Please, Whatever You Do, Don't Resolve to Lose Weight in 2013

The quick answer:  Forget about dieting or fussing over calories.  Just eat a healthy diet of minimally processed (low G.I.) foods and you’ll find your natural weight.

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Resolutions

Each Holiday season we travel to my fancy sister’s home in San Francisco for dinner.  I grew up in the middle of five sisters, though two are technically cousins.  Their life’s journey has taken them to different paths, but I think they’re remarkable women. 

Anyway, my oldest sister, the one I described as “fancy,” always hosts the dinner.  How fancy is she?  Check out her Christmas tree, shown below, with the 2000 or so ornaments she has collected.  I should have had the BW stand beside it, to illustrate the size.    

My sister’s a good cook and dinner always begins with crab salad.  After the crab salad, as other courses arrive, we each report on our resolutions for the past year, and make some for the next year.  We’re in our fourth decade of these dinners and despite what the critics say about resolutions, we always make a few.

Last year several resolved to lose weight.  In reporting on those weight-loss promises, one pointed out that she had succeeded in losing 30 pounds by July but had gained it all back by December.  We groaned in sympathy as she took a ‘zero’ for that resolution.  When she made the same resolution for next year I wanted to shout, “Stop!”  But I kept my peace—so let me explain to you, faithful reader. 

 

Why We Get Fat

For Christmas I was given Gary Taubes’ book, Why We Get Fat.  Like his previous book, Good Calories, Bad Calories, it’s carefully researched and makes sense with what we’ve been saying in Word of Wisdom Living. 

We get fat, Taubes concludes, not because we eat fat, or eat too much in general, or move too little, but because the Glycemic Index (G.I.) of the modern American diet is too high.  Basically, sugar and refined grains, including the cookies, crackers, chips, and candies made from them, have a high G.I.  Real foods, minimally processed, have a lower G.I.

Here’s a basic picture of the vicious cycle that results from a high G.I. diet:

1. The sugar in high G.I. foods is quickly metabolized and rushes into our blood.
2. Because excessive blood sugar is toxic, our body secretes insulin to store that sugar in tissue cells in the form of fat (triglycerides).
3. Insulin also insures that this fat stays in the cells—it’s not available for energy use as long as insulin is elevated.
4. Then, when our blood sugar falls and insulin (which falls slower) keeps this energy locked away, we get crazy hungry for more of these high G.I. foods, especially liquid forms like soda drinks. 
5. Insulin is a potent hormone and after years of excessive insulin our cells try to protect themselves by becoming insulin resistant.  This means the pancreas must secrete even more insulin to drive blood sugar levels down.  Persistently high insulin makes it hard to shed that ugly excess fat.

More Wisdom; Less Guilt

This is the basic story behind the current obesity epidemic:  High G.I. diet leads to high insulin levels in our blood, and to lots of fat stored in our cells.  Because we’re all different, the tendency to add fat varies among us.  One person can starve on the diet that makes another obese.  The thin person may seem lucky, but we all have our challenges and one is to find the diet that works best for us.

Bottom line:  There is no perfect diet—no one diet fits all.  Rather, each person must gain the wisdom to know what foods are best for him or her.  This actually is the promise of the Word of Wisdom, that by living it you will gain knowledge, including wisdom about how to eat and live. I recommend the book, Why We Get Fat to anyone who is unhappy with his, or her, weight and wants more information than this brief summary. 

As you've likely heard, about 2/3 of Americans are overweighbt, and half of the overweight are termed obese.  It's a hard thing to be overweight in a society that worships thinness.  For the overweight, here's an important point:  Get over the guilt.  The modern American diet isn’t your fault.  You did nothing wrong.  If you eat too much and move too little, it’s not gluttony or sloth on your part, it’s a problem with our food culture.  To improve your diet, a good starting point is to lower the G.I. by following the Word of Wisdom.

How to lower the G.I. of your diet

In a single sentence, “Eat food as close as practical to the form in which it was first created.”  We’ve addressed this in our Healthy Changes, including these four:

Healthy Change #1:  If you consume sodas or other sugared drinks, limit yourself to one (12 oz.) serving per week.

Healthy Change #4:  Cereal products must be made of whole grains, and have more grams of natural fiber than grams of sugar.

Healthy Change #10:  Your daily bread must be whole grain, with more natural fiber than added sugar.

Healthy Change #27:  Buy candy a piece at a time; never bring a box or bag of candy into the home.

A Wise New Year’s Resolution

If you wish to lose weight and improve your health, don’t go on a starvation diet.  This rarely yields long-term results.  Fasting has benefits but protracted starvation isn’t a good or even doable plan.  In the end, hunger always ends.

Don't even make a resolution to lose weight, please.  But do resolve to reduce the G.I. of what you and your family eat, according to your desire to lose weight. 

Please comment:  Share your weight loss trials.  What works for you?  

Comments

[melissa]

Hi Skip,
I've been following your blog for two years now and it has made a tremendous difference in my life. So thank you.
Since we've arrived once again at Jan. 1st, I was looking for the full list of 52 healthy changes, but I can't find it anywhere on your site. Is that intentional? You've posted the half year report card, but I'd love the full year's list if possible.
Happy New Year,
Melissa

[Stephanie]

Happy New Year! I've been wanting to read "Why We Get Fat." Now I'm determined to read it! I eat a pretty healthy diet, but haven't been able to shed the 15 or so pounds I'd like to. I know it's got to be the sugar in my diet! I'm an admitted sweet tooth, although I try to use more honey than white sugar and whole wheat flour instead of white flour. But still...

Thanks for the tip not to set a resolution to lose weight but to work on reducing GI, instead.

Thanks!

[skip hellewell]

Hi Melissa. Yes, we're going to reorganize the site and add the 52 Healthy Changes in a more useful format. Stay tuned. We're also looking for ideas on what is needed in the coming year to advance the practice of the W of W.

Thanks Stephanie, hope you enjoy the book. The message of the book is to avoid the diet cycle, which has such poor results, and make permanent changes in the food you eat. One warning: Everyone who wants to reduce their body fat has to choose between their sweet tooth and their desire for better health. It's a tough choice.

[Heather]

YEEESS!!!
I am so excited to have found this site. I spent most of the past year mysteriously ill, and unable to find out why. It was hard, but forced me to stop and look at my life, my habits, the culture I've grown up in, and finally see them more clearly for what they were, good and bad. I have had to make a lot of changes. But I swore I wouldn't just jump into the nearest weight loss plan. I have seen how frustrating, ineffective, and even dangerous they can be. And I know that doesn't represent my whole problem. Instead, I've had to reach out and explore new ideas, and also realize the value of things our society has lost. I've had to take time to consider each concept and decide how to apply it, ignoring catch phrases and extra hype. It's been a fun and challenging game to play, and I've seen great progress. It feels good to take care of myself. I've had to learn to better listen to my body and the spirit. The problem is, there's so much to go through! And much of it conflicts with what I've understood the word of wisdom to be. I've been wishing for another perspective, and here it is. Thank you.

[Mindy]

Anyone who has been on a diet knows that ultimately, diets don't work. Lifestyle changes do! Changing the way we view food and our consumption of it is what helped my husband and I both lose 60 pounds seven or eight years ago and is what helps us keep the weight off today.

Your blog has helped us be more mindful about our food choices this year. I have also really appreciated the way you lay things out in such a straightforward manner. So much better than trying to demystify academic journals and media messages! Thank you.

I started reading your blog last year when you put out the call to your readers to double your readership (or something along those lines). I've passed your URL along to others this year as well. We're more than happy to help you get the word out even more, just let us know how!

Since this is already a lengthy comment, I'll add that we made your Split Pea Soup from the leftover Christmas dinner hambone. I'm still trying to help my kids embrace soup, but this is one that everyone ate, plus one of my four year olds loved it so much she asked if she could have it for breakfast the next day, too!

Thanks again for all you do here.
Mindy

[Jess]

I eat whole foods as much as possible. i dont do low fat or fat free but i DO whole, full fat dairy, cook with coconut oil and my recipes use butter. After having twins I have been asked constantly how I lost the weight. I don't diet, I don't drink soda and I eat whole foods. That's the big secret! I feel like my body has a natural weight that its "set" to. As long as I take care of my body, my body takes care of me.

[skip hellewell]

Dear Heather, Mindy, and Jess: Thanks for your affirmative and thoughtful comments. There is a diet revolution starting and it runs the opposite of what Food Inc has been telling, and selling. The W of W has a simple message: Eat wholesome foods as close as practical to how they were first created. Happy New Year.

[Tiffany]

I received a book for Christmas called " All my sizes Four decades of diet hell". It is about a woman who has kept a journal for 40 plus years and so her book is basically her real life story regarding diets and how she struggles with food/sugar addictions. It is a good read. Anyway, I too have struggled with sugar addiction and I am really trying hard to follow the Word of Wisdom. I do really well with eating grains as I grind my own wheat and use whole wheat in most of my recipes. I do add a little white flour when the kids want a more fluffier recipe. My problem is preparing menu's- I think that if I had menu's prepared then my family would eat alot healthier. I just need to take the time to make a menu- It would be nice if you had sample menu's on here that we could add to, so then we can see what others are serving their families or to get ideas. I like very basic recipes. I have picky eaters - I am picky too. I just started eating other veggies besides peas, corn and carrots. Thanks again for all this knowledge that you share with us.

[Darren]

http://english.astroawani.com/news/show/skip-a-meal-to-lose-weight-not-so-fast-some-experts-say-21213