Out of My Mind on a Monday Moanin'

Busy weekend and I did absolutely nothing but goof off.  Not complaining too much because come Monday morning I felt pretty relaxed and that is the whole point of a weekend, right?  So relaxed I did not want to get out of bed this morning.  Isn't it Memorial Day yet?

The Numbers for Today:

•  Fasting Blood Glucose:  108 mg/dl. Very good.  
• Weight:  188 lbs.  Have I finally gotten off of the schnide? 
• Exercise:  45 minutes.  It's been warm in Houston and I love the sweat.
• Mood:  8.5: Down a pound and relaxing weekend. Only down side is I have left a lot things undone.

Menu for Today:

• Breakfast:  Banana, orange, and oatmeal flavored with herbal blueberry tea and dried fruit.  
• Lunch:  Leftover stuff.  A bit of split pea hummus, a whole wheat pita round and some red pepper.  Filling.
• Dinner:  Four Bean Southwest Chili with brown rice and sliced avocado.  Tasty stuff if I do say so  myself.  It's from a McDougall "Quick & Easy Cookbook" and the recipes he and his wife developed are indeed quick, easy to make, tasty, low fat and good for me. Also cheap to make. That's important right now.  
• Snacks. Some kind of party mix stuff that probably was not in the health food category.  Not much of it, if that helps. Tasty, though.  Probably negated the benefits of the my good boy lunch and dinner.

McDougall's whole approach is that acquiring or adhering to a diet, a way of eating, is a life long commitment.  His particular view is a low fat, vegan diet based on whole grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables.  It's not unlike Jack LaLanne's preferred diet.  I will say this, the food is tasty, filling, nutritious and satisfying.  No added fat, no meat, no dairy and if I remember correctly, no nuts.  People who do adhere to his diet philosophy lose a lot of weight and seem to get their health back.  It's a hard diet to be on if only because the world is so very unfriendly to his approach.  Finding a restaurant that fits his guidelines is not easy, but sticking as close as possible, generally, will have it's have a salubrious outcome.

With McDougall's diet plan in mind, I was not surprised to see a contradictory view, namely, grains are making us fat.  If there is one thing I have learned, take a diet statement or rule or idea or philosophy or plan backed by research and facts and you can find the opposite somewhere else that is backed up by equally compelling research and facts. 

Me, I don't buy grains are making us fat only because food is just so available, easy to get and cheap.  Who doesn't like to eat?  We eat more because we can.  Because we can eat more and do; we get fatter.  We don't exercise much.  It's fun to sit around, watch some TV and eat.  We have developed a whole segment of our culture around eating and doing nothing.  Are grains to blame?  I doubt it, no more than the cheeseburger is to blame. 

Others say grains, particularly whole grains, are good because they are low in fat, filling and breakdown slowly so they do not cause a spike in blood glucose.  I read such an article today.  That is all seems good, yet it is not hard finding results and opinions backed by research that this is not what really happens and eating grains is bad.  Look at Atkins and "The Drinking Man's Diet."  Both diets are backed by facts and research, proving carbohydrates are bad and fat is good. That is the exact opposite of McDougall's diet,  based on research and facts, proving  carbohydrates are good and fat is bad. 

What is a person to do?

Easy.  Find a diet you like and works for you and stick to it.   It's your life, enjoy it. Just remember the Twinkie's diet.