More on Weight Management

It has been a number of years since I read The Atkin's Diet and put it to the test. I was intrigued by the science of the plan and approached it with my usual skepticism. I figured that this guy claims I can eat all of the "approved" fats and proteins that I want and still lose weight as long as I cut out virtually all carbs during the induction phase. I ate meats and cheeses until I was about to puke. I went to breakfast buffets and ate eggs with cheese and hot sauce and all the bacon and sausage I could stand...and that's a lot of bacon and sausage! I skipped the healthy lean meats like chicken and fish and loaded up on pork and beef. Big greasy cheeseburgers were regular fare. I even ignored the no caffeine part and continued with my daily coffee and 3+ liters of diet sodas per day. I snacked on slices of pepperoni that were crisped in the microwave (they were like little crackers!) topped with slices of sharp cheddar. I substituted the milk in the sugar free cook and serve pudding with 1/2 heavy cream and 1/2 water for a high calorie, low carb chocolate snack. I shunned fruits and vegetables like the plague.

...And I actually lost weight!

And I began to realize that if I was more diligent about eating good proteins and limiting fats, I might actually improve my health!

In retrospect, there is no telling how much damage I may have caused by being so careless about the crap I ate during those few weeks. But, since I did actually read the book rather than just hear about the diet part from somebody that didn't really know what they were talking about, I was able to understand that the induction phase was just to reset my system and wasn't intended to by a long term way of eating. Overall, I think that the basic philosophy of the Atkin's system is good.

Whether it's Atkin's or South Beach, The Zone or Eating for Life it seemed to me that the main theme revolved around controlling insulin levels.

The current book I'm reading, The Abs Diet doesn't make a big deal of it, but the foods it promotes are the same foods in the other diets, as well as the philosophy of eating less, but more often.

I'm not a big conspiracy sort of guy, but I do believe that the food industry is killing us by its promotion of fast, cheap, chemically produced and genetically modified foods. Just by eating real foods, I've managed to feel better and lose a lot of weight.

I'm not a strict "don't eat that" kind of guy. In the past month I've had a couple of White Castles, an Arby's Jamocha shake, a couple of McDonald's soft serve cones, fried chicken wings, bread sticks, corn bread muffins and a few other foods that would make serious nutritionists cringe and serious dieters throw up.

I eat very little that is grain based (other than oatmeal) or comes out of a box. I'm eating less fried foods and more fruits and vegetables. I've cut back on red meats and high fat foods. I generally have at least one meatless day each week and I pay more attention to the number of calories that I consume that I probably need to. It's just that those little buggers have a way of adding up--even when they're good calories from good foods.

It's time for dinner.
Eat healthy foods.
Be well.

John <><

Note: I used Wikipedia rather than Amazon because I'm not promoting these books nor their philosophies. I think that they are good reads and have some good science to back their respective claims.