| The latest research I've read (I'll edit with a link once I get back to my desk) and my own personal experience suggests that: A calorie is a calorie is a calorie. All the fad diets that cut out a certain type of food all really just work because of calorie restriction. Look at the "cookie diet" for an example. For me, I'm 6'2, I went from 210 to 175 over 10 months (while adding significant muscle mass, suggesting fat loss of 40+ lbs). I did this by changing my diet:
I eat nothing for breakfast. One cup of coffee with cream.
For lunch, I eat only fruit. Seasonal. Always an apple, sometimes two, berries and grapes, that sort of thing. Sure they're good for you in a non-processed-foods sense but they also are very high in sugar. I eat a very large dinner. I always, always eat dessert. Always. I work out 3 mornings a week, those days I eat half my "lunch" right after my work-out. Obviously I'm sharing an anecdote but I mention it just because it echo's the research I mentioned and as a testimonial that it works for me. I eat an absurd amount of sugars and carbs but my total calories are restricted and I'm in fantastic shape. |
I eat some junk on the weekends myself, that's how I get perspective on drastic changes in my energy levels.
Or, instead you can switch into fat-burning mode and have a constant blood sugar and not feel hungry nor have to skip meals. Lots of good stuff too, eggs, spinach, olive oil, flax, etc. Doc says my bloodtest numbers some of the best he's seen.
Fad diets are suspect, but this isn't one of them. When was the last time in the wild you saw a chimpanzee or early human eating a loaf of bread, pasta, or cookies? Never, because they are man-made creations. The fad diet is the empty-carb diet pushed by the modern world, the results of which are obvious.
Humans have evolved over millions of years eating veggies, fruit, nuts, meat, etc.
I'm forming an idea, that there is nothing wrong with these two approaches. Rather there is a choice. Perhaps some of us prefer trading off in favor of tasty sweets, while some of us prefer stable blood sugar. You can live much longer than our poor ancestors with either approach. So, let's not bash the A- students on the other side because they're not perfect.