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6866. Wombat - 4/5/2007 6:22:27 PM

Is anyone using a dietician?

6867. clydefo - 4/5/2007 6:34:28 PM

Message # 6840

thoughtful, "Out of Date" is one of my nicknames. Nonetheless, I like Pritikin because it works so good for me both times I've followed his guidelines; first years ago and then last year to lose the beer belly. I got skinny in three months and I'm back to my old High School playing weight of 165 pounds. Pulse rate and BP way down, no insomnia, less Middle Class Stress Disorder, etc. His insights have held up so well over the years as the Nutritional State of the Art has evolved, e.g., his argument that vitamin E supplements do more harm than good is supported by the latest studies.

My guess is that exercise is what makes any plan work. I would quibble over some of your points. To be clear, I assume that "carb" means Complex Carb.

But generally nonstarchy vegetables like squash and green beans and lettuce are not good sources of fat.

This info adapted from tables athttp://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c20dw.html
shows that iceburg lettuce is almost 8% fat. And it is far better for you than animal fat.

Nutrients per Serving for Lettuce, iceberg (includes crisphead types), raw

Amounts per 1 cup shredded (72g)

Total Calories10.1(42.3 kJ)
Calories from Carbohydrate7.7(32.2 kJ)
Calories from Fat0.8(3.3 kJ)
Calories from Protein1.6(6.7 kJ)
Calories from Alcohol0.0(0.0 kJ)
Percent of Calories from fat: .8/10.1 = 7.9


...all carbs consumed must be burned immediately...

carbs take a lot longer for the body to register as 'full' than do protein or fats


Conplex carb foods are high water content and so provide a full feeling with relatively few calories. They burn at a steady slow feed, avoiding insulin spikes.


Fat is bad for your arteries and Carbs are bad for your blood sugar

Good arteries need good fat. Blood sugar is food.


...the essential role of protein in the body esp as it comes to building muscle has been greatly underestimated by these high carb diets...

Not at all. Iceburg lettuce is 15% protein calories. The body manufactures most of the amino acids it needs for proteins. Plant or animal, it only needs small additional daily amounts to fulfill its needs. More muscle is desirable but even body builders waste money on protein powder when an extra egg white sandwich will suffice.

6868. arkymalarky - 4/5/2007 7:56:06 PM

Is anyone using a dietician?

Bob used one at first through his doctor. I don't know anyone who's using one now.

Another clarification on my diet (nothing to do with anything posted, just an fyi) is that I always do Slimfast for lunch at work whether or not I'm on a diet. It's just the easiest, quickest way not to eat in the lunchroom. Next year when I'm not in school or working so frantically on education issues I plan to make a new plan for school lunch. So anything I eat daily outside of school (like today) will not include a Slimfast.

6869. arkymalarky - 4/5/2007 8:06:29 PM

Clyde, from my own and my family's experience, exercise and lots of water. My parents eat sensibly, eat out when they want but pretty sensibly there, and drink sensibly. I don't know where they went wrong with me. ;-)

Seriously, they both tend to be somewhat nagging and preachy about it--most parents were warning their kids about teen sex and drinking, and mine were nagging me to get off the couch and put down the chips. But at 70 and 75 they're very active and go and do whatever they want. I've said it here before, but I expect Dad to go somewhere in that jungly yard of his or at the bottom of his swimming pool. That's what I worry about most with them--they're so active that they'll get hurt or worse while swimming, hiking, or doing yard work. Dad's also not careful enough about working and/or running when I think it's entirely too hot. But I've figured out you can't do anything with that generation. They're such rebels.

6870. Wombat - 4/5/2007 8:12:21 PM

I have found a Dietician most helpful in getting me started, and in providing advice/suggestions/encouragement.

Mine can also round up caloric counts for ethnic fare, which is a major consideration where I live (DC area).

I did Slimfast years ago, slimmed fast, and unslimmed equally fast. I hate the idea missing a meal, and get famished between 5-7 pm.

Ideally, my daily calory range per meal are:

Breakfast: 150-300
Lunch: 600-1000
Snack: 100-200
Dinner: 700-1000

With 4-5 hours of brisk walking and snow-shoveling, leaf raking, lawn mowing, etc. per week, I would lose weight even if I ate along the upper range consistently.

6871. arkymalarky - 4/5/2007 8:22:18 PM

I generally have to eat smaller meals more often.

I couldn't do a Slimfast diet plan. I tried it before, and wanted to eat the can I was so hungry.

6872. clydefo - 4/5/2007 8:26:37 PM

Hi arkymalarky.
First tip: Don't consume all your RDA of caffeine and sugar before you start writing.
Just kidding. I count pots rather than cups per day and sleep like a baby these days.

2. Return to exercise gradually. Anyone who has rushed it in the past knows the reasons for this. Be disciplined about it. Dieting (eating) is the easy part.

3. Read this book.
Pritikin Promise 28 Day Plan

You're welcome.

6873. arkymalarky - 4/5/2007 8:35:46 PM

I drink a 4-cup pot in the morning and that's it. Thanks for the link!

6874. judithathome - 4/5/2007 8:40:54 PM

Don't eat too many. Or less couch time.

Look, I know you're trying to be helpful but for you to assume I spend time on the couch popping bon bons into my mouth is ludicrous. I walk almost an hour every morning, 5 days a week, and consider that to be pretty damned good considering I couldn't walk without great pain AND a cane 2 years ago. And I swim for an hour three times a week at an indoor pool...I do water exercises and swim laps and use weights for strength training in the pool. And during summer months, I do that 5 days a week at an outdoor pool.

I'm no couch potato, trust me.

6875. arkymalarky - 4/5/2007 9:07:25 PM

I'm about to log off again, but what are the views among this bunch about male/female and age as factors in planning and succeeding at losing weight and getting healthier? There was quite a heated discussion about it at MSNBC when I looked yesterday, the basic on one side (men) being "consume less+burn more=weight loss" at the same rate for everyone, and the other being that middle-aged women with a different metabolism have effects which make success more difficult and that men don't experience. Which led to the accusations that women are whining and men don't understand women, yaddayaddayadda.

6876. clydefo - 4/5/2007 9:14:03 PM

Sorry for the flippancy, judithathome. No offense intended. Change the second remark to "more exercise" or drop it altogether. That is certainly a great exercise program; more than I do.
I will try to be mindful of your sensitivity about bon-bons.

6877. arkymalarky - 4/5/2007 9:33:21 PM

Another question (I will be SO GLAD to get on satellite internet). Bob is wanting to add moderate strength/weights to his program. He's 55 with no major health issues (diabetes is controlled without meds) and walks 3 miles a day. Anyone have a routine, preference, suggestions? He has a nice weight machine--actual weights, not resistance. Not that one or the other is better, but suggestions may differ for each type.

I believe the exercise will do me in. I was good for less than ten minutes. Okay, closer to five minutes. That site I linked comes with a neat poster and I printed it off. I also have a neat little stepper and 2 lb weights and I have all that set up with a roll-up mat in the living room, which is where I'm most likely to use it but it's still out of the way. The treadmill is in the garage, and I'll tackle it later.

6878. thoughtful - 4/5/2007 10:07:27 PM

Clydefo, exactly 8% fat of lettuce does not make lettuce a fat. Pritikin is extremely low fat diet and is not sound nutrition. Maybe it's ok to follow in the short run, if you're healthy and if you don't mind being malnourished, but it is not a long run plan for good health.

Of course you will lose weight following pritikin. You can lose weight following any diet that limits calorie intake. Heck you can lose weight eating nothing but chocolate and hot fudge sundaes so long as the total calorie intake is resticted. But that does NOT mean you're losing weight in a healthy way or that you are providing your body with adequate nutrition. In fact, interesting to consider, many morbidly obese people, despite their size, are undernourished because of what they eat...not how much.

Consider that fat makes up every cell wall in the body. Consider that fat is essential for the body to build hormones...and not just sex hormones, but other important hormones like melatonin and seratonin and endorphins which help us feel well and happy.

In addition to needing fat, the body needs essential fatty acids such as those found in omega-3 rich foods like fish and flax seed and walnuts. The reason why they are called essential is because the body can't make them out of other parts but must ingest them. In addition fat is critical for storing key vitamins like A & D.

So for good nutrition, it is important to get a balance of fats including saturated fats. What happens if you don't? Well, if you don't eat cholesterol, your body makes it. It's that essential to good health.

Further fat is important element to satiety. If you eat a meal with fat, you will feel fuller faster than if you don't, thus feeling satisfied with lower calories than not.

See for the importance of all 3 macronutrients and why the are essential for good health.

If you want to avoid bad fats, avoid transfats...they do significant damage to the body.

6879. thoughtful - 4/5/2007 10:27:51 PM

clydefo, you assumed i meant complex carbohydrates. Well carbos are carbos the way the body sees them. It all gets converted to sugar which, as I said before, must be burned immediately or converted to fat.

The difference between complex and simple carbs are of course the amount of fiber that comes with them, which helps slow digestion and eases the 'sugar shock' that comes with carbs. And complex carbs like whole grains and starchy vegetables carry a boatload of nutrition over and above that of things like sugar and high fructose corn syrup. But the body reacts to grapes as it does to a snickers bar. In fact, grapes have a higher glycemic index of 66 vs. the snickers bar at 59. Both lead to insulin rush.

Further in terms of overall balance, excess carbs come at the expense of other essential macro and micro nutrients provided by fats and protein.

You and others may find this article interesting about the damaging effects of sugar on the body leading to diabetes and the echo effects. Seeing as it concludes with the effects of the final echo:

# Neuropathy
# Amputation
# Kidney failure
# Dialysis
# Heart disease
# Blindness
# Death


and seeing that diabetes is rising at epidemic rates, it's probably worthwhile reading for anyone interested in good health.

6880. arkymalarky - 4/5/2007 10:36:22 PM

This is just gross.

I don't remember a time when we've had more issues with contamination in food. To think a roof leaked into peanutbutter that was sold to the public. Ugh.

6881. arkymalarky - 4/5/2007 11:23:38 PM

This is a cute Slate piece on Green Tea

6882. clydefo - 4/5/2007 11:40:25 PM

...fat is important element to satiety. If you eat a meal with fat, you will feel fuller faster than if you don't, thus feeling satisfied with lower calories than not.

Satiety or sluggishness? Fatty meals cause the blood platelets to clump and reduces their efficiency. As with protein, fats are vital to body chemistry and "infrastructure", but create problems when any excess is consumed. Fat is a good fuel source only in a concentration camp.

The USDA recommendation of 20-35% fat calories, partially justified by their claim that "fat is the most concentrated source of energy" is due to meat industry lobbying. Fat is the worst source of energy, in part because of the caloric concentration.

A diet of minimally processed whole grains, vegetables and fruits provides all the essential fatty acids we need. Flax seeds and walnuts are unneeded and provide too many fat calories. The "more is better" attitude usually leads to bad ends.

...grapes have a higher glycemic index of 66 vs. the snickers bar at 59. Both lead to insulin rush.

Only if you've not eaten recently. If you have been grazing all along on various CC munchies, you've been maintaining a nice steady insulin level. Unlike the candy bar, the grapes are mostly water, and the fiber is very desirable.

6883. judithathome - 4/5/2007 11:48:06 PM

The Slate article was hysterical...Next in this progression will be an invisible ghost tea with the regenerative properties of fetal stem cells. Scientists may also one day discover that drinking hot water is good for you.

6884. arkymalarky - 4/6/2007 6:39:54 AM

Well, the first day went pretty easily except for the exercise. I did it for a short time, even the treadmill, but I'm very out of shape. I stayed under 1500 calories without feeling particularly hungry. I need to do two more things off the bat (besides going to the doctor tomorrow and getting my allergies back under control) and add more things as I go, especially healthier food and more exercise. The first is to pay closer attention to the water. I had four glasses or so, but I should have had more, and keeping it around all the time doesn't mean I don't forget about the glass sitting there. The other is sleep. Since "Huckabee spoke" I've been getting far less sleep than I used to. Rarely do I get over 6 hours a night, and it's usually around four or five. I'd love to get 8-9, and I hope I can start to do that. I'm just not sleepy at bedtime, and I'm usually sleeping like a rock when I have to get up on work mornings. Dad, healthy as he is, sleeps until 10-11AM, but he can do that now. I always thought of him as an early-bird, but he just had to be. I don't care so much about the bedtime/waking time, but until school's out I can't sleep in, so I have to figure out how to get sleepier earlier. I've read a number of places that sleeping more has benefits, one of which is weight loss, and that women tend not to get nearly enough.

6885. thoughtful - 4/6/2007 1:28:10 PM

I agree on the importance of sleep. In fact it is one of the essential steps in the schwarzbein principle. Her thinking is all about balance. Some things we do wear the body down, other things help restore it. Her thinking is that it's important to keep those in balance. Sleeping is an important element to rebuilding as is proper nutrition.

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