Just last month, the American Heart Association and the American
College of Sports Medicine published joint guidelines for physical
activity and health. They suggested that 30 minutes of moderate
physical activity five days a week is necessary to 'promote and
maintain health'. What they didn't say, though, was that more physical
activity will lead us to lose weight. The best they could say about the
relationship between fat and exercise was this: 'It is reasonable to
assume that persons with relatively high daily energy expenditures
would be less likely to gain weight over time compared with those who
have low energy expenditures. So far, data to support this hypothesis
is not particularly compelling.' In other words, despite half a century
of efforts to prove otherwise, scientists still can't say exercise will
help keep the pounds off.
I knew Taubes was going to pivot in this direction, but I didn't see this article until this morning when I was prompted to look after Corrie mentioned up a friend of the family who works out two hours a day and is still very overweight. Very.
There was a time when virtually no one believed exercise would help
a person lose weight. Until the Sixties, clinicians who treated obese
and overweight patients dismissed the notion as naive. When Russell
Wilder, an obesity and difabetes specialist at the Mayo Clinic, lectured
on obesity in 1932, he said his fat patients tended to lose more weight
with bed rest, 'while unusually strenuous physical exercise slows the
rate of loss'.
Personally, I would say that the more I work out, the more I weigh. It MAY not be true, but it's certainly more true than the opposite. There is no way working out has led to weight loss for me. Oh, it has a couple of times, but the vast majority of the time the opposite has held, to my dismay, if I don't work out, I get skinny. Not sure why, but I have my ideas.
Does this seem unfathomable to you? I confess that at times it seems too pat. How could it not after a lifetime of indoctrination? But unlike the conventional wisdom, what he says actually fits with the world I see everyday. Yeah, people SAY "I work out so I can eat whatever I want" but even if they added some residual post work-out energy expenditures to the equation, there just isn't a way to work out enough to explain away an extra burrito and a beer every day. I could tell you I drink and eat like I do but stay skinny because I work out, and most people would say "that makes sense", but it doesn't. It's patently ridiculous. I eat like a pig. I work out on average less than 2 hours a week. Not only does the calorie explanation not add up, as I said before I work out to keep weight ON. You might then retreat to the "You have a high metabolism" argument, to which Taubes and Myself would agree. But we would disagree with you as to the cause and effects at play: You might say that I am able eat so much because I have a high metabolism but I am almost completely positive now that I have I high metabolism BECAUSE I eat so much. And so well (when in fact I eat well). I eat a lot because I want to gain weight, and my body , (which has no interest in the proposition) puts me to work. Who wins , I have discovered, is a product of how many Carbohydrates I eat. (Which isn't to say that I couldn't gain weight on a low or no carb diet, just that to do so I would have to gorge myself in stark defiance and violation of good taste and appetite)
I have noted time and time again that I can dry a shirt quicker by wearing it than by putting it the dryer. It's so true, but I have no illusions: I know that if I were to drop my calorie intake by 1000 a day (which would then be more inline with the conventional wisdom that has little explanation for my litheness if they saw my diet and workout regime) the immediate and then net result would be that I don't dry shirts as fast. My body, and yours are essentially furnaces, and it is foolish to think that an extra log on the fire would have any other effect other than a brighter flame. I have thought about this a lot and believe it to be absolutely true as long as I don't eat many carbs. Why? Basically carbs control insulin, which in turn determines whether I should be a hyperactive Shirt Drying machine, or a fat containment unit. . I hate to say that it's that simple, but the evidence is that it is. Go read Good Calories Bad Calories and see for yourself. The science HAS NEVER BEEN IN QUESTION. It just got pushed aside. And when it got pushed aside, the obesity epidemic started.
This would explain the slew of recent clinical trials demonstrating
that dieters who restrict carbohydrates but not calories invariably
lose more weight than dieters who restrict calories but not necessarily
carbohydrates. Put simply, it's quite possible that the foods -
potatoes, pasta, rice, bread, pastries, sweets, fizzy drinks and beer -
that our parents always thought were fattening (back when the medical
specialists treating obesity believed that exercise made us hungry)
really are fattening. And so if we avoid these foods specifically, we
may find our weights more in line with our desires.
As for those
people who insist that exercise has been the key to their weight-loss
programmes, the one thing we'd have to wonder is whether they changed
their diets as well. Rare is the person who decides the time has come
to lose weight and doesn't also decide perhaps it's time to eat fewer
sweets, drink less beer, switch to diet drinks, and maybe curtail the
kind of carb-rich snacks - the potato chips and the candy bars - that
might be singularly responsible for driving up their insulin and so
their fat.
For the rest of us, it may be time to take a
scientific or biological view of our excesses rather than a biblical
one. The benefits of exercise include the joys of virtuousness. I
worked out today, therefore I can eat fattening foods to my heart's
content. But maybe the causality is reversed here, too. Maybe it's
because we eat foods that fatten us that the workout becomes a
necessity, the best we can do in the battle against our own fat tissue
I read the Kite Runner on the flight to California and it was great, thanks Muffs. Maybe not perfect. Maybe. Closest thing I have ever read is Richard Russo's Latest, but his "Nobody's Fool" is the once I should recommend more often. It may not rise as high as Empire Falls, but its a sturdier read, pulitzers be damned.
Anyhow, I have Thousand Splendid Suns for the flight back, and head it's even better than Kite Runner. So Cool.
Ok, so I said I would find a link praising Holeman's Burger, and I haven't really looked. But today I was readingthis new York Times article and thinking to myself, "Its not long before articles like this mention Greg" and then in the next paragraph they did. Cool.
I should say though, that Restaurant Eugene, across the parking lot, is every bit as good, and provided a more intimate setting (provided you can actually get a seat at their tiny bar). I should keep my mouth shut, but the fact of the matter is Holeman isn't nearly moody enough for my tastes. Oh, it's one of my favorite places on earth, no doubt, but it could be darker, and dirtier, and more somber... less people would be nice, and there could be a jukebox, for instance. Other than that it's perfect. 4 out of 5 Celebrity Chefs agree, aparantly.
Breakfastwise, Corrie and still think Highland Bakery is King. We had a heck of a mean at Rita's Blue Bird and we both like Caroll Street Cafe quite a bit, but High Bakery reigns supreme on the strength of their BELT (mayo on the side. Trust me), BreakFast Sandwich, and Bisquits. Their array of pancakes and pastrees are competitive too. I like Thumbs up Diner quite a bit too. Holemans's Brunch is too lunchy, but their coffee is rock solid, and their Bloody Mary looks awesome. Is there any place I am leaving out?
Mom just made a post Christmas Mass Screwdriver and a BBQ pork sandwhich. Cool.
Yesterday I played with the nieces for a few hours: Mario Cart, Hide and Seak, Jump on Sean, the usual.
I had more to say, perhaps about Mad Men, or the lousy Broncos, but I have forgotten.
My next project is in limbo, so instead I am Working this week from the mountains on what must be the last ISDN line up in the Blue Ridge mountains .
We found a fine meat purveyor down the road, inside Mercier Apples, which provides meat from Neyman Ranch and Buck Head. We bought chorizo from the first, and steaks from the latter. The steaks are the same served by Chops and Bones, I think. Yum.
Speaking of meat. Tom Colicchio agrees that Holeman's burger is awesome. I'll find a better link asap.
Q: What restaurants have you tried in Atlanta?
A: I enjoyed Holeman & Finch. That burger thing they do was fun. I’m planning on going to Shaun’s.
Other than that, not much new to add, so I'll default into politics.
Had, or if, Obama gets tied to this Blogo-scandal in Chicago, it will not could against the good faith I have towards his presidency. We already knew he was a community organizer from Chicago, to dock him for a little retailing would paramount to docking him for racketeering, egregious double-counting. I have not been paying attention to that scandal not his pre-presidency in general, but I get the impression that so far, my faith has not been trampled on. Perhaps it's even been rewarded.
I am afraid to check out Ed's site, for fear he has started posting about how Obama is better than Bush. I know it's coming. Someone go look for me.
And my time went so quickly I went lickety-splickly
I am done with Cincinnati.
Quibble about whether Cincinnati qualifies, everyone always does, but I like Midwestern cities. I always have.
The people have a trusting mentality I associate with other favorite cities: Minneapolis and Milwaukee springing to mind.
People's treatment of you is perfectly in sync with yours of them. There are no lags or barriers.
Though my commitment to exploration was a lot less than at other places and times in my lift, in certain spots I was starting to feel every bit as welcome as I do at my favorite places in San Francisco and Atlanta. The Parking lot attendant, staff at Paula's and Kitties, gym rats at Urban Fitness, the scrabble club and staff at the BeanHaus. Even the work day had a certain day-to-day comfort to it, once they upgraded me from fold out table to actual cubicle.
I look forward to returning Cincinnati. It sometimes sucks to be such a great consultant, that I get my work done so fast, and so completely that there are no errors that I need to go back and fix**.
Yeah, tt's tough being me. Further evidence of that: I was eating the best biscuits and gravy ever, over at Paula's the other day, and I had to endure another "we need a college football playoff" discussion from the guys at the bar next to me. This conversation is rising to "Not enough scoring in soccer" and "My Fantasy Team needs...." levels of irritating.
Alas, I have an asshole, so I have an opinion, so I have a blog, so I too will throw in my two cents: If you are going to promote a playoff as a panacea, you must address the following two points: 1. Will there still be huge arguments about which team should make the Playoff. You will have changed very little. on that front.
2. The Basketball tournament, which you supposedly "take off work to watch" is great,, but when is the last time you gave two shits about an actual mid-season game? What was that? NEVER? Why do that to a spectacular, and rich in tradition, Football Season that serves games throughout the season that mean more than most playoff games?
Sorry. I should stick to food.
For instance, There is a new restaurant a quarter-mile from my condo. The Social. Beautiful Bar+Restp+winebar combo. Starts with a nice decor which morphs off a classic southern storefront into a modern wine bar. The food similarly starts off as your everyday gastro-mediteranean*** but a strong influence from Italy's Southwestern neighbors bends each dish in unique ways. Eggplant Caviar, Saffron, clever use of olives and fava in their delicious Calamri App. (The slowdown is tired of calamari appetizers, but cannot pass-up fava beans for nothing. Social's was terrific)
**If that doesn't draw out Chip and Muffs, two yahoos from the client site whose sole purpose it seemed was to harangue and pester me over the last two weeks, nothing will.
*** A term I just made up. "Mediterranean" alone invokes images of grape leaves and such, but I can think of another word. So the prefix.
ESPN was showing a classic fight between a guy named Vinnie Paziena and the Champ, something Haugen. Vinny won, and went on to have a lustrous career (I know because I just looked it up). He beat Duran twice...
How crazy and ironic life is," Pazienza remarked. "When I was an amateur fighter, the Duvas took me to Madison Square Garden
to watch Roberto Duran fight Davey Moore. So I was sitting there
watching, thinking look at this this guy he's awesome, he's an animal.
And who would have thought in a million years that I would end up
fighting Roberto Duran twice? When I fought Duran, I beat him twice but
I don't even count that. It doesn't count because he was like 90 when
we fought! He was older than he is now (laughs)."
My Cincinnati Scrabble Season has ended, my record a solid 11 and 3. All three losses to the man named Vance. The first of those losses was competitive and hinged on me foolishly choosing "Nockers" over "Corkers". The second loss was a PacquiaoVs. Oscar style drubbing (more on that later). And the final loss was really just an uncompleted game, in which he had one extra turn than me: So it really shouldn't count. Having said all of that, he stomped me in every unofficial game we played. Vance is good at scrabble.
So yeah, Pacquiaodestroyed Oscar. Wow. I have only seen clips, but they are ugly. This fight will be spoken of forever. I was hoping for the upset, but I didn't see it happening. A fading Morales gave the Pacman plenty of trouble, and a worn out Barrerra lost respectfully. Both of those guys were a lot smaller than Oscar. Surely Oscar's size would tell.
Nope.
If the PacMan survives Hatton next year, he will inevitably draw Mayweather out of faketirement (Somebody come up with a new word for Retirement. Athletes have drove the original into the ground). PacMan/ Mayweather at a catch weight (somewhere below the weight Manny Fought at last weekend, but not a full division down) would be the biggest fight of our lifetime.
I watched some Mayweather footage last week and realized that his ability is blissful. A realization prejudice blinded me to while he and his mouth were active. I imagine that fighting Floyd is like that bad dream where you are fighting somebody and all your punches are super-slow, as if you were underwater. It's not that he dodges all the punches, he doesn't, he often just stands in such a way that the punches are exhausted when they make contact or smothered before they start. He is always six inches too close, and one inch too far away. Oscar, who mas a much bigger man with a more powerful punch, once grabbed Mayweather with one hand and pounded him with the other, a-la Drago in Rocky 4, and accomplished two things: Oscar got tired, and Mayweather got mad that the crowd thought those punches landed.
But enough about Floyd. Assuming he doesn't come out of retirement immediately, PacMan has to fight Hatton. And that fight will be awesome. All of Indonesia vs. all of England. Brown vs Flourecent. A stadium in England sold out...... Hatton at his best weight, where he is undefeated, and coming off his best performance since defeating the world beater Kostya Tszyu many years ago.
Wow.
In other news: Rich is pregnant. Congrats! My Dead lift is north of 205k. Brining my Dead/ShouldPress/ Backsquat total to over 1000lbs. Christmas is in California this year. New Years in the Blue Ridge. Work Kick-off in Austin in January. Project in Atlanta..
Corrie and I watched some of the Roast of Bob Sagat, on comedy central. It was all pretty unforgettable until Norm MacDonald spoke.
Pure Pan fried Genius.
Speaking of food (pan fried, get it?)
Room, the Restaurant downtown at the bottom of the Twelve Building, served up the best traditional thanksgiving dinner I have ever had. The Turkey, Roastbeef, Ham, stuffing, and cranberries were all as good as ANY I have ever had, ever. This isn't a fault of my Family- my mom , for instance can out cook anyone I know (making like pals with Kevin Rathbun doesn't qualify as "knowing")- it's the fault of turkey and stuffing.
Service was enthusiastic and well trained, though not all that effective.
The restaurant bills itself as a steakhouse. All this time I thought it had an eastern fusion theme. oh well.
