Diet Jihadists

I’m currently completing the first pulse of a diet strategy that aims at putting me somewhere near a bit overweight for my frame, rather than outright obese.  During this journey it has become apparent to me that diet is akin to religion in this world we live in.  Something as personal as the fuel that we power our bodies probably does merit the status of cult in the grand scheme of things, but as with all such endeavors, it is best to lead through example and not through preaching.

We are inundated with the mantra to eat less and exercise more.  That is the key to a healthy life.  And while this may be true for those that are less than 20 pounds overweight, for the rest of us, the layers of psychosis associated with being overweight outstrip the sense of that simple mantra.  For the rest of us, we need to break a destructive cycle, build positive habits, and learn to move again before we can even approach the ‘eat less/move more’ paradigm.

Truly the ‘eat less/move more’ ideal is over simplified.  In reality, exercise only builds stamina and muscle tone and does not a lot for weight loss, other than gobble up a small amount of calories.  Eating less is also an over simplification.  You need to eat an appropriately balanced diet that is consistent with your level of mobility and age.

Let me start with diet.  The Western diet is packed full of simple carbohydrates.  Ignore fast food for a minute, and go to any restaurant and try and find a meal that doesn’t contain a sauce, a grain, or a glaze.  Our bodies respond to this load by producing insulin to trigger our cells to absorb sugars from the blood.  As more and more insulin is produced, our cells become, over time, resistant to the effects of the hormone and we reach a state where sugar balance becomes precarious and metabolism shifts to focus on breaking down that sugar for fuel in preference to other fuels that we ingest.  In other words, our bodies become dependent on carbohydrates.  This is very similar to drug addiction, and should be a key indication for therapy.

Well, we don’t want to be told that we are addicts or that there is something wrong with us, but at the same time we are hammered with a society that places value on the anorexic look and shuns those who are overweight.  At the same time, we live in a world where a Big Mac cost the same as a head of broccoli. 

We are told to move more and that will cure our ills.  Again, that is an oversimplification.  Until you can move, it is hard for someone to move more.  People who are overweight have a number of issues that need to be addressed before they can move more.  I have torn menisci in both knees and arthritis in my lower back and both feet.  Asking me to move more three months ago was akin to a water boarding session, but now that I’m 65 pounds lighter, the prospect of exercise is a much more welcome undertaking.  Exercise is important, but you need to be able to exercise before its utility can be realized.  Your diet needs to be under control before exercise can be of any benefit.

So, why am I writing any of this?  I was reading about the diet that I am currently on and came across some articles that put it down on the basis of it not being ‘balanced’.  I’ve also run across some friends that roll their eyes (friends in the less than 20 lb. category) when I talk about the benefits of what I’m trying to achieve with just diet alone (although it is hard to deny that 65 lbs. in 3 months is anything but significant).  You see shows out there like ‘The Biggest Loser’ that focus on torturing people with exercise, but ignore the ‘boring’ but more important aspect of diet regulation.

Being a food addict who was brought up in a thoroughly Western culture, my biggest problem was my utter dependence on carbs.  I needed to break that cycle and re-learn how to build balance into my meals.  I needed to learn that I didn’t need to starve myself, but rather change my focus on the types of food that I ate.  I needed to rely on science rather than dogma. 

I’m weaning myself off of my current diet onto a maintenance plan for 6-8 months.  Then I will go on the diet again to ‘pulse’ myself down another 20 – 30 lbs.  At that point I will be comfortable with just being overweight, active, and ultimately healthy.