# Stoid, Are You Still Confident that You Know a Lot about Diet and Obesity? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 12, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100 "2013-02-12T18:34:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100/121 "2013-06-15T08:47:36Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Incorrect. I am a very typical fat person. I have _ **succeeded** _ at losing weight many times. > > I had to successfully lose many times because I also succeeded in getting fat again many times. I would call that “failure.” Let me ask you this: If you have been so successful at weight loss, then why did you regain? Why not just keep doing whatever you did to make you lose weight? Evidently there is something important that you are missing. > [@](#): > > So please stop characterizing the above as 'Failing to lose weight", as you have repeatedly done. Call it whatever you want, it doesn’t matter. What you have achieved – repeated yo-yoing – is not something which anyone wants to copy. If you have special knowledge which allows you to yo-yo diet again and again, please do not share it unless it’s to show other people what NOT to do. > [@](#): > > Losing weight and staying slim are separate and distinct things, and assuming that repeatedly regaining lost weight = not knowing how to lose it in the first place is simply wrong. You are strawmanning here, since it’s pretty clear from my posts that I am NOT saying that you do not know how to lose weight temporarily. And I will concede right now that you may very well have a lot of expertise on temporary weight loss. If I needed to lose 5 or 10 pounds for a special event in a few weeks, I might very well ask you for advice. But as everyone knows, the primary goal in the weight loss game is to lose weight and keep it off. More specifically, to lose fat and keep it off indefinitely. This is something I doubt you know how to do. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100/122 "2013-06-15T08:57:24Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Depends on how you define “healthy eating”. I think most people (who aren’t caught up in fad dieting) would define “healthy eating” as doing the following 3 things: (1) eating very little in the way of addictive comfort foods like pizza, french fries, ice cream, etc. (2) eating a balanced diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables (3) keeping the total energy intake roughly equal to the recommended caloric intake for one’s age, sex, body frame, and activity level. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100/123 "2013-06-15T09:37:36Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Depends on how you define “healthy eating”. Is it eating the way the government and big agriculture have told us is healthy? What are you on about? Is this some conspiracy theory, or just some hippie nonsense? Neither the government nor big agriculture have ever told me to stick a bar of chocolate in my mouth. All I ever heard from government all my life is to eat more veg and less sweets, how exactly are they wrong in that? ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100/124 "2013-06-15T09:56:15Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > I’m not so sure about this. There may very well be special knowledge which at least keeps the unpleasantness to a minimum. Part of the problem, it seems to me, is that there is a lot of misinformation and sloppy thinking out there on the subject. I strongly suspect that the low carb approach falls into this category. Just to clarify, I do not dispute that successful long term weight loss probably requires some degree of self-denial forever. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100/125 "2013-06-15T09:58:41Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > I think most people (who aren’t caught up in fad dieting) would define “healthy eating” as doing the following 3 things: \*Or at least something along those lines. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100/126 "2013-06-15T12:07:15Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > I’m not so sure about this. There may very well be special knowledge which at least keeps the unpleasantness to a minimum. Part of the problem, it seems to me, is that there is a lot of misinformation and sloppy thinking out there on the subject. I strongly suspect that the low carb approach falls into this category. I do agree with this to an extent - but there’s no approach that will allow me to eat as much pizza and cheesecake as I want and lose weight. Perhaps “less pleasant” rather than “unpleasant” would be a better way to put it. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100/127 "2013-06-15T12:15:35Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > I agree. In order for a fat person to lose weight and be thin for life, he needs to do two things: (1) choose a diet and exercise plan; (2) stick to it. > > Number (1) is very easy – a child could do it in about half an hour. Number (2) is much more difficult. What’s annoying is when people who know how to do (1) but not (2) pretend to have some kind of expertise. Starting in July 2009, I lost 135 lbs through diet and exercise. I have more or less kept it off since then: I had the “yo-yo” of a pregnancy, and it’s taken me until the baby is a year and a half to lose this last 20 lbs of pregnancy weight, but I have never added any pounds when I wasn’t actually pregnant. From the perspective of someone who qualifies by your standards, I will tell you that whether or not you can stick to a plan depends on the plan, and (1) determines whether or not (2) will happen. Too often, people think that they need to find the “best” plan, the platonic ideal of a plan, and then find a way to stick to it. That’s ass-backwards. People need to find a plan they can stick to, even if it’s not the most efficient or whatever. People need to find a plan that matches their temperament, not try to reshape their temperament to match a plan. Consistency is key. It’s gotta be something you can do every day for the rest of your life–and NOT something you thing you should be able to do the rest of your life. Sometimes, I think people pick plans that are the most contrary to their temperament because they are trying to punish themselves, to atone for fatness: they need it to be unpleasant and miserable because they think, on some level, that they need to pay for all the indulgent eating that they did. Other times, people’s general low-level self-loathing has gotten so tangled up in their body image/weight/way of eating that they pick a plan as a way to “force” (they hope) themselves to grow into a different sort of person. So someone who hates themselves for being fat may also hate the fact that they are disorganized, so they pick a plan that requires hyper-organization because they feel like they have to fix both problems at once, since it’s all categorized under “reasons I hate myself”. Someone who hates to cook picks a cooking-intensive plan “so that I will finally learn”. You have to pick a plan that’s easy and doable for you and leads to some–any–weight loss. This takes a lot of experimentation and research–including surfing the internet reading what other people have done. It takes constant refinement. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100/128 "2013-06-15T13:35:56Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > Starting in July 2009, I lost 135 lbs through diet and exercise. I have more or less kept it off since then: I had the “yo-yo” of a pregnancy, and it’s taken me until the baby is a year and a half to lose this last 20 lbs of pregnancy weight, but I have never added any pounds when I wasn’t actually pregnant. > > From the perspective of someone who qualifies by your standards, I will tell you that whether or not you can stick to a plan depends on the plan, and (1) determines whether or not (2) will happen. I don’t dispute that the two things are related. And I don’t dispute that some plans are easier to stick to than others. But I am skeptical that the choice of plan is determinative. By the way, I am not saying that anyone who has maintained significant weight loss qualifies as an expert on the subject. I am saying the reverse - that anyone has failed at maintaining significant weight loss is probably NOT an expert. > [@](#): > > Consistency is key. It’s gotta be something you can do every day for the rest of your life Yes, as a non-expert I think this is true. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100/129 "2013-06-15T13:39:44Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > I do agree with this to an extent - but there’s no approach that will allow me to eat as much pizza and cheesecake as I want and lose weight. Perhaps “less pleasant” rather than “unpleasant” would be a better way to put it. Yes, I agree. My sense after many months of informal research is that (1) any successful diet requires some degree of self-denial; and (2) part of the misinformation I alluded to comes from diet hucksters who subtly or not-so-subtly claim that their method allows success without self-denial. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100/130 "2013-06-15T15:23:31Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > As **Crafter Man** has pointed out repeatedly, obesity appears to be largely a psychological problem. Yep. For the vast majority of fat/obese people, being fat is a mental problem, not a physical problem. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100/131 "2013-06-15T15:34:12Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > The more I think about it, the sillier it is… are there really a whole lot of people in the world who believe that the reason people are fat is exclusively because there’s a magic formula yet to be found that anyone could and would employ and sustain over a lifetime if we could just figure out what it is? That can’t be true, can it? > > If it is, allow me to reiterate my position: the closest you’ll get to such a formula or universal truth is carb restriction. Particularly if you are battling genuine obesity, vs. needing to take off a few extra pounds picked up in middle age or post pregnancy. (I keep referring to the difference of the obese because _we are different;_ whether we start out that way or being obese itself changes us - and I think it’s both- science has confirmed that the brains, guts and pancreas, -as well as the fat itself!- of obese people operate very differently than the non-obese. So things that can work for the slightly chubby or suddenly chunky cannot necessary be applied to people carrying an extra 100 pounds plus.) As far as lifestyle interventions, I think you are probably right, low carb is the way to go. That or a raw vegan or raw paleo diet. Those seem to work for a lot of people too. But using leptin replacement therapy could be viable in the next decade or so (but probably won’t). When that becomes mainstream keeping the weight off will be far easier for most people. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100/132 "2013-06-15T17:09:32Z")
[QUOTE=Stoid] Incorrect. I am a very typical fat person. I have succeeded at losing weight many times. I had to successfully lose many times because I also succeeded in getting fat again many times. [/QUOTE] Rather like Mark Twain’s line - “Quitting smoking is easy - I’ve done it a thousand times.” Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100/133 "2013-06-15T17:42:17Z")
I, for one, want to thank Brazil84. I’ve actually been losing some weight over the past year. It’s been slow-going, but steady, so I’m happy. And Brazil84 has been an inspiration. His snippy, whiny insistence that it’s so hard and that it can’t be done has only made me more determined to stick to my plans. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100/134 "2013-06-15T17:55:23Z")
> [@Trepa\_Mayfield](#): > > I, for one, want to thank Brazil84. You’re welcome. > [@](#): > > I’ve actually been losing some weight over the past year. It’s been slow-going, but steady, so I’m happy. Great. > [@](#): > > And Brazil84 has been an inspiration. His snippy, whiny insistence that it’s so hard and that it can’t be done has only made me more determined to stick to my plans. Lol, I have NEVER insisted that it can’t be done. I do maintain that permanent weight loss is difficult. If this inspires you, then so be it. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100/135 "2013-06-16T00:11:47Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > I would call that “failure.” You can call anything anything, it doesn’t make it a factual reality. Just makes it what you believe. > [@](#): > > Let me ask you this: If you have been so successful at weight loss, then why did you regain? I already told you one of the reasons in the last post I made directed at you. In addition to that there are others. If you would like to know more go back and read the thread you linked to at the beginning. > [@](#): > > Why not just keep doing whatever you did to make you lose weight? Go back and read the thread you linked to at the beginning. > [@](#): > > Evidently there is something important that you are missing. Go back and read the thread you linked to at the beginning. > [@](#): > > Call it whatever you want, it doesn’t matter. What you have achieved – repeated yo-yoing – is not something which anyone wants to copy. If you have special knowledge which allows you to yo-yo diet again and again, please do not share it unless it’s to show other people what NOT to do. Go back and read, actually read, the thread you linked to at the beginning. Not just what I said, but what everybody says. There’s a great deal of information in there, and it does a pretty good job Of clarifying the answers to some of the basic things you clearly do not comprehend. If you still find yourself confused about the many complex factors involved in human beings struggling with obesity there are also many links and resources in that thread you can follow to learn more. > [@](#): > > You are strawmanning here, since it’s pretty clear from my posts that I am NOT saying that you do not know how to lose weight temporarily . Actually you are. Because you continue to conflate knowledge of how to lose weight with knowledge of how to stay slim, repeatedly holding up the failure the failure to stay slim as proof of a lack of knowledge about how to lose weight, which it isn’t. As I said previously, and you ignored: the two are separate and distinct things. Not merely in result (loss v. Maintenance), but in Practical terms.. By which I mean what one does to lose, is actually not the same as what one does to remain at a given weight. By way of a famous example, Oprah Winfrey lost 70 pounds and became downright slim. So she _clearly_ knew how to lose weight, and lose a lot. But in the case I’m referring to specifically, she had essentially stopped eating entirely, living on a starvation level liquid diet.Clearly one cannot Remain slim doing what she did to lose weight, and to one degree or another that’s true of almost anything one does to lose, Because there comes a time when you no longer wish to be smaller, and you need to adjust what you were doing , to a greater or lesser degree. And therein lies the challenge. For everyone. And the reality is that almost no one, statistically speaking, who has ever been significantly overweight for a significant period of time manages to lose the weight, become a healthy weight, and remain at that healthy weight for the remaining decades of their lives. Again, The reasons for this are complex, But one very important reason is because the mere fact of being fat and then losing weight changes your body and the way your body processes food. > [@](#): > > But as everyone knows, the primary goal in the weight loss game is to lose weight and keep it off. More specifically, to lose fat and keep it off indefinitely. This is something I doubt you know how to do. Of course I know how in a simple and practical sense. So does pretty much anybody especially anybody who is lost weight multiple times and therefore has a lot of knowledge about weight loss. The question is \*\*\*am I able? \*\*\*And what factors are influencing my ability, and what actions can I take, if any, to mitigate those factors? In fact, I have Managed to take off a significant amount of weight and keep it off for a long time. As of today, I am approximately 75 pounds less fat than I was 12 years ago. Those 70 pounds have come off over 12 years, In a Two – steps – forward, one – step – back fashion. The top 35 of those pounds were lost along time ago and have never been seen since, the bottom 40 have come and gone in fits and starts over the years, leaving me in the last two with the bottom 20… So yes I do have some ability to avoid regaining all the weight I’ve lost, and I have proved that ability over a fairly long amount of time. I have some degree of sadness that the things that have changed about me and the things I have learned didn’t come much earlier in my life, because my Body would not have undergone the changes that did that allowed me to become as obese as I did and have continued to make it it so much more challenging to lose and keep lost than it would have been 25 years ago. (Please ignore weird capitalization or completely wacky typos I missed… iPad dictation can be very strange and annoying and I don’t feel like fighting with it) ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100/136 "2013-06-16T00:16:24Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Yep. For the vast majority of fat/obese people, being fat is a mental problem, not a physical problem. That was true in my generation. I certainly turned food for solace when I was six years old and my parents divorced. Prior to that I had been an extremely lean child with very little interest in food, But that was the point at which I began to use food to soothe myself and comfort myself. But in my junior high I was one of a very small handful of noticeably fat children. Today? Not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100/137 "2013-06-16T00:19:34Z")
In response to the various posts about specifics of diet, low carb etc.… I invite you to read the Thread linked in the OP for clarity. ---
**Author:** ![Athabasca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Athabasca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athabasca)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100/138 "2013-06-16T02:03:04Z")
Hi all , This is my first post ever on SMDB so please bear with me… I read Stoid’s post and all the replies both before and after with great interest. I tried the low carb method of weight loss on and off for 15 years and I always found that sooner or later , with me, it never worked as a long term option. The short term effects were positive, such as speedy weight loss, and absence of cravings, but only for a wee while. Inevitably, the bingeing on simple carbs would happen, and when that occurred, a kind of seesaw effect came into play – low carb and high protein worked for a while, then fall off the wagon and eat high starch and sweets for a day, then back on the high protein and low carb. The weight would stop coming off and I always felt like I was in maintenance mode. About a year ago, I finally stopped the low carb routine, and my weight stabilized. I have always been about 30 pounds overweight, and a size 12-14 , but my frame is small, so the battle to lose weight has always been ‘there’. In February of this year, I came across the Eat to live diet. It promotes veg, legumes and fruit, with little meat or dairy products. Nuts and seeds are recommended but fats and oils are discouraged. You are supposed to eat at least a pound of veg a day with a good helping of legumes, and fruit, and the overall effect is one of satiety. I found this diet to be a refreshing change from the low carb and high protein regimen that I had spent the better part of 15 years chasing, and in the past 4 months, I have lost a dress size. Even by eating so little meat, or cheese (about 2-3 oz per day) I still have a lot of energy and I am no longer experiencing the cravings and hunger slumps I used to. Typically, these were late afternoon and after 8 pm. But not anymore. About the only ill effect I did have was abdominal discomfort from eating lentils, and my doc told me to back off from those, but that was the only adjustment I made. I know four months is nothing compared to 15 years but I have never lasted this long on a diet plan without bingeing, and I think the low carb aspect, with me anyway, is the culprit. I am happy eating so little protein from meat sources, and I just happen to love veg and fruit, and nuts and seeds. Again, just my experience, not a prescription for the masses. Find what works for you. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100/139 "2013-06-16T03:25:54Z")
I recall reading an interview with Ronnie Coleman, the professional bodybuilder, where he said he could count on one hand the number of times he’d cheated on his diet since he became serious about winning Mr. Olympia. I’m not saying that **Stoid** has aspirations of being a fitness model or anything, but let’s be honest, how much can you say you’ve learned about eating well and maintaining a healthy lifestyle (which is what it’s supposed to be about, getting down to a healthy weight should be secondary benefit) if you’re unable to find a diet you can stick with? I’m not talking about the occasional Klondike bar or dinner out with friends where you lighten up on the calorie restrictions. I think allowing a cheat every _once and a while_ is a good incentive and can help keep the metabolism from stagnating. If she feels the need to take a 2-5 day vacation from her diet every month or two, it is my opinion that she is not in a position to pretend she knows much of anything about the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100/140 "2013-06-16T04:00:57Z")
Athabasca: I am sincerely pleased for you that you have found a plan that works and is comfortable for you. That is terrific. I do wish to note 2 things that I think are of interest, in the context of this discussion: 1. The program you’re on is definitely low carb. Not severely so, and definitely does not have the meat focus that other restricted car plans do. The plan you are on is actually similar to a low glycemic plan, which is a form of carb restriction. As I’m sure you know, having pursued low carbohydrate plans for 15 years, one of the fundamental ideas underlying carb restriction is managing insulin spiking and resistence, and the plan you are on is very effective for many people at doing that, Without the emphasis on animal products. 2. With all due respect to your discomfort with your extra weight, you are not a good example of a serious struggle with obesity. Both in this thread and in the originally linked thread, I have always drawn a distinction between serious obesity and less severe issues with extra weight, because they _are_ different in multiple ways. Which is not to say that your experience physically and emotionally of being heavier than you want to be isn’t real or valid, it’s just that your experience isn’t that useful as a model for effectively addressing serious obesity… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stoid-are-you-still-confident-that-you-know-a-lot-about-diet-and-obesity/650100.md?page=8)