I can see your argument in not wanting to require the government to handle it. I think they should at least offer a standard basic burial service and/or a financial amount to cover routine costs.

Something like RR describes makes sense. Here is a check for the cost of the basic essential service.

Someone I know is doing the carnivore diet, and has been for at least 3 weeks. This isn’t a person I know socially, so I can hardly ask him about it in detail, but he has tweeted about it.

He claims he feels more alert, has lost weight, etc. Feels better mentally. I’m happy for him. I am seeing a lot of mention of the carnivore diet recently.

The thought of only eating meat-based products bores me, though. I like meat. I eat it as part of a balanced diet. But I also like fruit and vegetables. Also, one site claimed that you drink water while on the carnivore diet. Water only?! I’d be bored. Water is tasteless. And does a carnivore diet mean no eggs, cheese, milk?

January is what it is, it’s the month when you see a lot of talk about diets, alcohol-free months, the keto diet, etc. I honestly hope it works for people. I’m not a food expert, and I wonder if mankind often complicates things with diets, but I suppose I feel it’s about common sense. Don’t drink a 2-litre bottle of Coca-Cola every day. Don’t eat a steak every day. Have some meat, have some fruit and veg, have some water in addition to other drinks, etc. Exercise, too. I don’t know if it’s that hard or complicated, but I speak with no authority on this.

Anyone seen any diet-related posts, tweets, news, etc?

You've reminded me of a question that I've never found a concise answer to. One of the basic principles of physics is that matter cannot be created or destroyed. So, when you lose weight, where does it go?

My mom tried every fad diet available when I was growing up, and I have looked into and tried various eating plans to different results over the years, and I have worked with a few personal trainers. I would never say I am an expert, but I probably know a bit more than the average person, and I at least know the essentials of nutrition. With that in mind, here is my general understanding and personal experience:

Basically, all of the fad diets will work but most are not sustainable long time, and generally speaking, all are effectively work arounds to achieve a calorie deficit. At the end of the day, the laws of physics will prevail. If you eat fewer calories than you consume during the day you will lose weight. If you eat more, you will gain. This is a gross simplification, but that is generally how it works.

Now you can get deep into the details, and there is far more to health and nutrition than simply gaining and losing weight. There are nutrients to consider, body composition, how what you eat influences cravings and how certain foods reinforce bad habits, etc, but at the end of the day, if you consume fewer calories than you need, you will lose weight.


More broad strokes, but eating more natural foods closer to their raw state generally keeps you fuller and reduces cravings, which will usually reduce overeating. Eating foods higher in protein, fiber and fat will keep you more satisfied than eating carbohydrates, particularly refined and processed carbohydrates.

Other than extreme cases like Keto and Atkins, you will notice that most of the diet systems are pretty similar and are mostly variations of the same things, e.g. lean protein, some healthy fats like fatty fish and olive oil, lots of vegetables, limited dairy, minimal processed carbs, etc.

I think I have seen articles saying that some studies or some such have concluded that the "healthiest" diet for humans is the Mediterranean diet, but again, you'll see a lot of overlap.


Personally, the easiest diet I've done is Whole 30. Basically, eating whole foods and making everything from whole foods. Zero sugar, minimal to zero processed foods. The best thing about it is you don't have to count calories or limit portions. If you eat compliant foods, you can eat until you are satisfied, and by nature of the foods, you feel full sooner and stay full longer, so it sort of automates the need for calorie logging. It's not designed as a weight loss diet. It's an elimination diet to test for food sensitivities, so after the initial period you phase things back in. I find it's a good reset to your system and can eliminate the sugar cycle craving so you can get into a healthy habit. The downside is it's a lot of labor because you have to prepare basically everything.

I am currently doing a combo of mostly whole foods and high fiber/protein while in a calorie deficit. Basically I am not being so limited as to not have any sugar or fun, as that gets boring and I lose interest, but I am mostly eating healthy and filling things, so I don't feel constantly hungry like a lot of diets leave you.

There's a ton of info out there, and I've barely scratched the surface, but there's bound to be something out there for anyone who is interested. In any case, the best diet is the one you will actually stick to.

A lot of people have great results just making common sense edits like Cei-U suggested. A few easy ones I've seen:

• Don't drink your calories. That doesn't mean nothing but water, but avoid colas, juice, energy drinks, etc. They tend to be very calorie dense quickly, often lead to cravings, and apparently liquids don't trigger your body's full sensor as well as food, so it's really easy to be a huge calorie sink.
• Minimize sugar, especially refined sugar
• Limit desserts to once a week or one day a week
• Eat as much food that is as close to its state in nature as possible, e.g. least processing. An orange is healthier than drinking the juice only from the same orange, etc.

Or just track your calories. A lot of the apps these days have built in guides to walk you through setting up goals and stuff if you aren't familiar with all that. I used to use MyFitnessPal but they got crazy with the pricing and put key features behind the premium sub. I switched to LoseIt. They also have certain features locked behind a paywall, but their pricing is far more reasonable.

If you decide to track, buy a food scale. It is SHOCKING how far off a lot of the listed portion amounts are on the labels. There is a lot of leeway in the standards, so the only true way to know how much you are eating is to measure it.

Sorry, this got long! I am happy to take this chat PM or if there is interest to start a fitness thread.


And that is a GREAT start. I don't remember who said it, but a great quote is "abs are made in the kitchen."