A four-year post-weight loss study by the NIH shows that motivated people *do* keep weight off. I weigh 50 [...]]]> If you read Tara Parker Pope’s article The Fat Trap, you might be led to believe that weight loss is difficult and maintaining a weight loss is a herculean feat. This is just not true.

A four-year post-weight loss study by the NIH shows that motivated people *do* keep weight off. I weigh 50 pounds less than I did in 2000. I lost that weight in two big pieces, one in 2000 and one over the end of 2009 into 2010. Don’t let her defeatism convince you to not bother.

People who maintain a weight loss do pay attention to what they eat. I do not weigh and measure everything, and I do drink alcohol and eat sweets or chips sometimes. The key is to eat the most nutritious diet that you can, using fruits, vegetables and healthy protein sources to crowd out foods that don’t contribute much to your nutrition bottom line.

A few points:

• If you go back to what got you fat, you will gain back the weight. You need to find a weight-loss formula that is really a lifestyle change.
• Eating like “everyone else” isn’t what you think. If you mean the “everyone else” that’s overweight or obese, that’s an obvious problem. If you mean someone who is active all day and you aren’t or someone who is still growing, that’s another problem right there.
• People who are naturally thin don’t eat the way you imagine. The two very thin people I know DO eat a lot less than I do on average. One of them fasts and binges, which is actually a formula for weight loss if done correctly.
• You must eat high-quality food while dieting and afterwards. Yes, you can eat a bit more afterwards, but the basic composition of your diet needs to be the most nutritious food you can get.

I think the next big thing in dieting will be micronutrient sufficiency. I’m see it becoming a popular topic on blogs and podcasts. Here are three references to it from the last week:

Paul Jaminet’s The Perfect Health Diet
Free The Animal’s post on Malnutrition and Obesity
Jimmy Moore’s Podcast with the authors of Naked Calories.

That could not be farther from the truth. I have tried this stuff it in protein shakes, bars and muffins, and nothing can disguise it’s horrible, horrible flavor.

Do yourself a favor and order your protein from these people. Get it unflavored and [...]]]> Jay Robb claims this is the “best tasting protein on the planet.”

That could not be farther from the truth. I have tried this stuff it in protein shakes, bars and muffins, and nothing can disguise it’s horrible, horrible flavor.

Do yourself a favor and order your protein from these people. Get it unflavored and spice it up yourself. You can thank me later.

In 1977 America changed its health advice. In a nutshell (or, more likely, an ADA approved Mars bar): Eat more starchy foods, eat more carbohydrates, saturated fats are bad. If that sounds [...]]]> I cannot believe I’m about to link to the Huffington Post, but this article really gets to the meat of the so-called obesity epidemic.

In 1977 America changed its health advice. In a nutshell (or, more likely, an ADA approved Mars bar): Eat more starchy foods, eat more carbohydrates, saturated fats are bad. If that sounds like pretty good advice to you, then you don’t know enough about what you are putting into your mouth.

Your grandparents were raised in a generation aware that God’s supermarket was better than man’s. Saturated fat was a vital part of their diet. For them, obesity was not a common health problem. They were not suffering malnutrition in the fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K). Remarkably, you, dear Western reader, probably are.

The 2010 Dietary recommendations are very much simply “meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” It is total insanity.

I think the biggest danger out there is the foods with a health halo – too many people, even supposedly smart Whole Foods shoppers – fall for the idea that processed foods, if it fits their particular orthorexia, are healthy. Evaporated cane juice and agave nectar are *still* sugar. You might as well feed your kids HFCS for all the difference it makes. Most fat-reduced dairy products are full of additives that, let’s face it, you don’t even KNOW WHAT THEY ARE! But if Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods is selling it, you trust them that is must be OK.

Don’t even get me started on the gluten-free junk food revolution. It’s going to be the next giant money maker for the processed food industry.

I think I need one of those “bang head here” signs on the wall today.

The grind that occurs at the gym is a big reason why I don’t go to one.

I don’t really do any exercise I don’t enjoy. If I don’t like it, I [...]]]> After spending the afternoon at the St. Louis City Museum, I’m starting to think fun exercise is something I need fit in every week.

The grind that occurs at the gym is a big reason why I don’t go to one.

I don’t really do any exercise I don’t enjoy. If I don’t like it, I find some other way to work that part of my body, but I haven’t really had so much fun being active for a long time, with the exception of some days backpacking. A lot of backpacking is about immersion in nature and meeting constant challenges, but sometimes, it really just is a long slog up a viewless mountain in 85′ heat. Other times, it’s physically fun, climbing over weird terrain along the side of a cliff or scaling a pile of boulders. I used to actually dread that kind of thing, but the last four bits of complex rock terrain I’ve done[1], I actually recall quite fondly! Anything on the A.T. with a bad weather trail is generally awesome.

The only kind of gym I’d actually consider would be CrossFit, and I’m not doing that because it just means I will spend waaaay too much time commuting to a freakin’ gym. It’s certainly a different kind of workout experience, but it’s still mostly about meeting challenges. CrossFit supports a number of sport activities, but most people don’t seem to make time for those, and instead spend their time at the box. I know people get a big sense of accomplishment, but I also note that CrossFit and the Paleo world generally contain a lot of forceful, Type A personalities who are also free-thinkers or libertarians. CF is kind of an anti-gym already, but I sure haven’t seen anything about it that looks painful.

I’m thinking more along the lines of climbing more trees, and when I get back to Virginia, I’m going to hike a section of the Massanutten Trail that’s a knife-edge for a long way. The map is labeled “experienced hikers only”. I’ve done it before, so I do know what’s there.

Anyway, I’m not sure what the legality of this is, honestly, but this magazine [...]]]> Well, I didn’t get my actual menu items up, and it’s not going to happen before I go hiking. Work has been taking up my time that I would normally use for blogging. We all have to work some time!

Anyway, I’m not sure what the legality of this is, honestly, but this magazine is off the news stands, their website has absolutely no content from the magazine, and this is not the kind of thing you find on microfiche at the library!

The small images link to large ones.

This coconut milk is the best adapted for use in coffee that I’ve yet encountered. It’s thick and creamy enough, but not oily or clumpy in the least. Best of all, it’s *nothing* but coconut milk. In case the link breaks, it’s Aroy-D 100% Coconut Milk in [...]]]> There’s a great Primal Checklist here.

This coconut milk is the best adapted for use in coffee that I’ve yet encountered. It’s thick and creamy enough, but not oily or clumpy in the least. Best of all, it’s *nothing* but coconut milk. In case the link breaks, it’s Aroy-D 100% Coconut Milk in an 8.5 ounce aseptic box. I paid the same price on the web page (89 cents), but bought them in person at Global Foods in Kirkwood, MO. I bought four, then went back and bought eight more, and if I’d known they were *this* good, I would have bought a case.

I’ve been seeing this market from I-66 near Manassas: Juliana’s Sari Sari Store. Apparently, a Sari Sari Store is a Filipino convenience store, so I will try there next time I’m in the area. I will also try the general Asian goods store in Manassas since there’s apparently some people from the Philippines in Manassas.

1) Hipster discusses their caveman diet and explains that all their problems with digestion, allergies, obesity, blood sugar, athletic performance or what-have-you are gone.

2) Reporter says “isn’t that nice” and proceeds to quote sources of conventional wisdom saying that somehow, [...]]]> Paleolithic-style diets have gotten a lot of press of late. The articles mostly take this form:

1) Hipster discusses their caveman diet and explains that all their problems with digestion, allergies, obesity, blood sugar, athletic performance or what-have-you are gone.

2) Reporter says “isn’t that nice” and proceeds to quote sources of conventional wisdom saying that somehow, a diet based on whole, natural foods is actually unhealthy, mostly because it’s lacking in whole grains. There’s also the same spew about how paleolithic people’s lives were “nasty, brutish and short”, so why would anyone want to emulate *that*?

There were two main tomes on this diet: Dr. Loren Cordain’s The Paleo Diet (2002) and Ray Audette’s Neanderthin (2000) and, more recently, there’s Mark Sisson’s The Primal Blueprint (2009). Good luck finding a reasonably priced copy of Audette’s book – they seem to be going for $70 used. I found one for $13 and snapped it up.

The gist of the diet is this: Eat only meat, poultry, eggs, fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. Don’t eat grains, legumes, dairy, potatoes or sugar or anything that’s not on the first list. Honey and maple syrup, though they are “sugar” are technically OK since they can be acquired without technology, but they should be rare in the diet as they would be in nature. Potatoes does not mean yams – sweet potatoes or yams are allowed. Peanuts are a legume, in case you didn’t know, and are thus forbidden. Everything else is pretty obvious. Any modern non-foods (like artificial sweeteners) are not allowed. Salt is strongly discouraged, though other spices are welcomed.

Within the world of paleo eaters (and I really need to come up with a set of links at some point), there are differences. Sisson is OK with a little dairy and with an 80/20 approach in general. Cordain allows something called “cheat meals” that you hear discussed often on Robb Wolf’s podcasts (which are quite interesting, at least to me). Ray Audette’s book comes off as more absolutist. Actual practice encompasses all of these camps.

There are some oddities within the books. Some people don’t eat cashew nuts as Audette claims their poisonous shell would have kept cavemen out. I recently found out that people who work in cashew shelling factories actually become immune to urushiol coating on the shells. We’ve all eaten cashews – they are delicious, and I’m think that our ancestors were maybe a bit more clever than Audette thinks. In any case, I’m not going to worry about that too much.

Certainly, there are a lot of valid arguments against consuming another animal’s milk, but I’ve been a big milk consumer my whole life, and except for when I was still eating gluten, I’ve never had problems consuming dairy. I tolerate it well, so I’m not interested in cutting it out.

At the moment, it seems like most of the Paleo types I read stick to very low carb diets. I’ve found that this actually causes more fluctuation in my blood sugar than if I eat fruit. I have *better* post-prandial numbers if I finish my meal with fruit than if I don’t. I have more stable numbers throughout the day this way as well, and with the amount of fruit I eat, it’s not that much sugar anyway.

The studies I’ve seen based on Cordain’s book include fruit and daily honey, and they still produced weight loss and improvements in fasting glucose and blood lipids. I could go on more about this, but Dr. Stephan Guyenet has done this exhaustively, and if you want the science, read his posts on paleolithic diets.

The only thing I ate from my banned list yesterday was tofu shirataki noodles. It’s not much soy, but since that might be like saying it’s only a little poison, I won’t be doing that again as I’ve used them all up.

Oh, and here’s a statement summing up the argument against the “nasty, brutish and short” meme.