The best weight loss advice I have ever heard came from Alton Brown when I heard him speak at the Coolidge Corner Theater during his book tour last year. Someone in the audience had mentioned that his figure looked better, and Alton proceeded to explain how he slimmed down. What he did was he started keeping a log of everything he ate — cookies, cake, and so on — and noticed a pattern. He would always have a glass of milk with those things he ate. One important point he mentioned about diets and why they don’t work is because they are based on the idea of “moderation” (he used air quotes) and likened unhealthy eating as an addiction. The analogy he used referred to drug addiction, that no drug addict would ever stop using if he thought, “Oh, I’ll only do a little injection of cocaine today.” Once Alton eliminated the milk everything else went away, and he hasn’t had a desire to eat sweets. It wasn’t just eating habits that caused him to lose weight. Exercise was also very important. He was very proud that he could run 5 miles without falling over huffing and wheezing (which he demonstrated vivaciously). What Alton Brown said about losing weight was the most sensible thing I had heard about it. It made me realize that kind of change, the commitment, has to come within the self first. Nothing else will provide that for you.
Archive | August, 2010
