Katy and I started the South Beach Diet on January 12. I've been making an effort to work out at least every other day since then. So far, over a week and a half, I've lost 4.5 pounds. So that's progress.
But I have this inkling, this sort of tickle that arises from the junction of my meager education in physics, biology, and nutrition, and it tells me that I'm being hoodwinked by this diet. My intuition, aided by whatever foundations I have in science, tells me that the weight loss/weight gain inequality is actually much simpler than all this. I'm internally convinced that the rule of weight loss is that you lose weight when, over an extended period of time, your daily caloric output (metabolism plus exercise) exceeds your daily caloric intake, and it makes no difference where the calories come from.
Stirling, is this right? I mean, I know the diet is working, because I've been steadily losing weight. But I'm beginning to wonder if the particular way that this diet moderates my caloric intake is by making sure that there is nothing in my apartment that I would actually enjoy eating. I haven't had a Coke, or a potato chip, or a cookie, or a cracker in a week and a half. When I go to Subway for lunch at work, I have to get a salad instead of a six-inch sub because the bread has too many carbs. The only things I own are vegetables. And if I have to eat one more spoonful of ricotta cheese mixed with Sweet n' Low, I'm going to go completely apeshit. It is amazing how much variety your life seems to lose when you no longer have free reign over what you eat.
There are some upsides. For instance, I'm learning to cook things. I poached a salmon last night, and even though it didn't come out particularly tasty, it was still an accomplishment. And I can make a killer ham and mushroom omelet now. Breakfast has actually become my favorite meal of the day because the diet doesn't modify a typical breakfast menu very much—except that I would like to be able to have a slice of toast with my omelet, or a Pop Tart if I'm in a hurry.
Admittedly, I'm only in "Phase I" of the diet, which is the most draconian of the three phases. Starting next week, I'll be able to eat whole grain breads at lunchtime, and oatmeal for breakfast. But I don't think I'm supposed to have potatos again for the rest of my life. Seriously, Stirling, does carb-counting make sense, or does this diet only work because it makes me loathe the foods I eat?
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
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Here's an interesting article I was linked to about the relation between glucose and self-control. I don't know if I'd call it relevant, but I couldn't help but think of the dieting implications.
ReplyDeletehttp://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2008/03/practicing_selfcontrol_consume.php
That's an interesting article. The author of the South Beach Diet bases part of his argument on the effects of carbs on blood glucose levels too. His argument is that sugars and simple starches spike blood glucose momentarily, but after the initial spike, blood glucose drops to levels lower than it had been initially, leading to cravings for more carbs. Maybe that's related to your article's thesis, in that one's lowered blood glucose level would make it harder for him to resist a preexisting craving for carbs, due to the corresponding decrease in will power.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I have no way to independently verify the Diet's idea that, in the long run, simple carbs actually lower blood glucose. I have discovered though that it is wrong insofar as it claims that I ought to feel more satisfied and less distracted after eating a salad than after eating a sandwich.
I also want to go back to something you said earlier. About where calories come from. I don't know if this is exactly what you're talking about, but different foods require different energy expenditures to digest. Two things with the same amount of calories might effectively have different amounts if your body takes twice as many calories to digest one than the other. Some foods, such as pickles and celery (I think), actually take more energy to digest than they provide, making them effectively negative calory snacks.
ReplyDeletePickles really? I'd heard that about celery, but not about pickles. I actually like pickles.
ReplyDeleteTrue, it doesn't really matter where the kcals come from, but one should always lean towards a healthier selection of food due to such factors as omega 3 fatty acids, transfat, un/saturated fats, protein, etc.
ReplyDeleteNo, I would not count carbs.
While I won't call diets evil, I really think diets are only good for special populations/cases. For you, I would not advise a diet that brings about 4.5 lbs weight loss in only a week and a half (some % of that being fat, the other % merely water). Some would cheer you on with those drastic results, but it's all futile, short-term BS. It obvious just how much you dislike this diet and its because of this that the diet will fail. Look at Goodin's failed diet on her facebook notes.
Something that brings about boredom, dislike, or any other negative attitude will not bring about any longterm changes in dietary trends.
Working at St. James, no one (clients and co-workers) liked my own personal "wonder diet" of exercise and food except Tommy. Clients were looking for either a magic pill or some prolonged, difficult, bullshit diet plan. As I offered none of that, most thought I was just some stupid kid. And I won't go into what ex-boss Sandi thought of my education.
Food: exchange beef for turkey and fish, grilled over fried, fruits, veg, whole grains where applicable, fatty crap like mayo transition to low fat, then fat free, then just don't use it, cut back on salt/sodium intake, etc.
As for foods claiming to be "trans fat free", chances are it's a lie. foods containing less than 0.5 g of trans fat per serving don't have to make public the presence of transfat in the product and can, in fact, advertise the product as "transfat free". It's stupid and fairly irresponsible.
An important food tip is to decrease portion sizes across the board while increasing the number of meals per day (6-8). Breakfast-snack-lunch-snack-dinner-snack. This promotes less fat storage and a more energetic feeling as the body isn't flooded with kcals at those three isolated times of the day.
Google healthy food plans and you'll get some good ideas.
Exercise: mixture of cardio and exercise. 5-10 min cardio warmup - resistance training - cardio
Check out acsm.org and this link for basic recommendations/suggestions: http://www.acsm.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home_Page&TEMPLATE=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=7764
Remember: exercise doesn't just mean what's done in a gym nor what you do at a single time. Exercise effect, like consumed kcals, is cumulative per day. 10 minutes here and 20 minutes there equals 30 minutes.
Also, running is good, but so is walking. Walking is exercise and likely to produce better results as walking is a prolonged, fat-burning activity. Time and oxygen is needed to burn fat for energy use. Running tends to be more explosive and short-term, thus relies on carbs for energy as oxygen isn't needed.
Increased muscle mass through weight/resistance training is important as it increases your base metabolism. Because your muscles need more kcals to maintain themselves, you have fewer excess kcals turned into fat/adipose tissue if any depending on your daily intake.
Oh and drink water. Cut back (and maybe even entertain the idea of cutting off) on alcohol, coffee, sodas, and the "smart" water. Water is cheap and healthy.
I find the whole thing to be fairly simple. Maybe not easy or the most convenient, but simple.
If I missed something or there are more questions, ask.
I buy the bulk pickles now, at five calories per spear, but before that I had some pickles listed at zero calories per spear. It's hard to beat that.
ReplyDeleteA few times, I've popped up this blog and read "Hate Food" as a single term, much like "hate speech" or "hate crime". It is equal parts irksome and delightful.
ReplyDeleteI am eating honey butter biscuits right now, and I'm thinking carbs are pretty delicious.