It's not all our ancestors fault. Or the mountain lions. Or the Wooly Mammoths.
Some times its our childhood influences.
I ate lunch at Moe's this afternoon by myself. There were parents across the way from me with two small children. The little girl who was their daughter, maybe 4 years old, was looking everywhere but her plate. The mother is yelling at her to hurry up and eat. The father is telling her that there is so much food on her plate and it's a waste not to eat it.
Talk about mixed signals. Essentially they are telling her- Eat fast and eat a lot.
Amazing. Simply amazing.
Showing posts with label Weight Loss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weight Loss. Show all posts
Saturday, March 24, 2007
The Mystery of Weight Loss Part 2
One of the problems with losing weight has to do with Wooly Mammoths.
Our stomachs and our brains are disconnected by about 20 minutes. It's a lot like the time delays that they use for callers on radio talk shows. We can stuff 2000 calories down our throats in 10 minutes, and our stomachs will still tell our brains- FEED US MORE.
This is a design that is left over from 20000 years ago when food when food wasn't sitting on a shelf waiting to be eaten like it is today. You might not eat a full meal every day (in those days it was probably some hairy beast that you killed every week or so).
What happened was our stomachs disconnected from our brains so that our bodies made us overeat. That way we would have extra calories that we would store in our bodies, not at the super market- I don't know why it is 20 minutes. Maybe that is the time it takes for a mountain lion to catch the scent of a fresh kill? Eat quick otherwise it's gone- or you maybe you'll be gone too!
Anyway, this mechanism enabled us to go a few more days until the next Wooly Mammoth accidentally fell onto our spears.
Problem is there is too much food and too little time in our busy hectic lives. Our prehistoric bodies aren't meant for all this abundance. We are eating the equivalent of a Wooly Mammoth every day.
Thus one of the primary reasons why Europeans are skinnier than us-
They eat SLOWLY. They might take an hour to eat lunch. Smaller portions, slower eating.
Shhh....That is the primary key to losing weight. The food companies and restaurants don't want you to know that. They want you to eat more, faster- They have figured out exactly how many calories that you need to eat and if it was up to them they would have you to eat more- They are in existance to make a profit.
They really, really don't want you to eat less and slower.
Remember that and get ready to fight them. Your weapons are your fork and spoon (and of course your mouth)!
Think 20 minutes- Make yourself a meal, or when you eat at a restaurant and make sure you taste your food. Your mom was right when she said, "don't bolt your food!"
I hate it when she is (was) right!
Also, at a restuarant, tell them to keep the bread basket away from you. Offer it to the next table. The tortilla chips as well. When they bring them out, you will eat every one of those pieces of bread or corn chips. Your prehistoric brain won't be able to stop you. You will eat them quickly and your stomach won't know it until it is too late. Then you will be stuffed, uncomfortable and feel like crap.
That's what happens at Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and Fourth of July (Labor Day, Memorial Day, you Birthday, Vacation, and so on).
More on visual cues on the next section- There are some sneaky things going on that you need to know.
Our stomachs and our brains are disconnected by about 20 minutes. It's a lot like the time delays that they use for callers on radio talk shows. We can stuff 2000 calories down our throats in 10 minutes, and our stomachs will still tell our brains- FEED US MORE.
This is a design that is left over from 20000 years ago when food when food wasn't sitting on a shelf waiting to be eaten like it is today. You might not eat a full meal every day (in those days it was probably some hairy beast that you killed every week or so).
What happened was our stomachs disconnected from our brains so that our bodies made us overeat. That way we would have extra calories that we would store in our bodies, not at the super market- I don't know why it is 20 minutes. Maybe that is the time it takes for a mountain lion to catch the scent of a fresh kill? Eat quick otherwise it's gone- or you maybe you'll be gone too!
Anyway, this mechanism enabled us to go a few more days until the next Wooly Mammoth accidentally fell onto our spears.
Problem is there is too much food and too little time in our busy hectic lives. Our prehistoric bodies aren't meant for all this abundance. We are eating the equivalent of a Wooly Mammoth every day.
Thus one of the primary reasons why Europeans are skinnier than us-
They eat SLOWLY. They might take an hour to eat lunch. Smaller portions, slower eating.
Shhh....That is the primary key to losing weight. The food companies and restaurants don't want you to know that. They want you to eat more, faster- They have figured out exactly how many calories that you need to eat and if it was up to them they would have you to eat more- They are in existance to make a profit.
They really, really don't want you to eat less and slower.
Remember that and get ready to fight them. Your weapons are your fork and spoon (and of course your mouth)!
Think 20 minutes- Make yourself a meal, or when you eat at a restaurant and make sure you taste your food. Your mom was right when she said, "don't bolt your food!"
I hate it when she is (was) right!
Also, at a restuarant, tell them to keep the bread basket away from you. Offer it to the next table. The tortilla chips as well. When they bring them out, you will eat every one of those pieces of bread or corn chips. Your prehistoric brain won't be able to stop you. You will eat them quickly and your stomach won't know it until it is too late. Then you will be stuffed, uncomfortable and feel like crap.
That's what happens at Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and Fourth of July (Labor Day, Memorial Day, you Birthday, Vacation, and so on).
More on visual cues on the next section- There are some sneaky things going on that you need to know.
Monday, March 19, 2007
The Mystery of Weight Loss Part 1
It seems a mystery to people- why do they gain weight? There is an entire Pandora's Box of emotions mixed up with it- Anger, guilt, love, self hate, need- all mixed into the elemental need to eat food. We forget in the mix that eating has the same priority as breathing air.
Without it we die.
About two weeks ago, I had an associate call me up and ask me how to lose weight. I gave him a somewhat complicated answer, one I am sure he was not looking for. I modified an excel spreadsheet that I use and emailed it to him.
We haven't talked about it since.
I know how to lose weight. It's taken me close to fifty years to "get" it, but now I do. From the outside, it seems ridiculously simple, reduce intake- increase output.
Push/Pull-
Ying and Yang.
But it's not. There are a lot of really scary forces at work here. Here is one of secrets to the mystery of weight loss-
Know what you are eating. Most people don't want to know- If we ask too many questions about that hamburger, diet coke or those fries, well we might find out some really uncomfortable facts. It's not the fat or the carbs that are keeping you fat with a meal like that, it's what is in the meal that is keeping you fat. It's the journey of how that meal got to your mouth that is important.
That hamburger isn't just one cow, but hundreds of cows that are mixed together in the big grinder, cows that have been fed during their short lives antibiotics, growth hormones and liqufied corn fats.
The fries have been fried in beef fat or worse, some sort of acetate that tastes like beef fat- that isn't even a food. It's something else that comes from a lab.
That diet coke has chemicals that are not meant for human consumption. The molecular breakdown of diet coke is closer to embalming fluid than it is to a food. The irony is that drinking the stuff will make it harder for you to lose weight.
If you know what you are eating, chances are you will make a different selection. Try and eat stuff that you can identify where it comes from- It's a challenge because there is a lot of money between you and the people who make the food that says you will never know what you are eating. I will be talking more about this later on- I will try and write it down in small bits, because it is a huge subject, but an important one.
Without it we die.
About two weeks ago, I had an associate call me up and ask me how to lose weight. I gave him a somewhat complicated answer, one I am sure he was not looking for. I modified an excel spreadsheet that I use and emailed it to him.
We haven't talked about it since.
I know how to lose weight. It's taken me close to fifty years to "get" it, but now I do. From the outside, it seems ridiculously simple, reduce intake- increase output.
Push/Pull-
Ying and Yang.
But it's not. There are a lot of really scary forces at work here. Here is one of secrets to the mystery of weight loss-
Know what you are eating. Most people don't want to know- If we ask too many questions about that hamburger, diet coke or those fries, well we might find out some really uncomfortable facts. It's not the fat or the carbs that are keeping you fat with a meal like that, it's what is in the meal that is keeping you fat. It's the journey of how that meal got to your mouth that is important.
That hamburger isn't just one cow, but hundreds of cows that are mixed together in the big grinder, cows that have been fed during their short lives antibiotics, growth hormones and liqufied corn fats.
The fries have been fried in beef fat or worse, some sort of acetate that tastes like beef fat- that isn't even a food. It's something else that comes from a lab.
That diet coke has chemicals that are not meant for human consumption. The molecular breakdown of diet coke is closer to embalming fluid than it is to a food. The irony is that drinking the stuff will make it harder for you to lose weight.
If you know what you are eating, chances are you will make a different selection. Try and eat stuff that you can identify where it comes from- It's a challenge because there is a lot of money between you and the people who make the food that says you will never know what you are eating. I will be talking more about this later on- I will try and write it down in small bits, because it is a huge subject, but an important one.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Why I hate Vegans
Vegans are smug.
Vegans are elitist.
They are strange, skinny and almost always tree hugging flakes that float on the edges of society. They wear PETA shirts. They all get together and have pot lucks and yammer on about how evil the meat and fashion industries are. They don't wear leather shoes, or belts. They like hemp. They like hemp a lot (smoke it, wear it?).
They don't eat honey. They smell like incense.
Question: Would you rather sit next to a Vegan or an Insurance salesman on a 5 hour flight from LA to Boston?
Don't answer.
Then why did I chose to be part of a club that I had no intension of ever joining. I could blame Chris Martin of Coldplay. I saw him a couple of years ago in concert- all hopping around and Energizer bunny like- and yes he is a Vegan. I could blame Thom Yorke of Radiohead, he's one too. I could blame National Geographic and that stupid article about longevity that they published a couple of years ago (almost all the people who lived over a 100 didnt eat meat).
Instead, I will blame my right hand.
About two years ago, I found that I was having trouble closing my right hand. It hurt. Not a little, but a lot. I didnt know if it was arthritis or not. I never went to the doctor to ask. I was worried that he would put me on drugs that I didn't want.
There were also other problems besides that- I weighed about 255lbs, which was great! I was down from an all time high of 280lbs. But I had hit a plateau, no matter what I did, I couldn't get any lower than that.
I also felt like crap. Because I felt like crap- I was crabby too. Funny how that works.
So in November of 2005 after a blood test that showed my blood sugar rising- I made a commitment to lose that extra weight. I read on the internet how people that didn't eat dairy products, had less of an incidence of arthritis. Between Chris, Thom, National Geographic, the internet and my right hand I said- Fuck it.
I'll try this meatless thing.
A year and a half later- No pain in my hand (that cleared up in about two weeks after I quit all meat products). Blood sugar dropped. Lost 38 lbs. Didn't feel like crap anymore. I am told that I am more fun to be around.
All because I stopped eating meat and meat by products.
It's a simple thing, but something that is evokes the strangest reactions from people. It's like I am so odd that I don't eat meat. Why? What difference does it make, if I dont want to eat something that had a hoof or a claw? Why should it matter to anyone other than me?
Only after making the change, did I realize some of the other things- Like about how the meat industry is riddled with diseased animals that the USDA is letting through the system. About the amount of hormonal supplements that is in dairy which is making 10-11 year old girls reach puberty. There is also a chemical in meat that is addictive as well. It's similar to coffee and nicotine.
There is a whole catalog of reasons why eating meat and meat byproducts is bad for you. You know it is- deep down inside- but you eat it anyway.
Cause you like the taste.
Read Michael Pollens "Omnivores Dilemma" for a clear and reasonable take on the whole issue of Industrialized Food. Its not propaganda, he isn't a vegetarian or a vegan, just a good writer. He tries to explain where our food comes from, which is a hard thing to do.
All I know is that for someone my age, I don't ever have indigestion- I am more flexible and in better shape than a lot of people I know. I have more enthusiasm about life, and I have a general sense of well being than I have ever had before.
So I am being smug and elitist. Comes with the territory. But I am not a fanantic about it- that is my saving grace.
In my closet, I have to admit, that I have a PETA shirt too- However it's a little different than most of the PETA stuff out there- No sad eyed baby seals. No rabbits with burning eyes
The shirt says:
People for the
Eating of
Tasty
Animals
I hate Vegans- I need to find another name for it though since I am one.
Any suggestions?
Vegans are elitist.
They are strange, skinny and almost always tree hugging flakes that float on the edges of society. They wear PETA shirts. They all get together and have pot lucks and yammer on about how evil the meat and fashion industries are. They don't wear leather shoes, or belts. They like hemp. They like hemp a lot (smoke it, wear it?).
They don't eat honey. They smell like incense.
Question: Would you rather sit next to a Vegan or an Insurance salesman on a 5 hour flight from LA to Boston?
Don't answer.
Then why did I chose to be part of a club that I had no intension of ever joining. I could blame Chris Martin of Coldplay. I saw him a couple of years ago in concert- all hopping around and Energizer bunny like- and yes he is a Vegan. I could blame Thom Yorke of Radiohead, he's one too. I could blame National Geographic and that stupid article about longevity that they published a couple of years ago (almost all the people who lived over a 100 didnt eat meat).
Instead, I will blame my right hand.
About two years ago, I found that I was having trouble closing my right hand. It hurt. Not a little, but a lot. I didnt know if it was arthritis or not. I never went to the doctor to ask. I was worried that he would put me on drugs that I didn't want.
There were also other problems besides that- I weighed about 255lbs, which was great! I was down from an all time high of 280lbs. But I had hit a plateau, no matter what I did, I couldn't get any lower than that.
I also felt like crap. Because I felt like crap- I was crabby too. Funny how that works.
So in November of 2005 after a blood test that showed my blood sugar rising- I made a commitment to lose that extra weight. I read on the internet how people that didn't eat dairy products, had less of an incidence of arthritis. Between Chris, Thom, National Geographic, the internet and my right hand I said- Fuck it.
I'll try this meatless thing.
A year and a half later- No pain in my hand (that cleared up in about two weeks after I quit all meat products). Blood sugar dropped. Lost 38 lbs. Didn't feel like crap anymore. I am told that I am more fun to be around.
All because I stopped eating meat and meat by products.
It's a simple thing, but something that is evokes the strangest reactions from people. It's like I am so odd that I don't eat meat. Why? What difference does it make, if I dont want to eat something that had a hoof or a claw? Why should it matter to anyone other than me?
Only after making the change, did I realize some of the other things- Like about how the meat industry is riddled with diseased animals that the USDA is letting through the system. About the amount of hormonal supplements that is in dairy which is making 10-11 year old girls reach puberty. There is also a chemical in meat that is addictive as well. It's similar to coffee and nicotine.
There is a whole catalog of reasons why eating meat and meat byproducts is bad for you. You know it is- deep down inside- but you eat it anyway.
Cause you like the taste.
Read Michael Pollens "Omnivores Dilemma" for a clear and reasonable take on the whole issue of Industrialized Food. Its not propaganda, he isn't a vegetarian or a vegan, just a good writer. He tries to explain where our food comes from, which is a hard thing to do.
All I know is that for someone my age, I don't ever have indigestion- I am more flexible and in better shape than a lot of people I know. I have more enthusiasm about life, and I have a general sense of well being than I have ever had before.
So I am being smug and elitist. Comes with the territory. But I am not a fanantic about it- that is my saving grace.
In my closet, I have to admit, that I have a PETA shirt too- However it's a little different than most of the PETA stuff out there- No sad eyed baby seals. No rabbits with burning eyes
The shirt says:
People for the
Eating of
Tasty
Animals
I hate Vegans- I need to find another name for it though since I am one.
Any suggestions?
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