What to Eat? Mom was right all along....

 The results from the Biggest Loser study came in while I was on break.  Did you see the story?  If you didn't, you can find the original article from the New York Times here. 

In short, the contestants from Season 8 have not only regained most, if not all of their weight, their metabolisms are now slower than they were before they began the study.  Many of the contestants find that they have to eat 500 calories a day LESS than is typical for someone of their weight and height just to keep from gaining weight.

I don't know.  Being significantly overweight, I find these statistics disheartening.  I've lost 30 pounds to date, but the thought that I might be doomed to put the weight back on has been a constant fear since I began losing weight.  This is why I changed my goals this year from losing weight to getting healthier, lowering my blood pressure, and exercising consistently.  I wanted to get away from focusing on the number on the scale.

However, I am a research librarian.  I work in an academic library, and one of the subjects we teach is nutrition.  I have the most accurate, cutting edge, up to date information on our library shelves.  I began reading through our hard copy books last year, and I've  discovered one thing: there is a LOT of conflicting information out there!  After some diligent reading, I began to notice a trend in most of the books and journal articles I was reading.  Once you cut through the high fat, high carb, low carb, low fat question there is one very common thread.  We need more vegetables in our lives.

There are a few books that have stood out for me during this research.

The Plant Plus Diet Solution.  I started reading this book back in April, just before the Biggest Loser study was released.  Fascinating, absolutely fascinating look at the state of the American Diet, and the misinformation that we are being fed about what is good for us, and what is not.  The author focuses on common misconceptions about what people THINK they should be eating, and what they SHOULD be eating.  She backs up her claims with solid science and journal articles.


(Stop laughing Mom, I know you've been saying that all of my life, and you didn't have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars going to school in order to know what was right all along...)

The last book I just finished plowing my way through was the "Hormone Reset Diet".  Yet another doctor telling us that we as a nation have drifted too far away from our food heritage.  Instead of eating fresh vegetables, we are eating processed foods full of chemicals and sugars that are slowly killing us from the inside out. 

(Once again Mom, you were right.  Eat more veggies.  You can't get enough veggies.)

I read By Any Greens Necessary last year. The title alone says it all.  We - okay me - need to eat lower on the food chain.  More veggies in my diet.  A lot more vegetables.

I've been working at getting vegetables into me more consistently this year.  I'm still not going to shout "OH BOY KALE!" the next time I go to the farmer's market to pick up stuff for the week, but I'll make a point of getting it.  I don't think I'll ever be shouting for joy over the prospect of a kale salad quite the way I do over freshly roasted Asparagus, but I'll work at it.  I really will. 

Oh, and one last thing each and every book had in common:  We don't get up and move our bodies often enough.  We need to get up and move more, and get more exercise.

Wait a minute - didn't our mothers always tell us to go out and play?

Once again, our mothers knew right from the beginning what the answer to good health was.  We need to listen to our mothers more often.