review for 092004

Just watched an interesting, yet unsettling, story on 60 minutes about the Duke diet research center. The uplifting part was that many super obese people (of which I’m not one of them), lost significant amounts of weight (like 300 pounds). But, the majority of the people featured in January of (02 or 03) also gained back the weight (I think with one exception, the Iowa farmer).

The basic point of the story, at least that I took home, was this: science shows us over and over that diets produce only temporary results. People almost always gain back the weight they lost via diet. Certainly that is true for me, on more levels than one. I’m currently gaining back some of the weight I lost over the summer; as well, I weighed 190 pounds (or less) when I was 21, down from 230 and gained it back and more. It’s quite frustrating, yet there doesn’t appear any real solution (save, surgery – it seems to be one of the few methods that actually produces long term results).

But, I’m still getting good exercise and eating relatively sensibly.

Ironically, I learned today that my big gulp of dr. pepper has fewer calories than a bottle: the reason? Because with all of the ice, a 32 oz cup ends up with the equivalent of ~40% of a 16 oz bottle; ergo, approximately 100 calories. Who knew the 32 oz cup would have fewer calories than the 16 oz bottle J.