2012: No flying cars and we're still debating the human diet

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGHHHH!!

Dieticians need to stop MESSING with my HEAD and just settle on what does and does not work dietwise. Calories in calories out works and then it doesn't....some stand by the theory and some don't.

How hard can this be?

How can we possibly be here in 2012 and not have a firm understanding of what makes folks fat and what makes them Not Fat?

How can we could JUST be learning this stuff. We were supposed to have flying cars by now instead of having our scientific minds mired down in trying to figure out how the hell human beings can keep from getting too fat.

Very frustrating.

Here are four myths I read about today in a CBSNews article

• A calorie is a calorie is a calorie
• Calorie counts are always accurate
• Counting calories is the key to weight control
• Cutting 3500 calories equals one pound of weight loss

The last three I don't much care for. I've done pretty well so far counting calories and assuming 3500 calories equals a pound of weight loss. So I'm just going to throw those three out.

But I am trying to track down exactly about this whole business about calories from different foods functioning  differently in the body. Here's what the article wrote:

In the past few years, we've learned a lot more about how our bodies react to identical calorie levels from different foods, and a new Harvard study is further proof.

Another recent study found that saturated fats, like those found in butter, whole milk, and fatty meats, may override the body's natural satiety mechanism (which enables you to feel full), whereas unsaturated fats, from plant sources like olive oil, avocado, and nuts, may enhance satiety, even when the calorie levels don't differ.

A key study from Wake Forest University found that, even at the exact same calorie and fat levels, monkeys fed trans-fats gained four times more weight and 30 percent more belly fat compared to those given meals made with natural, plant-based fats.

And a recent Penn State study found that, over a 12-week period, dieters who consumed whole grains rather than refined grains lost more belly fat, despite the diets otherwise being identical.

All of this means that quality may be more important than quantity when it comes to the fate of the calories you consume.

So there it is.

I've gained some weight

I haven't blogged. I haven't Tweeted. I haven't lost weight since last I wrote.

And worse...I've gained back three pounds.

I'm not back at 220 again, but I'm climbing and that is cause for concern. I need to nip that in the bud. So! How am I going to nip that in the bud? I need to assess what's going on that I'm doing wrong so I can go back to doing what is healthy:

So what's happened that I'm gaining weight again? I shall reflect in the numbered list below:

1. A supportive community is critical to weight loss and I haven't been keeping in touch with the supportive and supporting community that came from blogging and tweeting.  Posting my progress and thoughts online and reading about others' efforts really kept me moving forward more than I thought. And supportive comments from folks I've met online were very helpful. I need to keep up with the small, personal online community if I'm going to meet my goal for the year.
2. Summer Festivities - As I've mentioned before, I have a weakness for beer and barbecues and summer in Muskegon, Michigan is pretty much jampacked with beer and barbecues. Friends come over on a hot evening and you have beer or other cool beverages, and you put some burgers on the grill...somebody always brings chips. Or you go out to some summer festival where there's tons of ice cream with the kids and hot dogs and elephant ears and popcorn and sodapops. Folks say that summer is a great time to lose weight....I disagree. I need to cut back on the carbs again, and that means less beer more water. This is going to be hard. But it's gotta be done.
3. Not enough exercise - It's been hot and I don't exercise when it's hot. I just don't. We don't have AC in the house, either. So we just roast and wait out the summer heat and eat ice cream and of course cold beer when the friends come over. To remedy this I may start going into my basement to exercise late at night or early in the morning. It's about 10 degrees cooler there.

I think that's it for now.

See you sometime later this week.