Day 33 of 100 Days to Thanksgiving

Day 33 of 100 Days to Thanksgiving
253/235/195
September 16, 2005

Got on the scales 30 minutes ago and still only 18 pounds gone. The
indicator is hovering, but hovering doesn't mean it has gone lower
than 235. Well - maybe tomorrow.

I had about 1400 calories yesterday - more than I should have had but
still probably leading to a weight loss of a little less than half a
pound a day. Again, I ate only at dinner.

I didn't go up my hill last night - I got about 5 hours of sleep
the night before and felt too tired to go up hill. I sure hope to do it
today.

There were several very interesting articles in the September 3, 2005
issue of Science News that I read last night. One was finding that
"extra virgin olive oil" (the olive oil obtained by the first
pressing of the olives) has anti-inflammatory properties similar to
Ibuprofen. A researcher drank some of the olive oil and noticed that it
affected his throat in a fashion similar to liquid ibuprofen and the
research that followed this observation led to the discovery of
anti-inflammatory properties. Remarkable! The article notes that this
may be one of the reasons for the healthful effects of the
"Mediterranean Diet."

Another very interesting article was labeled: "Food Fix." This
article described some of the neurobiological similarities between
obesity and drug addiction, including food's activation of the
dopamine receptor system in people as similar to facilitation by drugs
in those addicted to drugs.

September 3, 2005 Vol. 168, page 155: "...FILLING A VOID. Overeating
and drug addiction probably come from ancient roots but have taken a
modern twist, says Roy Wise of the National Institute on Drug Abuse
(NIDA) in Bethesda, Md. He and others espouse the hypothesis that these
problems have arisen as a by-product of the brain circuitry that
motivated our ancestors to find sustenance, mates, and other
necessities that enhanced the long-term success of the species.

" 'The brain circuitry that we use to find drugs or food has the
same mechanisms involved in looking for anything rewarding,' says
Wise.

"As humans became more adept at manipulating their material world,
people recognized and later created substances that especially satisfy
these reward-seeking brain circuits. A similar situation has turned up
in recent history with food, says Wise: As the availability of cheap,
tasty food has skyrocketed, so has the number of people who are obese
as a result of overeating.

"Nora Volkow, the director of NIDA, agrees. 'When you hunt animals,
you may succeed or not. But when you open the fridge, you will succeed
100 percent of the time,' she says."

The research described in the brief article also shows (among other
things) that obese people may be overly responsive to food cues, and
when they are denied foods they want, they tend to imagine the taste of
food, etc., more than the non-obese.

This is all very interesting research and it makes a lot of sense to
me. It is also consistent with the view that to lose weight and
maintain weight loss, one should no more go regularly into an "all
you can eat" buffet line than an alcoholic can go to a bar regularly
and expect to refrain from drinking. Whatever the causes of unhealthy
temptation, clearly keeping that temptation at a distance will reduce
the likelihood of giving in.

I really like Ms. Volkow's observation: "When you hunt animals, you
may succeed or not. But when you open the fridge, you will succeed 100
percent of the time." It's a different way of looking at the
temptations of the fridge.

But the observation of Sam Johnson, father of the English dictionary,
rings true no matter what. He told his biographer Boswell that while
some people may have a predisposition to corpulence, the fact that any
given individual is fat shows that that particular person is eating too
much.

I hope everyone has a great rest of the week and a terrific season
ahead! May none of us be tempted by bad things!

Yours,

Caleb

In article .com,
Caleb wrote:

Day 33 of 100 Days to Thanksgiving
253/235/195
September 16, 2005

Got on the scales 30 minutes ago and still only 18 pounds gone.

ONLY?


The research described in the brief article also shows (among other
things) that obese people may be overly responsive to food cues, and
when they are denied foods they want, they tend to imagine the taste of
food, etc., more than the non-obese.

Raisins darn it!

I really like Ms. Volkow's observation: "When you hunt animals, you
may succeed or not. But when you open the fridge, you will succeed 100
percent of the time." It's a different way of looking at the
temptations of the fridge.

get a fridge with a glass door!

But the observation of Sam Johnson, father of the English dictionary,
rings true no matter what. He told his biographer Boswell that while
some people may have a predisposition to corpulence, the fact that any
given individual is fat shows that that particular person is eating too
much.

I hope everyone has a great rest of the week and a terrific season
ahead! May none of us be tempted by bad things!

Depends on what you may think is bad :-)

Diva
*****
Smoked oyster addict needing to resist raisins

Carol --

Absolutely I agree with you that the definition of bad varies from
person to person! (As I wrote it, I could hear a little voice in me
mention that as well.)

E.G., as you may know, my cat and I love Jack Mackerel and my wife
hates it. What wierd tastes she has!

Yours,

Caleb

Fast Guaranteed Weight Loss!
http://gr8healthrus.com

Ig -- I'm not losing as fast as I could or as slowly as I could --
somewhere in the middle. But the days of long periods of time between
pounds lost are coming up soon, I'm afraid.

Yours,

Caleb