Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Starches

These are my downfall in terms of diet and weight: potato puffs, garlic bread, rice pilaf, pizza crusts, pringles, pastas with parmesan, a dozen varieties of cracker, corn chips...

I was slowly losing weight without much effort since retirement at the beginning of 2017, but this ground to a halt at the beginning of C19.  So I figure I have to be a bit more drastic, and am giving up starches for a month.  Then we'll see what happens next.  I went shopping today on Day One, just back from vacation, and aisle after aisle was crowded with flirtatious, even provocative, starches.

7 comments:

Grim said...

Good luck with your fast. I just finished a month-long fast of my own, in this case a fast from alcohol of all sorts while training for an event. It's a worthy thing to do now and then, and a healthy one.

My only advice (if you want advice) is to try to get to bed earlier, and rise earlier. Seems like Ben Franklin was right about that 'early to bed, early to rise' stuff. Or Odin, per Hávamál 58:

"He must rise betimes who fain of another
or life or wealth would win;
scarce falls the prey to sleeping wolves,
or to slumberers victory in strife."

Texan99 said...

The starch effect is funny--fewer calories per ounce, but somehow harder to stop eating than something purely protein or fatty. Then there's all the controversy over the different metabolic reaction.

Whatever the reason is, I too find it easier to make an impact by limiting starch than by limiting fat or protein.

Aggie said...

It helps if you're one of those people who can decide to be determined. I needed to lose weight prior to surgery a few years ago and pretty much eliminated starchy carbs, and cut my beer consumption by more than half. If I did indulge, it was in very small portions. It was moderately unpleasant but not miserable, and I was able to drop 20 lbs or so, my target. I've since returned about half the weight I dropped, probably because I like starchy carbs. You can't grow up in Maine and not eat potatoes.

RichardJohnson said...

Whatever the reason is, I too find it easier to make an impact by limiting starch than by limiting fat or protein.

At the end of the year of 9th grade biology, my teacher asked me the best way to lose weight. My reply was cut out starch and eat meat. I was quickly informed that was not the correct answer. Many years later, I still consider it the correct answer.

My starch weakness is homemade flat bread, cooked on a skillet.

Assistant Village Idiot said...

Scott Suskind of Slate Star Codex looked at the research and said the simplest solution he saw was for physicians to suggest a starch-reduced diet (which works with about 60-70% of folks), and if that didn't work in a month or two, try a fat-reduced diet (20-40%). If neither worked, then something more complicated is up.

Made sense to me.
We still laugh about my first son looking up nutrition for a fifth-grade report in 1989 and reading "butter is highly nutritious," in the older encyclopedia set we had a home. We thought that uproariously out-of-date. Butter now has the edge over margarine.

Donna B. said...

Gravies and sauces (first make a roux!) are my carb downfall... along with the breaded and fried meats smothered in them. And potatoes, of course. Mashed, baked, soft-fried, or potato soup; I don't like french fries or most potato chips. Wheat bread as an accompaniment for meals is not a thing, but I do like cornbread occasionally.

Fritos and corn tortilla chips are another weakness. Accompanied by guacamole, salsa, or pimento cheese. I am not fond of flour tortillas which seem to have overtaken popular Mexican restaurants. They appeal to me only as quesadillas, but with pico de gallo and cheese as the only filling. I don't like fajita meat.

As for pasta, the only dish I like is macaroni and cheese and the only recipe I like is mine. It's not carb or fat friendly and I make it only for family gatherings when my grandchildren are present. It's a PITA to make. Pizza is for emergency meals only.

Though I'm a southerner, grits is a no go for me. Especially shrimp and grits. Rice is better than grits, but not something I would miss. It's often left on the plate at Mexican restaurants.

The worst part about this is that while I can easily resist many carbs, the ones I do like are paired with fats. That's not a good thing.

james said...

Rice is kryptonite. So is bread. And potato.
Years ago a food cart from a local bakery (long gone) used to park on the sidewalk outside the physics hall. I'd have a baguette for lunch--sourdough when they had one. I probably shouldn't dwell on such memories...