bravo! Thanks everyone for the feedback so far - Jim

If you have any tips or comments, please contact me or leave a comment in the talkback section below.

Jim

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From:	Nicky	Subject:	Dieting	2001-10-23 06:06:28
From:	JANE	Subject:	dieting	2001-10-28 17:33:01
From:	MadPole	Subject:	It is all in the mind...	2001-12-02 14:05:37
From:	Wendi	Subject:	Don't mourn over the cheeseburgers!	2002-01-08 17:28:48
From:	MadPole	Subject:	The Best Diet Ever (and it is free!)	2002-01-15 07:01:39
From:	MadPole	Subject:	Best Diet Ever - conclusion....	2002-01-15 07:02:11
From:	MadPole	Subject:	Message to Wendi...	2002-01-15 07:05:49
From:	natasha	Subject:	dieting taking ur better parts	2002-08-10 18:01:45
From:	kaleon	Subject:	dieting	2002-09-17 20:16:25
From:	devnull	Subject:	hot water and genes	2002-10-01 12:55:58
From:	Lora	Subject:	you	2003-01-17 16:45:48
From:	Lora	Subject:	water	2003-01-17 16:55:06
From:	jason	Subject:	weight problems	2003-03-08 02:01:15
From:	nicola	Subject:	dreaming	2003-04-08 15:40:15
From:	Big Nick	Subject:	Diet	2004-02-19 19:06:59
From:	JGR	Subject:	Atkins	2004-03-21 17:12:45
From:	MadPole	Subject:	Atkins	2004-08-27 19:46:59
From:	Elisabeth	Subject:	Never avoid	2004-10-27 20:51:04
From:	MadPole	Subject:	Balancing out chemical deficiences	2005-06-05 22:07:46
From:	MadPole	Subject:	Eat Fat And Grow Slim	2005-06-05 22:52:48
From:	BLESSBOY	Subject:	LET GOD BE TRUE AND SATAN A LIAR	2005-06-20 18:38:35
From:	jane	Subject:	weight loss	2006-01-16 17:24:35
From:	rhiannon	Subject:	disagree	2006-11-29 17:16:09
From:	Dieting Gal	Subject:	dieting or no dieting?	2007-04-09 20:41:08
From:	JAK	Subject:	loosing pounds	2007-05-02 03:45:59
From:	Penny	Subject:	Breathing	2007-07-23 08:05:55

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