Why your diet may not be working like you want...

[sdalek]

Ran across this news story in Yahoo news about why diets don't necessarily work. Has anyone has this experience? I've been on a diet to address both a GERD and blood cholesterol problem. I've found that a reduced calorie, low(ish)-fat diet has helped me lose weight, which isn't why I started the diet originally. What has helped has been dividing meals into smaller portions and having 4-5 small meals throughout the day instead of three large meals. Also, I've learned to eat slow, chew thoroughly, and stop eating as soon as I feel full. Oh, adding more fruit (bananas and raisins) and more veggies (broccoli, spinach, etc) has helped also.

[Natrushka]

Diets dont work. You're fighting evolution. The goal of your fat cells is to keep you alive through the Great Famine. There are hormones, enzymes, peptides all working to do one thing; keep you from starving. To quote one of the most knowledgeable people I've ever had the great fortune of knowing "Life she is cruel" (teh lyle, aka, Lyle McDonald).

Good genes, making it through puberty w/o being obese, sensible eating (eat how your ancestors ate, follow something like a 'mediteranean, french, italian' etc, diet - it kept them alive, it works), lot of greens (volume determins fullness) and move.

This is probably one of the best articles on diet / nutrition / health out there. It's by Michael Pollan

Unhappy Meals

[Jennifer]

Originally Posted by Natrushka

Diets dont work. You're fighting evolution. The goal of your fat cells is to keep you alive through the Great Famine.

That's it, then.

My Master Plan to reduce weight must involve creating a world-wide devastating plague of famine.

I feel bad about all the Skinnies I must destroy in my quest to lose unappealing fat, but often individuals must be sacrificed so that others might prosper. ("The needs of the few, or me, outweigh the needs of the many.")

[Metamorphosis]

Originally Posted by Natrushka

Diets dont work. You're fighting evolution.

follow something like a 'mediteranean, french, italian' etc, diet - it kept them alive, it works

[Natrushka]

Originally Posted by Metamorphosis

Main Entry: di·et
Pronunciation: 'dI-&t
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English diete, from Anglo-French, from Latin diaeta, from Greek diaita, literally, manner of living, from diaitasthai to lead one's life
1 a : food and drink regularly provided or consumed b : habitual nourishment c : the kind and amount of food prescribed for a person or animal for a special reason d : a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight <going on a diet>
2 : something provided or experienced repeatedly <a diet of Broadway shows and nightclubs -- Frederick Wyatt>

[ptgatsby]

Originally Posted by Natrushka

This is probably one of the best articles on diet / nutrition / health out there. It's by Michael Pollan

Unhappy Meals

That was an awesome article. You can come to the same conclusion by running your diet through the USDA nutrition database (Down at time of posting... Linked from here) although you might need a good 5-10 hours to get it set up. If anyone is really interested, I could modify my own spreadsheet to a generic version so they can enter their own diet information... but it's a ton of work, both to get set up and to enter.

[Natrushka]

Pollan's a bright light, for sure. His blog is another great source of information, but you need to register with NYTimes to read it. The Omnivores Dilemma is a good read.

USDA nutrition database is better than this one, FitDay, but fitday can be easier to use. But I don't do that anymore. Would someone ban me from this subforum please!

[Ivy]

Originally Posted by Natrushka

Pollan's a bright light, for sure. His blog is another great source of information, but you need to register with NYTimes to read it. The Omnivores Dilemma is a good read.

USDA nutrition database is better than this one, FitDay, but fitday can be easier to use. But I don't do that anymore. Would someone ban me from this subforum please!

*frowns severely*

[Natrushka]

See? I told you.

I better turn of the computer.

[sdalek]

Originally Posted by Natrushka

See? I told you.

I better turn of the computer.

<Sits down with a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs, a plate of BBQ ribs, and a bucket of chicken and glares>