Letters to the Editor
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High Fructose Corn Syrup
I think this article and the other recent article on restricted calories are both very interesting. I have a low normal BMI, don't eat meat and get a fair amount of exercise. However, I do still eat a fair amount of processed foods, breads, bagels, cereal, etc. and I am dismayed and how hard it is to find grain products that don't contain high fructose corn syrup. I have finally found a bread brand that doesn't use HFCS but have yet to find bagels or english muffins that don't contain HFCS. I'm convinced that part of our obesity problem is directly correlated with the addition of HFCS that began in the 1980s.
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another reason for failed "healthy" alternatives at fast food
They're not that healthy. If I go to MacDonalds and get a chicken ranch sandwich with bacon, could I really save any calories by getting the chicken ranch salad with bacon? It didn't seem worth the effort (until I realized that I'm less likely to get fries with the salad).
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My rules, and they've worked thus far...
My mom is a very severe Type I diabetic, but has had very few complications throughout her illness and is considerably healthier than a lot of non-diabetics her age. We were raised on the following:
1. Eat what you like. Deprivation does nothing but make you crabby and weak. I will have bacon and cheese grits for dinner if I want, just not often.
2. Find a physically demanding activity that you love. Not only because it allows you more wiggle room food-wise, but because watching your body become strong and capable is really darn cool. But remember, junk in, junk out. Try running after said bacon and cheese grits, it's just not happening. Having a physical hobby trains you to think of your body as a machine in need of proper fuel, and you'd be shocked how quickly your diet habits change.
3. When you start thinking "just one more bite," stop eating.
4. Water, lots of it. Always have a glass of it sitting next to you. No soda, not even diet. No juice, eat actual fruit instead.
5. Don't weigh yourself, that number is meaningless. How do you actually feel? Do you sleep well? Are you awake and alert all day? Do you feel sluggish or weak? No matter how thin you are, you're not healthy if you regularly doze off at work or get winded chasing your kid around the house.
6. Take high quality multivitamins. I swear I can't even think straight without mine.
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All You Can Eat!
Another dietary "trap"...
Here in the midwest, you see plenty "All You Can Eat" buffets, and it's very obvious that folks take those words SERIOUSLY. You'll often hear restaurant reviews like "Well, the food's not all that good, but boy, you get ALOT of it!"
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A little off topic but...
Does Salon have to mention The French Laundry in every food article? I wonder if Joan Walsh scores an expedited reservation every few times they mention the restaurant and help keep up its profile.
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South Beach is not a fad diet...
It's a lifestyle...and I direct this comment to the person who said that fad diets like Atkins and South Beach don't work. Friend, if you actually looked at the diet that has caused you to lose so much weight you would realize that you have actually been on the South Beach all this time. What a lot of people don't realize is that bad carbs are found only in preserved, processed foods, the kind you can nuke or just heat up. The carbs in these products are starchy and floury (sp?) and have no nutritional value, but they make the food "hearty".
These foods, and those that have ridiculous amounts of sugar are the ONLY foods on the South Beach diet no-no list.
I've been on this diet for years; I'm trim and I'm happy and do not feel deprived; I eat pasta (whole grain), I just don't eat Prego or Ragu with it. I eat sushi, sashimi better than rolls, and I'll even eat the occasional In N' Out burger, but without the fries (fries are not real potatoes...have you ever tried to cut a potato into that shape and deep fry it? It doesn't come out looking like a typical french fry). But fruits and vegetables are the staple of my diet.
Anyway, my point is, Americans are fat because they eat too much processed food and processed food is the number one carb-culprit. The low-carb diet is not a fad, its a healthy life-style and should be heralded as such.
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Revelation at the Drive-Thru
I went to Wendys this weekend because I (used to) think that their burgers 'n' fries are a cut above the rest. I ordered a burger with medium fries and a medium coke. What I got was a burger, medium fries (cold) and a 32 ounce soda! Medium! I double checked the menu and yes indeed Wendy's "medium" soda is exactly the same size as the soda they used to call the "Biggie". The large is I think 48oz, and the new "Biggie" is somewhere up around 64oz. There is no 16oz soda on their menu, and of course there is no "small". I drank less than 1/4 of it (8oz, which is usually all the soda I ever drink, on the rare occasions that I drink it at all.) There is probably a "kiddie" soda, but I didn't order it since it never occurred to me that a "medium" would be 2x the size of what a medium was the last time I ate there (about a year ago.)
I was disgusted, and it solidified my desire to get my MS in Nutrition and Food Policy.
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Where Did You Grow Up, Al?
Mayberry, RFD? Newport, Rhode Island?
At any rate, it was obviously someplace where everyone was a WASP. There were plenty of fat people in Brooklyn, NY where my parents and grandparents grew up and they were surrounded by Jews, Italians, blacks, Puerto Ricans, etc. And there were plenty of urban environments all over the country that were similar.
Sorry everyone can't have your superior Anglo-Saxon genetics and breeding and impeccable sense of self-control. Must be hard for you to live in the world as a saint where there are so many imperfect people.
And I'm truly sorry I won't shoot myself in the head so you won't have to look at me anymore. Don't want to get my mom upset and all that.
As for smaller plates leading to weight loss, YMMV. I've been eating off tiny plates for years and not having seconds, and boosting my exercise, and cutting out HFCS, etc., and my weight hasn't budged.