Life in the fat lane with journalist William Leith
November 11th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
Reviewers of The Hungry Years couldn’t quite classify it—memoir, personal diet book, literary journalism, creative non-fiction—and this intrigued me.
What would a sometimes-overweight and well-known British journalist do with the topical issue of fat? William Leith needed a good angle for Hungry Years: confessions of a food addict and he found it in his interview with Dr. Robert Atkins.
Leith, the last person to interview the infamous doctor before his death, went on the Atkins diet as any good fat journalist would do for research. And, to spice things up in the book, Leith also chronicles his fondness for cocaine, painkillers, caffeine, alcohol, as well as his penchant for women who smoke and shop too much. Leith is desperate one moment and funny the next.
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An apple a day—wisdom or myth
October 19th, 2010 § 3 Comments
The green apple on the cover of An Apple a Day caught my eye. But the subtitle caught my breath: The Myths, Misconceptions and Truths about the Foods We Eat. I panicked. I assumed that an apple a day was a good thing. As you can see in the book’s cover photo, there are some startling unhealthy sounding elements in apples.
The author, a scientist named Joe Schwarcz, is the director of the Office of Science and Society at McGill University. He knows his food chemistry. He also knows how to turn a dull technical subject into an entertaining read.
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Sport has never caused anyone to be slim, according to Montignac
September 20th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
La Méthode Montignac, developed by Michel Montignac, is the original glycemic index diet.
Montignac was a French pharmaceutical executive—I won’t hold that against him. While his work came with the luxury of dining out—and he put on the pounds—his work also gave him access to scientific literature. After learning about the newly developed glycemic index, he wondered if it would work for weight loss. He developed a plan and in three months, he lost 30 pounds. Since then, Montignac has authored 20 books on diet and health, achieving international fame—though I never hear of him before.
Montignac was so convinced with his method that he claims people don’t have to exercise. It works that well, he says. He is, of course, criticized for this view, but I’m sure he didn’t mean for us to sit around on our asses. And no one follows a diet 100%, 100% of the time, so exercise is an important adjunct.
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Nag for hire I—HabitForge
January 20th, 2010 § 1 Comment
If you’re like me and don’t have a wife to nag you about your bad habits, no problem. Habitforge.com will do the nagging for you. Based on a theory that it takes 21 days to quit an old habit or develop a new habit, HabitForge will send you emails for 21 days asking you to respond yes or no to the goals you had cited. HabitForge will then send your friends an email of your progress and of your success. That way, they can get in on the nagging too. If you mess up, HabitForge starts counting from 1 again.
But you’re right out of luck if you don’t have the habit of checking your email.
