How fat blocks glucose absorption and fatty fast good can be good for you.

More after these important messages about me.

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  100 mg/dl
• Weight:  187 lbs.
• Exercise:  45 minute bike ride.  Slow to get going, but I was flying at the end.  And it's hot here in Houston, about 80 at 5 am.  
• Mood.  7.0  Could be better and could be worse.  

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Oatmeal and craisins infused with cinnamon/apple herbal tea and fruit morning medley.
• Lunch:  Red beans and rice, cucumber salad.
• Dinner:  Fish tacos with cole slaw. 
• Snacks"  A half of a bagel (whole wheat) and a few almonds. 

Eating Fatty Foods Blocks Glucose Absorption.

When I first started to fix or cure my diabetes, I read several times that fat somehow interferes with your bodies ability to absorb glucose.  The way to avoid that was to eat a low fat diet.  Of course the problem with a low fat diet is often high in carbohydrates, so you get a lot of sugars which are converted into glucose.  Unless you are also losing weight, welcome to the vicious circle.

The body makes a protein called Bcl10 that inhibits glucose from being absorbed.  Eat a meal with a lot fat in it and this protean inhibits the glucose from being absorbed by cells in the body. Eat several heavy, fatty meals in a row and you could have the symptoms of elevated blood glucose, or type 2 diabetes.  Tests on mice with a Bc110 deficiency did not have elevated blood glucose and this could open a new method of t2d treatment, assuming is works that way for humans, too.

This protein is also known help cells fight infections.  So fat is similar to an infection as far as the body is concerned?  

This reminds me of a study reported a month or so ago about a protein made by fat cells called p75NTR.  This protein also inhibits glucose absorption and tests on mice deficient in p75NTR did not develop elevated blood glucose levels, which could open a new method of t2d treatment, assuming it works that way for humans, too.

Fat it seems is a good thing to avoid.  However there is also this on how fat can help diabetics.

Fatty Fast Food is Good for You

While I am on the subject of fat in food, a comedian and writer Tom Naughton created a documentary film called Fat Head.  For 30 days he put himself on a fat heavy fast food diet and he lost weight.  From the drive thru window he put himself on a low carb, calorie restricted diet.  He lost 12 pounds, his body fat dropped by 3% and his blood work improved.   You can watch the whole movie at Hulu. The flim is worth the click.  It's informative and funny and I can't ask for anything more in a documentary.

Reminds me of the Twinkie Diet. 

The Crazy, Costly World of Diabetes Care.

April 25, 2012

The Numbers for Today:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  113.  Must have been the dark chocolate last night
• Weight:  189lbs.
• Exercise:  45 minutes on the bike and the hot, sweaty weather is coming back. 
• Mood:  7.5.

The Menu: 

• Breakfast:  Oatmeal with craisins cooked in cinnamon/apple herb tea, fruit medley. 
• Lunch:  Leftovers sandwich and some Cuties, or Smarties, or whatever those little oranges are.
• Dinner:  Split pea sauce over barley, salad. 
•  Snacks, a little bowl of brown rice

Diabetes is Expensive.
Seems to be theme lately, the costs of treating type two diabetes.  

Britain, like America, is getting fatter and getting type two diabetes.  Britain, like America, is basically broke. The situation is worse in Britain because the all of the cost are paid for by the National Health Service (NHS).  Right now there 3.8 million diabetics in the U.K., and most of them are type two diabetics. About 80% of the National Health Services diabetes budget of £9.8 billion diabetes budget goes to treating the complications of type two diabetes and the problem is only getting worse.

By 2035, according to the journal Diabetic Medicine, diabetes will cost the NHS £16.8bn, 17% of its entire budget.  That course is thought to be unsustainable and will bankrupt the NHS system. 

Everybody could spare themselves the financial and human expenses of treating the condition by mostly by avoiding it in the first place. The NHS is trying to shift from treatment to prevention.  Or is that too much work, the cynic in me asks? Easier to just show up at the NHS clinic, get a pill and let the doctors treat whatever else happens.

The cynic in me also says nothing is really going to happen unless the patients are responsible, with there own money, for their own treatment.  Only then will people start to really take care of themselves.

You can read all about the coming "auto wreck" here and here.

Exercise Lessens Diabetes Risk.  
Something for the Brits to consider, from Runner's World,exercise lessens the risk diabetes and the more you do, the better.

More for the Cynic in Me
More for the Brits to consider.

A guy named Steve Cooksey was a type two diabetic.  He was tired of being sick, changed his diet to the Paleo-diet and seriously worked out.  He's no longer a type two diabetic and he shares his success to the world through his Diabetes-Warrior website.  He did what the NHS hopes will happen in Britain, people taking the initiative to help themselves.

He is passionate about his healthy life and he shares that passion with anyone who will give him the time of day.  His passion rubbed a nutritionist group in North Carolina, where he lives, the wrong way and now the state is threatening him with jail time unless he learns to be quiet.

His approach was not their approach and they did not appreciate his criticisms of them. He hurt their feelings, in other words. Poor babies, they just don't like adults, freeborn citizens, making up their own minds about how to run their lives or what they would like to eat.

Glenn Reynold at Instapundit asked "what the hell is  wrong with North Carolina?"  Nothing, if you accept that the official Those-Who-Better bunch just wants a docile lot to line up at an Obamacare clinic, get a pill and let the doctors treat whatever else happens.  Then worry about the rising costs, just as in Britain.  Look where that got them and how much did it cost the government if people followed the Mr. Cooksey? Apart from the legal issues, I mean.

Bits and Pieces from Around the Net

Friday Eve, April 19, 2012

But first, me:

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Levels:  102 mg/dl.
• Weight:  189.  no ish. 
• Exercise:  45 bike ride in some really pleasant early morning weather.  This won't last, sadly. 
• Mood:  Weather, good, work, sucky. 

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Fruit medley and oatmeal and craisins flavored with cinnamon apple herbal tea.
• Lunch: Chicken salad pita wrap, for an international flair and that was what was left in the fridge, and a couple of Cutie oranges. 
• Dinner:  Pizza. It's Friday Eve
• Snacks: Cheese and Triscuts.  I pigged out on those.

The Dash Diet is Best for Diabetics
From  22 experts organized by US News and World to rate 20 popular diets,  the DASH diet is best for diabetics.   This was designed to lower blood pressure, but it's emphasized fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low fat meat and fish, works out well for diabetics as well.  With DASH, portion size counts for a lot, and it reminds me of the Mediterranean Diet, which really does not exist I am told, never mind it is a popular dietetic approach.  It's amazing how many of these diets are just variations on the same theme.

DASH stands for Dietary Approachs to Stop Hypertension.  I wonder who the experts are? All 22 of them. 


The KE Diet.  This is Just Gross.
Brides demanding to be perfect on the perfect big day, the wedding, are going on the Ketogenic Enteral Nutrition Diet, or KE Diet for short.  The soon to be beautiful bride who wants to lose up to 10% of their body weight in a hurry, will have feeding tubes slid up her nose, down the esophagus and into the stomach.  The tubes will drip a solution of protein and fat throughout the day.  Total calories, about 800 and weight loss is rapid. It's all done under a doctor's care, for that is worth.

It is effective and safe, I guess.  More here on other bridal crash diets.  I wonder how long it takes to gain the weight back?  I guess we guys should be happy they do it all for us guys.  I was worried about the bachelor party.

Dangerous Choice?
Paula Dean's diabetic drug of choice, Novo Nordisk's Victoza, should be withdrawn from the market according to a annoying, professional busybody Public Citizen.  They say the drug can lead to thyroid tumors in rats, and by inference, to humans as well.

Anybody remember saccharin?  

I have no idea if this is a legitimate fear or not.  I suspect not, but as I have always said, the best way to fight the problem is to eat less and exercise. It's dull and boring and not covered by insurance, but it is guaranteed to be safe and effective.

The Numbers for Today:

• Fasting Blood Glucose:  103 mg/dl.  Okay.  Still working off the cookies from Sunday I guess
• Weight:  190 lbs. 
• Exercise:  Nothing.  Got up too late.  I feel bad for not doing it, too.
• Mood:  6.0  No exercise, work sucks. 

The Menu for Today:

• Breakfast:  Oatmeal with soy milk and a fruit salad of Texas Rio Star pink grapefruit.
• Lunch:  Two bean burritos (al fresco no less).  A carb nightmare maybe, but it's cheap, tasty and really kind of low fat. All of which may now be bad for me.
• Dinner: Split pea, navy bean, lime bean sauce (made in the crockpot) over brown Spanish rice.  The rice was easy to make.  Cook the brown rice as usual in the pressure cooker and add a can of fire roasted salsa.  Simple. 
• Snacks:  Busy day, no nibbles and just made dinner when I got home.  As I said, sucky day.  

Get Hip, Eat Like a Caveman. 

Eat like a caveman, that may be the key to a long healthy life, even though they rarely had one.  The Paleo diet is growing in popularity and the diet is pretty simple, really. If you can hunt it, fish it, pull it off of a tree or out of the ground, it's good. It is mostly protein and fat, little carbohydrates, no grains, no legumes and no dairy.  Fat is not considered a problem, just don't get it from vegetable sources such as canola, corn or safflower oil and do get it from olive, fish and coconut oils.   Is lard okay, I wonder?  Vegetable oil sources have omega-6 oils and those lead to systemic inflammation. 

If you are on the Mediterranean diet, omega-6 is okay. So are me vegetable oils, just not so much of it. 

The argument for this diet is that this is what ate while evolving into humans.  That sounds logical, I guess. Benefits to eating it supporters say is that it lowers insulin and ends diabetes and maybe prevent degenerative aging diseases as cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's. Controlling insulin also controls inflammation. 

Inflammation and the need to control it is popping up in more and more articles recently.  Inflammation of what is never mentioned and the causes seem to be often contradictory.  It's late and I am tired, so I will just acknowledge for now that inflammation of whatever by whatever is bad.  Great.  One more think to worry about.

This was taken from an article by Dr. Christopher K. Nagy and I did borrow a few of his lines.  To get on the Paleo diet, he recommends several books:  “The Paleo Solution” by Robb Wolf, “The Primal Blueprint” by Mark Sisson and “Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It” by Gary Taubes.  I have read a lot about Gary Taubes' book and it has a lot of fans. 

So does it work?  It does have its supporters.  If you think it sounds good and could work for you, try it. 

No pizza?  Ever? 

Bread: Diet News to Get You Confused.

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  94 mg/dl.  Go Team!
• Weight:  190 lbs.
• Exercise:  45 minutes with the bike hooked up to the trainer.  Foggy morning and the air was soupy, not at all pleasant for a ride. 
• Mood:  8.5.  It's Friday!

Menu:

• Breakfast:  One slice of pizza (nature's most perfect food) from yesterday.  Hey, I use turkey pepperoni.  The lack of fat is a lot easier on the stomach. 
• Lunch:  Fried Catfish.  My big, fattening splurge for the day, along with some tasty curly cue fries.  The healthy part was the few shreds of lettuce and the sliver of a very unripe tomato.  I loved every minute if it. 
• Dinner:  Grilled salmon with some sauteed vegetables and seasoned rice.  
• Snacks:  Some chips and salsa.  Hey, cooked tomato is supposed to contain something that is good for prostrate health.  That's my excuse, anyway, to moderately enjoy salty corn chips and spicy salsa. Sheesh, I seem to need an excuse for anything I enjoy these days. 

Bread:  Staff of Life or Deadly Killer? 

According to two  separate articles I have read recently, the answer is yes.


Anyone who knows me knows that I have one culinary skill, making bread.  Even at that I keep it simple, either just some basic bread in a loaf pan or pizza dough to make our standard Thursday night fare.  Making it at home always makes the house smell wonderful and toasted homemade bread is breakfast at its finest. (I just realized I have been avoiding toast for breakfast now for long while.  My sandwich consumption has also gone way down. Fear of carbohydrates again.)

So, because things I seem to like are in someone's view bad for me I was more than distressed to read of this book: Bread is the Devil: Win the Weight Loss Battle by Taking Control of Your Diet Demons.  Oh, dear, the devil?  Really?  That's kind of extreme for something that smells so nice, and it is.  Read beyond the shocking headline and this just grabs on to common sense.  Eat, no enjoy, moderate portions of whole grain breads.  Whole grains in general, including whole grain bread, can be part of sound, lifetime diet regimen.  Big news there, really. A good summary is here.

Carbohydrates in general can raise blood glucose and insulin levels and that is a problem for type 2 diabetics.  Simple carbohydrates quickly spike glucose and insulin levels way up.  Complex carbohydrates from whole grains, and vegetable and legumes, don't.  It's that simple. 

With that in mind I came across this from Dr. McDougall.  He cites this study done at Michigan State University (my alma mater, too) that eating more bread in general is a good way to lose weight and lower cholesterol levels.  For some reason, white bread was better than high-fiber bread.  I infer from this that high-fiber is whole grain, but that may not be necessarily true, either.

While it does not mention any affects on blood glucose levels, in general losing weight is a sure way to control blood glucose and insulin levels, as does lowering fat in the blood.  Fat in the blood also impedes cell absorption of insulin I have read.  So, this study and Dr. McDougall says moderately filling up on various whole grains and legumes is good for you.

So, what do I learn from this?  Just like mom said, too much of anything is bad for you. Find a diet regime that you can live with the rest of your life and stick to it. Don't be humorless about it, either.  Life is too short no matter how healthful you eat. 

Making Exercise Fun...Well, Not Really

My Numbers this Morning

• Fasting Blood Glucose:  120mg/dl.  Still a bit high.
• Weight:  191 lbs.  
• Exercise:  45 minutes bike ride
• Mood:  8.0  Business continues it sucky ways and it maybe getting worse, but tonight some new Project Runway series comes on so I get look at Heidi Klum's legs again. I also will make pizza tonight and we are sliding back into our routines again. so life is pretty good after all. Just a bit broker, that's all.

The Menu for Today:

•  Breakfast:  A banana, oatmeal with craisins and made with apple/cinnamon herbal tea, strawberries and blueberries.  Anytime I can get blueberries in the winder, life if good indeed. Thank you Chile.  No wonder they have embraced capitalism the way they have.  It's beneficial for all. 
• Lunch:  Leftover veggie chili.
• Dinner:  Pizza and a salad and a thin piece of the Charming Mrs. SWMBO's cheesecake, the last of it. 
• Snacks:  A few almonds. 

Exercise Tips for the New Year, or the Usual Stuff for Early January, Part 1. 

From WebMD, 20 fitness crazes for men and woman. I was trying to convince the Mrs. that she should try poll dancing, but for now at least she is demurring.  Some of it, like Suspension, seem painful in a not good way and the Suspension Shoes look kind of goofy.  But, if you like it, that good, that's the key to fitness. A pleasant walk is good, too.

Diets Tise for the New Year, or the Usual Stuff for Early January, Part 2.

Again from WebMD, The best tips ever, 22 ways to stay on track.  I think I read these tips last year, but the pros always go back to the basics. For me, portion size.  It's too easy to load up, even on the good stuff.  For me the key is to wait about 20 minutes.  My brain finally figures out my stomach is satisfied. That's the hardest discipline for me to master.  The temptation is always to add a bit more. 

Update.

It's not the usual Project Runway, it's the Project Runway Allstars.  They were good, but not good enough to win. If you really want to be cruel, they were the memorable losers.  

Heidi Klum is not hosting it either.  This go around is hosted by a pretty lady who is a famous model that I have never heard of before until this evening.  For the life of me, I can't remember her name. 

The Charming Mrs. SWMBO did like my pizza, so that evening turned out okay.

Oh, Lord, I am confused

Sorry, I rambled on this evening.  It's late and I am tired. 


The Numbers.

• Fasting blood glucose:  120 mg/dl  Late night piece cheesecake with the Charming Mrs. SWMBO.  Okay, we were bad. 
• Weight:  192 lbs. 
• Exercise:  Good, long bike ride.  I was really pushing it this morning.  Penance of sort.  It's the Catholic in me. 
• Mood:  8.0.  Business sucks but I feel virtuous from the exercise. 

Menu.

• Breakfast: Oatmeal with craisins and infused with apple/cinnamon herbal tea, strawberries and blueberries
• Lunch:  Bean burritos, two, from Taco Bell.  Hectic day at work.
• Dinner: Stuff and Stuff.  We have some leftovers in the fridge and we nibbled on what was there and did some housework.  I had a orange and a grilled cheese and ham sandwich.  Not spa cuisine, but it sure did taste good.
• Snacks:  None.

Still not back on the good eats routine, but the holidays are fading and we are working our way back into our usual routines. 

Today I was talking with my youngest sister.  We got on to diet and the state of our health.  She is having problems with plaque building up in her carotid arteries, my issue is type 2 diabetes.   Mine is under control, more or less when I am on my good boy diet, from diet and exercise.  She tried diet and then went to diet plus taking a statin.  For her, it's working. 

My father had similar issues to her, a build up of plaque in the carotid arteries, yet she, like my father was never fat or overweight.  His condition went undiagnosed for way too long.  He was a bit heavier at 70 than at 20, but not by much. As part of my father's treatment, the McDougall diet was recommended and my mom put him on it and made sure he stayed on it.  She went on it too.  This diet is an extremely low fat, vegan diet. No animal products of any kind. 

It seemed to work, at least for a while.  He lost some weight, his blood cholesterol went way down, good cholesterol up, bad cholesterol and triglycerides down and for good measure his blood pressure dropped to that of robust teenager.  He was as skinny as he was when he enlisted in the Navy. My mom, always fastidious about her weight and finding time to exercise, dropped some weight as well.  After a few months on the McDougall plan, she could once again fit into her wedding dress.  Not bad for lady in her late sixties.

The diet change and his program of light and consistent aerobic exercise seemed to be paying off.  He felt great and his vital signs were all good.  Then on a Labor Day weekend, he had a heart attack.  The seemingly fortunate thing for him was that he was already in the emergency ward for a foot injury.  He started to sweat profusely and felt nauseous. The staff knew what was happening and he was treated immediately.  Unfortunately, it was not enough.  In a month's time he passed away.  He literally had plugged up.  The event that triggered his heart attack was his kidneys plugged up with plaque.  His heart could not stand the stress anymore.  Apparently, a lot of his organs where in similar shape, plugged up with plaque. 

The question my sister and I always ask is why?  I understand that his adoption of the McDougall diet may have come too late.  At the time low fat, low protein, high carbohydrate was the way to go in the 1990's.  Dr. McDougall  took the food pyramid to the extreme, no meat, fish, fowl, eggs or dairy, just lots of grain, legumes, fruits and vegetables.  It sure sounded healthy and it was backed by lots of research.

Now, maybe not so much.  Now, carbohydrates are considered the villains.  Research shows that carbs are making us fat, not meat, not eggs, not cheese, not fat even.  Lard is not so bad anymore. It's all backed by lots of research.

So, did a diet considered healthy in 1990, really wind up killing my dad?  I don't know.  Low fat,  high carbohydrate vs. fat-not-so-bad, no carbohydrates.  Who's right?  I have no clue.

Dr. McDougall and Dr. Dean Ornish who promote similar diets are both well into their sixties, slim and healthy looking.  Jack LaLanne for most his life ate what they advocated.  He lived to be 96.

Robert Cameron, the guy who developed the Drinking Man's Diet (it was published under the pseudonym of Gardner Johnson -- I think I got that right) was, as of last year, hale and hearty at age 94.  He enjoys a good cocktail every evening, I have read.

The Drinking Man's diet is based on much of the same research that lead to the Atkins Diet.  He believed that carbs make you fat by producing too much insulin.  A steak is much better than some brown rice.  Dr. Robert Adkins did have heart disease. Dr. Adkins said his heart problems were caused by an infection, not his diet. He died by falling on an icy street, although what caused the fall, a patch of ice or a heart attack, was subject to some speculation by his critics. 

The man who invented Doritos, Arch West,  passed away last year at 97.  He ate Doritos every day and Doritos were scattered over his grave.  I don't think he had a diet philosophy of any kind other than to enjoy life and eat Doritos. 

Just to add to the fun, there is also the Twinkies Diet.

So what to do?  I have no idea, but I think Arch West may have had it right.

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.

Monday Moanin'

Busy weekend around the house and flower beds.  My arms are so sore.  As the Charming Mrs. SWMBO says, it's nice to go back to work so we can  relax.

The Numbers to Start the Week.

• Fasting Blood Glucose:  103 ml/dg.  Good. I am normal.
• Weight:  189 lbs.
• Exercise: 55 minutes, 45 minutes on the bike and 10 on the Stretchbands.  The Charming Mrs. SWMBO has been complaining that my arms are too thin. 
• Mood:  7.5.  Gotta bulk up the arms a bit. 

 The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Banana, Texas Ruby Red grapefruit, Oatmeal with craisins. 
• Lunch:  Leftover split pea hummus on two thin slices of Italian bread, apple, 1/2 cup of cantaloupe.  The hummus is really good. Made a great appetizer on Sunday afternoon. 
• Dinner:  Grilled chicken salad.   
• Snacks:  A few Triscuits.  They were whole wheat or grain.  Lots of fat, though.  Tasty, too. 

Fry Nazis:  No Fries for You!
As much as I agree with the thought that no fries makes good dietary sense, what to eat for lunch is not business of the NYC Mayor's office.  The nanny state grows.  Like faith, one has to come his diet on his own.  Me, I try to go low fat.  Someone else, that's up to the individual.  We all live and die and eventually die by our own decisions.  

Delayed because of equipment failure

Well, that the excuse the airlines use when their planes don't work.  My computer died, and I have finally got it and my data more or less back.  Losing the PC is like losing a vital sense. 

Christmas was good and I was bad on the diet. 

So, let's get on with the important numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose:  107 mg/dl.  Good, real good.
• Weight:  189 lbs.  Did creep up a couple of pounds, but those are now gone.  So I am pretty much back to what I was before the holidays, which is too high, but it could be worse.
• Exercise:  45 minutes riding the bike.  Baby, it's cold out there, even for Houston.
• Mood:  7.5.  Okay, could be better. 

Menu:

• Breakfast:  Banana, Texas ruby red grapefruit, the finest in the world, oatmeal with chopped prunes and apricots. 
• Lunch:  Leftover meatloaf and an apple.
• Dinner:  Pizza, homemade.  It's clean night.
• Snacks:  Leftover Christmas candy.  The BG is going to be miserable tomorrow.

Daily Beast's Most Effective Diets for 2011.
As Captain Renault said in Casablanca,  "...round up the usual suspects."  Mostly, it's the popular diet plans that get recycled year after year. 

In increasing order of effectiveness as measured by the Daily Beast:  the Slim Fast Diet, the Atkins Diet, the Mediterranean Diet, the low-fat diet and the number one diet, the one I had not heard of, the Volumetrics diet.  That is a diet that from what I have read could also be the Soup diet.  It seems to be eating a lot of watery stuff, like soups.  As one who dies like soups, I can see why it would work.  Eating a lot of soups will fill you up, will be relatively light on calories and nutritionally sound. Just avoid the heavy cream stuff, I would imagine.  It says to also avoid calorie dense foods like chips and cookies.  No kidding.

As with all the diet plans, it a matter of just cutting calories.  How you do it and how you stick to is up to you.

No mention was made of the Drinking Man's Diet, Paleo Diet or the Twinkie Diet. 

The drinking man's diet

The numbers bright and early this morning:

• Fasting Blood Glucose:  114 mg/dl
• Weight:  188 lbs.
• Exercise:  45 minutes.  Good ride this morning.  It's very humid here and muscle just seem to love it. 
• Mood:  8.0.  It's Christmas.  All I want for Christmas is a big weight drop. 

Menu:

• Breakfast:  Banana, grapefruit, oatmeal with craisins. 
• Lunch:  Lots of leftovers from yesterday's company Christmas Lunch. I can't eat like this anymore.  I felt miserable all afternoon.
• Dinner:  Late night trip to the Petrol Station, had my usual hummus plate, which is a good sized dollop of hummus, cucumber, tomato, red pepper and pita bread and one beer.  Not two beers, one. I nursed the heck out of it. The Charming Mrs SWMBO had a cheeseburger.
• Snacks:  None. 

Anyone remember the Drinking Man's Diet?  I do.  I was in junior high school and delivering my papers on my morning Detroit Free Press route when I heard about this.  I used to carry around a little radio listening to WKNR, Keener 13, a top 40 station in Detroit.  The early morning, late night DJ at the time (I was delivering the papers before 5:00 am) joked about it often.  I think even Mad Magazine made a few jokes out of it for a while.

Well, the book is still out there and the author of it is still alive.  His name is Robert Cameron, he's ninety-three and he looks dapper and fit.  He was the first to promote a high protein, low carb diet.  Given his age and appearance,  the diet certainly works for him.  The book was beat up several years after it was first published as being dangerous because ignored , nay, promoted high fat foods.  You know, the foods that really taste good.  Sales dropped after that, but it initial popularity did afford Mr.Cameron a comfortable life.  He's still publishing, doing coffee table-type books.

Why cocktails as part of the diet?  No carbs.  I think a big underlying theme of his approach is to take care of yourself and enjoy life.  He seems to have done that all very well.

I can drink to that.

His book, first published in 1964 is still in print.  You can order it here:  Drinking Man's Diet.  When came out the price was $1.00.  Now it's up to $4.95. Heck of a deal.