I looked up "Do women gain weight more easily than men?" The results had many articles attesting to women gaining more easily. Lynn has been watching her weight more carefully than I have been watching mine. She decided rather abruptly to be even more careful about what she eats. We have both tried days of skipping breakfast and lunch and eating a modest dinner, but she has had experience with Weight Watchers (WW) and decided to try using their ideas. This time, instead of attending weekly meetings, she joined the online version.
Lynn had come across the WW chart of zero points and knew that the points-per-food count was not affected by the foods on that chart. At the same time, I am reading "The Hungry Brain" by Stephan Guyenet, PhD. I wrestled and wrestling is a sport where one's body weight is important. Before the match, the wrestler steps on a scale with the referee looking carefully over his shoulder.
The horizontal bar has a pointer. If that pointer touches the top of its little metal bracket, the wrestler cannot wrestle in that weight class. So I learned to be sure my weight was well below the limit. Over the years, for that sport and for my own appearance and health, I have had to lose weight many times.
Weight losers sometimes develop a wisecrack that "if it is good (tasting), it is bad for you (if you want to lose.)" Guyenet makes clear that the wisecrack is no joke. Our brain circuits and our taste buds have evolved in times of food scarcity and genuine starvation. So, we are attracted to fat, sugar and salt and starch (as in chips and pretzels and pastries). So, yes, as a general rule, if you like it and want it, it is bad for losing weight.
Enter zero point foods: vegetables, fruits, eggs, some meats. See? No dairy, no cheese, no beef, no breads. Following WW plans, we can accumulate 23 points a day and the pointed foods can be eaten, but they count. Guyenet describes the diets of the Kalahari !Kung and the Amazon Yanomami, who have small game, insects and vegetables and fruits. No candy bars, no ice cream, no alcohol.
I have lost about 3 lbs. In a week and have gained new respect for the giant supply of food available to me at all times. I have no need to make a wrestling weight limit but I like being a little lighter and plan to continue to concentrate on zero point foods.
