I plan on beginning to use this blog to discuss getting into a shape and losing weight.

Following the advice I had been given for most of my life, I would generally eat a variety of foods, and try only to limit my daily or weekly caloric intake. This usually produced a very short period of weight loss, followed by a rebound. When I added exercise into the mix (Krav Maga, Dance Dance Revolution), I usually did lose weight, but it was extremely uncomfortable and often painful to do. Getting into shape seemed to be something that would happen only when I could cope with a semi-starvation diet and frequent, extremely uncomfortable physical activity.

Then I read Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It by Gary Taubes, and it was an eye-opening experience.

Finally, nutrition made sense to me! The frustration of trying to understand metabolism and lose weight has been replaced by excitement. The refined processed carbohydrates that made up my convenience diet were spiking my blood sugar, and keeping the energy in my fat under lock and key. My attempts to cut calories were doomed at the onset. Since then, I’ve been researching several diets, including the Atkins Nutritional Approach, the South Beach Diet, the Paleo Diet, and the Glycemic Load Diet. I am almost certain I will follow the Atkins Nutritional Approach, but I am still learning more about these diets.

I highly recommend the book to pretty much anyone. If you’re trying to lose weight, you’ll learn why it is so hard, and what makes it easier (backed with actual research.) If you’re interested in a low-carb diet, but you’re afraid of negative health effects, you’ll learn why low-carb diets aren’t the hazards they’ve been made out to be (again backed with actual research.) If you’re naturally thin, you’ll learn why the rest of the country isn’t.