<p>Ugh!! Just back from the gym – really not feeling the love today. Must have caught the mid-week slump that’s running through this thread. 
And, to paraphrase MOWC: running is stupid; some days more than others.</p>
<p>I haven’t had pop or soda as some of you call it for over 30 years. Never had coffee or tea, either. I have juice once in a while when I have a mixed drink. 
Never had a sports drink. My weight gain was strictly from bread/pasta carbs. I am not a sweet eater usually. I drink water and wine. I must get HFCS in things that I don’t pay attention to.</p>
<p>Was up most of the night. I am fighting something. No workout today as I struggle to get some strength to take a shower. Maybe I should try to nap and then workout later.</p>
<p>You’re fortunate - sweet drinks can be addictive.</p>
<p>I’ve been getting a ton of sleep lately. No coughing today which is good. I’m leaving to play tennis in ten minutes.</p>
<p>I linked the UCSF med school lecture from Dr. Robert Lustig (the fructose nazi) up above, but have come across a podcast interview he did with a low carb diet site. He’ is not a low-carb advocate, as he explains later in the interview, but he is an expert on the role of insulin and other hormones on obesity (he’s a neuro-endicrinologist). </p>
<p>The first 15 minutes of this MP3 interview are maybe the most jaw-dropping explanation of obesity and weight gain I’ve encounterd – and I’ve read a lot.</p>
<p>[Episode</a> 378: Dr. Robert Lustig From ‘Sugar: The Bitter Truth’ Explains Why You Don’t Need To Be On A Low-Carb Diet](<a href=“http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/‘livin’-la-vida-low-carb-show’-episode-378-dr-robert-lustig-from-sugar-the-bitter-truth-explains-why-you-dont-need-to-be-on-a-low-carb-diet/8474]Episode”>Home - Tasty & Healthy Recipes)</p>
<p>Lustig stumbled into this field while working at St. Jude’s Childrens Hospital. He was studying kids who had successful brain tumor treatment and then started getting more and more obese. What he figured out was that the brain tumor/treatment/surgery had wiped out the connection that recieves signals from the hormone leptin (produced by fat cells to tell the brain, “I’ve got extra fuel; stop eating more…”)</p>
<p>Insulin blocks leptin sensistivity so he did a clinical trial injecting these kids with a drug that lowers insulin. As he expected, they began to eat less and lose weight. What shocked him, though, was that many of the kids spontaneously began exercising. So, changing their bio-chemistry changed the behaviors (eating too much and moving too little). Yes, they were obese because they were “gluttonous” and “slothful”, but not because they chose to be. He went on to do three more trials with obese kids and adults and got the same results.</p>
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<p>He explains the mechanism brilliantly. Start with a healthy, normal weight person in perfect balance. They eat 2000 calories a day and burn 2000 calories a day. They maintain steady weight. They feel good. They exercise. Some of the calories they burn get stored as fat during higher insulin cycles after eating, but that is the perfect amount to burn during the night when they aren’t eating and insulin is low. Perfect balance.</p>
<p>Now, hook them up to an insulin pump that injects them with extra insulin whenever they eat. The insulin is now sending 500 calories to fat each day, more than they can burn during the night. So, right off the bat they start getting fat. But, it gets worse. They now only have 1500 calories available as daily fuel, down from the 2000 they need. They have fuel in the fat cells, but he elevated insulin is keeping them from getting to it. So, even though they are gaining fat, they are also semi-starved. So, they slow down. Sit on the couch more instead of exercising. And, they eat more. If they eat 500 calories more to offset what the excess insulin is locking away in fat, you’ve just taken a perfectly balanced normal-weight person, slowed their metabolism, and increased their daily food intake from 2000 to 2500 calories a day. What has to happen? The become “slothful” and “gluttonous” and gain weight.</p>
<p>Lustig is convinced that insulin-resistance, which makes the body produce extra insulin, is the driving force in obesity. That change in bio chemisty tilts the balance towards fat storage and forces the person to eat more and move less. He believes that fructose consumption is the change in our diets that is responsible for insulin resistance and, therefore, the increase in obesity.</p>
<p>I think this will get traction in official health policy. Just like eating fat was an easy villain (“ooh, eating bacon, gross…”), sugar is a perfect villian because “everyone” knows that it’s “bad” to eat candy and drink soda. The new dogma will be don’t eat fat, don’t eat sugar, don’t drink anything sweet, don’t eat deserts, don’t eat candy. The perfect war on dietary evil!</p>
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<p>The reason that he is not strictly a “low carb” guy is that he doesn’t know if low carb diets work (and he knows they do) because of low overall carbs or because a low carb diet automatically reduces fructose consumption. In other words, without the fructose, the other carbs – pasta, grains, etc. – may not be an issue for many of us. They break down to glucose which behaves very differently than fructose. Ditch the fructose and then each individual will have some level of carb consumption they can tolerate, which might be fairly high for one person and fairly low for another. So his simple advice is stop drinking all sweetened drinks period, cut the consumption of sugar and high fructose corn syrup to the extent that you have control over it (it’s in virtually every prepared food), and eat carbs that are high in fiber (veggies, fruits, beans).</p>
<p>Hmmm… I guess “bonking” has acquired a different meaning these days. R-e-a-l-l-y different. Wonder when that happened?</p>
<p>There was a feature article in yesterday’s (or maybe Tuesday’s) Wall Street Journal about the office candy jar. I’m too busy to look for it online, but it is a great read and will motivate you to STAY AWAY!!!</p>
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<p>Low carb diets work (if the dieter follows the diet, which is the key to any diet) because of calorie reduction. Your postings indicate low daily calorie consumption. It is not hard to see why. Most carb foods are like sponges for fat – it is a lot easier to consume a lot of calories when combining carbs with fat than with either (non-sugar/liquid) carbs alone or fat alone.</p>
<p>Yes. Successful weight loss is all about finding a way to permanently change to a diet with lower calorie intake than the level of calorie consumption that made you fat. The change has to be permanent and sustainable which means that it has to satisfying (both in quantity and taste) and that it has to address any physiological underpinnings (such as insulin resistance) that were setting favorable conditions for fat gain.</p>
<p>The sustainable part is what makes it challenging. For example, you can cut calories for a while with a low fat/high carb diet and will probably lose weight. However, the difficulty in getting adequate protein with high fat foods (meat, cheese, eggs, etc.) off the table may ultimately undermine the efforts by making it difficult to build or maintain lean muscle. I think this undermines a lot of people trying to “eat healthy” with a shopping basket full of “low fat” foods. I think this is why the Cosgroves sometimes find themselves having to convince female clients to eat more to shed fat and get leaner.</p>
<p>There’s no question that I cut my calories by reducing my carb intake. It’s really the only signficant change I made in my diet. I eat exactly the same way I’ve eaten for years, just without a big slice of the carbs I used to eat – most of which (sweet drinks, candy, chips, pretzels, etc.) were pure junk calories.</p>
<p>i-dad, I would not call eggs “high fat, low protein”. A hard-boiled egg has more protein than fat by weight (of course, fat is more calorie-rich):</p>
<p>[Hard-boiled</a> Eggs Nutrition Information | LIVESTRONG.COM](<a href=“http://www.livestrong.com/article/67775-hardboiled-eggs-nutrition-information/]Hard-boiled”>Nutrition of Boiled Eggs vs. Fried Eggs | livestrong)</p>
<p>I totally slacked off last night. Went to dinner with DH and his coworkers and ate ice cream for dessert instead of running 6 miles! Guess what I will be doing tonight?</p>
<p>Oh, and here is the WSJ article mentioned by MOfWC:</p>
<p>[The</a> Battle of the Office Candy Jar - WSJ.com](<a href=“The Battle of the Office Candy Jar - WSJ”>The Battle of the Office Candy Jar - WSJ)</p>
<p>Lost 6-2, 6-2 today. I had a lot of trouble moving around because of my knees and my arm wasn’t in great shape and so strokes suffered. I really need a break from tennis. It was still a very good workout though.</p>
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<p>Agree. I would call eggs high fat/high protein. I think the problem people sometimes have with trying to cut high fat foods from their diets is that they also end up cutting out a lot of the protein. It’s a lot easier to eat high protein foods if you aren’t trying to avoid dietary fat. </p>
<p>The office candy jar would kill me. The Halloween candy dish was probably the biggest challenge I’ve faced. I finally had to put it in a bag and haul it off to the polls on election day and dump it all in their candy dish. Those peanut butter cups and red twizzlers are diabolical. They actually call your name!</p>
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<p>Dang, BC. That breaks a very long undefeated streak, doesn’t it? Think of the poor guy that finally beat you, though. He’s probably rounding up the wife and kids for a big celebration dinner tonight! :)</p>
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<p>Actually, there are high protein foods that are low in fat (or low in both fat and carbs). Chicken or turkey breast and many kinds of fish are examples of such foods, as are lean cuts of other meats. Strength athletes and body builders trying to take in more protein without a lot of other (either fat or carb) calories are likely familiar with these kinds of foods.</p>
<p>(A vegetarian would want to eat lentils and beans if s/he is concerned about protein intake.)</p>
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<p>Many of the carb foods like chips or those buttered English muffins you used to eat contain fat baggage, so you cut more calories than just the carbs.</p>
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<p>He told me that I played like crap and asked me what was wrong. I couldn’t move very well. If this guy senses that you can’t move well, he runs you all over the court. Weaknesses are mercilessly exploited. I can tell when he’s having a bad day too.</p>
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<p>Oh, I know all about chicken breast and fish! I’ve had chicken breast three times this week and haddock/baby clams in seafood stew on the docket tonight. After that, you’ve gotta turn to the beef and pork and cheese and stuff from time to time. I eat a lot of pork. Not as much beef because, honestly, I don’t like it enough to consistently pay three times more than pork. I do like to do a pot roast and gnaw on that every once in a while and the occasional steak. With grilling weather, I’ll do seared flank steak with roasted red peppers and vidalia onion, charred on the grill, sliced, and tossed with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Hmmmm. I’m gettin’ hungry!</p>
<p>BC:</p>
<p>I think you probably just hit the wall on too much tennis. The body is pretty good at telling ya when it’s had enough for a few days.</p>
<p>Flank steak is one of our go-to dishes, along with shrimp – both are a lot of flavor for the calorie buck. I wish I could afford fresh clams on a regular basis. Yum.</p>
<p>Boneless, skinless chicken breast, on the other hand, is either dry, lacking in flavor, or cooked with enough fat to add back whatever it was I saved by having it in the first place. I’m finding I much prefer chicken breast on the bone, with skin, even if the skin is taken off before serving – it still seems to have more flavor.</p>
<p>I do boneless, skinless chicken breast if I’m sauteeing it indoors for chicken caesar salad or chicken fajitas or whatever. Or, I’ll do regular breasts outdoors on the grill and either eat them that way or cut the meat off for the salad or whatever. Honestly, if a little chicken breast skin is going to derail my diet, I’m doing something wrong in the first place. </p>
<p>Actually, I’m going to have to break down and do my grandma’s fried chicken one of these days as a special treat. I haven’t had a piece of fried chicken in over a year. With all I’m been reading about vegetable oils, I may break down and fry it the way she always did: in lard! :)</p>
<p>After three days in a row of slinging around heavy weights, today was a nice eacy 5K hilly walk. I didn’t even push the pace. Just enjoyed the nice weather, although it was a bit chillier than it looked at 60 degrees with a brisk wind.</p>
<p>I had to laugh. I stopped at the grocery store and the guy behind me in line caught my eye with The BiGGEST LOSER logo on one his items – a box of multigrain Cheerios! Yeah. Cheerios. That’s the ticket for losing weight! Eat a lot of breakfast cereal. Just makes me roll my eyes. Honey Nut Cheerios were always my poison but I’m sure The BIGGEST LOSER MULTIGRAIN CHEERIOS would do in a pinch with enough sugar sprinkled on them.</p>
<p>Arabrab, I buy the organic chicken breasts at Costco. They taste amazing compared to the cardboard like regular ones.</p>