Eat hearty
This just may be the most depressing non-political news I’ve had so far in 2015: just how easy it is to reach a grand total of 2000 calories at most restaurants.
An example:
Considering that I gain weight if I eat more than 1,500 calories a day, it’s particularly distressing to see.
Of course, I already knew how easy it is to reach stratospheric levels of caloric ingestion, even away from a restaurant, and how quickly even fruits and vegetables and protein foods and some olive oil (all supposedly good stuff) can add up to above 1,500 over the course of a day.
And please, please, do me a large favor and stop pushing Taubes or Paleo or Atkins or whatever the highprotein/highfat/lowcarb diet du jour is that has been very successful for you. I’ve heard it all before on previous threads. I’m happy for you, but I’ve tried it several times, and it’s not at all successful for me. Au contraire. Not only do I detest that sort of food, but I feel ill on the diet, and what’s more (big drum roll here) I do not lose weight on it. Everyone differs, and for some people it’s great, but not for me.
[Hat tip: American Digest.]
make a *choice* have the fettucine alfredo OR
the lasagna but NOT BOTH.
There are 2 entrées on that plate.
I think there are 3 entries on that plate. But I love restaurants like that. I eat the entry that doesn’t keep well and take the other home for lunch the next day. In fact my son and I just split the leftovers from last night’s Italian restaurant for lunch.
I wish that just once, the NY Slimes would do the calorie counts for Le Cirque and the Four Seasons et al. The snobs would plotz.
Make that one serving of baked or grilled chicken, noodles with marinara sauce, bread that isn’t drenched in butter, and a salad with low-fat dressing on the side, and you’ve got a good, healthy meal (that’s still probably more food than you need at one sitting).
Although my give a damn is busted where harry reid is concerned, I do have sympathy for those who easily gain weight. My sweet lady and I, and our children do not, thankfully, have that problem. We eat what we want and do not gain weight. This is because of genetics and an active lifestyle. Wife and I walk about 2 miles a day and still tumble and rumble on the martial art mat 3 days a week.
I suspect that in general, the cause of weight gain is not eating too much, which is I believe putting the cart before the horse. Genetics certainly plays a part but for most people, the primary cause of our ‘modern’ weight gain is that evolution has designed our bodies for a much, much higher level of activity. With today’s comparably sedentary lifestyles, only Olympic and professional athletes match the activity level to which our bodies are designed.
The Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps consumed 12,000(!) calories a day while in training. That’s probably an extreme even for athletes but the point remains.
For millions of years, humanity walked everywhere. Horses were for the wealthy. But even that’s exercise, when I think of cowboys, I don’t think of fat ones.
Until Nikola Tesla’s conceptualization and invention of the Polyphase alternating current electrical system with his A/C Induction motor driven by a rotating magnetic field in 1883, there were very few labor saving devices. Mostly human and animal muscle powered civilization. Electric washers were first advertised and discussed in newspapers in 1904, so arguably we’ve only had civilization wide labor saving devices for a 100 years.
Biologically, that’s but a heartbeat since we all started spending the majority of our time on our butts. The consequence is one third of America’s children and teens are obese. It’s a wonder it isn’t more.
A friend and his wife have been carb cycling for 3 months. He said it’s too much food to eat. He’s down 50 lbs. and she’s down 30. I’m going to try it starting Monday.
Geoffrey, what you say is true but I believe there’s more to it than that. I believe there’s been a dramatic increase in obesity over just the past two or three decades, and I suspect it may be due to an increase in the amount of sugar people are consuming. I have an aunt who is in her mid 90’s and who is still very active and in remarkable shape. She still goes out shopping with her 70 year old daughters, who can’t keep up with her. When I was talking to her recently about her forays in to town she remarked how suprised she is at how fat people are today. I’m in my 60’s and I notice it when I go out. Yeah, when I was a kid there were tubbies out there but now it just seems so widespread (no pun intended).
When I think of cowboys, I think of Jack Palance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAA5e6oH2Zs
“Driftin’ along with the tumblin’ tumbleweeds…”
Anyone know what the caloric intake was for Michelle Obama’s $1,000. dinner at, Vintage Cave?
Never mind, I could not care any less.
My sister-in-law lives on Oahu. She was entertaining a house guest early in the day at, Hanauma Bay (snorkeling site).
Some “unfriendly” men approached her and told her to leave. They did not say why. Later she heard that Seachelle Obama and her crabby-crew showed up to take over the bay for several hours. Liberal landgrab.
Much the way Baraka took over the golf course the other day and wrecked the long-planned wedding of a young heterosexual couple.
Does anyone really think he would have treated a homosexual couple the same way? Scallywag.
parker:
I have walked 3 miles a day for many many years. And I almost never sit.
Doesn’t make me thin. I’m not fat (especially for a woman my age), but I sure ain’t thin.
I’ve always been active, and I’ve never been naturally slender, and I seem to eat less than most people. It’s just the way it is. I know plenty of quite heavy people who don’t eat all that much, and plenty of thin people who eat plenty and are not all that active.
I vote for gut bacteria.
Per Geoffrey, it be hard to make steam-powered household appliances. Gas-powered, ya got yer smelly exhaust and yer noisy engine.
For all you weight watchers, here’s a new twist on weight management. It’s called Intermittent Fasting. Starting a month ago I went on two days a week of 800 calories (Intermittent fasts – all though there’s more to it than just that.) and ate normally the rest of the time. Managed to keep it up through the holidays. Result: ten pounds lost.
The book where I learned about this way of eating is, “THE IF DIET” by Robert Skinner. It involves confining your low calorie day eating to an eight hour window. For me that means noon to 8pm. There are other ways to do the IF, but the two day a week plan (He calls it the “Weekender”) works out for me.
I’m going to continue for the next month or two and see where I can go. Back to body building contest weight? Probably not. Old bodies don’t like to be that devoid of fat.
There seems to be a lot of science behind this. Skinner also points out the latest findings in exercise results – especially the short, HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workouts. Many ways to do them and the science is showing that our bodies produce a cascade of beneficial chemicals and hormones when challenged by a HIIT workout. I’ve been following the Mark Rippetoe “Starting Strength” program for the last two years. It has helped me stay strong for my age, but I’ve been feeling like something was missing. So, I’ve added in the Tabata 8 minute HIIT at the end of my weight sessions. Amazingly, I seem to be recovering more quickly from the weight work as a result.
I have always been able to lose weight by strictly counting my calories, which involved meticulous record keeping and measuring of food/calories. However, that gets to be a real drag over time. (I haven’t been doing it for almost two years and my weight crept up as a result.) The IF approach allows me to be very careful two days a week and eat normally (around 2000 calories/day) the other five days. This is a much simpler and easier to execute diet for me. Probably not for everyone and maybe the results I have experienced won’t continue. Time will tell.
Anyway, if you are interested in a new approach, this might work for you.
@clarity if it had been a same sex couple Obama would have had himself appointed a JP & done the ceremony himself!
Alright——-that’s it!
If no one else is going to drink that glass of red wine, I am.
Someone else can have that bread. I am popping those 3 kalamatas.
In honor of eating, and sharing, and transacting, and conversing:
The Counterman, by Paul Violi
What’ll it be?
Roast beef on rye, with tomato and mayo.
Whudduhyuh want on it?
A swipe of mayo.
Pepper but no salt.
You got it. Roast beef on rye
. . . You want lettuce on that?
No. Just tomato and mayo.
Tomato and mayo. You got it.
. . . Salt and pepper?
No salt. Just a little pepper.
You got it. No salt.
You want tomato.
Yes. Tomato. No lettuce.
No lettuce. You got it.
. . . No salt, right?
Right. No salt.
You got it. – Pickle?
No, no pickle. Just tomato and mayo.
And pepper.
Pepper.
Yes, a little pepper.
Right. A little pepper.
No pickle.
Right. No pickle.
You got it.
Next.
Roast beef on whole wheat, please,
With lettuce, mayonnaise and a center slice
Of beefsteak tomato.
The lettuce splayed, if you will,
In a Beaux Arts derivative of classical acanthus,
And the roast beef, thinly sliced, folded
In a multi-foil arrangement
That eschews Bragdonian pretensions
Or any idea of divine geometric projection
For that matter, but simply provides
A setting for the tomato
To form a medallion with a dab
Of mayonnaise as a fleuron.
And – as eclectic as this may sound –
If the mayonnaise can also be applied
Along the crust in a Vitruvian scroll
And as a festoon below the medallion,
That would be swell.
You mean like in the Cathedral St. Pierre in Geneva?
Yes, but the swag more like the one below the rosette
At the Royal Palace in Amsterdam.
You got it.
Next.
Now go eat. And enjoy. And share. And love.
Possible thing to try:
a B complex vitamin. I’d suggest one that’s listed for “stress.” In addition to your multivitamin.
I started taking roughly 300% of the RDA (2k% is the lowest possibly dangerous level) in the morning, along with some fiber, and I’ve lost a lot of weight and don’t have as many cravings as I use to. Moved my multivitamin to lunch time to avoid washing the water solubles right back out.
I thought that it was because I started in the summer, and the weight loss was just because I was also exercising heavily compared to winter– but since it’s gotten cold, all that happened is my weight loss rate cut in half, on just every other day walking a mile.
It’s only been six months (and 40 pounds), but it’s starting to look like a lot of the fighting I’ve been doing with my weight for my entire life was something as incredibly stupid as a vitamin demand that’s not standard issue.
My wife and I have tried several diets – with little success! What irritates me is that you end up having endless conversations about food.
Read the NYT article. I simply can’t eat that much in one meal (going by what they are showing), and the only fast food I like is a Chipotle steak bowl, which lasts me two meals.
After carrying 20 + pounds extra for most of my adulthood, at 50 I lost the weight (eating 1200-1500 calories/day + moderate exercise) and I’ve been able to maintain my weight and wear smaller size clothes (replaced my entire wardrobe) by eating about 1800 calories. During this course of time (4 years) because of physical issues I’ve set aside the exercise when necessary–sometimes for months. I’ve gone on 2 European vacations this year and a trip to Hawaii. In all cases I’ve walked 2-5 miles/day, not to mention the physical demands of travel. Each time I came back w/5 pounds to lose, due to the extra eating!
Neo, I think you are right about individuality and there being more to it. When my mother died suddenly in 2005, I lost 7 pounds that week and I did not gain that weight back for 3 years.
JJ, I have been fasting every Tuesday since 2008 as a part of my prayer life. A couple years ago, due to a stress situation in my life, I was a lower weight than I wanted to be and investigated whether it was still safe for me to be fasting. I discovered some research that determined that eating the same amount of calories over 6 days instead of 7 (fasting 1 day) resulted in lower weight. That conforms with my personal experience.
As for eating out–every fat accounts for about 100 calories per tablespoon. My husband is an excellent cook, but we measure the fats. When we eat out (not too often, as we have to go to expensive places to eat food that is anything like what he prepares at home), we share.
I’m happy for you, but I’ve tried it several times, and it’s not at all successful for me.
It’s because you don’t like the taste of milk. That’s a sign that your metabolism is rather special.
http://shop.doterra.com/
If you blame your gut bacteria, Neo, that’s just a metabolic issue of the bacterial which ends up affecting your metabolism, perhaps.
If you want to experiment with that, try the metabolic mixes, the Slim one, at that website. Personal experimentation for such a unique case as yours, is probably the only real way to go about it. That ended up being applicable even to your arm surgery, it seems.
Ok, here’s another potential factor: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/01/does-global-warming-make-me-look-fat/383509/?single_page=true
The idea is that by not challenging your body to burn calories by enduring colder temperatures, we gradually put on weight.
Intermittent Fasting
I have heard that sometimes women have a harder time with this or do not have the same results as men, probably something to do with reproduction.
I am back on the pseudo paleo wagon, it does work for me if I do it consistently, even if I do it 80/20.
Sorry to hear that Atkins didn’t work for you — it did for me, although slowly, and without any extra exercise! The problem with the meal that photo is the proportions and type of food — skip the two rolls and the pasta, double or triple the size of the salad, have one or one and a half of the chicken breasts and you should be fine — assuming that those are chicken breasts and not lasagna, in which case you should switch to chicken marinara or some other meat.
Don’t bother with fads. Read “Why We are Fat and What to Do About it” — it’s NOT a “diet book.” Carbs make you fat and make you crave more carbs, which in turn makes you fatter. How fat, though, depends on your genes. The amount of carbs and sugars we eat today is astronomical, and correllates with the “disesases of civilization” (diabetes, heart disease, etc) that plague every society that adopts a Western diet.
It’s not rocket science and doesn’t demand esoteric rules. People are naturally lean, just like animals — and that includes people who eat fat, butter, lard, meat, etc. If controlling your weight needs huge amounts of thought and/or bizarre habits, then something’s wrong with your food.
Gail Finke: “Carbs make you fat and make you crave more carbs, which in turn makes you fatter.”
Do you have any scientific backing for that statement? Other than Taubes’ book? If carbs are bad for you, how do you explain Asian diets that are high in rice?
There are many types of carbs. Too many simple carbs are a problem for the body. The reason has to do with the fact that ALL (protein, fat, and carbohydrates) the food we eat is transformed into glucose in our bloodstream. The glucose is transformed to glycogen for storage in our muscles and liver. It is also used to power our bodily functions. Our brains are big glucose users. However, when too much simple (High Glycemic index) carbs are eaten in a meal, (Since it takes almost no digestion to turn them into glucose.) the blood stream becomes quickly loaded with glucose. Insulin is secreted to lower the glucose (blood sugar) levels. Often it overshoots and lowers it too much – the beginning of Type 2 diabetes. The ideal thing is for the body to have a slower secretion of glucose from the food we eat. Proteins, fats, and complex carbs (Beans, lentils, potatoes, quinoa, brown rice, oatmeal, celery, spinach, cabbage, etc.) break down more slowly and provide a slower stream of glucose to our systems. That reduces the strain on the pancreas (insulin secretion) and may (depending on our BMR) reduce the amount of glucose that is transformed into fat storage. So, it is the simple carbs that cause problems for people because of the sudden rush of glucose followed by a quick drop in the glucose level. That’s what creates the hunger a short time after eating a couple of doughnuts with a cup of coffee.
Our bodies have a basal metabolism rate. (BMR) That is the number of calories we burn for 24 hours. My BMR, measured three months ago is 2049 calories per day. Many fat people have low BMRs. They have to eat less than 1000 calories per day to lose weight. (Full disclosure – I’m married to one of those people.) Additionally, they have to cycle their calories because their body soon adjusts to less food and slows their BMR. That type of BMR was a great thing for people back in the days when food was scarce. They usually survived lean times. Those with high BMRs didn’t.
Everyone can lose weight by knowing their BMR then counting calories and cycling their calories. However, it is a time consuming process that requires a great deal of discipline. I spent several years competing in body building contests. During that time I learned a lot about dieting and my particular nutritional needs. My eating was strictly controlled and measured. I could get quicker fat loss from a low carb diet, but I found my muscles were flatter and my energy lower on a low carb diet. I needed vegetables for their nutritional value and beans/lentils/yams/apples for the fiber.
What I like about the IF Diet is that it requires measuring only on two days a week. The other five days I eat pretty much as I normally do – about 2000 calories with 40% protein, 30% carbs, and 30% fat. Fasting for 16 hours two days a week and eating only 800 calories in two 8 hour periods is very easy for me. And it fits my lifestyle more now than weighing and measuring all my food. It also cycles the calories, so my BMR won’t slow. It may not be for everyone though. Any kind of eating program to lose or maintain weight requires discipline and will power – even Atkins or Taubes.
“It’s not rocket science and doesn’t demand esoteric rules. People are naturally lean, just like animals – and that includes people who eat fat, butter, lard, meat, etc. If controlling your weight needs huge amounts of thought and/or bizarre habits, then something’s wrong with your food.”
That’s a nice slogan. Unfortunately, it doesn’t describe all of humanity. People were fat even back in the day when food was in short supply. Not as fat as today when food is in such over supply and cheap. To believe that everyone is alike in the way they process food and energy is like saying that there is no difference between men and women. It just ain’t so. For people with high BMRs ( I know one of those. He eats everything and anything – lots of sugar and fat – never gets fat.) anyone who gets fat is weak- willed and guilty of self indulgence. For those who have had success with Atkins or paleo or South Beach or ?? they think everyone is like them. Not so. Calories count, but BMR counts too. Genetics count too. Some people don’t have the genes for paleo/Atkins/South Beach/etc. We know a lot more about germs and disease than we do about individual nutrition and why we have an “obesity epidemic.”