If I Could Bring Two People Together...

Michelle Obama needs to meet Gary Taubes.  Here we go:

FORT JACKSON, S.C. – First Lady Michelle Obama said Thursday that the military's push to turn recruits into health-conscious warriors could be a model for making people across the U.S. more focused on fitness and nutrition.

Obama, who has made battling childhood obesity one of her signature causes as first lady, visited the Army's largest training post at Fort Jackson outside Columbia to see what the Army has done, from more rigorous training drills to fat-free milk in its mess halls.

Fat-free milk?  Ahhh!

Gary Taubes, author of "Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It", would love to chat with Ms. Obama about how the medical community backed the wrong pony forty years ago when they decided dietary fat was the health problem vexing America.  The message the public took away was 'You won't get fat if you don't eat fat', and we can look around and see how well that worked out. 

And lo these many years later, the medical establishment finds itself up a tree from which they can't gracefully climb down - rather than risk their credibility, they continue to promote dietary fat as a problem, as illustrated by the skim milk at the Army base.

But Ms. Obama needn't listen to Gary Taubes, a vastly talented science writer who has been obsessing about this topic for more than a decade.  For someone with impressive establishment credentials she could turn to Dr. Walter Willett, the chairman of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health.  Here is his comment from last summer on the revised 2010 USDA dietary guidelines, due out on Jan 31:

The report has made positive changes but has some shortcomings (see attachment). Positive changes: stronger recommendation to reduce sugary beverages; greater emphasis on sodium reduction; and much less emphasis on the percentage of energy from total fat, which is correctly described as not related to weight gain, obesity, or any other major health outcome.

Shortcomings: (1) Total fat is still recommended to be less than 35% of calories, and there is no basis for setting an upper limit on total fat.

If dietary fat is not the problem, fat-free milk is not the answer.

As to what the problem is, let's turn to Dr. Willett again - this is from the LA Times last December:

But a growing number of top nutritional scientists blame excessive carbohydrates — not fat — for America's ills. They say cutting carbohydrates is the key to reversing obesity, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

"Fat is not the problem," says Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. "If Americans could eliminate sugary beverages, potatoes, white bread, pasta, white rice and sugary snacks, we would wipe out almost all the problems we have with weight and diabetes and other metabolic diseases."

If a mere science writer isn't convincing (and that may be the case for people who focus on credentials rather than evidence), take it from the Harvard guy.

And let me add this - Michelle Obama is not part of the medical establishment.  She ought to be much more invested in popularizing the correct message than in covering the (ever-widening) rear areas of the doctors who have been backpedaling from their own bad advice for forty years.

So where will she go from here with her "Let's Move" program?  She can deliver the same old blah blah that has gotten us to our current grim predicament, or she could listen to some of the well-credentialed skeptics, host some informal hearings, commence beating the drums against carbs, let the insurgents in the medical community push their research under her aegis, and be the woman who saved America and her husband's health care plan (the estimated cost of the obesity epidemic exceeds $100 billion per year).

I am resigned to more blah blah, but here's hoping! 

TO RAISE THE STAKES:  I kid you not, if she actually starts seriously trumpeting a "No sugar or refined carbs" message I will vote for her husband in 2012.  Unless he steps aside and asks the party to nominate her, and then she gets my vote directly.  Currently she is exhorting us to make better choices (swap fruits and veggies for candy - no kidding!) and follow the USDA food pyramid.  That pyramid is opaque, but it does recommend grains, half of which should be whole grains.  As if - that is a mixed message that won't get through.

By way of contrast, here is the Harvard food pyramid.  It's still a mixed message, but refined grains are clearly set aside at the top in the "Use Sparingly" category; refined grains are down in the foundation.

That is more clear and straddles the same problem faced by the USDA but not individuals - what a doctor might recommend for his patients may be quite different from what the Surgeon General would recommend, because the United States (and certainly the world) need wheat, corn, rice, and potatoes to find enough calories.

Now, a bit of hope for the planet - there is a possibility that fructose (found in table sugar and high fructose corn syrup, as well as sweet fruits) is the trigger for insulin resistance and the descent into obesity and diabetes.  If so (IF!), that could help explain why some Asian countries that have diets high in rice but low in sugar don't have an obesity problem. 

Further implications - the current cohort of overweight (and especially, obese) Americans are past the trigger point and would have to give up the list of carbs noted by Dr. Willett.  However, healthy folks here and in the rest of the world would be free to eat wheat, rice and potatoes to their hearts content as long as they stayed away from sugar.  That is good news for feeding the world, and perhaps for the political palatability of the low-carb solution to the obesity crisis.  (Yes, the gluten protein in wheat is problematic for a lot of people for different reasons, but enough, already.)

Comments

[Stosh, Esq.]

Go Rahm!

[bgates]

This combination of junk science and a belief in the virtues of militarizing society as a whole perfectly encapsulates why Sarah Palin has no place in American public life.

[Extraneus]

Has anyone seen any decent data on the comparison of results between low-fat and low-carb diets? Limited data here, but my brother gained weight on a low-carb diet, and in the past he lost significant weight on a low-fat diet.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I posted this in the other thread, it really belonged here:

Michelle seems to think that all families and kids have only one experience, ghetto, no family support, lousy schools and crime-ridden neighborhoods. We cannot base national policy on the basis of ghetto families in Chicago or Detroit. There are millions of mothers who are very careful to see their children eat healthy. There are millions of kids who are outside everyday playing and participating in backyard activities and/or organized sports. Probably not as high a percentage as when I was a kid, but back then our playgrounds were open, not locked up behind 10 ft. high chain link as soon as school let out at 3 pm. We had real play equipment, not these padded excuses they have now. We were able to play ball, run around playing tag, ride our bikes wherever we had to go, hike in the hills, etc. Now most of those activities are regulated out of existence because some little Suzie or Johnnie might get a scraped knee or someone can't quite keep up, so everyone loses.

The one thing we didn't have was vending machines in school. Candy, snacks, and soda were not allowed during school hours.

And we walked to school. By the time my kids were in school, they said it was "too dangerous" for kids to walk, so expensive school buses were provided to everyone, even those like my kids who lived less than a 1/4 mile from the school.

The one thing we didn't have was overweight or obese kids. I even pulled out all my old class pictures and yearbooks to refresh my memory on this. I was right, not one kid in my classes all thru school were overweight. We ate nutritious food and we moved. We weren't drugged as a way to keep us quiet and compliant, whereas in my son's 2nd grade class, more than half the kids were on Ritalin at the suggestion of the school counselors.

[Ignatz]

--I kid you not, if she actually starts seriously trumpeting a "No sugar or refined carbs" message I will vote for her husband in 2012.--

How would condemning us to debt induced bread lines reduce our carbs?

[narciso]

Lol, bgates, the scaring thing is that doesn't seem like an implausible conversation
from those two.

[bgates]

It's still a mixed message, but refined grains are clearly set aside at the top in the "Use Sparingly" category; refined grains are down in the foundation.

That is a mixed message.

[Fatty McButterpants]

This Tom guy seems relatively slim. What's up with all the nutrition and exercise posts?

[Rob Crawford]

MO's campaign has nothing to do with health; it's about self-promotion and laying down another class marker.

[Threadkiller]

">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=homGgvPaiPA&feature=player_embedded"> Heart Attack Grill mentions Obamacare.

[JM Hanes]

As a walking dietary nightmare, I've discovered that the best way to avoid extra pounds is to avoid thinking about food. So, allow me to distract you!

Obama's SOTU:

Palin's Response:

One of the above is a model of clarity.

[Danube of Thought]

Down 16 pounds since New Year's. South Beach diet. No white bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, sugar, damn little alcohol (among other things)--and no hunger. Except for the Martinsi.

It's not simply a matter of excluding those things. It's what is included that makes it work, and makes it quite painless.

[Danube of Thought]

"That is a mixed message."

I'll say it is. Read it three times and moved on.

[Rocco]

FORT JACKSON, S.C. – First Lady Michelle Obama said Thursday that the military's push to turn recruits into health-conscious warriors could be a model for making people across the U.S. more focused on fitness and nutrition.

WTF...Perhaps our Commander in Chief should be a role model and quit smoking, especially since his daughter is afflicted with asthma!

[peter]

I find the low carb diet is a good way to trim pounds, but too much protein results in a bit of gout. I believe in moderation in all things, except the defense of liberty.

Why not let the American people choose what they are going to eat, and not eat?

[Dr Vandelay]

"Why not let the American people choose what they are going to eat, and not eat?"

Especially since 95% of your cause of death is genetics. The other 5% is accidents (e.g. bathtub falls, drive-bys, etc).

[peter]

I kid you not, if she actually starts seriously trumpeting a "No sugar or refined carbs" message I will vote for her husband in 2012.

Hyperbole, I hope.

Or maybe you think she will have a different husband in 2012.

[matt]

speaking of which, the Japanese have introduced walking helmets, yes, helmets for walking, for children going to and from school.

There is a movement in the country as well for tailored bubble wrap outerwear using the large bubble type product.

However, it was found in recent testing in Shizuoka prefecture that the outfits were so large that children wearing the combination robin's egg blue helmets and matching bubble wrap suits were too wide to get through many of the prefecture's narrow streets and alleys.

In one incident, a child was badly injured when an electric car failed to stop in time as the child was stuck between two buildings.The poor kid was launched 50 meters into a nearby rice paddy where he landed face down and almost drowned.

[Jack is Back!]

BS. I am married to a Belgian. Mussels, Frites met Mayonaisse, Steak met Frites, Asparagus Vlamms, Waterzooi, Fricadel, etc etc

lots of red wine, cheese, chacuterie, bread, butter and soups, salads and don't forget the waffles. Everytime I cook Belgian for my FIL when he visits, I lose weight. Go figure!

Did I mention the chocolate?

[clarice]

C'mon, Matt. I've a friend whose daughter goes to Japanese school in Tokyo in the summers. She goes by herself--as do all the ids--on public transportation to school. Each school has its own uniform and all the passengers make sure the kids get off at the right school.
At playtime, the younger kids are on the playground in their underwear.

Imgine that in NYC

[MayBee]

Last time I was there, the Japanese didn't even wear bike helmets.

[Porchlight]

JiB, don't forget the witloof!

My gal pal and I are going to a Belgian gastropub kinda place Saturday night in Denver. Can't wait. I will probably default to mussels and frites.

[Danube of Thought]

Taranto on Hannity's GA Panel tonight.

[jb]

The last person invited to my dinner table is anyone from gummint, especially when they (or spouses) are trying to tell me what or what not to eat.

Gummint, and most physicians, are nutritionally illiterate, and now that we peeps out here in Nobodysville are discovering that the experts were looking at the hole in the ground and comparing it with a certain orifice out of which they persisted in speaking, well . . . heh.

But they still have turf to defend, as well as medicine's marriage to gummint presided over by Morris Fishbein. We are still paying that price!

Shaddup!

Dr. Vandelay has it precisely right. My body, I DECIDE what goes into it. That "freedom" thing and all . . . if folks want to Twinkie and Coke themselves to death, their call. I'm going to have my marbled steaks and baked spuds with sour cream and green and yellow veggies and key lime pie (to kill for!) and drink my beer and live way past all the experts counting rice grains or calories.

And at 60, I'll match stats with anyone!

Wrong pony, indeed! And the Bammster and his bride want us to hitch up to the same ole gummint nag again?

[MayBee]

I like the use of the word "push" in the Michelle Obama piece. As if this is some new thing, the military making recruits fit.

[MayBee]

Oh Gad, I found the link. The military has replaced soda with fruit drinks. For health.
And put food in different colored containers signifying how "healthy" they are.

I do think the pentagon's budget should be cut at least a little.

[abadman]

Like Global warming, nutrition, metabolism, and dieting encompass too many variables to allow simple answers. It is pretty obvious from the responses here that different diets work well for different people here. what one can tolerate another can't.

Overall the problem is excess total calories leading to excess total weight.

You start to exceed a BMI over 30 with body fat over 30 % you are going to have problems no matter what you are eating.

have a BMI in the 20's and body fat below 20%, go ashead, have a high fat high carb diet, it won't hurt you.

Weight loss in the end comes down to simple chemistry and physics. but that doesn't sell many books.

[Threadkiller]

Chief Medicare Actuary on President's health care claims: "I would say false, more so than true"

”Foster responded to two “True-False” questions, posed by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-California): 1) whether the law will keep down healthcare costs; and 2) whether the law will allow people to keep their health insurance if they choose. Foster responded, “I would say false, more so than true,” to the question about costs, and “Not true, in all cases,” to the question about keeping coverage.

">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC9rhGWJA2w&feature=player_embedded"> Video

Good ol’ Tom McClintock.

[MayBee]

So the First Lady went to speak to the basic training graduation ceremony at Ft Jackson, and this is what she said:

She told the graduates, "Through the new Fueling the Soldier initiative here at Fort Jackson, you learned how to make better choices about what you eat during mess hall. And this isn't just an issue that's important to me as first lady. In recent years, military leaders across the country have been speaking out about how proper nutrition is vital to the success of our armed forces."

She thanked them for their willingness to serve their country, thanked their parents who were there to see them graduate, and urged the new soldiers to carry their healthful eating habits with them the rest of their lives.

Talk about inserting yourself into a situation.

She wants our school children to be military-ready.
She treats our military like school children.

[Boatbuilder]

Who are you, and what have you done with Tom Maguire? Enough with the diet book stuff.

[Extraneus]

And if you've seen him, Boatbuider, TM is a slim dude with a slim wife and a bunch of slim kids.

[Neo]

A one-mile cordon has been established around a volcano on Mount Kirishima after it erupted scattering rocks and ash across southern Japan and sending smoke billowing 5,000ft into the air.

How long till somebody blames global warming
3 .. 2 .. 1 ..

[Army of Davids]

Worth taking note only 34 Republican Senators have at this point signed on to bring the repeal of ObamaCare to the floor.

Thad Cochren (R) Mississippi is one that has not.

These guys need to feel the pressure. So do Democrats like Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Ron Wyden of Oregon.

[Army of Davids]

Tom Donahue, head of the Chamber of Commerce, on the regulation, taxes, mandates and uncertainty in the healthcare bill..."a job killer".

[An ARmy of Scrooges]

Let's slash and burn SS. It's full of fat feeding all those Seniors. Let them eat cat food.

[narciso]

He voted for the stupid START treaty too, no, he is definitely stuck on stupid.

[JM Hanes]

No way I can eat just one potato chip! Had to Wordle the SOTU complete with applause lines:

Obama would be so pleased.

[jorod]

You can cut sodium out of your diet if you want but you'll feel sluggish, dizzy, nauseous and will be running to the bathroom...

[MoodyBlu]

BB dropped:
Who are you, and what have you done with Tom Maguire? Enough with the diet book stuff.

Agreed. What is TM's fascination with everything MO, diet, and what we eat? As Sarah said, "WTF"?

[Dr Detroit]

"Let's slash and burn SS. It's full of fat feeding all those Seniors."

Don't worry, that problem will be solved soon. Under Obamacare there will be no seniors.

[Vanilla Dice]

"What is TM's fascination with everything MO, diet, and what we eat?"

Maybe Mr. Maguire is like Sir Mixalot...he likes big butts and he can not lie, and Mo's diet talk he can't deny.

[Some guy]

Why does the Harvard pyramid mention taking multivitamins when there is no evidence that they actually do anything?

[Pierre Segue]

Speaking of good health, NJ police officer complains to Gov Christie about low pay increase and higher health care costs...

LUN

[Ignatz]

Culture rot watch:
Move over Catherine Deneuve with your stuffed shirt Chanel No 5.
Lady Gag-reflex prefers her new perfume redolent with blood and semen.

[JM Hanes]

Everybody is Wordling! Via HotAir, NPR asked its readers to describe the SOTU in three words, and then threw them in the hopper. The big winner, among Independents, Democrats and Republicans alike was: salmon! I actually thought the smokin' joke was pretty funny, but I'm surprised that sputnik didn't make a better showing.

MoodyBlu:

TM has always been interested in the latest on diet & exercise (benefits & scams) and various other fitness issues.

[clarice]

Heh, JMH--Just awakening from the 21 hour shutdown to see Sarah has done it again WTF!! I love it!!!

[hit and run]

JMH:
No way I can eat just one potato chip! Had to Wordle the SOTU complete with applause lines

Heh.

Here's one based on how the speech will now forever be remembered (had to shrink it a bit to get it to fit):

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

Like Global warming, nutrition, metabolism, and dieting encompass too many variables to allow simple answers. It is pretty obvious from the responses here that different diets work well for different people here. what one can tolerate another can't.

Amen. That's the way it is in spite of what the USDA or anyone else says.

[RichatUF]

And speaking of bring people together, Time has Obama and Reagan on the cover. This is what Obama "wrote" about Reagan in "his" book:

“When classmates in college asked me just what it was that a community organizer did, I couldn’t answer them directly,” Obama wrote. “Instead, I’d pronounce on the need for change. Change in the White House, where Reagan and his minions were carrying on their dirty deeds…”

[matt]

those darned minions, or was it minyans?

Just to show how weird it's getting, the LA Unified School District cop who claimed he was shot recently has been arrested for filing a false police report. You really can't make this stuff up.....

[MayBee]

Isn't that disgusting, Matt? The poor kids on lockdown, the expense of the man hunt.

[Boatbuilder]

Rich--Has he ever provided an answer to the question? Collects and spends Soros' checks? Harasses and blackmails the productive? Goes to parties and pronounces the need for change? (Here's some--now go away!) WTF!

The truly frightening, and sad thing is that this was out there WRITTEN IN HIS FREAKING BOOK and the guy ran for PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES and nobody pointed this out.

WTF! Say what they will about Sarah, I think she's dead center on this one.

[matt]

Paul Krugman is truly living in his own private Idaho. LUN.

[Ann]

I have another WTF?

Who put MO in charge? Did I miss an election?

Figure out how to count the military absentee ballots or go on another vacation MO.

[AL]

Harward-educated credentialed morons (sorry, Rick) continue stupid meme of “healthy foods”, like whole grain bread, brown rice, etc.

Do not kid yourselves. There is no such thing as healthy food. There is healthy diet, and it is highly individual.

From calorieking.com:

White bread – 14.3 gram of carbs per oz. Dark rye bread – 13.3 gram of carbs per oz. 7-grain whole bread – 13.2 gram of carbs per oz.

White long-grain raw rice – 22.7 gram of carbs per oz. Brown long grain raw rice – 21.9 gram of carbs per oz. Wild raw rice – 21.2 gram of carbs per oz.

As Biden would put it, big fucking deal of a difference.

[daddy]

Gad.

Just yesterday we learned from Brit Scientists that High Fat Milk from Pregnant cows is what's directly responsible for UK gals growing big tits. ">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1350919/Why-ARE-womens-breasts-getting-bigger-The-answers-disturb-.html"> Link.

So 24 hours later Michelle's at a Military bootcamp mandating Low Fat Milk.

Is there anything in America that's working perfectly that these 2 Obama's don't somehow try to dick up?

[Chubby]

((Overall the problem is excess total calories leading to excess total weight.))

Calories in themselves are a lot like guns, they really can't do any harm unless a human mind abuses them. So no, the overall problem isn't excess calories, it's a mind unable to say no to excess calories.

[Chubby]

((Collects and spends Soros' checks? ))

it is quite a coincidence that Soros is a huge China booster, isn't it?

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

White bread – 14.3 gram of carbs per oz. Dark rye bread – 13.3 gram of carbs per oz. 7-grain whole bread – 13.2 gram of carbs per oz.

White long-grain raw rice – 22.7 gram of carbs per oz. Brown long grain raw rice – 21.9 gram of carbs per oz. Wild raw rice – 21.2 gram of carbs per oz.

You can't just look at carbs. For instance, I've seen bread with as little as 1g sugar, up to 7 and 8g sugar. Whole wheat breads are healthier than white bread, you want the wheat germ in there. Same with the rices. You can eat a slice of whole wheat toast with peanut butter and the two form a complete protein as opposed to white bread which is empty calories.

[peter]

I still can't believe Tom said he would vote for Zero or big ass under any circumstances. Scratching my head is my aerobic workout.

[Extraneus]

Protests against Egyptian president spread

In his first comments on the unrest, President Barack Obama was careful to avoid any sign of abandoning Mubarak but made it clear that he sympathized with demonstrators.

"...I've always said to him that making sure that they are moving forward on reform -- political reform, economic reform -- is absolutely critical to the long-term well-being of Egypt," Obama said in comments broadcast on the YouTube website.

"You can see these pent-up frustrations that are being displayed on the streets."

The man is an embarrassment. He's always said that to him? Really?

Btw, does anyone know what's really going on over there? Is the Muslim Brotherhood behind the unrest, or are these demonstrations hopeful signs of democracy broadening beyond Iraq?

[Captain Hate]

Ext, I'm pretty hopeful on Tunisia, 50/50 on Egypt and less so on Yemen. Unfortunately our quisling media is as worthless as the CIA and State Dept dumbasses that are clueless as to the real dynamics.

[Ralph L]

Life's too short not to eat what you like--just eat small amounts of high calorie foods. And exercise regularly.

TLC had a program yesterday on a kid with Prader-Willis? genetic disorder, who can't tell when he's full. Be thankful you haven't got that.

[Chubby]

Does free "democracy" really have a chance in a country like this: ((According to a Pew Research Center poll, 82% of Egyptians support stoning people who commit adultery, 77% support whippings/ cutting off hands for theft or robbery and 84% support the death penalty for people who leave the Muslim religion.))

As a commenter elsewhere put it:

"Democracy" in Egypt = war with Israel = World War III.

[Ralph L]

Someone should give them Sharia good and hard for about ten years and then put it up for a vote. The Iranians have been tired of theocracy for a while.

[Janet]

I missed this...not having power for 2 days...but here is my disgusting Congressman telling foreign countries how evil Americans are.

[peter]

I can't get too excited about democracy in a country where the vast majority are Moslems. LUN

[Shakin' the tree boss, shakin' the tree]

I refuse to take dietary advice from someone whose sole qualification is that they slept with the president. Government has no role in telling anyone what to eat and the spouse of the putative head of the government has even less cause to boss everyone around. Can't she just stick to dressing like a clown?

There are only three sources of calories folks and we are working our way through demonizing them one at a time. Fats and carbs have been through the wringer. Protein can't be far behind.

Our kids are fat because they sit on their asses. It doesn't help that they are locked up in government institutions for the majority of each day and they aren't allowed to work or roam free. We lock them up and when they get a little potty we decide the "cure" is to cut their rations. Warden Obama is a cruel one.

[Chubby]

Janet, here's something to counteract that poison.

LUN

[Chubby]

((I refuse to take dietary advice from someone whose sole qualification is that they slept with the president. ))

what, you don't think lectures on nutrition will deeply stir the hearts and minds of those on their way to the battlefield?

[Ralph L]

Janet, were you around in the late 70's/early 80's when Moran was forced off the Alexandria City Council for violating stockbroking laws? It disgusts me that people knowingly vote for proven crooks.

[Janet]

Thanks Chubby.

[narciso]

It's very much like Carter's 'Island of stability' comment about the Shah, except Carter didn't deliver it in Warsaw, the significance of the Cairo speech, El Baradei proving to br auditioning for Bani Sadr

[Janet]

No, Ralph L. His insanity gets very little coverage here. At best, it is mentioned & then fades away. That is what made the whole "macaca' outrage so surreal. Screaming headlines about Allen for months....but silence on Moran.

[Joanna]

An enjoyable life includes eating good food. Life without pasta, potatoes, bread, sugar , etc. is not a life I want to live. The answer is moderation and making meals from scratch. Learn to eat well and not too much. It's as simple as that.

[Tcobb]

Sorry--the key is very simple, and its grounded in simple physics. Don't eat more calories than you use.

[Mari]

have you looked at michelle lately? she ought to take her own advice.

[MeTooThen]

TM

As a physician and one interested in nutrition and in exercise physiology, I can attest that there is little if any "medical community" that knows anything about diet and exercise as it relates to weight or fitness.

What little I learned about this almost 30 years ago, is just that, very little.

And yes, Jack Lalane had it right, almost completely.

Limit any processed food, vegetables, fish, and lean meat and chicken, and exercise (including lifting your own body weight) hard.

My Sensei who is 20 years younger than me, was way ahead of the curve on many things - a quick adopter to some of Cross-Fit's methods, the use of martial arts, heavy lifting, and he drank whole milk (FWIW)

In brief sum, building muscle makes you more efficient at using calories, different foods are channeled and used in different ways as some foods require more energy to break them down and metabolize them, and ultimately mild caloric restriction and slow but steady exercise that builds muscle tends to work for most people.

And yes, YMMV.

Best weight loss tips evah:

Do some form of exercise for at least 5-15 minutes each morning before you eat or drink anything (consult your doc about your AM meds)

Drink at least 1 liter of water by lunch or the early afternoon

If you run, do intervals. If you walk, do intervals. If you cycle, do intervals.

Lift to build muscle.

When in doubt, do whatever Mike Boyle tells you to do.

Turn off your TV, go to sleep by 9:30, and have a rest day for fun (don't forget to have sex!)

OK, that's about it!

Enjoy!

Just sayin'.

[Danube of Thought]

Three days on, i'm increasingly appalled by the SOTU. It is just amazing how removed it was from the very real, near-panicky concerns of Americand today. I hope this is sinking in with the electorate. "Wait a minute--what did he say?"

[centralcal]

Sounds sensible to me, MeTooThen.

I agree, DoT.

[narciso]

I think that acronym she came up with, really sums it up.

[Extraneus]

Sorry--the key is very simple, and its grounded in simple physics. Don't eat more calories than you use.

Taubes would say that this is the most harmful of the untrue paradigms about weight gain. In his book, he shows a picture of a naked woman with a condition that left her thin from the waist up, and fat from the waist down. Did she take in more calories than she "burned," but only below the waist? Less above?

Taubes describes an experiment done on female laboratory rats, in which their ovaries were surgically removed. The rats were then split into two groups. One group was allowed to eat what they wanted, and one group had their food restricted. Both groups became obese, with the second group becoming sedentary.

So the idea that eating too much or living a sedentary life makes one fat seemed to be inverted in this experiment. The hormone restriction apparently is what made the rats fat, and they either over-ate or restricted their exercise to accomplish it, depending on their food availability.

Anyway, it's apparently not as simple as the simple physics explanation that most of us believe.

[centralcal]

For anyone interest, Gabriel Malor has a straw poll up over at Ace's.

I looked at the choices and sighed. Voted for Palin and completely agreed with the second commenter who said she was the only "goddamn American with goddamn balls" on the list. Ain't it the truth!

[Captain Hate]

here is my disgusting Congressman telling foreign countries how evil Americans are.

Seriously, wtf is the matter with people in Virginia that they keep electing human garbage like this and Webb?

[Captain Hate]

cc, I voted likewise but agreed more with the commentor that stated they didn't want the MFM to dictate their choice. Not that I disagree with what you stated...

[narciso]

Sometimes they really do earn the 'moron' label, cc over there, cc, and not in a good way.

So Minitrue, says GDP grew by 3.2% last quarter, and so did the chocolate ration, I'm
sure,

[Porchlight]

The answer is moderation and making meals from scratch. Learn to eat well and not too much. It's as simple as that.

It makes sense. I really enjoy French Women Don't Get Fat as a philosophy for weight control and good living (and a good read in its own right). French women walk everywhere, limit their portions, and don't "graze." But they eat (and drink) very well.

[sal]

"Overall the problem is excess total calories leading to excess total weight......
Weight loss in the end comes down to simple chemistry and physics."

I think Gary Taubes would agree with the last sentence. However, by applying chemistry and physics properly he very effectively debunks the "conventional wisdom" of the first sentence.

[Rob Crawford]

My least favorite argument against Palin: SHE'S BEEN POISONED AMONG INDEPENDENTS!!~!1!

Um, yeah. Because you people let it happen. You never fight back when she's attacked. So we're going to see Pawlenty or Huckabee or Romney get slaughtered in 2012.

IT'S THEIR TURN TO LOSE!

[Captain Hate]

Rob, I've had it with the Palin hater suckups to ace that have to endlessly pollute the thread with the same garbage that I heard the first thousand times they screamed it. So I called them out with some LGF references.

[Janet]

Is there a less important aspect to an individual than whether they are overweight or not? Obsessed with physical health, but moral health means nothing to these leftists.
Libs will take this health talk to the tyranny level just like they do safety, & saving the planet. They don't believe in God so their 75-80 odd years here on planet earth are all they've got (or so they think). Talk about bitter clingers....

[Ignatz]

--I hope this is sinking in with the electorate. "Wait a minute--what did he say?"--

Or perhaps "Wait a minute--WTF did he say?"

[Ignatz]

Very astute comment at 10:10AM Janet.

[Captain Hate]

Janet's been bringing the heat recently...

[cathyf]

Sorry--the key is very simple, and its grounded in simple physics. Don't eat more calories than you use.

So, if your body takes the calories you eat and packs them into fat cells rather than sending them to your brain to operate it, the solution is simple: just pass out from the low blood sugar. And exercise vigorously while unconscious on the floor, and your body will certainly burn off that fat. It's simple physics!

[Chubby]

Janet I agree with Ignatz 10:19 EST about your 10:10 EST. That was a great comment and TRUE. It gets old hearing absolutely everything analyzed in terms of physiology, but that's PC for ya.

[Ignatz]

--Janet I agree with Ignatz 10:19 EST about your 10:10 EST.--

Just as an FYI, we out here in PST land see everything in EST too.

[Chubby]

Thanks Ignatz. On Delphi forums the time is customized to location, so I thought it might be the same for Typepad.

[Ignatz]

I understand the physics and biochemistry are complicated, but I'm not convinced that they are the same when we're eating more calories than our bodies use as opposed to eating less.
The mice in Ex's experiment seem to prove the opposite to me. Those fed more calories than they required got fat. Those fed less became sedentary and also got fat. If they hadn't become sedentary (a choice mankind presumably can make, unlike a mouse) presumably they wouldn't have. Are we men or are we mice?
When I see widespread reports of calorie deprived, fat, sedentary Ethiopians I'll presume we're rodents.

[DaveW]

Years ago, in the 1980s, USMC (Navy) chow halls only served butter. They were barred by law from serving margarine. I was told at the time that was something Les Aspin had plugged into the law to support dairy producers.

Just sayin'.