Dieting again

Yes, I'm back to dieting. I've had a run of a few bad weeks that have seen me gain back a few kilos. Enkais, going-away parties, and some general late-winter malaise have all help erode my healthier eating habits. I find I'm doing a lot of snacking, pretty much a no-no for me, but worse doing it late at night.

OK, so the buck stops here.

However, where as before I'd adopted a rather simplistic (though effective, at least at that time) approach to dieting, recent readings have gotten me thinking. In particular, I've read more and more that caloric intake ultimately has no real bearing on weight gain/loss. Neither, ultimately, does fat intake. Rather, it's the intake of carbohydrates which affect insulin levels, which affect the body's ability to burn fat that's the culprit.

This is too simplistic a description of something that is far more complex. I'll admit readily that I have no deeper or intrinsic understanding of the factors/forces at work here. In fact, there's every good chance that I have fatally misunderstood this concept. I'll plow on, regardless, and hope that any clarifications catch up with me.

First, thanks to Rob for this damned interesting blogpost that reviews a book that explores many health-related things seen as "conventional wisdom." The blogpost is all the more interesting in that it is written by a physicist, who decries the un-rigourousness of modern "soft science". In the current counter-counter-culture mood I find myself in of late, this article feels especially appropriate.

Second, all this highfalutin ego-prose aside, let me meander into my own life, as there are some recent revelations I want to share:

1) I am stronger now. I have bigger muscles.
In this sense, my weight gain doesn't bother me...of course, assuming that this is all muscle and not fat.

2) My pants feel tighter.
Ah the other shoe drops. The operative word here though is feel. I highly suspect that while my arms and chest have become bigger due to muscle, my abdomen is also bigger, meaning bigger waist-size, meaning fat. I would estimate that my waist-size has gone up about 2cm (or just under an inch). This is, I feel, directly related to...

3) I am snacking and eating more bad shit.
Like McDee's, though no where near what I used to. I used to go to McDonald's and get 2 hamburgers and 5 nuggets, but now I'm back to just ordering a combo meal. I also used to ask for smaller portions of rice, but that rarely happens now either.

OK, so obviously cutting out bad shit is key. I suppose the easiest thing to do would be to cut out the McDonald's, but really, that's never going to happen. While I'm not really all that fanatical about the evils of processed food, I nevertheless realize that they are ultimately unhealthy for you. In this particular case though, this is rather something that nourishes my psychological self, because dammit sometimes I WANT to eat that Big Mac because it taste good and makes me happy.

However, given what I've read, a more careful consideration of my carb intake is probably warranted. I don't think I'll worry about the single piece of toast that I eat for breakfast. But the bread/pastry from the canteen downstairs at my school? Out. I'll also be going back to my no fries policy, at McDonald's and elsewhere. A side-salad, even with the high-calorie dressing, is better.

I may also have to re-think my calorie counting policy, in light of the above article. While it is only one side of a multi-faceted argument, I find the fact that the review was written by a physicist to be somehow comforting. So instead of calorie counting, I might consider carbohydrate counting instead, coupled with a wiser eating regimen. The occasional skipping of a meal is also something I will consider (like tonight, thanks to my gigantic but delicious bento the English department ordered for entrance exam marking day).

Well, that was a long and possibly boring post, but whatever.