Good bye and good riddance to diets

Orlando Enrique Fiol wrote:

Cheri wrote:
OK, I do eat normally everyday. YMMV

compassion for people who have trouble simply changing their diet because it
makes sense for their bodies. People eat different foods for a host of reasons.

While there are some food addicts out here who should never be let loose with
any carbs, some of us wish we could at least sometimes eat normally.

This groups is all about having compassion. The people in here try to
help as they can, but the theme of the group is to help people do what
is best for them rather than what the "norms" tell them to. Where do you
believe that those norms come from?



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Hakan wrote:
This group is all about having compassion. The people in here try to
help as they can, but the theme of the group is to help people do what
is best for them rather than what the "norms" tell them to. Where do you
believe that those norms come from?

Those norms are partially formed by an industrial complex intent on keeping us
dependent on mass produced, heavily refined, sodium and sugar-laden products.
Some people's norms come from disfunctional relationships with food that
include eating for approval or emotional comfort, all the while feeling ashamed
of it. But, the important cause for these norms is cultural. Just think of how
many cultures' foods are dramatically altered by a low-carb diet. Japanese
foods, often pungent or salty, no longer get the balancing benefit of rice or
noodles. Rich Indian curries are now supposed to be consumed as is, without
rice or bread. And what to do with Mexican foods, with tortillas as a staple?
Fact is, the low-carb diet is only "natural" to northern people in cold
climates. Nearly every other culture on earth regularly consumes carbs, and all
those billions of people are not obese. So, how do they do it? Many simply
don't get enough to eat, which unfortunately keeps them malnourished but
skinny. Many others eat much smaller portions than Westerners, or they eat rich
foods packed with enough flavor to satisfy without binge eating.

Lest I digress on an excessive tangent, what I'm saying is that food is not
like drug or alcohol addiction in the sense that the body cannot live without
it. So, it is clearly ineffective to chastise people for falling off their
personal wagons when their culture is telling them to eat carbs. If carbs were
so natural to give up, people wouldn't lose a bunch of weight on one or many LC
plans, only to regain it. Bottom line, people regain weight upon returning to
their beloved foods and old eating habits. People who maintain ongoing weight
loss with LC either forgo all their carb cravings or learn how to balance
moderate carbs with low-carb options and physical exercise.

I guess I'm trying to remind some of the hard liners that it's just plain hard
to do this, and I'm aware of the standard tough-love lines I'll probably get in
response. What such intolerant people refuse to understand is that many aspects
of life give humanity a sense of meaning and purpose. Some people's identity
and happiness revolve around food. I've found that people who eat to live have
better success on all manner of diets, as opposed to people who live to eat.
Since most diets limit or forbid one or another common food group, it's hard
for people to stay on diets when they feel deprived and watch everyone around
them eating whatever they want. Of course, at some point, every overweight
person gets clear physical messages that they can no longer continue eating as
before. Had I not arrived at such a juncture, I wouldn't have started South
beach last February. But, as I read through South Beach and other low-carb
cookbooks, the differences between LC and "normal" eating are unmistakable.
Anyone who claims that LC eating is normal need only study different cultures'
foods. Cultures develop their diets based on what grows in the climate or
what's affordable on a regular basis. Born into complex cultures and societies,
people's culinary identities are wrapped up in their culture's eating habits.
So, when some of you jump down people's throats for modifying their chosen LC
plans or eating carbs in moderation, please remember that some people are
unwilling to give up food and culture for weight loss.

Orlando

On Thu, 27 Aug 2009 03:30:10 -0400, Orlando Enrique Fiol wrote
(in article ):

[snip]

Lest I digress on an excessive tangent

Too late :-)

--
Steve

Orlando Enrique Fiol wrote:
Steve wrote:
I doubt if losing weight is anyone's utmost priority.

You and others make it seem as though any sacrifice or deprivation is
compensated by weight loss. I'm suggesting that there are other ways of
balancing weight loss with aesthetic pleasure and enjoyment in food.

Orlando
Ah, just like Weight Watchers, then...

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Orlando Enrique Fiol wrote:
Cheri wrote:
OK, I do eat normally everyday. YMMV

Please don't get me wrong; I know that my body needs me to eat LC in order to
lose weight and stay healthy. I'm just saying that in order to accomplish these
things, I have to ignore many of my cultural associations with food and eat
somewhat abnormally. Sometimes, that feeling of eating too differently from how
I wish I could is overwhelming. At those times, I sometimes choose to eat
whatever I want at the expense of my weight loss. We should try and feel
compassion for people who have trouble simply changing their diet because it
makes sense for their bodies. People eat different foods for a host of reasons.
While there are some food addicts out here who should never be let loose with
any carbs, some of us wish we could at least sometimes eat normally.

Orlando

I sometimes wish that. It's a bugger having to avoid fats, red meat,
black coffee, red wine, red meats, too much wheat, grapefruit, fruit
juices, chocolate (except in small quantities), and sugar. Mostly I
feel irritated rather than deprived, especially when trying to eat out.
About the only thing I crave occasionally is bread.

--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

Kate XXXXXX wrote:
Ah, just like Weight Watchers, then...

I personally don't eat that way, but I can see how it's ideal for people who
simply don't want to go for intended carbless periods.

Orlando

Kate XXXXXX wrote:
I sometimes wish that. It's a bugger having to avoid fats, red meat,
black coffee, red wine, red meats, too much wheat, grapefruit, fruit
juices, chocolate (except in small quantities), and sugar.

Finally! A post from an actual, ordinary human being who recognizes that eating
this way is difficult and counterintuitive!

Mostly I feel irritated rather than deprived, especially when trying to eat
out.

I hate calling attention to myself by being the one on a diet, especially when
I'd give anything to eat normally.

About the only thing I crave occasionally is bread.

I fortunately don't crave bread very often and have gone months without wanting
it.

Orlando

Orlando Enrique Fiol wrote:
Kate XXXXXX wrote:
Ah, just like Weight Watchers, then...

I personally don't eat that way, but I can see how it's ideal for people who
simply don't want to go for intended carbless periods.

Orlando

Nice thing is that you can pick and choose what you want, but it
encourages a healthy balance, coupled with exercise. Works for anyone
with no dietry problems, and pretty well for those of use who do have them.

--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

Orlando Enrique Fiol wrote:
Kate XXXXXX wrote:
I sometimes wish that. It's a bugger having to avoid fats, red meat,
black coffee, red wine, red meats, too much wheat, grapefruit, fruit
juices, chocolate (except in small quantities), and sugar.

Finally! A post from an actual, ordinary human being who recognizes that eating
this way is difficult and counterintuitive!

Instinct is a little of everything. Socialization is try before you
reject, and eat whatever your hosts give you. Reality is that I have to
TELL hosts what I cannot eat before I let them cook for me, which, to
me, is a manefestation of extreme bad manners. But if I don't, I get
ill - painfully, quickly, and very unpleasantly, and it takes weeks to
sort myself out again!

Mostly I feel irritated rather than deprived, especially when trying to eat
out.

I hate calling attention to myself by being the one on a diet, especially when
I'd give anything to eat normally.

Yup. But at least I don't have my sister's problems: she has to avoid
all gluten, all but a teaspoonful of oils like olive per day, and
lactose... plus red meat, red wine, coffee, all spirits, and a pile of
other stuff. Going away for a three day conference taxed the conference
kitchens to failure point. In what way is a cheese sandwich lactose and
gluten free, and low fat?

My goddaughter is allergic to all fruits of the prunus family: apples,
pears, peaches, apricots, etc. She CAN eat almonds, but NOT pickled
walnuts. And she can eat them all cooked!

I have a friend who could be hospitalized by eating something cut with a
knife used to cut a chilli and then wiped rather than diswasher washed.
And this one is allergic to antihistimines as well! Now THAT's hard!

About the only thing I crave occasionally is bread.

I fortunately don't crave bread very often and have gone months without wanting
it.

Oh, lucky you! Luckily, I can manage a bit, but I know it if I go over
my innards-imposed limit!

--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

Orlando Enrique Fiol wrote:

I fortunately don't crave bread very often and have gone months without wanting
it.

Written that way it shows you've never had a craving. It also
suggests why your comments about low carbing are so
insanely alternating between clueless and matter-of-fact
book-citing. There is no relationship between craving a food
and wanting a food. One is a physical urge that can only be
resolved by physical means that does not go away with
distractions and that is not specific until a food that
addresses it is tasted. The other is a mental desire that can
be distracted and that can be anywhere from broad to
specific.

Folks who've never tried to resolve a craving to make it go
away might never learn the difference and they tend to
conclude they are overeaters for some other reason. Folks
who've never had a craving are unlikely to learn the difference.

I'm wheat intolerant in a way that triggers cravings. If I have
no wheat (exact threshold determined by level of avoidance
in recent years but always a lot smaller than one bite of
bread) for more than a week then the cravings are a
temptation that is always lurking in the background to
ambush me but never active. If I take the first bite then I
crave it like the addict that I am and it takes much effort to
turn the craving back off again. If I'd never gone on Atkins I
would never have learned how to turn it off.

But none of that is the same as wanting wheat. I don't want
to eat poison. And none of it is the same as missing wheat.
When I finally learned what wheat was doing to me my attitude
towards it changed completely and forever. But my body is
always ready to reactivate those cravings so the temptation
is always there. And the social pressure to eat poison is
endless.