Don't panic. I'll use the offensive word no more
than necessary.
Why am I writing on dieting?
You might guess I'm Scrooge and trying to ruin your
fun at a blog featuring delicious recipes.
Wrong! It’s because my new murder mystery is called
Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight. Linda Almquist (the heroine) is investigating two "diet doctors"
for recklessly endangering the lives of their obese research subjects. They are
convinced they’ve found an easy way for obese subjects to lose weight - just
alter their gut flora. Then Linda finds one of them dead.
Does the research sound strange? You’ll be a
believer after you read “The microbes
made me eat it” (Science, volume 328, pages 179-80 in 2010).
Oh, did I forget to
mention, Linda is trying to lose weight as she searches for the murderer.
Dieting
advice that Linda uses
1. Decrease portion sizes. Super-sizing is
your enemy. In restaurants, order children’s portions or a half sandwich with a
cup of clear soup.
Toppings are meant to add a dash of flavor. That
means a teaspoon (not a tablespoon)
of butter on bread and a tablespoon (not a ¼
to a ½ cup) of dressing or guacamole on your salad or sandwich.
2. Don’t buy snack foods, except carrots and
other raw vegetables. You can’t eat what you don’t have.
2. Decrease fat, sugar, and alcohol intake in
beverages. Most standard servings of sweet iced teas, lattes, fruit juices,
and regular sodas contain 130-190 calories. Many fruits smoothies and cocktails
provide >200 calories, while the unsweetened tea, black coffee, and diet
sodas contain no calories. These calories add up when you drink several
servings daily.
3. Broil, bake, or grill meats and fish, don’t
fry. For example, the typical over-breaded and greasy chicken breast contains
at least 300 calories. The same chicken breast, if the skin is removed and the meat
broiled, provides 121 calories.
4. Follow this advice everyday for months. It
may be easier to stick to your diet if you chew gum between meals or drink at
least one glass of water before each meal. For flavor, top meat,
potatoes, and other vegetables with a tablespoon of a non-fat, fresh salsa.
Did you learn anything new?
Probably not. You know the basics of dieting, but you
can’t stick to it for long. You're not alone. Did you ever
notice how many physicians, nurses, and dietitians are overweight or obese?
That’s why so many researchers study obesity. Meet
several of them when you read Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight. You
may decide dieting isn’t so hard after all.
Please comment
If you leave a comment to
this blog along with a way for me to contact you, you will be entered in a
drawing on October 1. The winner gets his/her name used in one of my upcoming
novels.
Bio: As a
biologist and professor emerita of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I enjoy
putting tidbits of science into myr mystery/suspense novels. So far that’s Coming Flu and Murder:
A New Way to Lose Weight. A
third is on the way. To learn more, visit www.jlgreger.com or http://jlgregerblog.blogspot.com.
Sell
line for Coming Flu: www.amazon.com/Coming-Flu-J-L-Greger/dp/1610090985/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363872699&sr=1-1&keywords=Coming+Flu.
Sell
line for Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight: http://www.amazon.com/Murder-New-WayLoseWeight/dp/1610090624/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1365534310&sr=1-1&keywords=Murder+A+New+Way+to+Lose+Weight
Thank you Sharon for hosting me. Hope your regular readers didn't mind getting diet advice instead of a great recipe.
ReplyDeleteJL Greger
Absolutely my pleasure, Janet. I think what we have "cooked up" for the two-part blog at your site and here will be sufficient! Thanks again for an informative post. My readers are learners!
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