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<p>I am not on a low carb diet, but I am not fat (waist/height = 45%).</p>
<p>Right, but there are a lot of people who do get fat, even when trying to limit their calories or exercising. Genetics obviously play a huge role, but genetics can’t explain the skyrocketing obesity rates in the last 20 years.</p>
<p>The basic theory is that some of us are genetically pre-disposed to carb/insulin fat storage issues and those of us who are predisposed trigger the whole thing by consuming simple carbs. For those people so genetically pre-disposed, cutting the consumption of simple carbs is essential to stop storing fat, start burning other fuels, and break the cycle of blood sugar/insulin/craving. None of this is groundbreaking stuff. The role of insulin as the hormone that controls fat storage has been well understood for decades.</p>
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<p>I am still a big believer that what our society has done to our physical education programs is a large reason for our major issues with obesity and health in general. Many states have eliminated PE as a requirement in public schools and others have allowed “online PE.” There are plenty of issues with PE, but I believe much of it stems from the lack of support it receives in society and in education.</p>
<p>I think that it’s stress levels of modern society too.</p>
<p>idad, I read the Taubes a couple of years ago and it completely upended many of my assumptions about weight, food, exercise, not to mention conventional wisdom about heart disease and how that “wisdom” has been perpetuated by doctors and professional organizations. One of the most fascinating parts of the book for me was the history of health misinformation. It has certainly made me more skeptical about much of what I hear in terms of health recommendations. </p>
<p>My H does some work in obesity research, and he often says that it’s the “calories in, calories out” assumption that is misdirecting the whole public health campaign against obesity. If it was only that simple…</p>
<p>My own problem is that having read the Taubes book has not given me the discipline to follow the dietary guidelines that I KNOW i should. I do eat mostly complex carbs, in the form of grains, not bread or pasta, but I’ve been on a sugar binge lately. Aargh!</p>
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<p>However, many people’s idea of “exercise” is very minimal. You have probably seen people who regularly go to the gym and have done so for months – but are still doing beginner level stereotypical workouts like 20 minutes of walking on the treadmill or elliptical, using the weight machines at the lightest possible weight, a bunch of crunches in an attempt to “spot reduce” abdominal body fat.</p>
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<p>Are you stalking me at the gym?</p>
<p>^ And many people’s idea of portion size is incorrect. </p>
<p>And some people don’t count calories consumed while standing, or at the office snack area. Seriously. When I hear people say “I shouldn’t eat this, but…” or “I should just apply this directly to my hips” I know that they know they shouldn’t be eating the donut or brownie or whatever. But it’s there, and they do.</p>
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<p>But I’m pretty sure that was on the nutrition label of the nacho cheese doritos I ate while standing in the kitchen last night: Calories While Standing … 0</p>
<p>LOL. My DH is guilty. He will avoid the chips on the party table when he’s filling his plate, but later I find him standing by the table, chatting, with his hand in the bowl. Busted! Maybe he thinks the calories don’t count if DW doesn’t see him? :D</p>
<p>Bottom line: We are responsible for what we put in our mouths. I don’t claim to be a perfect eater, but I will do this: If I know I’m going out for pizza at dinner, I will have a small, veg & fruit-hearty lunch. And if I have pizza for lunch, I don’t have mac and cheese for dinner. I know it’s a different name, but it’s still bread and cheese, bread and cheese…</p>
<p>I’m open to the possibility that Tauber is correct. I know from smoking cessation groups that people who try to use “willpower” to stop smoking without breaking the active nicotine addiction suffer immensely and almost always fail. Fighting the physiology of the addiciton is like swimming against a strong current. If the carbs/blood sugar/insulin cycle is creating a similarly strong current, then it is going to be very hard to force yourself to eat less. Just as getting nicotine out of your system gives you a fighting chance to work on the psychological cravings for cigarettes, it could well be that breaking this carbs/insulin cycle gives you a fighting chance to “eat less”.</p>
<p>Or maybe half of the American public is simply incorrigibly slothful and gluttonous. :)</p>
<p>And, speaking of incorrigibly slothful, I finally got a little workout today after missing three days in a row (although I have been lifting some heavy stuff). Made it out for a little walk on a 45 degree sunny day. Kinda stiff and tight, especially in the back and shoulders, but felt good to get a little fresh air and exercise.</p>
<p>I’m hopin to get a New Rules workout tomorrow, but with painters and carpenters crawling all over the house, we’ll see. I was going to do a 7 day trial membership at the fancy gym nearby, but I’m so sore from moving furniture and carrying stuff up and down stairs that I couldn’t workout anyway! </p>
<p>The Airdyne is buried under drop cloths, but I can get to the dumbbells for swings and burpees if it comes to that. If not, missing a few workouts probably won’t kill me. I’ve been hitting it pretty hard for the last 2.5 months.</p>
<p>Ran 3.25 miles and worked on the weights. Did 10x135 + 6x140. I suspect that I could do 150 with some effort but I think that I’ll stick around 135-140 for a while doing a bit more in the way of sets. I actually felt pretty crappy today - worked until 3:00 AM and then went to the office around 9:45. I didn’t feel like working out but went anyways after picking up another pair of tech shorts. Felt really good after the shower.</p>
<p>I now have four pairs of tech shorts that I can workout in. Ideally I would have six so that I could do them all in one wash on the weekend. For now, I’ll either have to hand wash one or two or just use my cotton shirts. My cotton shorts use up a ton of space in my dresser and I’d like to reclaim that space. The tech shorts take up about one-third of the volume of the cotton shorts.</p>
<p>I’m on the prowl for shorts, but other than the full retail Nike running shorts at Dick’s Sporting Goods, I haven’t seen anything I would wear. It’s all below the knee Lebron James basketball shorts. I’ll keep those in mind the next time somebody calls and wants me to star in a hip-hop video.</p>
<p>Those things just look stupid on an ol’ geezer like me.</p>
<p>idad, check ebay. Also, is there a Hibbetts Sports in the area? They have their own brand shorts for like $13 and normally buy one, get one half off or something… Their mesh shorts with pockets I believe…</p>
<p>I picked up a pair of 7 inch Nike Shorts. With the BodyGlide, I can probably go down to the five inch shorts. The shorts without pockets are nice but I need a place for my iPod.</p>
<p>As far as brands go, I think that Asics is the nicest in terms of lightness of material and the sizes that I’m interested. They are also the most expensive by a wide margin.</p>
<p>The Lebron James basketball shorts are quite inexpensive - no problem getting a deal on those.</p>
<p>I’ve been ignoring promotions from the online places - maybe I should pay closer attention. You should take a look at Asics - maybe not to buy but to get an idea of what you might want.</p>
<p>Oh, Missypie! Where can I buy that brand??? LOL</p>
<p>Frankly, I don’t think nacho cheese doritos taste very good - but if someone brings a bag into my house I can eat the whole darn thing. Or until I feel a little sick. There must be some strangely addictive ingredient in those things.</p>
<p>I used to be able to plow through a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. I haven’t tasted one in over a year, so I don’t know how I would do now. Corn chips are the devil’s spawn! That’s just a place I can’t go, now. It’s probably been close to a year since I’ve had a Pringles or any other kind of potato chip. Over a year on french fries, too. I did make onion rings a month or so ago and I have had some oven baked frozen sweet potato fries, but only a few times. I don’t really like them that much.</p>
<p>On shorts… I’m not desperate yet. I bought three pair of nice addidas running shorts – 7 in inseam – last fall. They were a little tight then, stylishly baggy now. I haven’t even taken the tags off one pair. And, I got a couple of pair of North Face volley ball shorts that are good all-purpose shorts – suitable for walking or even wearing out in public. The three pair of Nike volley shorts that got me through last summer were always on the small side and are now too big, but wearable. If Marshall’s or TJs puts out a rack of those again this spring, I’ll scarf up several pair of those.</p>
<p>Everyone makes what I’m looking for: Nike, North Face, Speedo, LL Bean, Columbia. They are basically like cargo shorts or all-purpose water shorts, but in a lightweight microfiber tech fabric. Pockets front and back with a mesh liner. I just don’t want to pay $40 a pair. I’ll be patient. The North Face version is like $65 and I found two pair for $15 each.</p>
<p>I’ll wear the Brooks lightweight running pants a lot this spring. They’ve been my workout pants all winter and I’m comfortable in those up into the 60 degree range. I didn’t have anything like that last year.</p>
<p>BTW, I’m just crippled up from my walk. If I could find the foam roller under all the drop cloths, I’d probably use it.</p>
<p>Oh, wait… maybe it was the full car (trunk full, back seat and floor full, front seat and floor full) load that I took to recycling and had to carry from the locked gate at the town dump to the paper recycling dumpster, box by box by box.</p>
<p>Had an abbreviated workout tonight 
We got kicked out of the gym at the beginning of our WOD. My partner was ticked off. We did some strength work to start with and then had started the WOD. Our strength work tonight consisted of 3 supersets of Front Squats x5 and Bulgarian Split Squats x10 per leg. 2 minute rest between sets. For front squat I did 135# and I used 35# dumbbells for the split squats. </p>
<p>That was HARD! It was a first time for both exercises for me. </p>
<p>Good news tonight is that our new equipment arrived today! 
We got 1 kettlebell at 20, 30, and 40 pounds. I believe we have a couple of smaller ones on backorder as well. Also, we got a “Sport Cord” in that will be used for rehab with our athletes, but it may find its way into our workouts as well…</p>