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LMAO

Today's Close to Home really is.

 

What Really Makes Us Fat?

While poking around in my saved RSS feed articles this morning, I came accross this one. Written by Gary Taubes for Mother Earth News back in 2008.

I thought it would be worth sharing, as it's one of the articles that I read that helped me lose weight and feel better.

Good Calories, Bad Calories: What Really Makes Us Fat?

If you had asked your mother or grandmother for diet tips, you might have heard, “Every woman knows that carbohydrates are fattening.” In fact, that’s from a 1963 article in the British Journal of Nutrition, co-authored by one of the leading nutritionists of the era. And for the previous 100 years or so, this was the conventional wisdom: carbohydrate-rich foods such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, sweets and beer make us fat, and, by implication, foods rich in fat and protein do not.

I want to emphasize those foods here. "Bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, sweets and beer."

Mainstream Media Continues To Get It Wrong

Another article gets it wrong. Atkins and the neverending battle over carbs.

Instead, followers of his high-protein diet could eat unlimited meat, eggs, cheese, fish and shellfish.

Atkins diet is low carb, high fat (LCHF), not high protein.

 

Giving a New Meaning to "Green" Grocer

I came across an article this morning that struck a cord with me. Grocery delivery service is greener than driving to the store.

Now, this obviously depends on a fairly heavy concentration of customers to be viable, but it really does make sense.

What jumped out at me though was the economics of it, stated quite well in this paragraph:

"What's good for the bottom line of the delivery service provider is generally going to be good for the environment, because fuel is such a big contributor to operating costs and greenhouse gas emissions," Wygonik said. "Saving fuel saves money, which also saves on emissions."

Isn't it neat the way that works?

Licensing

Until recently, say the last nine months or so, I never really thought about licensing. Lately though, it seems like every time I turn around, I'm running into it more and more.

Last year we bought a new water heater for our home, and bam, ran into issues where we had to get a permit to have it installed. We had to have it installed by a licensed plumber. We had to have it inspected by a plumbing inspector. All of which led to us getting a water heater we are not happy with.

Every time the wind is strong outside, or from the wrong direction, the pilot light get's blown out. Yes, pilot light! I was shocked when I found out the water heater even had a pilot light. The water heater we had initially chosen had an electronic ignition system (and was a lot less expensive). The water heater in our previous house also had an electronic ignition. I didn't think any gas appliance used actual pilot lights anymore. Apparently, that water heater didn't meet "code".

So, what did inspections, licenses, etc. net us. A water heater than fails us when we need it most, cold, windy days.

Bits and Pieces

Now for something completely different. If this were Monty Python, the blog would now explode.

I'm going to share some links of interest, and invite comment on any and all.

On the state of our food supply.

Wizard of Id for August 27, 2012


Sad, but so very true.

I'm actually very glad to see a mainstream comic that's been around for ages comment on the state of our food.

What's New and Cruise Presentation links

I feel like I've been neglecting the diet and health posts for quite a while now. Thing is, nothing much has really changed that I can point to.

I have definitely been losing girth. My belt had grown to such an obnoxious length beyond the buckle that a couple of weeks ago I trimmed 11¼ inches off of it.

The changes aren't showing on the scale at all though. I still fluctuate between 210 and 220 lbs.