It’s Five-Things-Wednesday …
Regular readers know I’m a veteran of the diet wars. Along the way I’ve picked up some nuggets of wisdom from which I’m now able to piece together reasonable nutritional advice (for myself). Here are five sources I recommend … but remember, nothing you read (except this blog) is necessarily entirely correct, honorable and true. Not all good advice applies to all people. Use these resources, but read them all with a critical eye and an experimental mind.
1.) MichaelPollan.com. Yeah, I know, broken record on my part. Go read his stuff.
2.) The South Beach Diet. In case I wasn’t clear enough above, I’ll say it a different way: Do not start the South Beach Diet. Do, however, read the book and learn about things like the glycemic index and how different foods affect the way your body works. It’s a quick read and it can lead you to other resources you may find helpful. I should add that when I was “on” the South Beach Diet about seven years ago, I was amazed at the rapid results, dismayed by the (high) cost eating that way and always hungry. And when I went “off” said diet I gained what I’d lost (and more) almost as quickly as I lost it. I suppose if you are able to employ a personal chef and shopper and are not encumbered with a job or a desire for bread, it might work long-term.
3.) The End of Overeating. You may have missed my recent post on this. Go here and read all about it.
4.) Dead Weight. This infographic from the fine people at good.is works as a nice motivator for me. It reminds me that, no, a second helping of pecan pie isn’t worth the cardiac arrest it might eventually induce. I don’t always remember, but I’m doing a better job. Let me disclaim here, however, as I’ve done in other posts, that the BMI is just a tool, and that like all other tools it should be used in context. Used as a blunt instrument and applied to everything health-related, it’s as helpful as a ball-peen hammer in a nanotech lab.
5.) Common Sense. No, not the Tom Paine pamphlet (although it wouldn’t hurt you to go read that as soon as you finish reading this post). There is no end of good and bad information available to me on the internets, from well-meaning friends, from Big Ag, from Big Pharma, etc., about what is healthy and what is not. It’s my responsibility to consider as much of that information as I can, critically, and within context. What’s in the food I’m putting in my belly? How does that food make me feel? How does my body use it? Does my body reject it or is it of value to me? I inherited some genes that make food stick to my ribs (tenaciously), but my body is my responsibility. I’m obliged to use my portion of good sense to keep it in working order.
Skipping Dessert 