Bad potato...

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Not that I’ve needed any further confirmation, but there was an article in the Plain Dealer recently about a diet study that verifies so much of what I’m now doing because of the Paleo Diet. Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian of the Harvard School of Public Health recently published a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine discussing the results of a study that has been tracking the eating habits of over 120,000 people between the ages of thirty and sixty for the past twenty years. The article caught my attention because of its condemnation of the potato, which was found to be the single food that had the greatest impact on fat gain over time. The study was done by tracking people in four-year increments, taking measurements and then determining what parts of their diet were making the largest impact…positive or negative. Potatoes – in the form of chips and fries – had the biggest negative effect, but even boiled, baked and mashed, consumed on a regular basis, added fat over time. The study’s conclusion supports what others have said already “all foods are not equal and just eating in moderation is not enough.” Nuts and yogurt were associated with weight loss in the study. If I’ve learned nothing else over the last two months, its that paying attention to what I’m eating…every time I eat anything…is the difference for me. Paleo was a means to an end. All calories are not created equal, but counting them and trying to match against calorie expenditure is impossible. Awareness is the key…that and making sensible changes you can live a lifetime with. I’m sure the potato eaters that were gaining weight had other things going on in their life and diet that compounded the issue, but I do buy into avoiding the foods leading to the high insulin reaction…which potatoes seem to do.

I did something I haven’t done in some time…ate bread…or more specifically…hamburger buns. And yes, I had two and there were big, juicy burgers between the slices of the bun. I’d bought them for the overnight guests who elected not to stop on their return trip from the Adirondacks. They’d stayed last Friday, but too much of me gave them reason for pause, so now I had all these burgers and buns and had to eat them. I had four in two days, but that’s it for now.

Heidi and I made our way to the East Branch Reservoir and kayaked for almost two hours. It was a casual pace with picture taking and just enjoying the solitude of the water. East Branch has a horse power restriction and we did see a couple of boats fishing, but there was no sound to disturb the tranquility…except me yapping about the Great Blue Herron’s I saw. “They’re just birds, dad,” she said…chip off her mom’s block. It’s not a strenuous workout, but its burning calories and stress-free. I tend to find that as soon as I push from shore and place my paddle in the water, I feel a sense of peace that I only get when on the water…or entering the woods with a pack on my back. In other words…unbeatable.

Kayak workout: Two hours.
Training Heart Rate: 90 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 700.