I've mentioned my penchant for diving into diet literature when I head into yet another "shit's getting real" fitness phase--which, following my most recent trip to the doctor, I'm in.
Adhering to the sound advice of my favorite diet philosopher, Richard A. Watkins, I obtain and read whatever diet literature I can get my hands on. It doesn't really matter if the advice contradicts itself; very well, let it. Like Walt Whitman, diet books are large, and contain multitudes.
(Sorry! The above represents yet another attempt to prove that my expensive degrees in English Literature were worth the money.)
Since we last gathered around the virtual campfire that is this blog to listen to me tell stories about being fucking fat and wanting to do something about it, technology has moved on. Of course it has.
[Sidenote: my trainer told me that she parked her six year old son in front of a laptop at her gym so that he could watch YouTube videos while she took care of some business. She came back to find him pushing helplessly at the monitor and claiming that the desktop was broken. And she realized that he didn't know how to use a mouse. Imagine how old that made us feel.]
Anyway.
I've had an Audible.com subscription for ages, and not too long ago they added a feature where you can listen/download a whole bunch of titles for free.
Well, as you can no doubt imagine, the quality of the offerings is all over the place.
I'm sure the overlords at Audible (a subsidiary of Amazon.com, if you didn't know) have figured out a way to CAPITALISM this new benefit of membership into untold wealth, because that's what they do.
Meanwhile, I'm downloading and listening to every single diet/health/longevity title they're offering, no matter how crappy, so pardon me while I try to organize my so-called thoughts, because Nina Teicholz, author of The Big Fat Surprise
is telling me that my protein smoothie contains too much fruit sugar
while Mark Hyman, M.D., author of Young Forever
is assuring me that the phytonutrients in the blueberries and the whey protein are going to make me live forever.
The cacophony is unbearable!
Be quiet, you two. MOMMY IS BLOGGING.
I worked at Weight Watchers for 9 years, following a 50lb weight loss through their program (which is very good). Butter - yes. Our bodies know how to handle 3 ingredients. Margarine - no - too many chemicals. Same goes with cheese (vs. what? there is no substitute!) and meat (vs. highly-processed fake meat, also very salty).
ReplyDeleteFruit sugar is good...if fruit is whole. Once you puree it for a smoothie, your body processes it as a drink vs actual food, and it can lead to overeating because you digest it too quickly. Think about how long it would take you to eat what you put into a smoothie...it's the eating process that helps tell our bodies we're full.
I could talk on this for yonks. Stop me now! :D
Wow, Sheila--fifty pounds! That's three or four dress sizes; no wonder you enjoy your wardrobe so much. You probably felt like the Little Match Girl when you were heavier, always on the outside looking in. I did WW in 2007 and found it very useful, particularly regarding portion sizes. I think most of us have no idea how much we're actually eating. Unfortunately my area was under the sway of one single group leader. She was running the groups in every town in the twenty mile radius, and frankly, she was irritating. So I switched to WW online ... but eventually got tired of tracking. Now I mostly eyeball my portions and keep my vegetable servings bigger than the meat and starch. But I'm taking things slow. My goal for this year is to lose 12 pounds, so I don't have to go crazy cutting stuff out. As for the smoothie, I add a scoop of whey protein and some Greek yogurt to the mix, so I'm getting at least 30 grams of protein. It keeps me full for hours!
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