Everyday Systems

Yes,

Due to high blood pressure and high cholesterol I have tried everything. (No, I am not "obese", I am 5' 9" inches tall and an "artificial" 180 lbs.) A can of Slim-Fast anyone? I ended up giving my cans to students who didn't eat breakfast "that" morning. (Could be any given morning from September to June.)

When a friend of mine died of pancreatic cancer at 44 I panic-ed and became a "health nut". What does that mean? If it was cooked it was poison. I drank gallons of vegetable and fruit juices I made at home with my handy dandy Juiceman Jr. Carrots, celery, apples, beets (I don't suggest beets, they take about 30 minutes to work their way through your system, just long enough to see you into your car and on your way to work...), whatever I could find in our produce drawer I fed through the hopper. I ate more salad in that 6 months then I did in my previous entire life. I bought goji berries at $20 for a bag. After 6 months I was driving by the new In-n-Out Burger in town. I hit the drive through. I thought I'd died and gone to Heaven. The juicer is now in the pantry with an inch of dust on it.

Low Carb isn't "as bad" as low calorie, low fat, or "Raw food" (For me anyway). But I, who was raised on a farm, have cousins who raise beef cattle, and die for tri-tip, couldn't stand to look at another steak after six months.

Six months seems to be my limit for these "extreme" eating approaches.

This No S Diet, come on! Me be responsible and not use "gimmics" to lose weight? Please!

But looking at it from a reality based point of view, what a simple, but beautiful approach to keeping my weight in control and my blood chemistry in a "workable range".

Thank you Reinhard for helping me, and I'm sure others, for re-focusing on the real cause of my dilemna: I just eat to much crap throughout the day, and suck down too much Coca Cola.


Jon

Six months seems to be my limit for these "extreme" eating approaches.

This No S Diet, come on! Me be responsible and not use "gimmics" to lose weight? Please!

But looking at it from a reality based point of view, what a simple, but beautiful approach to keeping my weight in control and my blood chemistry in a "workable range".

Thank you Reinhard for helping me, and I'm sure others, for re-focusing on the real cause of my dilemna: I just eat to much crap throughout the day, and suck down too much Coca Cola.

Wow, I couldn't have said it any better.[/b][/i]

The thing that I find so strange about the appeal of these extreme diets is that there is absolutely no historical precedent for them -- and plenty of historical precedent for being thin. I guess the solution is so obvious (approximate the eating structure of the vast majority of your ancestors who were thin) that it's invisible. Plus such an obvious solution makes us feel unpleasantly responsible for our condition (though responsibility becomes quite pleasant, wonderful even, when you seize it and improve your condition).

Many extreme diets also fail Kant's "categorical imperative" criterion for moral behavior in a big way: what do you think would happen if everyone on earth started eating low carb (and high animal protein)? We're already suffocating in animal excrement. We'd become a pig and cow poop Venus.

From:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weeki ... ttman.html

according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, which also estimates that livestock production generates nearly a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases — more than transportation.

Reinhard

Reinhard,

You make a good point. I was driving through central Utah several years ago when I passed within 20-30 miles from the world's largest pig processing plant. The smell was so bad it took your breath away.

Pork has never been a favorite food (unless it is bacon). I despise chicken. (Although once a year I'll eat at KFC.) I am pretty much a beef guy. But I have cut down a lot on that over the years.

Jon