Reading Matters: October 2013

Reading Matters

October 2013

Books Purchased:

David and Goliath by Malcom Gladwell

Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It by Gary Taubes

Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes

Books Read:

David and Goliath by Malcom Gladwell

Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It by Gary Taubes

            My birthday present from my husband was Malcolm Gladwell’s newest, David and Goliath. I think I read it in three days. It was so good, just like everything else Gladwell writes. The book explores the idea of the underdog versus the powers that be, and Gladwell does the usual thorough job of looking at the issue from a variety of angles. He starts by looking at how we underestimate underdogs and similarly overestimate the giants. The story of how David defeats Goliath opens the book and highlights the problem we face in deciding outcomes based on perceived strengths. I don’t want to spoil the book, but faced with David’s swiftness and artillery weapon of a slingshot, poor Goliath, weighed down by heavy armor and physical size, didn’t stand a chance.

            I really enjoyed the sections on dyslexia and its power to create both problems and advantages for people. Both my husband and younger son are dyslexic and struggle with reading and writing clearly. As someone who loves books and who can sit for hours at a time getting lost in text (in a good way, not a Jasper Fforde way), the idea of struggling to read is horrific. Yet, both of these men I life with have better aural memories than I do and can find things that I lose quite easily. Their visual acuity is sharper than mine actually. They just don’t do words very well.

            After reading the book, I realize that a little more adversity would have been good in my older son’s life. I think if he had been forced to survive through some turmoil and stand up to trouble he might be better at getting himself on track. That’s all the details I’m going to give. He’s a good guy, but he lacks some focus. I was delighted that he had a happy, relatively trouble-free childhood, but Malcolm’s insights into survivors and their strengths makes me wonder, what if . . .

            Here’s a link to a brief (12 minutes) interview Gladwell did with Stephen Fry: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2013/oct/24/stephen-fry-malcolm-gladwell-video-interview?CMP=twt_gu

            The two books by Gary Taubes were purchased in response to my latest physical and the troubling data about my body composition and blood numbers. I have been following a very healthy diet (according to American Heart Association and other supposedly reliable sources) but over the past few years I have lost a lot of muscle tone and gained quite of bit of adipose tissue (yuck). You might recall I read Body For Life last month and started weight training. Well, the doctor took one look at my body and blood work and declared that I was eating too much in the carb department and not exercising enough. The truth is that 50% of the time I eat between 100 and 120 grams of carbs, 30% of the time between 120 and 150, and only 20% of the time over 150 grams and those are usually special occasions like a birthday party or my semi-annual trip to Wingstop. (I use My Fitness Pal free online nutrition and exercise tracking, so I know what I ate during the summer.)  I did cardio three to four times a week during the summer and am averaging 2.5 times a week now that school is on. Of course, the doctor thinks I’m lying because if I have gained weight then it must be because I am overeating or not exercising or maybe both.

            Taubes’ book, Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It is refreshing. It presents the data from all of the various experiments about weight loss, and particularly fat loss, from the past 100 years. It is amazing to me the difference between what the studies actually show and what we are told as Americans. The whole “Calories In Vs Calories Out” idea that is crammed down our throats is one that the research so far has not proven to be a permanent, effective metabolic control.  

            That is startling to me because isn’t that what we have all been told? Get up off the couch, put down the remote, go walk your fat a** off. If you are overweight, it is your fault for not spending all of the calories you have consumed. The message that burning more calories will make us less fat is one based on the hope of it being true rather than any actual proof. Now, people who do exercise strenuously tend to make changes to their diets in terms of macronutrient composition because their bodies start demanding different foods. That in itself may account for the weight loss.

            Based on the evidence presented in the book, I cut out starches, sugars, and grains from my diet. I eat lots of different green veggies each day and things like nuts and avocados in addition to lean meats like chicken or ground turkey breast. In 20 days, I have noticed that I have lost weight--both fat and water I was retaining—and I feel so much better. I have loads more energy, and as long as I eat frequently enough, I feel more alert mentally. Also, I have no joint pains and am sleeping a bit better. I know this is just one person’s response to the changes , therefore anecdotal and to be taken lightly, but if you are feeling draggy and wondering why you cannot lose the weight no matter how much fat you cut from your diet, you might want to read the book and weigh the evidence for yourself (yes, pun very much intended!).