“It’s the third week of January and if you listen very carefully you can hear the snap, crackle, and pop of New Year’s diet resolutions being broken all over the country.”
–CBC Radio1 comedian

Because the “exercise more, eat smaller portions, and eat low-fat foods” advice is considered irrefutable, the blame for failing to attain normal weight through low-fat diets and aerobic exercise is put squarely on the shoulders of the individual. People are told that calorie restriction and sweat is the only way to reach their goals. And it is from this that the boot camp weight-loss phenomenon has arisen. There is very little data to show that lasting results are achieved this way. The weight gain inevitably returns because boot camp can’t last forever. The verdict is always the same: “You’re a loser, you didn’t try hard enough, and you need to get tough on weight-loss.” This can easily regress further into the “culture of humiliation” that we see on reality TV shows. It’s a sad comment on our society that there is entertainment value from the misfortunes of others. Disappointment is almost certain, depression could be just around the corner.
Happily, there is another, much easier and healthier alternative. I offer to the readership an alternative to the Boot-Camp paradigm. I’ll call it the “Soft-shoe Life” for lack of a better banner but then softshoers generally shy away from flag-waving, anyway. Everything the boot camp is, soft-shoe life is not. Being a stealth undercover operation, softshoers prefer to operate individually or in small cells. Softshoers keep their valor to themselves. Soft-shoers are often labeled as terrorists by large corporations but they are really freedom fighters. Corporations fear them because there is no money to be made from them. There is no expensive “smart fabric” weight-loss uniform; no soy protein bar/ titanium water bottle K-ration kit; no GPS; no digital personal vital signs monitor implants; few or no medications; no third party will-power cheerleaders such as pharmacies, rehab clinics, and chronic disease fund-raising organizations. All you need is sensible shoes and your everyday clothes. A Tilly hat is acceptable, of course.

For soft-shoers the burden is easy, the yolk is light:

•Eat no food than contains sugar or flour and eat as much as you want of anything else preferably organic fruits and vegetables and humanely raised and processed animal products. Softshoers substitute sugar with a secret weapon “stevia” but it is little known because Big Sugar has control of the term “sweetener”.
•Highland Oatcakes may be consumed judiciously. They can be obtained at Nessie’s
•Moderate alcohol with food is allowed because wine and very lite beer is proof that the Great Soft-Shoer (God) loves us.
•Exercise consists of leading an active life of good citizenship, a daily stroll, and saying hello to strangers, at least 10 times a day.
•The manual is “Good Calories, Bad Calories” or the abridged version “Why We Get Fat” both by “5-star Soft-shoe General” Gary Taubes. Or Fred Cory’s free Summary/Essay available at fhcory@eagle.ca
•The battle cry is “Carbs drive insulin, insulin drives energy storage!” or “flour is sugar, including whole wheat!”.
Fred Cory, Cobourg.

Dr Jay’s Reply:

Keep up the good work!

???????? ??????? ????????? Dear readers,
My Big Fat Diet is going to be shown again on CBC Newsworld’s “The Lens” on January 6, 2009…..

?????? ?? ?????? Dear readers,
My Big Fat Diet is going to be shown again on CBC Newsworld’s “The Lens” on January 6, 2009…..

????, ???????????? (? ???????????) Dear readers,
My Big Fat Diet is going to be shown again on CBC Newsworld’s “The Lens” on January 6, 2009…..

Download mp3 with Rolf Zuckowski
…

I read the recent Readers Digest article on your work and wondered about applications in my line of work. I work with large employers who pay substantial sums toward employee health benefits. Traditional “health and wellness” programs are litle more than glorified gym memberships. These groups are a great route to the masses. I would be interested in your thoughts and level of interest in working with me to develop an affordable and realistic program that employers can promote to their employees.

Dr. Jay’s Reply:

I have often thought that employee health benefit plans would be a good place to implement this kind of approach. The reduced need for medications would reduce benefit costs, for sure, but I also think that the employers who fund these plans would also benefit from a healthier, more energetic workforce, less absenteeism, less presentism, etc etc. I would be very interested in developing a program for this kind of application.

I give this link out a lot, only to have people ignore it once they see they can’t view the program.

Dr. Jay’s Reply:

I don’t know the answer to that. Perhaps, if people contacted the CBC, they might consider doing this. In the meantime, Mary Bissell, the producer, sells DVD copies on her website: http://www.mybigfatdiet.net

Dr. Jay’s Reply:

It is a problem for me to try to practice medicine over the internet or from a distance. There is also an issue in terms of interfering in your relationship with your own doctor. Having said that, I can suggest some ideas to you that should help in managing your diabetes. Think of it as an intolerance to carbohydrates. You, for whatever reason, have developed a condition that means you can no longer normally metabolize carbohydrates. This means any foods that contain starch or sugar, whether it is natural or refined. The more of these types of food you eat the more medication you will have to take. If you stop eating these types of food your need for medication will go down and may go away altogether. You must be careful if you change your diet, however, because if you stop eating starch and sugar and continue to take your medications your blood sugar may go too low. This can also happen with your blood pressure, too, if you are taking medication for that. This is best done under the supervision of your doctor who can help you reduce the medications as needed. I hope this advice is helpful to you. I would encourage you to read through all the posts on this site as there is more information here that you may find useful. Good luck.

Are there plans to do a longitudinal follow up? A 10-year study of a low-carbing population would be so great to add to our knowledge base, as most studies to date have been pretty short-term.

Rachel

Dr. Jay’s Reply:

At this time there is no official follow-up. I have encouraged the nurse who worked on the study to continue to assist people and to keep records. I am trying to get some funding in place to support this and I hope that it will be possible to do some follow-up over the longer term to see how people do. It is my impression that some people continue to do well while others have fallen off the diet.

Dr. Jay’s Reply:

Thanks for the note. Adding sardines and herring to your diet is an excellent idea. I know some fresh-water fish are good sources of omega-3 but I have to admit I don’t know about Winnipeg smoked goldeye. I would suggest you do some googling on this topic to get more information than I am able to provide.