There are several books influencing my strategy, and none of them are diet books. They are:
-In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
-What to Eat by Marion Nestle
-French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano
-The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters
I first read French Women Don't Get Fat a couple years ago and recently picked it back up and re-read most of it. I bought What to Eat in August. I got The Art of Simple Food a couple months ago. I started reading In Defense of Food last night and can't put it down. All of these books are saying the same thing and in ways that make a lot of sense: Lay off the processed food. Cook and eat real, whole foods. Stop obsessing about calories, carbs, proteins, and fat. Just eat food.
That we have to be told to do this is, when you think about it, kind of crazy, but Michael Pollan does a great job of explaining how this came to be. You should definitely read In Defense of Food right away. I'm only 39 pages into and I can already recommend it unequivocally.
So, for the next 30 days, I am going to attempt to:
- Cut processed foods down to a bare minimum.
- Cook everything from scratch (this isn't really as time-consuming or intimidating as it might sound if you check out some Alice Waters recipes).
- When dining out, choose dishes that consist mostly of unprocessed food; choose restaurants where this isn't difficult.
- Cook four servings of dinner so that we have stuff for lunch that isn't peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
- Lay off the high Glycemic Index carbs. I tend to think that low-carb diets are BS, but I also understand the effect that carbs have on blood sugar, and that's something I've had issues with. I also know that if I eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast I will be hungry again more quickly than if I eat a bowl of yogurt. According to GlycemicIndex.com, high GI carbs can be avoided thusly:
*Use breakfast cereals based on oats, barley and bran
* Use breads with wholegrains, stone-ground flour, sour dough
* Reduce the amount of potatoes you eat
* Enjoy all other types of fruit and vegetables
* Use Basmati or Doongara rice
* Enjoy pasta, noodles, quinoa
* Eat plenty of salad vegetables with a vinaigrette dressing
Easy enough. We already do a lot of those things anyway.
- Practice portion control; Neil and I both tend to eat whatever it is until it's gone.
- Stop drinking beer. Yes, I know, I just wrote about how much I love beer. But I think it is a big (maybe the biggest) reason I keep gaining weight, and my attempts to drink it in moderation haven't been met with much success. I'm going to go without it for a month and see what happens. Then I will add it back in (hopefully judiciously). The occasional glass of wine is still permitted.
And... that's it. No food-tracking, no calorie-counting, no low-fat anything or artificial sweeteners. I will still cook with butter, oil, cheese, and, when necessary, sugar. I have a strong suspicion that if I use those things in moderation and eat mostly plants I will be just fine. I will let you know how it goes!
5 comments:
Erin,
Funny thing about diets, they don' work. The only way to lose weight is to exercise, however you also need to eat. Simple carbs are okay, it is the complex carbs that you want to avoid and if a product has an ingredient you can not pronounce, chances are you don't want it. Soda diet or regular are bad, high in sodium and cause you to retain water (weight). Ideally a person would work out 5 days a week and eat six meals a day. If you don't get enough to eat your body actually converts everything to fat. It goes into survival mode. You have to eat! Granola bars or other high protien options mid day or late afternoon actually help keep the metabolism rolling and help you to lose weight, if you are exercising to burn excess calories.
Another really amazing, thought-provoking book about food is Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It changed the way I think about food, and it has affected some of my food-buying decisions.
Anonymous, thank you for commenting, but did you even read my post? I never said I wasn't going to eat, or that I was going on a diet. The only mention of "diet" is in the tags, and I meant that as in "food and drink regularly provided or consumed," not "a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight." My plan is just, basically, to eat more wholesome foods and see what happens. This is a good idea for many reasons besides weight loss.
I rarely drink soda of any sort, and I didn't talk about exercise here because this is a food blog. I realize the importance of exercise (though I do disagree with you that it is the be-all and end-all of weight-loss strategies).
Maria, I almost bought that the other day, but I already an armful of books! It's definitely on my list. I've heard great things about it.
Erin,
I did read your post. I was only commenting on an overall weight loss program and in generalities. Hoping that it could help someone. Most people think "If I reduce the calories that I take in I will lose weight". Unfortunately that only gives sort term results. I wish you the best in your quest and believe you are on the right course with wholesome food sources. Meat is fine providing one has the activities to metabolize the meat.
I look forward to your results.
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