I have gone back on a low carb diet which I have found to be an effective way for me to lose weight (although I have to be careful, sometimes I think I have lost some weight and I turn around quickly to find it following along behind me).

I read Gary Taubes “What It It’s all Been a Big Fat Lie” in the New York Times in 2002 and it completely changed my perspective on dieting.  He came out with “Good Calories, Bad Calories” in 2008, and I recently re-read it to help me recommit to a low carb regimen. On page 454 he offers what he calls his “inescapable conclusions” based on fifteen years of research:

1. Dietary fat, whether saturated or not, is not a cause of obesity, heart disease or any other chronic disease of civilization.
2. The problem is the carbohydrates in the diet, their effect on insulin secretion, and thus the hormonal regulation of homeostasis—the entire harmonic ensemble of the human body. The more easily digestible and refined the carbohydrates, the greater the effect on your health, weight and well-being.
3. Sugars—sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup specifically—are particularly harmful, probably because the combination of fructose and glucose simultaneously elevates insulin levels while overloading the liver with carbohydrates.
4. Through their direct effect on insulin and blood sugar, refined carbohydrates, starches and sugars are the dietary cause of coronary heart disease and diabetes. They are most likely dietary causes of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and the other chronic diseases of civilization.
5. Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not overeating, and not sedentary behavior.
6. Consuming excess calories does not cause us to grow fatter, any more than it causes a child to grow taller. Expending more energy than we consume does not lead to long-term weight loss; it leads to hunger.
7. Fattening and obesity are caused by an imbalance—a disequilibrium—in the hormonal regulation of adipose tissue and fat metabolism. Fat synthesis and storage exceed the mobilization of fat from the adipose tissue and its subsequent oxidation. We become leaner when the hormonal regulation of fat tissue reverses this balance.
8. Insulin is the primary regulator of fat storage. When insulin levels are elevated—either chronically or after a meal—we accumulate fat in our fat tissue. When insulin levels fall, we release fat from our fat tissue and use it for fuel.
9. By stimulating insulin secretion, carbohydrates make us fat and ultimately cause obesity. The fewer carbohydrates we consume, the leaner we will be.
10. By driving fat accumulation, carbohydrates also increase hunger and decrease the amount of energy we expend in metabolism and physical activity.

You may have noticed (and probably not cared) but I’ve been busy lately. Most recently I was asked to provide a science demonstration for the VBS wrap-up party at church (yes, we did Power Lab this year). I think it was because I was free. I mean, doesn’t everyone have their own homebuilt trebuchet and hovercraft? I left my acetone behind which disappointed my son since we ran long (the kids loved the vortex generator) and didn’t get to set anything on fire. He was forced to use denatured alcohol instead. Ah, the sacrifices we are forced to endure.

I got off to a rocky start when I was asked to announce seconds were available just as I was about to begin. I had gone over everything in my head but somehow making an announcement wasn’t something I foresaw and it just put me off my opening patter. And then when the paper wouldn’t stay lit in the bottle that I was trying to suck an egg into, the wheels really came off the wagon. When I did get the egg in, there was so much wet paper (note – don’t let the wife wash out the bottle before sucking an egg into it) paper wrapped around it that it wouldn’t come out by blowing back into the bottle – it wouldn’t seal. I am glad I tried crushing soda cans at home before hand since all I was able to do was suck water up into them so I was spared the embarrassment of a demonstration that didn’t work at all. Oh well, once I moved on from the egg everything else worked really well except my time management so people actually thanked me for a great show. If only they knew how well it had gone in my head before hand!

Note to anyone else asked to put on science experiments for kids under 10 – don’t talk, just play the theme from Mission Impossible while performing the experiments. Children of that age don’t listen to the explanations and you wind up not doing some things when you run long.

My wife and daughter are off looking at colleges in the Carolinas, my son is off in the Tetons going to school, and I’m at home all alone except for the dog. Let me say he isn’t much of a conversationalist but he sure is happy to see me. Back in my bachelor days (a long, long time ago) being home alone was normal. Now it’s weird and creepy. Not to mention a lot of work.