The Passing of a Fad
Posted By Kathleen David on August 2, 2005
The Atkins Nutritionals Inc has filed for bankruptcy protection. The low carbohydrate craze is at an end. Now people have moved on to a number of other diets which do allow for the consumption of bread and pasta. I know a number of people who did benefit from Atkins for a while. In the case of one, they have managed to keep the weight off for over a year. In the others, the weight has come back over time. I maintained an Atkins diet back in 1997 while I was with a group that was all doing it. I did lose weight at the time but it didn’t stay off. I am not dunning anyone for whom the diet did or does work, I just feel that it was a fad diet that was going to go the way of the no fat diet, the grapefruit diet, and soon the South Beach Diet. I am a firm believer in the eat less and exercise camp although sometimes I fall down on that path. I just pick myself up and start again.
Rafael Palmeiro has found himself in quite a bit of hot water with a positive test for steroids. He could find himself in bigger trouble than a 10 game ban if Congress decides that it doesn’t like being lied to. Steroids are a short cut with consequences which are far reaching. Like some diets it is a quick fix to a long-term problem. There are medical and legitimate needs for steroids but either we let all athletes compete using them or none. Currently we are opting for none.
There is a discussion (rather heated one) in bodybuilding where supposedly with the new rules the judges are to penalize contestants that show signs of steroid use like the bloated belly in favor of a more natural look of the v-taper of healthy abs. There was recently a contest in New York for pro bodybuilders and those going for their pro card. If you looked at the final pictures of the winners they went for those with freaky size rather than the more symmetrical natural looking bodybuilders. There was a documentary on the Discover Channel I believe about female bodybuilding and how the rules had changed so that the women were trying to figure out how to conform to the rules and still win. Those who were closest to what they SAID they were looking for placed lower than some women who were looking like what was previously asked of the women which was freaky size and definition. I am sure there are some people who have the natural physic and body type for this sort of thing but I read a lot of articles on how steroids are detected and how to mask them too. Which is probably why bodybuilding doesn’t have much chance as an Olympic Sport.
I am grateful for different kinds of paper.
I totally agree with what you said in this blog… sound diet and exercise is what is required – not following a FAD hyped by excessive marketing. Education is the key to permanent weight loss (or gain, depending on your goals) but just following because you are “told” by the media/stranger/friend they lost a bit of weight without any understanding as to the underlying reasons is useless and helps nobody – you even mentioned your friends are starting to gain the weight back. The body is ever adapting, you stop giving it one thing, it will modify its behavior and chemical reactions to “live with it and strive”.
Regarding your steroid article, extreme bodybuilding will NEVER become an olympic sport no matter what Weider says (I think it’s more of a marketing ploy to get emphasis off steroids abuse). I have a lot of respect for bodybuilders – I suggest people support the “natural bodybuilding” movement, although their testing mandates are mostly a joke due to cost, they are more focused on what can actually be attainable naturally, but the steroid users still stand out quite a bit and seem still be winning these shows sadly. Yellow skin, traps up to your ears etc are pretty big give aways. The other issue is the audience, they want to see BIG at the moment, so that is what the marketing/promoters and athletes themselves strive to become in order to win shows. Probably the best thing that can happen is Olympic drug testing happen in ALL these shows, and if you are ever caught positive, your simply banned for life… I suspect the average heavyweight bodybuilders would drop about 70-100 lbs right away of their contest weight and you would cease to see so many “home runs” in many major sports, including hockey, baseball, football etc.
my two cents – but really good blog entry 😉
Jon Cantin
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