Having been
a victim of "overweight induced disappointment", I was on months long
weight-loss war on previous years which achieved a total loss of 20kg through
following the advice of a Mayo website here. Their theory, based on a low-carb
diet, surprised me since I thought fat consumption was a leading cause of
weight gain.
One day I
said go to hell and decided to drink a cup full of coconut oil to test on
myself the effects oils make on human body. The act was torturing and I am not daring
to details here. I felt a momentary burning sensation in the back of the throat
and fullness of stomach the whole day! I even thought my end was near!. I was welcomed
by a short bout of diarrhoea and soapy poop the next morning. I noticed to my
surprise that my body was actually removing those excess fats and that day I lost a
marginal amount of weight! I actually began to feel really light and I could
exercise and spend the day like normal.
My weight continued
to spiral down for another few days despite going on a “dietless mode” likely
due to various phenomena that're explained nicely here. I observed a few interesting
things:
- Logically it would take a person to ingest 1kg of oil to increase 1kg of weight, according to the law of conservation of mass (duh!) and practically it takes months for a person to achieve that.
- Human body never goes to hibernation mode; it is burning energy all the time, even during sleep. This means that if the above person did drink 1kg of fat, he won't gain as much for a long time.
- Our bodies are designed to stay active all the time. This makes us wonder whether our hunter-food-gatherer forefathers actually looked healthier before an agriculture-based sedentary civilisation kicked in.
- According to an article here, saturated fats never make any real difference in weight gain. This made me happy and used lots of ghee (yum!) on every food I consumed for a week, and the theory was true!
The whole “fat
is bad for you” was actually based on an erroneous food pyramid that placed
high carb foods in the “more to consume” section. So huge corporates got into
their high horses and released tonnes sugary cereal and bread based packaged products
which, not surprisingly, coincided with obesity hysteria of 1990s. Diary and
meat farm owners were just unlucky to compete with them.
There was a
time when all of us were happy with our figures. Everyone ate what they could
afford and only thought about health once senility kicked in. Traditionally no
cultures recognised the need of a “diet plan” unless and until old age related
diseases showed up. This, over the millennia, contributed to the rich legacy of
world cuisines we see around the world (and the Internet).
Well, coming
back to my problem, unfortunately NO DIETS REALLY WORK on the long term. Being
lean is based on many aspects other than food which includes heredity, mental
health, endocrine health etc. A slight hint to be fit, though, is to remain active.
The
celebrated 18th century Malayalam poet, satirist and the founder of
Ottamthullal School of art, Kalakkathu Kunchan Nambiar once said
"It is better to eat your heart out rather than to extend another 10 years of unhappy life in bland foods and medications."
He died of
complications from diabetes after he attended a feast, ignoring the advice of
his doctor. Neither he nor anyone else ever has documented his personal life.
However, from his career as a satirist and love of food, he must have been a super happy man!
Enjoy reading and be open to the things that world has to offer.
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