Weight: 167.7 (-1.3 pounds!)
Mood & Energy:
Exercise:
Food:
Lately I've been listening to the audio book of Gary Taube's Why We Get Fat. It's an interesting read for anyone who is using a low carbohydrate diet to lose weight because it provides some of the science behind the approach as well as an extensive history of low carbohydrate diets. The Dukan diet is a part of a centuries old French tradition of reduction diets based on meat. It's pretty glamorous to think of this experiment as a 19th century French one:
Taube's book lays out a convincing argument that carbs (and the hormonal processes they trigger) make us fat. While I am not convinced that easily digested carbohydrates are bad for everyone, I know I am a mess when I eat them. In particular, I learned that if I ate them alone (say, a blueberry muffin for breakfast), my entire day would be one of overeating and mood and energy swings. Taube's writes that there is an insulin reaction just from thinking about eating carbohydrate rich foods. This is a little bit terrifying to think about: or rather, its terrifying to think about not thinking about eating these foods. Even just writing about thinking about not thinking about them makes me think about them.
I do know that if I eat a small dessert as a part of a larger and varied meal, I don't have such an intense reaction to the carbs. As well, I learned it is advisable to skip the carbs during the day and eat them in the evening, after my work is done. I did, however, learn from Sunday's feasting that one thing eating carbs (or maybe sugar? grains?) will do -- even if it doesn't make me feel immediately bad -- is swell up my hands, feet, and face! I am still recovering from Sunday's Mother Day feasting and even regretting it a little. In my more skeptical moments, I imagine all I will do in this Attack phase is get back to the weight I was before the holiday.
Taube's book is convincing me that in order to both lose the weight I want to lose and keep it off, I am looking at a life time of carbohydrate restriction. Because it seems a little depressing to think of saying no forever, I am thinking that once I have reached my goal weight the best approach might be to save sugar and grains for special occasions: Birthdays, Weddings, and the holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter -- even Halloween, Valentine's Day, and Mother's Day. If I eat a small amount of these foods on these days, I will probably suffer a little from symptoms, but I can't imagine it would be as damaging as the way of life in which sugar, potatoes, and processed grains are a daily part of my existence.
I'm not the only one who thinks that a lifetime free from the effects of fast-carbs might be the way to go for the long term. This is Marshall Brain's comment from the comment box of an update on his success with the Dukan diet:
Mood & Energy:
Exercise:
Food:
Lately I've been listening to the audio book of Gary Taube's Why We Get Fat. It's an interesting read for anyone who is using a low carbohydrate diet to lose weight because it provides some of the science behind the approach as well as an extensive history of low carbohydrate diets. The Dukan diet is a part of a centuries old French tradition of reduction diets based on meat. It's pretty glamorous to think of this experiment as a 19th century French one:
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| Empress Josephine |
Taube's book lays out a convincing argument that carbs (and the hormonal processes they trigger) make us fat. While I am not convinced that easily digested carbohydrates are bad for everyone, I know I am a mess when I eat them. In particular, I learned that if I ate them alone (say, a blueberry muffin for breakfast), my entire day would be one of overeating and mood and energy swings. Taube's writes that there is an insulin reaction just from thinking about eating carbohydrate rich foods. This is a little bit terrifying to think about: or rather, its terrifying to think about not thinking about eating these foods. Even just writing about thinking about not thinking about them makes me think about them.
I do know that if I eat a small dessert as a part of a larger and varied meal, I don't have such an intense reaction to the carbs. As well, I learned it is advisable to skip the carbs during the day and eat them in the evening, after my work is done. I did, however, learn from Sunday's feasting that one thing eating carbs (or maybe sugar? grains?) will do -- even if it doesn't make me feel immediately bad -- is swell up my hands, feet, and face! I am still recovering from Sunday's Mother Day feasting and even regretting it a little. In my more skeptical moments, I imagine all I will do in this Attack phase is get back to the weight I was before the holiday.
Taube's book is convincing me that in order to both lose the weight I want to lose and keep it off, I am looking at a life time of carbohydrate restriction. Because it seems a little depressing to think of saying no forever, I am thinking that once I have reached my goal weight the best approach might be to save sugar and grains for special occasions: Birthdays, Weddings, and the holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter -- even Halloween, Valentine's Day, and Mother's Day. If I eat a small amount of these foods on these days, I will probably suffer a little from symptoms, but I can't imagine it would be as damaging as the way of life in which sugar, potatoes, and processed grains are a daily part of my existence.
I'm not the only one who thinks that a lifetime free from the effects of fast-carbs might be the way to go for the long term. This is Marshall Brain's comment from the comment box of an update on his success with the Dukan diet:
Get in to Phase 2 of the Dukan diet and promise yourself that, during the rest of your life, you are not going to eat carbs again. Simply stay in Phase 2. This looks like what I am going to end up doing. Every single time I eat carbs, I regret it. Eating any carb-rich food seems to flip a switch in my brain and I end up eating more. No matter how much “conscious” control I try to apply, it doesn’t seem to work very well. I am much better off when I put a big fence around carbs and do not allow them in my life.Right now, of course, I just have to get through the attack phase. I took a walk last night and was so tired (from either the diet or the heat) that I was practically immobile by 8 p.m. When I did the "true weight" calculation on the Dukan site, I did it twice, and once it said to do attack for 3 days, the second time the site recommended a four day attack. I don't know which to do, so this might either be my last day of Attack or my second to last day of it. Frankly, it is too hot around here to be hungry, even for vegetables, and so it is pretty much the perfect time to be going through the most restrictive phase of this diet.
Hi!! I just found your comments. It was well written and I certainly agree with everything you wrote. I'm interested to know if you stuck with it!! I don't see any comments after June 2011.
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