Maple Syrup Moment

I’ve finally found a book that lays it down on weight loss: Obésité; accompagner pour soigner, a 2002 French publication put together by a team including physician, dietician, pshychologist. The idea I found compelling, as a lifelong diet-book junkie, is that of informing the patient on structuring a food intake regiment for weight loss. Fats turn into stored fat (with 90% efficiency), sugars and starches into glycogen for immediate use (with 70 % efficiency), protein turns into muscle and tissue repair (quite inefficient at 30 %). 70 % of caloric intake services the lean body - keeps one alive -, 10 % goes for digestion, the remaining 20 for energy expenditure. With this information in mind, one can structure one’s daily intake in an intelligent fashion.

The overall framework of the book is very French and the menu suggestions are full of baguettes and odd fish. Still, very helpful. ex. One should eat a raw fruit or vegetable at every meal, one dish of cooked vegetables every day, protein at least once a day, milk and bread at every meal. But do watch out for 45% fatty Camembert.

In effect, I enjoyed an indecent serving of Cream of Wheat with maple syrup last night with noadverse effect. It’s a new dawn...

I still need more information though. I know I should be taking in vitamins, but which ones and when. What about my nasty propensity to form leg varicosities although I’m very good about exercise. This is more than fine tuning, it is missing essential knowledge. A suivre...