Month: March 2012

The Diabolical Plot To Make Dieters Eat Processed Food

I’ve seen the plot. I know how it works now.

‘Counting calories is the only way to lose weight’ they tell us.

So we get books listing calories, or get an app for our smart phone that tallies it for us. And we count the calories. And life goes on. We eat, and we count.

But there are tasks that can wear us down while dieting, and one of them is calculating how many calories there are in a home-cooked recipe. I made my kale soup the other day. The ingredients are simple: 2 bunches of fresh kale, 2 large onions, 8 chorizo sausages made fresh at the store, and 2 boxes of chicken broth.

Continue reading “The Diabolical Plot To Make Dieters Eat Processed Food” →

Why Don’t We Keep This Low Carb Stuff to Ourselves?

In my ninth year doing this, I am more convinced than ever that eating copious amounts of saturated fats for nearly a decade has not only proved harmless to my health, but has prevented me from being 60 pounds heavier, diabetic, and having to be treated for GERD. It’s probably also prevented me from sky-high cholesterol and unmanageable high-blood pressure to boot.

I was so convinced of this that I maintain this blog to spread the good news about achievable weight loss and better health.

But is this a stupid thing to do? Continue reading “Why Don’t We Keep This Low Carb Stuff to Ourselves?” →

Is Obesity The Government’s Business?

God, I am tired of the level of discourse in the world today. It appears to me most ‘debate’ has descended to little more than character assassination and pithy sound-bites that might feed the heart, but starve the mind.

Here’s something different.

Intelligence Squared is a group of folks who put on Oxford-style debates. They poll the audience on a question, gauge their responses, and then let two teams of two people debate the topic for 40 minutes or so. Then the audience votes again. The side that changed the most minds wins.

I’ve listened to these shows for a while now, but recently heard one that you folks who stop by this blog might have some interest in: Is obesity the government’s business? This is from a debate held February 7, 2012 including:

Continue reading “Is Obesity The Government’s Business?” →

Some Hidden Low Carb Recipes That Should See the Light of Day

When I started low carb in 2003, Lowcarber.ca was the place I hung out. Recently, a commenter mentioned a chef named Karen Barnaby who had a low carb cookbook.

The name rang a bell.

I went to Lowcarber.ca, and – yes! – the same woman – a chef at The Fish House in Vancouver, Canada had, maybe a half-dozen years ago, posted a number of recipes. The site – and these recipes – are not easy to find as the site, while still active, has not really been updated in a loooong time. Don’t let the look of the site, nor the fact that there is a petition from 2008 fool you – the site is still active and a great resource.

I’ll bet these great-looking recipes are pretty hard to find if you don’t know where to look, however. Let’s see if I can help out. Continue reading “Some Hidden Low Carb Recipes That Should See the Light of Day” →

Check Out This Blog: Low Carb For Two

I came across this blog – Low Carb for Two – when Lauren, the blogger, left a comment here. This blog has only been around a few weeks, but in that time, Lauren has managed to whip up a slew of recipes, detail her successes and failures – and take a boatload of pictures of the cooking process to boot. She also has her meal plans, shopping lists, and insightful posts on low carb in general.

My biggest fear is that she’ll stop posting.

She’s using Dana Carpender’s 1001 Low Carb Recipies as her inspriation, so I hope she continues her exercise of trying her own versions of these recipes and taking copious pictures.

This is a public service as I, too, was disappointed in the book not because it isn’t a great low carb recipe book, but it doesn’t have pics.

We low carb folks need recipe ideas, and this resource she is creating is a welcome contribution.

Please visit her site and let her know there’s an audience for this.