View from the Cheap Seats is an extension of the newsroom, which is frequently a site of heated debate on topics ranging from the extremely serious to the utterly ridiculous. In addition to the views of our three regular columnists Thom Barker and Calvin Daniels printed here, please visit yorktonthisweek.com for additional web exclusive content by Michaela Miller and Devin Wilger.
This week: There are many health fads, crash diets and quick fixes to slim down for summer, what health tips work for you?
Fad bad
There is only one way to effectively lose weight: eat less, exercise more.
Fad diets, supplements, superfoods etc. are all marketing nonsense.
Just as one example, take 鈥減robiotics.鈥� Like all of these things, they start with a kernel of truth鈥攐ur guts are full of helpful bacteria鈥攁nd then misrepresent, overstate and/or make dubious connections between that and the alleged health benefits of the thing they are trying to sell.
There is a truckload of actual evidence that shows the health claims made by, for instance yogurt manufacturers, about probiotics in their products is complete and utter nonsense.
That is not to say yogurt is not good for you. And it is not to say that if you start eating a serving of yogurt instead of an oversized Snickers bar, you won鈥檛 start losing weight.
There are no quick fixes that are not inherently unhealthy for you.
Eat less. Exercise more.
-Thom Barker
Keep it Simple
It is disgusting how many fad diets, quick fixes and health crazes there are. It鈥檚 disgusting to me because a healthy body shouldn鈥檛 be the result of marketed health craze, nor should one be focused solely on slimming down to show off a bikini clad summer body. I cannot stand how superficial and narcissistic the health industry is. They might as well be outright; in order to be happy, you must be scrawny. You must buy our sneaky products, buy into our health knowledge and share this shallow lifestyle with others. I stay away from these people and companies. I keep it simple, because that is exactly what health should be; simple. I don鈥檛 have any health tips because tips are for the lazy. Health is hard work, just like everything else; there is no skirting around that. One thing I find in particular that is crucial to my weight management as well as my mental health is exercise. Biking, dancing, walking, muscle toning, cardio workouts, abdominal exercises and stretching are my main ways of moving my body. I don鈥檛 have a specific routine other than making sure I exercise is some form for two days and then taking a rest the third day. All the while, I make sure to be mindful of what I eat to properly fuel my body. Not only does this help me to look good, but it helps me feel good. Last but not least, water. Water all the time, water all day long. Water is so important for absolutely every function in our body, yet we push it to the side because it 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 taste like anything.鈥� Drink your water, eat the good stuff and exercise the bad stuff out.
Michaela Miller
Make it Hot
I have never been especially big on fad diets. I start the day off right with a gluten-filled breakfast, the closest I鈥檝e ever gotten to a 鈥渃leanse鈥� is showering in the morning, and I鈥檝e never been especially concerned with whether something is a carb, a 鈥渨hole food鈥� or whatever buzzword crops up next.
About the only diet tip I have is that when I eat junk food, I only eat really spicy junk food. This seems like an odd diet tip, but I actually have a bit of logic behind it. Junk food and snacks, by their nature, tend to be less than healthy alternatives, but they鈥檙e also delicious so it鈥檚 easy to eat enough that you eventually feel like a collapsing blimp. I have found that if I limit it to the really spicy varieties I eat way less, because the spice works as a portion control: At a certain point, too much heat makes one just want a glass of water rather than eating any more chips. I could polish off an entire bag of Cheetos before the regret kicks in, but it only takes a few tasty jalapeno flavored chips before I decide I鈥檝e had enough. I know I eat a lot less of the stuff if I restrict myself to eating the very spicy variety, and as a result I鈥檓 never really overstuffed with it, so I feel better too.
I don鈥檛 know if it will help everyone, some people might be more immune to heat than I am, but it鈥檚 tasty and I eat less so it works for me.
-Devin Wilger
Agreeing with Barker!
Experience in writing these contributions has taught me that the best way for me to be right is to offer anything which counters the view of fellow scribe Thom Barker.
But alas the planets have aligned where I have to agree with Thom on this one.
Weight loss, and remember I am far from a poster boy of that initiative in life, is only effective with dedicated lifestyle changes.
We have access to the best food in human history, and we simply eat too much of it for the typically sedimentary lifestyle we also have evolved to have.
Bacon, eggs, toast, jam and coffee for breakfast might have been fine for my grandfather clearing a homestead with axe and horses, but it is more than a journalist working at a computer screen requires.
Of course there are other factors at play too, at least in my mind.
Chasing the 鈥榩erfect鈥� body, or at least the body media and society push as perfect may be as unhealthy as carrying a few extra pounds.
A regime of diets and 鈥榮upplements鈥� in pursuit of such perfection is not going to be the best on the human body either.
And then there is stress.
We all react to stress in our own way, but constant worrying, whether it鈥檚 about your weight, how to pay the bills, or to deal with all manner of things in life, wear on a person, and that is not healthy.
So try to avoid stress, or learn coping mechanisms, avoid health fads, eat all things in moderation, and you will at least be doing things which make sense in terms of good health.
聽- Calvin Daniels
