Weddingbee boards

http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Get-Fat-Borzoi/dp/0307272702

My parents picked this book up during christmas, and have been raving about it ever since. My dad lost 7 lbs in two weeks by following this guys diet. My dad is very skeptical of all things diet but he was impressed with the amount of research and support this guy has for his way of eating.

It sounds a lot like Atkins or the Caveman diet, where you cut out as many carbs as you can and eat mostly lean meats, nuts and cheese. That's right, you can eat all the cheese you want. This book is about how our bodies regulate insulin and how some of us just may not be able to eat certain foods, like breads and pasta. I haven't weighed myself, but I've been sort of trying this diet and I actually feel better. I notice now the days that I eat more bread I get headaches or feel sleepy earlier. But when I have a diet high in fat and protein, I'm energized all day.

Has anyone else read this guys book? What do you think? Once I get a scale I'm really putting this to the test!

The author is an accomplished awarded scientist who has gotten great reviews on both of his books. He actually argues against the moderation argument, because it doesn't necessarily work for everyone. He talks about our hormones, and how insulin and our fat cells make us absorb all the nutrients before they get to the parts of the body that need them, then we're left starving for nutrients and we keep eating.

I have been trying to lose 10 lbs for a year, I've counted calories, I've done kickboxing 5 days a week for 3 months, with no effect. But I am a HUGE carb eater. I love potatoes, pasta, sandwiches, everything. Livestrongs Daily Plate recommended that I starve myself to lose the weight (eating under 1200 calories a day) and when I did that, I STILL saw no effect.

I have heard of the french women book, and I'll check it out, but the sheer amount of research this guy has done to back his theories up is amazing.

@forforever: It is similar to South Beach, I haven't read enough on that to know what the differences are though. Basically you should stay as close to 20 g of carbs a day or less. ANY carbs are bad for you he says, and yea it all depends on the glycemic index. A slice of white bread and a slice of whole wheat have the same glycemic index. A flour tortilla has half the glycemic index of a slice of bread, so it is the better choice if you have carbs.

His Basic theory put succinctly (found on a blog)

• The calories-in/calories-out model is wrong.
• Carbohydrates are the cause of obesity and are also important causes of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and most of the so-called diseases of civilization.
• A low-fat diet is not healthy.
• A low-carb diet is essential both for weight loss and for health.
• Dieters can satisfy their hunger pangs and eat as much as they want and still lose weight as long as they restrict carbohydrates.

@Jenn23: I totally get that, my dad and I were just lamenting about no more bagels :) But I don't think we were meant to eat food this way. Bread doesn't grow on trees, you know? Thats why I referred to the caveman diet. Carbs that don't come from fruit or vegetables aren't healthy and they don't satisfy cravings. I shouldn't be hungry for another slice of bread when I just ingested 26g of carbs from one! But if I eat a slice of turkey, I don't feel like I need to snack any more. I'm going to try and seriously follow this diet for a couple weeks and see what happens. I'll post with a review later if it worked!

@abbyful: I definitely think the food pyramid is horribly outdated! And he does talk about that, we've been trying this for 200 years and we're getting fatter, so something isn't working.

@Entangled: I believe his approach is to start off cutting out everything, and then allow some things back in to see if you can still keep the weight off. He says we all process everything we eat in different ways according to our hormones, so it is about finding a personalized diet.

@abbyful: Heh yea, thats what my fiance calls it. And yep that's what we're trying to do. Eat minimal carbs and stock up on veggies and meats. He also says we can eat as much nuts and cheese as we want (although I am skeptical of the cheese, only because I know how much I love it and I figure it has to be a contributing factor). I do think that if we eat totally natural, instead of manufactured things, that we will be healthier for it.

@NauticalBride2011: I actually experimented with my diet for gluten intolerance, thinking it was affecting my skin. But I didn't see any difference. And I don't get stomach aches after eating, I just notice my energy doesn't last as long - which makes sense since carbs aren't meant for long lasting energy.

@pinkshoes: I don't know the research he's done on rice, but it may be that their hormones are more naturally disposed to rice. It is a staple of their region, and so their bodies expect it. From what I've seen they also eat very small portions, nothing like a typical american diet.

@moderndaisy: Only if bread and pasta were necessary. But they're not. You can get carbs from other places, fruits and vegetables - which are the natural and healthy way to eat in any diet. But then we're adding these processed grains that we manufactured on top of the carbs that we should naturally be eating.

@oracle: Yea exactly - pretty much everything we manufacture is high in carbs. Everything thats baked is processed carbs. And definitely sodium is a huge culprit - I've been trying to cut that down and it amazes me how much salt they put in EVERYTHING. It's impossible!

@oracle: NOT BACON NOOOOOOOO!!!!

@An Alaskan Bride: Well I think that's his point, this isn't a diet. This should be a lifestyle change, if you're willing to make it. Of course I'll have the occasional cupcake if I want one, he doesn't say you absolutely have to meet 20g of carbs or else, he just says that would be ideal. But my dad barely tried and still lost 7 lbs by cutting out his processed carbs, I mean a bagel alone holds all the carbs you could ever need! Our society has become acustomed to all these ridiculous foods - have you seen a breakfast menu lately? IHOP's endless pancakes? Every single breakfast food has TONS of sugar, with powdered sugar on top. Then onto lunch, where you're having a sub with chips, and then dinner where you have potatoes or rice. If we exchanged all of those breads with vegetables, we'd still be getting carbs but less, and healthier. I'm not going on some crazy diet where I starve myself and don't allow myself anything, this "diet" shows that wine is ok, and I love chocolate so I sneak some. All you're supposed to do is have fewer carbs, as few as you can take, thats all.

@Arancia: Yea I have seen both, I saw a nutritionist for 6 weeks and all she ever did was take down what I ate, never told me anything other than "you should eat more fruit". So now I do, but really I felt like she was a waste of time. No thyroid issue, I think its more that I only have to lose 10 lbs, I'm not overweight so I think my body has just found it's happy place and it's not my happy place. I felt great yesterday eating this way though so I'm going to keep it up and see what happens!