Yes, toast is delicious.

No, low carb, high fat diets are not a fad - they actually have some decent evidence to support them.

Overall I would say that while carbs can be a bad thing, especially foods high in simple sugars, the biggest issue is the poor quality of the food the carbs are often coming with. Macka's, KFC and the large amount of easily available packaged (highly processed) food are mostly to blame for globesity. I cringe when people talk about how awesome it is to try eating Cap'n Crunch or another random, similar breakfast cereal for all meals of the day - you just have to look at the side of the pack to see that you are basically just eating a bag of lollies, not exactly the path to good health.

He's forgetting dietary rule #247: Some people are completely biologically dependent on being a pain in the ass. It doesn't matter what they're cutting from their diet: gluten, dairy, carbs or marshmallows. I believe that if you were able to genetically isolate these people and provide them with a situation where they could remain a constant pain in the ass to someone, they could survive purely on principle, needing no supplemental nutrition at all.

>> ^ChaosEngine:

Yeah, atkins sucks. And so does dial-up internet and the spice girls.
Anything else that died out a few years ago that he wants to rail against?


He's talking about low carb high protein diets though really and they have definitely not died out.

6:15am: Get out of bed and smoke cigarette before baby wakes up. Make coffee immediately so that eating breakfast and lunch can be avoided.
7:00am: Begin third cup of coffee.
8:00am: Sit on couch and encourage child to run around. Avoid running after him for any reason.
10:00am: Drive two blocks to school. Park at median height of campus to avoid walking uphill either direction.
11:00am-4:00pm: Have to walk off campus now to smoke. Every time I get back to class I want another one already. Can't complain, out of breath anyway.
5:00pm: Go to store, buy ranch dressing for tater-tots and vinaigrette for wife's salad.
7:00pm: Spend an hour cooking ultra-healthy, carb-free meal for wife and son. Snack on cheese-crackers and diet soda (not because it's diet, I just like it better).
9:00pm: Put son to bed, go outside to smoke and play with bokken: today's only exercise.
9:30pm-12:00am: Fold laundry, clean, homework, etc.
1:00am: First meal of day: leftover pastry dough I made for pie wrapped around salami and some lettuce (gotta eat your veggies).
2:00am: Wake up on couch to Galactica credits. Go to bed. (I average the actual, completely awake viewing of one episode every four days at this rate.)

There, now I don't even need a Fitocracy profile.

>> ^snoozedoctor:

Trust me, you folks across the pond are light-years ahead of Americans when it comes to reasonable expectations from the health-care system. A mistake many people make when dieting is losing weight too quickly. It's very easy to relapse because the change in eating habits has not been established. I find the apps for calorie counting very helpful. You can scan bar codes and import all the nutritional info. It's definitely more work entering home cooked meals though. Don't pay attention to all the fad diets, low carb, etc. Calorie counting is the most effective and sustainable way to lose weight and keep it off. Good luck. Never underestimate the power of your own mind.


I've been looking for a valid reason to justify getting a smartphone, thanks

Trust me, you folks across the pond are light-years ahead of Americans when it comes to reasonable expectations from the health-care system. A mistake many people make when dieting is losing weight too quickly. It's very easy to relapse because the change in eating habits has not been established. I find the apps for calorie counting very helpful. You can scan bar codes and import all the nutritional info. It's definitely more work entering home cooked meals though. Don't pay attention to all the fad diets, low carb, etc. Calorie counting is the most effective and sustainable way to lose weight and keep it off. Good luck. Never underestimate the power of your own mind.

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

Agreed on the bun to burger ratio. Too much bun kills the balance and fills you full of the worst kinds of carbs. You have 5 Guys where you live? 5 Guys is pretty God fucking damned good.


NO I do not have five guys around here. Generally I like Burger Baron, they seem to be spreading around, grew up with it in town and notice them around the city and in smaller towns here and there. The ratio they have is perfect to say the least, and is twice the size of the burgers I noted previously, if not thrice the size.

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

Agreed on the bun to burger ratio. Too much bun kills the balance and fills you full of the worst kinds of carbs. You have 5 Guys where you live? 5 Guys is pretty God fucking damned good.


Totally agreed, though I think BoneRemake likes a more bun-dominated bun to beef ratio, based on this blog post.

And Five Guys is definitely the best fast food burger chain out there.

Agreed on the bun to burger ratio. Too much bun kills the balance and fills you full of the worst kinds of carbs. You have 5 Guys where you live? 5 Guys is pretty God fucking damned good.

On the last point, I don't think he attacks putting calories on the menu as much as he has distaste for government control for what we eat and the government forcing fast food restaurant's hands in providing healthy choices.>> ^longde:

Interesting movie. I've watched an hour of it, and while it makes a couple of good points, I'd say it suffers from the same problems it tags "supersize me" with: erecting strawmen, and ignoring the common sense. In fact, this film has probably more inconsistencies and falacies than "supersize me".
Also, there are alot of hokey moments that draw out the film that could have been left in the editing room.
A few items that lead me to the above:
1) He goes on for a while about how the foods the SuperSizeMe Guy ate could not possibly not have added up to 5000, and he could not have gained 25 pounds. Hmmmm, somewhat convincing. But THEN in the movie, he takes pains to show how the traditional Calories In/Calories Out formula isn't legitimate because of hormones. So, given that, I can see how someone could eat alot of carb rich fast foods, raise their insulin levels, lower their metabolism and gain 25 pounds in a month.
2) He makes a big point about how he could not get the food diary from the SSMG production company; but how long ago was that movie made? Why would they keep all the documentation from the film for so long? Especially in the SSM film, we see half the time what SSMG is eating, and can infer the rest from the simple rules he set.
3) Lastly, and most importantly, this guy, who has a body composistion of 30% fat, wants to downplay that Americans are fatter and more out of shape in history and compared to the rest of the world, and that this is indeed a problem. He says that fat people will live as long as in shape people, but what about quality of life in old age? ANYONE can live to be a hundred given technology, but I want to be in the number that can walk and think independently.
Also, as someone who travels globally frequently, I can say that Americans really are FAT, relatively. Our food portions are huge compared to what other people eat, we walk (vs. driving) alot less, and our body sizes are noticably larger. Thus I think that putting calories on big macs and on menus is a great idea (the film attacks this idea). Let people make choices with all the facts in front of them. That is what real choice is about.

Interesting movie. I've watched an hour of it, and while it makes a couple of good points, I'd say it suffers from the same problems it tags "supersize me" with: erecting strawmen, and ignoring the common sense. In fact, this film has probably more inconsistencies and falacies than "supersize me".

Also, there are alot of hokey moments that draw out the film that could have been left in the editing room.

A few items that lead me to the above:

1) He goes on for a while about how the foods the SuperSizeMe Guy ate could not possibly not have added up to 5000, and he could not have gained 25 pounds. Hmmmm, somewhat convincing. But THEN in the movie, he takes pains to show how the traditional Calories In/Calories Out formula isn't legitimate because of hormones. So, given that, I can see how someone could eat alot of carb rich fast foods, raise their insulin levels, lower their metabolism and gain 25 pounds in a month.

2) He makes a big point about how he could not get the food diary from the SSMG production company; but how long ago was that movie made? Why would they keep all the documentation from the film for so long? Especially in the SSM film, we see half the time what SSMG is eating, and can infer the rest from the simple rules he set.

3) Lastly, and most importantly, this guy, who has a body composistion of 30% fat, wants to downplay that Americans are fatter and more out of shape in history and compared to the rest of the world, and that this is indeed a problem. He says that fat people will live as long as in shape people, but what about quality of life in old age? ANYONE can live to be a hundred given technology, but I want to be in the number that can walk and think independently.

Also, as someone who travels globally frequently, I can say that Americans really are FAT, relatively. Our food portions are huge compared to what other people eat, we walk (vs. driving) alot less, and our body sizes are noticably larger. Thus I think that putting calories on big macs and on menus is a great idea (the film attacks this idea). Let people make choices with all the facts in front of them. That is what real choice is about.

I'm surprised this is news. There are plenty of folks who already knew this. After the severe period, stay away from carbs and fats and exercise and you'll stay "cured." Go back to your old ways, suddenly you are no longer cured.

>> ^rottenseed:

I just watched "Fat Head" a response to "Super-size Me". It contained a lot of appealing facts that I will never bother to fact check. If you, too, are mentally lazy like me, you should watch it. It's low-budget but it's amusing.>> ^MaxWilder:
>> ^gwiz665:
Jebus christ. I mean, seriously, they should have layed off the big macs back in school. America, you need to run your ass around the block a few times.

As someone who is currently (perennially) trying to lose weight, I wish it was something as simple as running around the block a few times. I trained for a marathon two years ago and simply stopped losing weight during the process. I remained 30 lbs above my goal weight, and ran (and finished) the marathon like that. For people who are not naturally lean, it is the difficult (near impossible) combination of proper exercise with proper diet that causes them to often simply give up. It also an unhappy truth that the cheapest food is the least healthy, so poor people are much more likely to be malnourished into obesity.
As to the video, in this particular case, laughing is totally appropriate. But when it's a fat person by themselves, I am usually just saddened. And I always remember that phrase, "Are you riding a scooter because you're fat, or fat because you are riding a scooter?"



I've read about "Fat Head" and it makes a compelling argument. It is theoretically possible to have a healthy weight while eating crappy food. However, we shouldn't be looking at what a single person can accomplish while on a mission to debunk a fear-mongering documentary. We should be looking at the statistics of the category of people who are obese: what is caused their obesity and what is preventing them from losing the fat?

I have no specifics to back up my current opinion. It is a position I have decided upon after many years of personal experience and reading a wide variety of books on getting in shape. It is my belief that the core ingredients of fast food are simple carbohydrates and saturated fats. These ingredients have a 1-2 punch on the metabolism, spiking the insulin response which pushes calories into formation of fat, then crashing the insulin response making the body feel hungry again. Riding this cycle over the long term creates larger and larger appetites, encouraging the consumer to purchase more and more food. Bad for the body, but good for the restaurants. Protein can help reduce the insulin spike, but fast food usually comes with very fatty protein, so that's not much of a help. And vegetables aren't very tasty, so they are easily overlooked.

What I'm saying is that people who are overweight are trapped in a cycle they don't understand, and even if they do understand it, it is very hard to break out. It is literally an addiction like smoking, except you can't quit cold turkey (pun not intended). You can't stop eating. You have to keep eating, but choosing foods you don't enjoy because your habits have been warped by the cheap food industry.

I don't think we should legislate. I'll be the first to stand up and say don't blame McDonald's for your weight problem (even though it's kinda their fault). I'm saying we need to educate. And make that education based on clinical studies, not lobbyist funding like the USDA's myplate program. Teach people the proper balance of protein, carbs, and fat. Teach them the proper forms those nutrients should come in (lean and whole, not processed and sugary). Teach them the benefits of vegetables. This information has got to be in our faces so that we can't ignore it.

But even if we do that, this generation is a lost cause. I work my ass off to get in shape, but I keep falling off the wagon because the craving for fast food gets to be too much. That "high" from a sugary insulin spike calls to me. I'm not kidding that it's an addiction. We need to teach people that, so that kids and parents can keep away and not get hooked.

>> ^Simple_Man:

I can't say for certain, but I'm think this video will change my life. I've been trying to lose weight for ages, not drinking any coke, doing exercise etc., but I've never realized the prevalence of high fructose corn syrup in all foods. I wrote down those 4 tips that he suggested to losing weight, and I'll repeat them here for those who missed it. I'll certainly stick to it and see if it works.
1. Get rid of all sugared liquids: only water and milk. Fruits are fine, because it contains all the fibers.
2. Eat carbs with fiber, because fibers are awesome. Fibers: Lowers total and LDL cholesterol, reduces risk of heart disease
regulates blood sugar, and speeds the passage of foods through the digestive system
3. Wait 20 mins for second portions, so your satiety response can kick in.
4. Buy your screen time minute-for-minute with physical activity.
Some other points:
-a calorie is not a calorie: you don't do exercise to burn calories, but to increase metabolism
-fructose IS NOT glucose. A large amount of glucose is used by the rest of the body, meaning it burns much quicker. Fructose can only be metabolized in the liver, and it's a volume issue. It means a lot gets turned into fat, and in that process, blocks receptors to generate certain chemicals which tell your body to stop eating, causing a vicious cycle.
-be a fattie or fart a lot (from the fiber). Make your choice.


So, it's been a couple of months. I'm wondering how the changes went?

Simple carbs are bad for you. Everyone knows this? None of the "omg carbs KILL BABIES" people or studies seem to contrast simple carbs vs. complex carbs. Are they stuffing them full of white bread? White rice? There was a study recently that showed just having *some* brown rice with your white rice measurably reduced the risk of diabetes, but I didn't see any of the He-Man Caveman Diet people mention that.

Some studies (though not all, admittedly--there are conflicting reports) indicate that sugars that are unbalanced in favor of more fructose (HFCS) cause problems that eating table sugar doesn't.

For the fatty meats, you also have to be careful about what exactly they're eating. Hamburger is the refined flour of the red meat world and steak is the 100% whole wheat bread. There's a difference in how they're digested, and there's a difference on their effects on the body. I'm too lazy to go find the reference, but there was a study comparing eating small amounts of hamburger vs. steak every day for some period of time, and the hamburger group had higher cholesterol and blood pressure and whatnot (could be misremembering the exact problems).

And for this study, the only thing that's moderately surprising is that the heavy drinkers are healthier than the non-drinkers. But it it utterly unsurprising that the moderate drinkers are healthier than both; this has been common knowledge for a while. Well, I am kinda surprised that 3 drinks a day is moderate drinking. That's a lot more than I drink. I wonder how the data would skew if they broke it down to 1 every few days, 1 every day, 2 every day, 3 every day, etc.

I'd put $5 on the some-complex-carb--eating, some-steak-eating, vegetable-eating, sugar/simple-carb--reducing, HFCS-avoiding, moderately-drinking person being healthier than any of the other permutations. Moderation isn't as sexy as being able to get all religious about being anti/pro-meat or anti/pro-carb or anti/pro-booze, though, I suppose!