quote:

Originally posted by piqué:

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Originally posted by kluurs:
I just finished the Obesity Code. I've made some changes to my diet as a result and have lost 20 lbs in a relatively short amount of time. It provides a compelling history of nutrition in our country along with some decent information on research in the area.

I'm going to look for that. Would love to lose 15.

I read the book, followed the directions and lost about 20 pretty quickly. After that I stopped losing. Went to the website, followed all of recommendations, extended the fasts from 24 to 48 hours, added in keto, nothing.

It’s pretty easy to do, easier than thought it would be, but it didn’t last. One other thing to watch for is gastric distress coming off of a fast. Stay near a commode for a few hours.

Ken from what I have seen I can’t imagine you could lose 20 pounds and still be alive!

Jf

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Originally posted by ShiroKuro:

Klurrs, were the dietary changes difficult to make or something where you have to completely change your approach to food prepare?

IOW, it is something I could do without changing my whole life??

He presents the best human study information - noting that animal studies have limited value in this type of work.

The short answer is that it does involve major dietary changes for most people - no refined sugar is one of the biggest hurdles. It's worth a read as he explains the differences in sugars and their impact on our diet. 20 years ago, nutritionists used to refer to sugar as "empty calories" without explaining that there's more to it than that. This book explains that - along with why other nutritional interventions over the decades haven't worked. It makes you more aware of the impact of one's dietary choices.


You learn that timing of food intake is extremely important. You also learn that a lot of what we've been told - "everything in moderation" and "a calorie is a calorie" are total nonsense - and that Mrs. Obama's well intentioned efforts to increase activity to reduce obesity were doomed to fail.

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Originally posted by Jack Frost:
Ken from what I have seen I can’t imagine you could lose 20 pounds and still be alive!

Jf

In recent photographs I kept thinking I looked like I was in my second trimester. But there were other effects as well - sugar's impact on my energy levels during the day. I'm much more steady now - not dropping off in snooziness is one.

quote:

Originally posted by piqué:
Just finished reading EDUCATED by Tara Westover. A memoir about how she went from growing up the daughter of Mormon fundamentalists who kept her out of school and away from doctors, to getting her doctorate at Cambridge and doing a fellowship at Harvard. She approached understanding her own upbringing like a scholar. The stories of the abuse she suffered are harrowing. How she went about freeing her own mind is instructive for anyone who grew up in a dysfunctional family.

I cried at the end. It is a powerful book.

I really enjoyed this book, so much so that I revived my defunct book club to discuss it.

I liked it much more than Glass Castle. Maybe because I could relate more? (Churchy background, but in a good way. Didn’t really relate to Glass Castle.)

I agree. Of the books I read in the past year or so, that and The Overstory still are stuck in my head. In a good way.

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Originally posted by Nina:
I agree. Of the books I read in the past year or so, that and The Overstory still are stuck in my head. In a good way.

Nina, I just started Overstory, and that first story was lovely. Thanks for the recommendation.

I also got The Obesity Code, but the foreword was too breathless for me. May try to read the first chapter...

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Originally posted by AdagioM:

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Originally posted by piqué:
Just finished reading EDUCATED by Tara Westover. A memoir about how she went from growing up the daughter of Mormon fundamentalists who kept her out of school and away from doctors, to getting her doctorate at Cambridge and doing a fellowship at Harvard. She approached understanding her own upbringing like a scholar. The stories of the abuse she suffered are harrowing. How she went about freeing her own mind is instructive for anyone who grew up in a dysfunctional family.

I cried at the end. It is a powerful book.

I really enjoyed this book, so much so that I revived my defunct book club to discuss it.

I read that book recently, too. After finishing it and also reading Hillbilly Elegy not too long ago, I began to wonder whether such books feed into our superiority regarding people in circumstances other than our own. The stories of people coming from less privileged backgrounds and "making it" in our segment of society smacks of a dismissal of other peoples' circumstances as somehow inferior or less important than our own.

I'll vote for Bill Bryson as a favorite author. I've been more or less satisfied with everything I've read of his. I read At Home most recently, and while I don't put it at the top of his works, it was nonetheless enjoyable and informative on a variety of subjects he wandered across.

Big Al

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I read that book recently, too. After finishing it and also reading Hillbilly Elegy not too long ago, I began to wonder whether such books feed into our superiority regarding people in circumstances other than our own. The stories of people coming from less privileged backgrounds and "making it" in our segment of society smacks of a dismissal of other peoples' circumstances as somehow inferior or less important than our own.

I'll vote for Bill Bryson as a favorite author. I've been more or less satisfied with everything I've read of his. I read At Home most recently, and while I don't put it at the top of his works, it was nonetheless enjoyable and informative on a variety of subjects he wandered across.

Big Al

I identified with Tara Westover and am in awe of her talent and accomplishments. That's hardly a dismissal. And i know lots of people with a very similar background--some of whom i love and admire, even though they still embrace fundamentalism. People are complicated.

I actually don't like Bill Bryson's books at all. I find him glib and superficial.

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Originally posted by AdagioM:

I also got The Obesity Code, but the foreword was too breathless for me. May try to read the first chapter...

Fung's book didn't click with me, either. I did read (actually listened to) Gin Stephens' Fast. Feast. Repeat., also about intermittent fasting, and found it to be more my speed.

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Originally posted by big al:

quote:

Originally posted by AdagioM:

quote:

Originally posted by piqué:
Just finished reading EDUCATED by Tara Westover. A memoir about how she went from growing up the daughter of Mormon fundamentalists who kept her out of school and away from doctors, to getting her doctorate at Cambridge and doing a fellowship at Harvard. She approached understanding her own upbringing like a scholar. The stories of the abuse she suffered are harrowing. How she went about freeing her own mind is instructive for anyone who grew up in a dysfunctional family.

I cried at the end. It is a powerful book.

I really enjoyed this book, so much so that I revived my defunct book club to discuss it.

I read that book recently, too. After finishing it and also reading Hillbilly Elegy not too long ago, I began to wonder whether such books feed into our superiority regarding people in circumstances other than our own. The stories of people coming from less privileged backgrounds and "making it" in our segment of society smacks of a dismissal of other peoples' circumstances as somehow inferior or less important than our own.

I'll vote for Bill Bryson as a favorite author. I've been more or less satisfied with everything I've read of his. I read At Home most recently, and while I don't put it at the top of his works, it was nonetheless enjoyable and informative on a variety of subjects he wandered across.

Big Al

I didn’t love Hillbilly Elegy; it felt like the last chapters went fast forward and didn’t really give a good reason why he made it. He just suddenly had high-powered people looking out for him. Or at least that’s what I remember; it’s been a while since I read it.

Scorecard:
Hillbilly Elegy: meh
Glass Castle: meh
Educated: Wow. Loved it.

Just started reading the autobiography “Keep The River On Your Right” by Tobias Schneebaum. He’s an anthropologist who traveled to the Amazon to live with and study an indigenous cannibalistic tribe. Without a map or guides and only advice to "keep the river on your right", the author sets out all by himself to find them in the jungle.

So far I like it but It’s hard to keep track of characters because of names such as “Akatpitsjin”.

quote:

Originally posted by AdagioM:

quote:

Originally posted by Nina:
I agree. Of the books I read in the past year or so, that and The Overstory still are stuck in my head. In a good way.

Nina, I just started Overstory, and that first story was lovely. Thanks for the recommendation.

Okay, that’s the first time in a long time that I had no idea what the book was going to be. I thought it was going to be short stories, but all the chapters hang together; it’s a novel. And it was great. I just recommended it to the kids.

I'm so glad you liked it, AM! I had the same evolution in my thinking on the book as well. I am in awe of people who have the imagination to produce things like that.

I had a similar sense of "wow, what a story" after reading Peter Carey's Oscar and Lucinda, one of my all-time favorite books and one I highly recommend. The movie didn't remotely do it justice.

I've probably recommended it before, but for those of you who like nonfiction/travel books, I also recommend "From Heaven Lake..." by Vikram Seth. If you want total immersion and are up for a bit of a big (as in many pages) read, I also recommend Seth's "A Suitable Boy." I seem to recall that SK also read it and loved it.

I'm still in my Tana French reading binge at the moment, with "Witch Elm" about halfway through and The Searcher next up. Great summer reading.

Finished The Goldfinch last week. Excellent. Yesterday I finished the best book I have read in a long time:

https://www.amazon.com/Damage-...d91&format=1&depth=1

J