In a recent edition of the excellent Diggnation vodcast, Kevin Rose briefly mentioned a book he’d been reading that had helped him shed 10lb in 2 weeks without trying, and says he finds it easy to maintain the regime. Most people know that losing weight that quickly is usually down to dehydration, as popular diets tend to rely on 1-2 weeks of water loss masquerading as weight loss to boost morale and gain interest, but Kevin’s case it struck me as notable – and at the very least worth investigating – particularly as he’s a young, fit and active chap for whom such weight loss would be harder than it would be for someone like me. Kind of a law of diminishing returns: he has less to lose, so they’re harder to lose.So I though it worth checking out the book, The Gylcemic Load Diet by Rob Thompson, MD. After all, you can get it via Amazon UK for £9 plus delivery (Amazon US here) – even if it’s rubbish, it hasn’t cost you much.
So last week I read it cover to cover, which isn’t hard to do as it’s only 256 pages and a chunk of that are example recipes at the back, and now understand the core theory and method behind it. Although I’m yet to check his references, everything he said seemed to make sense. So much so that I believe it is achievable and I’m going to give it a go.
The reason I mention all this is that it strongly advocates just 20-30 mins of walking every second day (or every day if you have a sedentary job – like mine, where I drive a computer all day – and lifestyle). Part of the book’s core information is that low-fat foods are pointless when taken alongside the other information provided, so things like bacon and eggs aren’t taboo in moderation. I’m leaving out a lot of the reasoning as I think that if you’re interested in it, you really should read the book.
Armed with that, I’ve decided to walk more – and this includes Sunday mornings. In my family, bacon and eggs are a traditional Sunday breakfast, and it’s something I’ve occasionally indulged in by having bacon and HP Sauce sandwiches, as my Twitter followers would be able to attest. As the GL diet points out numerous problems with bread, I figured plain old bacon, eggs and tomatoes could be a solution – no need for bread! There is The Gorge Cafe, very popular and not far from where I go to the gym, and a fraction under 1.5 miles walking distance from home, who specialise in fry-ups – hence their popularity. So for brunch today I decided to walk for my supper: walked the 1.5 miles to The Gorge and very much enjoyed their Gorge Special (bacon, eggs, toast, and tomatoes or beans), leaving the toast untouched.
After a delicious fry-up, I decided to do a bit of exploring on the way home. I’ve lived in my house for 4 years now and my knowledge of the area is very limited as I haven’t walked off the main roads, so don’t know all the shortcuts, alleys and tracks that, say, your average foot-bound kid would know as a matter of course. Recently I noticed a park on a map of my area which was on the way home and reached by going into a doctor’s surgery carpark and out the back (the joys of England’s Rights of Way laws) and checked it out. After walking up a very steep, grassy hill I turned around to a magnificent hilltop view of central Reading towards the south and east. To my surprise there was a carefully mantained park and pathways running parallel to the road that I’ve spent much timing running along in the past. Definitely a more interesting route.
After that pleasant stroll, it was over Rotherfield Way and up Grove Hill (talk about steep hills!) to see what was up there. Having the choice to turn east through an estate of flats or north-west into the woods, I chose the latter. The area was riddled with tracks and it became apparent very soon that there was a school nearby – the school-age litter seemed to grow the closer I got to the school. I tried to avoid heading towards the school, but I made a wrong turn or two and found myself at the back fence of the school – surrounded by an appalling carpet (and I do mean carpet) of litter on both sides of the fence, so bad it was hard to see ground or grass underneath. Managed to find a way around the perimeter and found myself on the road leading to my street, a couple of hundred yards from home.
With the out-and-back walk plus all the meanderings, switch-backs and exploration, today’s walk was about 4 miles. Not bad in all, but substantially more than recommend in Dr Thompson’s book. Oh well, it was fun – there’s something about investigating and exploring that never gets old.
