Posted on 07/21/2003 2:57:40 PM PDT by Davis
The Fat of the Land
In July 2002, after decades of dieting, Jerrold Nadler, (aka the Waddler, Jerry the Hut) US Representative from New York's 8th Congressional, weighed 338 pounds. Then, as now, he was 5 '4" tall.
In August 2002, Mr. Nadler underwent gastric surgery, a "sleeve job" that reduced his stomach to a small pouch. By mid-November 2002, he had lost 61 pounds. In the nine months following, he lost an additional 14 pounds. That's an average of 1.5 pounds per month. The likelihood is that he lost no weight at all for some months. He now weighs about 263 pounds and is facing further surgery to bypass several yards of his small intestine.
Yes, of course, Nadler isn't typical. Nevertheless, there are lessons to be learned. The first is to recognize that obesity occurs to individuals. We differ in our individual make up. We differ in our susceptibility to obesity. Yes, there has got to be a genetic component to obesity as there is to every other aspect of our individual selves from the whorls on our fingertips to the curls of our cerebral cortexes.
We learn, as well, from Nadler's case, that an airy wave of the hand and a murmured admonition to cut down the calories and do some exercise, is hardly the whole story. If it were, we would not be facing what is generally recognized as a national crisis of obesity, some 80 million of our citizens on diets as we grow fatter and fatter.
The usual suspects are trotted out. It's junk food, hamburgers, pizzas, candy bars, ice cream, soft drinks, whole milk, cheese. It's fats, empty sugar calories, too much fructose or a lack thereof, too much animal protein, too little complex carbohydrates, excessive portions. It's chemical additives, genetically engineered crops, Aspartame, TV, Hollywood, advertising, pesticides, herbicides, and Republicans. All of the above together with a couch potato existence.
In consequence whereof, the fat police are rounding up sniffer dogs and a posse of trial lawyers to harass McDonald's and Burger King, intent on setting us back on the straight and narrow, doing well--fees in the millions--by doing God's work and freeing us for personal responsibility for our lives of gluttony. The FDA has got in on the act, compiling a 260 page report of the hazards of trans fatty acids.
The trouble with this picture is that it's wrong. So says Sandy Szwarc, a contributor to Tech Central Station who has reviewed with a keen eye, a critical disposition, and an electronic bullshit detector the reams of nutrition data available. She has unearthed therein an unindicted conspirator, the hordes of reducing diets that achieve temporary weight loss at the expense of training our bodies to increased caloric efficiency such that we are thereafter condemned to a life of starvation diets--even the surgical reduction of our stomachs, the rerouting of our intestines. It's a powerful argument backed by considerable evidence. Go see for yourself.
OK, I've put on my flame retardant underware, and I'm ready to go... Anyone who says you have to "starve yourself" in order to lose weight needs to have their head examined... I am on the Atkins diet, and I eat 3 big meals a day, along with a number of snacks... I'm NEVER hungry, and even though I decided to say on a "modified" induction diet, where I limit my intake of carbs to less than 30 grams a day (often 10 or less!), I am losing weight at a very nice pace. No surgery, no starvation.
I started this diet about 10 weeks ago, and in that time, I've lost 38 pounds and 8" around my waist. I still have another 80 or 85 pounds to go, but it's been quite easy thus far. Once I've lost about another 15 or 20 pounds, I'm going to start an exercise program as well: Up to this point, all of the weight loss have been due to my diet. When I've only got about 40# left to lose, I'm going to start reintroducing some of the foods that I purposely avoid right now. And will slowly go back to a more "normal" diet, although I suspect that I will always limit carbs and sugars, because, quite frankly, I feel a lot better without eating them.
Mark
Anyway, here is my diet for today, typical of most days on this plan:
Breakfast - Three hard-boiled eggs. Three pieces of beef jerky. Propel Vitamin water.
Lunch - One tin King Oscar sardines, Mediterranean Style, packed in olive oil. Handful of Macadamia nuts.
Dinner - 16oz grilled steak. Grilled jalapenos and mushrooms drizzled in olive oil with chunks of Gouda cheese mixed in. Two glasses of California Cabernet.
Snack - Sunflower seeds (as the urge strikes)
I also take multivitamins and garlic pills.
I think waking up at 5AM every single day is very important. It gives me the discipline to get my walking in. At 5AM, there's not much to do but go out and take a walk! And once I've done my morning walk, it's even easier to do the noon walk.
Now I got in from a concert at 1AM this morning. I was still up four hours later. Which is why I probably won't be responding to any more posts tonight because I'm hitting the sack! Got to be up at 5AM tomorrow.
For all we know, these lardbuckets are mainlining milkshakes.
My kids joke that I am non-stop hungry, which is true. If I am breathing, I'm hungry. So I eat. Tons of fruit and vegetables. Half chickens, tuna, salmon, green tea, nuts...several big meals each day.
Of course, going to the gym each morning before work might help. So might the couple of miles I walk each day and the mile I run each morning. Then the weekend bike rides and kayaking...
What's a "TV"?
At his present weight, he could sustain all of it on 4, 40 ounce jars per week.
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