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To be honest, I think there are a lot of "successful diets" (diet meaning eating pattern) that can work to prevent chronic disease. It doesn't all need to be wild game, wild berries and nuts.
Generally speaking, the "successful" ones seem to have patterns of more produce, game that eats real food native to the region (wild grasses or whatever, not processed corn or soy) which makes the meat healthier and reflective of the habitat, strategic use of meat, and the use of lots of local ingredients (whatever is abundant in the region.
There are some exceptions like the Masai people or what ever group of Eskimos that don't eat produce because their land is too barren. But even in those cases, they are eating wild game that fed off the land, so they have absorbed the nutrients from the local plants.
It is really interesting how things like omega-3s vary in grass fed animals: cows, sheep or whatever and how that is passed on to the meat and the milk and the cheese.
Personally, I am not giving up white rice anytime soon, but I try to eat brown more frequently. I am happy to use as much local produce as I can (for both taste and environmental reasons), and "natural" meat as much as possible. These are the easiest changes I can make to improve my health (and help my local economy).
All my life I have been obese. Nearly everyone in my family is obese. We just never seem to lose weight no matter how hard we try. Does anyone else think obesity is genetic? I have read several studies online showing that obesity is indeed due to genetics. These studies have also shown that if I, an obese person, do manage to lose the weight it is highly likely that I will put the weight right back on quickly and easily. With this information out is it really worth the effort to diet & exercise? I myself have really 0 time for exercise and I have no energy. I am predisposed to getting health problems such as diabetes, nearly all of the people in my family are either diabetic or pre diabetic. If I could lose at least 1-5lbs a month I would be happy but I just never lose.
Yes, part of it may be genetics but follow my recommendations:
1) Eliminate all wheat from diet.
2) Restrict carbohydrate count and focus on eating healthy grains like rice, vegetables, fruits, and lean meats.
3) Yes, increase the exercise.
4) READ ALL LABELS as wheat is in many processed foods.
5) Watch the weight come off and report back.
To be honest, I think there are a lot of "successful diets" (diet meaning eating pattern) that can work to prevent chronic disease. It doesn't all need to be wild game, wild berries and nuts.
Generally speaking, the "successful" ones seem to have patterns of more produce, game that eats real food native to the region (wild grasses or whatever, not processed corn or soy) which makes the meat healthier and reflective of the habitat, strategic use of meat, and the use of lots of local ingredients (whatever is abundant in the region.
There are some exceptions like the Masai people or what ever group of Eskimos that don't eat produce because their land is too barren. But even in those cases, they are eating wild game that fed off the land, so they have absorbed the nutrients from the local plants.
It is really interesting how things like omega-3s vary in grass fed animals: cows, sheep or whatever and how that is passed on to the meat and the milk and the cheese.
Personally, I am not giving up white rice anytime soon, but I try to eat brown more frequently. I am happy to use as much local produce as I can (for both taste and environmental reasons), and "natural" meat as much as possible. These are the easiest changes I can make to improve my health (and help my local economy).
Yes, Weston Price figured that too. Some healthy cultures ate nothing but meat, but they had a way of preparing some of it that made it produce vitamin C that probably wouldn't be too appetizing to any of us. Oz aboriginal people ate raw witchetty grubs and the Swiss ate lots of unpasteurized milk products and course rye bread. The Masai love some concoction of buffalo milk mixed with cow blood. The Scots ate stuff like oatmeal with fish heads boiled in or something like that. Yum yum. Obviously most of us have no desire to go back to the land anytime soon, even if the land could support us. What you're talking about is still not the most ideal ideal, but it's the best we have to work with now and thus I agree. My summer resolution is to eat some of the purslane and lamb's quarters that grow so profusely out in my garden b/c wild plants often have much more vitamin content than garden veggies grown in the same soil. As for your white rice--you may be ok--I've heard that brown rice may contain too many phytates that block absorption of minerals.
What if I start to eat 1200 calories a day? Will I start losing weight naturally with no exercise? The only time I can exercise is on weekends. How much weight could I lose in a month if I eat the same amount of food that will amount to 1,200 calories a day?
Assuming your goal is to lose weight and keep it off - for good, you should find a way to exercise every day. Restricting calories alone without exercise will do nothing for your muscle tone (at best you'll wind up skinny fat) and may actually be one of the worst things you can do for your metabolism. Your body fat percentage will rise and your muscle percentage will fall which is bad news no matter how much you weigh.
Get up 20 minutes early in the morning and take a 20 minute walk. When you get home from work, walk around the block. Strength train at least twice a week. Increase your body's engine (muscle) and get your body used to being a calorie burner again.
You have no energy because you do not exercise.
Last edited by springfieldva; 04-08-2012 at 03:27 PM..
Genetics and obesity? Well, grab a class photo of your grandparents in their senior year and then grab one of someone graduating soon and compare the two. Genetics? I don't think so. Very few children were obese in the 60's and 70's when I attended school. Now, I watch the kids from the middle school pass my house. Some are so heavy they must throw half of their body forward and then move the other half. People used to do chores, children used to play outside and do chores, and people did not continually eat. They ate meals not bags of chips met for 5 or 6 people in one setting or a bag of fast food (rice and beans is much cheaper and more filling and nutritious. They did not drink soda by the 2 liter bottle. Seriously, take accountability. The time spent on the computer trying to figure out why one is obese might be better spent walking for an hour a day or even 20 minutes. Yes, there can be true medical conditions that can cause obesity but they are few and far between and I do feel for those people because they become lumped with those that do not eat right or exercise. If you don't eat a healthy diet or even know what one is and you make no effort to exercise, that is most likely the reason you are obese.
Yes, part of it may be genetics but follow my recommendations:
1) Eliminate all wheat from diet.
2) Restrict carbohydrate count and focus on eating healthy grains like rice, vegetables, fruits, and lean meats.
3) Yes, increase the exercise.
4) READ ALL LABELS as wheat is in many processed foods.
5) Watch the weight come off and report back.
Genetics and obesity? Well, grab a class photo of your grandparents in their senior year and then grab one of someone graduating soon and compare the two. Genetics? I don't think so. Very few children were obese in the 60's and 70's when I attended school. Now, I watch the kids from the middle school pass my house. Some are so heavy they must throw half of their body forward and then move the other half. People used to do chores, children used to play outside and do chores, and people did not continually eat. They ate meals not bags of chips met for 5 or 6 people in one setting or a bag of fast food (rice and beans is much cheaper and more filling and nutritious. They did not drink soda by the 2 liter bottle. Seriously, take accountability. The time spent on the computer trying to figure out why one is obese might be better spent walking for an hour a day or even 20 minutes. Yes, there can be true medical conditions that can cause obesity but they are few and far between and I do feel for those people because they become lumped with those that do not eat right or exercise. If you don't eat a healthy diet or even know what one is and you make no effort to exercise, that is most likely the reason you are obese.
And yet my grandma, who was born in 1916 was a pudge all of her life. Her average adult weight ran about 165 lbs for 5'3". Yeah that's almost normal for nowadays but she sure hated that weight back then b/c she was fatter than everyone else and she was a plumpie child too. The difference between then and now though is that she was plump from good farm fresh food and ate lots of veggies and almost no junk food and she never got diabetes or dementia and lived to 94 in relatively good shape. Her sis, who is now 95, has had dementia for 15 years or more now and has always been rail thin. Oh and grandma was always a hard worker--not a lazy bone in her so she got plenty of exercise on the farm and elsewhere.
I suspect that part of the challenge that our OP faces is that his family is also overweight and thus have bad habits and that will be hard, but perhaps setting a positive example will help them too--sometimes it takes just one person to break away and do things differently. If they don't follow, you'll have it tougher but stand firm!
I think if you eat 12-1500 calories a day, but it's mostly fudge or toast, it will absord and act differently than a balanced intake, with some fat and fiber, plus, you'll be very hungry with insulin swings. I've known people to do this, but they had a disordered relationship with food.
I'm NDN and I have huge hormonal issues and have some other chronic health issues that keep me from exercising.
I think it can be a combination of several things.
It still results in calories in, calories out. You have health issues that keep you from exercising. Therefore, you cannot eat as much as someone who -does- get regular exercise, and expect to stay slender. You -must- eat less calories than those people who DO exercise.
When you compensate for all "problems" - thyroid, genetics, ability/interest in exercise, stress levels, anything that can cause a faster/slower metabolism...
then you have to balance that, with your intake of calories.
And the result, is that you must burn more calories than you consume. If you burn slowly, then you have to eat less. If you burn fast, then you don't have to eat less. No matter what *causes* you to burn faster or slower, the end result is the same. It is physics, it doesn't change.
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