Diets & Cults: is there a difference?

I'm a bum.

I was going to post a long, incredibly well-written and irrefutably researched review of Barry Sears' book, Toxic Fat. But I'm going to put that off until next week so I can put this up today.

(Okay, also because I still want to tweak it a bit more. It's not quite right yet.)

I absolutely loved one thing I read in Sears's book. To quote:

"Three things in life are visceral because they are based on belief systems: Religion, politics, and nutrition."

Yep.

Emotions are closely tied in with food

You know how some people get a 'gut feeling'? The gut has such a high concentration of nerve cells that it has been called a second brain. The highest concentration is of course the brain.

No, I don't care what you've heard about some men, it really is in the head brain.

If there's a second brain in the gut, would that explain why people get so emotional about the favorite diet?

Whatever you do, don't disparage the diet

It looks like people develop an emotional attachment to a certain diet, or the philosophy behind it. As an example, take this review that Diet Blog did about Dr. Joel Fuhrman's diet book, Toxic Hunger. It's a pretty straightforward review, but what caught my attention were the comments. People got emotional over whether this diet was, or was not, a good idea.

Putting down a diet plan is a sure fire way to get a ton of comments on your blog. (Ah... the real reason for this post comes out.) The blog Starling Fitness averages a couple of comments on a post; when she wrote a mildly disapproving post about Weight Watchers and the points system, she got 95 comments. People are really into their particular diet.

If this blog were being written by Ms. Crabby, at this point there would be an insightful paragraph or two about why people defend their diet plans like a lioness defending her last cub. Since she ain't here, just imagine that something insightful was said at this point.

Deep, thoughtful moment

Okay, enough already.

Being me, I have to confess that I don't get why this is such an emotional issue. Being healthy is a good thing. Yeah, I got that part. But we're all different, right? So if diet A works for me, and diet B works for Crabby, why should the two of us have a huge argument about which is better?

I think diets are like cults in that people can get really obsessive about them both.

Weight watchers is evil!

It's tempting to disparage a whole lot of diet plans so that the post would get lots and lots of comments. (Weight Watchers is evil! The Zone Diet is followed by Terrorists! Hitler was a vegetarian!) But in all honesty, I don't get it. Why can't we all get along? Or agree to disagree, or something civilized like that?

Knee-Deep in Rationalizations

Crabby has written before about her attempts to get her aerobic exercise by means of Race-Walking. And for those who don't mind Clicking on Things, she has just written more about this topic over at Diet Blog. (The article was posted yesterday, but don't worry, it is still Piping Hot and Almost Fresh!).

However, shortly after she e-mailed off that very article to Diet Blog (encouraging everyone to look like an ass like Crabby does and give Race-Walking a try), Crabby went out on her own morning Race-walk and did a very silly thing. She broke into a run! And she kept running the whole way. Bad, bad Crab. She just said the hell with her screwed up knees and hoped that somehow they were magically different knees now.

It was warm but raining lightly--way better weather for running than walking, and the songs on her iPod were really running songs, not walking songs, and she had that little burst of energy that comes from perfectly-timed caffeine ingestion, and there was a soft dirt trail to entice her off the hard asphalt one and everyone else was running too and... she just couldn't help herself.

Oddly enough, her knees hurt afterwards. Is this perhaps the reason she has given up running over and over and over again? She knows from experience that if she keeps running, her knees will continue to hurt more and more until regular walking is painful too.

But maybe this time it will be different?

Crabby first began to have knee problems when she started running at 17. She is now 47. Yeah, sure, maybe this time it will be different.

But, damn it, she likes to run so much better than she likes to walk!

Over at Diet Blog, she limited herself to one complaint about Race-Walking, which is that it looks absurd. But she has others; mainly that it doesn't feel nearly as good as running does. When Crabby is power-walking she always wishes she were running.

Yet there have been times in her life when running has been only minimally injurious. She could actually do it for months or even years at a time before having to give it up again. Crabby keeps hoping to hit that magical sweet spot again.

Here are some things she has tried over the years, some of which worked for awhile:

1. Running in only really expensive running shoes.
2. Running only on soft surfaces.
3. Running only uphill.
4. Running with orthotics.
5. Running with a different pair of orthotics.
6. Running while wearing huge hideous neoprene sleeves with funny looking kneecap holes cut out of them.
7. Running only once or twice a week and alternating with:
   

• a gym stair-climber;
• an old-fashioned regular aerobics class;
• bicycle riding;
• a step-aerobics class;
• a squeaky home stair-stepper;
• a low-impact aerobics class;
• a rowing machine;
• a gym elliptical machine;
• uphill walking; and
• race-walking.
  

To be fair, Crabby has not fully explored medical options, other than orthotics. She has never had an MRI, for example. (She had trouble enough getting health insurance without actually having the audacity to use it for something.) And her knees actually function pretty well--as long as she doesn't try to run on them.

Which would be really dumb, since there are other perfectly good aerobic alternatives. Like, for example, Race-Walking.

Crabby should not be so foolish; she promises herself that she won't go running ever again. Probably. Possibly. At least not unless it rains again and the music is really, really good.

How about you all? Any aches or injuries keep you from exercising the way you'd like?

Cranky Fitness, On the Move!

In one sense, Cranky Fitness is "on the move" because Crabby has a guest post over at Diet Blog today. Sorry for the extra click! Crabby hopes you dial-up people will forgive her these inconvenient blog relocations.

The post over there is about Eco-Running. Crabby hadn't heard of it, but she found out about it over at Crunchy 'Nana's! (For those of you who frequent the Comments section, that's the very fine blog hosted by "Norabarnacle."

But Cranky Fitness is also "on the move" in the sense that its author, Crabby McSlacker, is physically relocating for a few months. The blog itself will stay put, but Crabby, who has been mostly a West Coast Crab, will be joining the long-suffering Lobster in Washington D.C.!

The Lobster is actually more of a Go-Getter than the Crab, and has Gone and Gotten herself a consulting gig involving Managerial and Technological Things that Crabby's tiny crab brain can't entirely comprehend. But the bottom line is: an exciting adventure for the Crab! New neighborhoods, new stores, new restaurants, new exercise routines, new time zones, new weather--all kinds of Bright Shiny Newness!

However, as a McSlacker, Crabby is easily overwhelmed by anything resembling a "task" or a "chore." Transitions of any sort tend to involve them. So there may be a few interruptions in service. She apologizes. She is hoping to bring in occasional Guest Posts, so that even when Crabby is McSlacking, or Taking Care of Things, the lights will still be on most days at Cranky Fitness.

By the way, she hears it is hot and humid in D.C. during the summer. Crabs do not cope well with hot and humid! Perhaps it is an instinctive fear of being thrown into boiling pots of water. Any advice from those who are used to it will be helpful.

She is also curious about whether her readers like to Move Around every now and then or whether they prefer to Stay Put?

Anyway, Crabby leaves Wednesday morning. There will be a post tomorrow (it was the one she accidentally deleted a few days ago), but there may be some Slackitude mid-week until Crabby gets settled. Please keep checking in, frequently, obsessively even--because you know she will soon be back! She misses you all too much when she is gone. And if posting is a bit more "relaxed" over the late summer and early fall, and rest assured Crabby is feeling very badly about it.

Any comments about Eco-Running, Adventures, Chores, Transitions, or Any Damn Thing at All are of course always appreciated.

Detour!

Apologies to those on dial-up, or to people who hate to click on links just on principle.

So sorry! But today's post is actually located here, at Diet Blog. Crabby has some whining to do about health research not always saying what she wants it to, and has some suggestions on how to ignore studies that come to the wrong conclusions.

If Crabby weren't so lazy, there would be a fresh post here as well. But, well, she is, so there isn't. (Unless you count this silliness, but you are Smart Readers and know a real post when you see one).

Crabby hopes you will take the plunge and visit her at Diet Blog today. If you do, you can comment here, or there, or both places, or neither! ("Research" is not perhaps the most exciting topic for comment; sorry). However, comments over there are especially appreciated in that Crabby fears looking silly and unpopular in front of a wider audience.

Also, you may notice that some "person" with initials and a last name is purporting to have something to do with Crabby's blog, Cranky Fitness. Pay no attention to that nonsense. Crustaceans are not generally taken seriously in the health field without human representatives--but you know between Crabby and this "person" who really calls the shots.