Giggles
05-17-2002, 02:27 PM
... I have recently suggested we need to first learn to love ourselves the way we are (me? lovable? fat me???? - huge step), then accept that the low carb diet alone does not guarantee weight loss.
I know this may sound as though I am against this way of eating, but I firmly believe the "pyramid" pattern is causing so much obesity in our contry, especially with chilren. I believe, that althoug "one size" does NOT fit all, we have been duped into believing lots of pasta, bread, and veggies such as corn, potatoes, and beets are good for you, instead of that nasty meat stuff. I believe everyone should decrease their carb intake for health reasons if not for weight problems.
You and I know. We are told we will die tomorrow if we don't stop eating those horrid foods that the American Heart Association and all the cardiologists in the world warn us against. Still, you and I know differently.
And yet, we are seceretly condemning and hating ourselves for finding the right diet and STILL not being able to lose weight.
I kept believing the low carb way of life was right for health but not necessarily for weight loss. Now, someone agrees with me. But it isn't a "someone" so much as a bunch of someones: people who lost weight.
If anyone is familiar with Consumer Reports magazine, they need to run to the store and buy the copy that just came out (June, 2002). They compiled information from people who tried to lose weight, and listed the main winning (weight losing) strategies.
Number one was, EXERCISE! Oh, yes, it seemed to be the one change which was chosen by the majority of people who lost at least 10% of their weight and kept it off for at least one year. (I know - YUK!!!!!) The article later mentioned that exercise was not what actually helped them lose the weight, but it was necessary to allow them to keep the weight off.
Guess what the number one suggestion was, taken from the wt-loss winners, for copying their straegies? Yup, you got it! Decreasing their high-glycemic food intake ... decreasing their carbs!
For those of you who may not be familiar with Consumer Reports, they do not accept any advertising so that they can be totally free of compromising their values. They test many products to see which ones are best (lawnmowers, cars, paints, washing machines, TVs, beer, eliptical exercisers, boxed chocolates [oops! how did that get in my list???], paper towels, peanut butter, cookbooks, and so on). The information came from a questionnairre answered by over 32 thousand dieters (who read Consumers Reports).
At the same time as suggesting the first thing successful dieters had to do was "tame their blood sugar" by decreasing the high-glycemic foods they eat, they have an aside of "Dr. Atkin's diet: what is wrong with it?" (Not to worry - they didn't take sides about it but simply reported what they found out.) Actually many successful dieters said there were three books which helped them the most, and one of the three books was Dr. Atkin's. I won't tell you what the two other books were, nor what the results was of three different studies they reported on where test subjects were given either a low carb (few high-glycemic foods) diet plan or a low fat diet plan. And I also won't tell you about the reason some obesity researchers are re-thinking the "low fat" message they have been yelling at us for so long (not because they believe in Dr. Atkin's diet, that is certain).
But I did think their advice is great, and it explains why our low carb diet won't automatically allow us to lose pounds, after the first nice drop in wieght. (Hint, it still has to do with calories, folks! But there is more to it than just eating a few celery sticks each day.)
So, your mission, if you chose to accept it, is to find this magazines and read it. It is my challenge to you. And to read it with an open mind. It is saying basically what all the low carb gurus have been preaching, but with a few other truths mixed in.
And now, Giggles is signing off. I will return later to see if anyone accepted my challenge, and what you think of their article. (Watch out, you know I love to give pop quizzes later!)
I know this may sound as though I am against this way of eating, but I firmly believe the "pyramid" pattern is causing so much obesity in our contry, especially with chilren. I believe, that althoug "one size" does NOT fit all, we have been duped into believing lots of pasta, bread, and veggies such as corn, potatoes, and beets are good for you, instead of that nasty meat stuff. I believe everyone should decrease their carb intake for health reasons if not for weight problems.
You and I know. We are told we will die tomorrow if we don't stop eating those horrid foods that the American Heart Association and all the cardiologists in the world warn us against. Still, you and I know differently.
And yet, we are seceretly condemning and hating ourselves for finding the right diet and STILL not being able to lose weight.
I kept believing the low carb way of life was right for health but not necessarily for weight loss. Now, someone agrees with me. But it isn't a "someone" so much as a bunch of someones: people who lost weight.
If anyone is familiar with Consumer Reports magazine, they need to run to the store and buy the copy that just came out (June, 2002). They compiled information from people who tried to lose weight, and listed the main winning (weight losing) strategies.
Number one was, EXERCISE! Oh, yes, it seemed to be the one change which was chosen by the majority of people who lost at least 10% of their weight and kept it off for at least one year. (I know - YUK!!!!!) The article later mentioned that exercise was not what actually helped them lose the weight, but it was necessary to allow them to keep the weight off.
Guess what the number one suggestion was, taken from the wt-loss winners, for copying their straegies? Yup, you got it! Decreasing their high-glycemic food intake ... decreasing their carbs!
For those of you who may not be familiar with Consumer Reports, they do not accept any advertising so that they can be totally free of compromising their values. They test many products to see which ones are best (lawnmowers, cars, paints, washing machines, TVs, beer, eliptical exercisers, boxed chocolates [oops! how did that get in my list???], paper towels, peanut butter, cookbooks, and so on). The information came from a questionnairre answered by over 32 thousand dieters (who read Consumers Reports).
At the same time as suggesting the first thing successful dieters had to do was "tame their blood sugar" by decreasing the high-glycemic foods they eat, they have an aside of "Dr. Atkin's diet: what is wrong with it?" (Not to worry - they didn't take sides about it but simply reported what they found out.) Actually many successful dieters said there were three books which helped them the most, and one of the three books was Dr. Atkin's. I won't tell you what the two other books were, nor what the results was of three different studies they reported on where test subjects were given either a low carb (few high-glycemic foods) diet plan or a low fat diet plan. And I also won't tell you about the reason some obesity researchers are re-thinking the "low fat" message they have been yelling at us for so long (not because they believe in Dr. Atkin's diet, that is certain).
But I did think their advice is great, and it explains why our low carb diet won't automatically allow us to lose pounds, after the first nice drop in wieght. (Hint, it still has to do with calories, folks! But there is more to it than just eating a few celery sticks each day.)
So, your mission, if you chose to accept it, is to find this magazines and read it. It is my challenge to you. And to read it with an open mind. It is saying basically what all the low carb gurus have been preaching, but with a few other truths mixed in.
And now, Giggles is signing off. I will return later to see if anyone accepted my challenge, and what you think of their article. (Watch out, you know I love to give pop quizzes later!)