Rush Limbaugh has finally pointed diet and exercise for the Liberal Left conspiracy that he’s always known it to be. That’s probably why he’s still a fatty. He’s referring to a new report from CNN that describes a professor who apparently lost weight eating nothing but Twinkies.
Reading the article I noticed he previously tried to lose weight with the conventional low-fat mostly plants and whole grains diet. I also found that the prof didn’t only eat Twinkies when he abandoned the conventional “healthy” diet. He just didn’t exclude Twinkies. I imagine what he did was increase his fat intake as that is considered a no-no. In my opinion increasing fat is a good thing, even saturated fats (though I wouldn’t recommend the artificially hydrogenated fats this guy is eating.). Doing the opposite of the USDA recommended dietary guidelines allowed him to lose weight and increase his blood profile even while eating processed junk foods! This is similar to the experience of comedian Tom Naughton who created a minority report documentary as answer to Morgan Spurlock’s Supersize Me. Naughton spent one month eating nothing but McDonald’s and lost weight while improving his blood profile. The film is called Fathead and it’s very enlightening. His blog is also very informative, funny, and well researched. You’ll find plenty of ammo to fire at the low-fat advocates in your life.
Of course, eating junk food is anathema according to the Paleo Diet ethos, but I’m not one to shun a good dessert (as long as its gluten free and not too often eaten). Also, keep in mind that eating is a communal activity and it doesn’t pay to limit your diet so much that you alienate your friends and any ability to socialize. We, as human animals, are social creatures and while I believe health is the most important quality of life consideration, family and friends are a very close second. And if you can’t go out for a chocolate mousse every once in a while you’re going to miss out on some important social time.
Even if a Paleo Diet regimen will lengthen your maximum lifespan (which is no guarantee) life is still short and relationships are what make it more tolerable. I’ll have the cheesecake.
Update: John Durant points out (correctly) that professor Haub and many people can lose weight restricting calories and eating nothing but crap. Is it healthy? No. It creates a situation some of my Paleo buddies call “skinny fat.” You’ve seen her. She’s really skinny. Not so much in a Twiggy kind of way but more of an Auschwitz kind of way. She eats a salad for lunch. Maybe a bagel with low-fat cream cheese for breakfast. A sugary Jamba Juice later in the day. She probably only consumes around 1300 calories a day. She has no muscle tone because she lacks muscle. If she stands up too fast she passes out. That is skinny fat.
I worked with a girl once who decided she would lose weight by trimming her calories to 400 a day. She didn’t show up for work one day because she collapsed on the subway after 5 days. She’s not fat. She doesn’t have an eating disorder. She just thought that’s how you lose a couple of extra pounds quickly. And why wouldn’t she think that? Calories in, calories out, right?
I’m not particularly advocating eating Twinkies all day and every day. I just don’t think dessert should be excluded. When I have a mousse its usually followed by a week of very strict eating. Granted, a homemade mousse is a far cry from a highly processed Twinkie. Mousse (or ice cream, or cheesecake, the only things in which I indulge regularly) has generally three ingredients if made from scratch: Eggs, milk, and sugar. Twinkies have… Well, who knows what Twinkies are made of but I’m certain one of the ingredients is hydrogenated vegetable oil. And I’ll never touch the stuff.
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