(No, this is not about General Motors bankruptcy -the hottest news today!)Recently, when the scale starting showing 73 and then 74 kg in a week... I thought it was time to *do something* to bring my numbers back to 70-71 kg. Did some quick search, and having heard of General Motors-diet earlier, took no time to quickly jump into it....
On day-1, I found the internet flooded with millions of references to GM diet promising a 10-17 lb weight loss, on which almost all had given a very positive comment. This was also practiced & recommended to me by my friend's wife who works for FORD. Glad that I was in a 'tested' program. (Only fruits: I started the day with only fruits & water; not a problem to me as I consumed a lot of Japanese green tea -an acceptable equivalent to water).
Day-2: I read that the GM-diet was funded by FDA, researched & field-tested at John Hopkins Research Centre and finally approved by the GM Board of Directors. FDA funding could mean something special as I could understand. Obesity is a problem for the Americans, and there is no wonder that heavy weights like GM and John Hopkins spend time & effort on this, that too with a back up of FDA. (Only vegetables: OK again, as I started with a boiled potato -and explored everything from spinach, bamboo-shoot and lotus-root.... The GM diet referred to 'baked potato', I didn't know what I should do to 'bake' a potato; called Deepika and she -after a thought- advised me to look for the oven below the conventional stove. I managed with boiling the potato and placing it in microwave in 'oven toast' setting).
Day-3: I found that some articles had given the expected results as 7-10 lb weight loss. There has been an Indian version of this diet available at many websites, as the original had beef on day-4 & day-5. Indian version had beans instead. I also read that the GM-diet was "-designed to flush your system of impurities and give you a feeling of well being". (A combo of fruits & vegetables: OK again, as Ito Yokado had a variety of green salads and cut-vegetables.I found GM diet a bit expensive today!)
Day-4: A number of people had written that they could lose only 1-2 kg (2-4.5 lb), and had suggested that the effectiveness of a diet depended on one's metabolism ; what applies to one may not apply to others. Further, any crash diet would result in weight loss, albeit temporarily. (Only bananas & milk. Quite OK, as banana is always filling, and I don't mind surviving on bananas which I would call *our family fruit* - it was the plantain gardens that kept our finances in check, as our KKarisal thaththaa used to say. Banana has a sentimental effect on me!).
Day-5: The GM-diet program recommends users to repeat this diet once or twice a month, if it works for them. Was slightly disturbed by the word "if" . The NDTV site had commented that there was no evidence of this diet resulting in weight loss. (Only beef & tomatoes: One of the articles said hamburger is OK. During lunch time I drove to McDonald and bought a couple of hamburgers).
Day-6: First time I saw a comment that called GM-diet a hoax. There were many voices that doubted if it was indeed a GM-sponsored program, but overall they all favored the program, as it was harmless. Another one had suspected if this diet "came" from India as it used the words "cleaning" and "purifying" etc which were Yoga language. (Only beef & vegetables: Let me stick to it for just one more day; what do I lose, anyway?)
Day-7: I happened to look at a blog which had raised some basic questions -I wondered why they did not strike to me till now!
* Why would FDA 'fund' a clinical trial, that too for a nutrition program? Would it not show in FDA website, had it been true?
* There is no such institute called John Hopkins Research Centre -there are many "centers". The spelling "centre" may suggest it was written by a British or an Indian himself!
* GM Board of Directors has many a job to do; approving a diet is definitely not one of them! Approval of diet is not done in a Board Meeting level, however small or big or health conscious a company may be!
On day-1, I found the internet flooded with millions of references to GM diet promising a 10-17 lb weight loss, on which almost all had given a very positive comment. This was also practiced & recommended to me by my friend's wife who works for FORD. Glad that I was in a 'tested' program. (Only fruits: I started the day with only fruits & water; not a problem to me as I consumed a lot of Japanese green tea -an acceptable equivalent to water).
Day-2: I read that the GM-diet was funded by FDA, researched & field-tested at John Hopkins Research Centre and finally approved by the GM Board of Directors. FDA funding could mean something special as I could understand. Obesity is a problem for the Americans, and there is no wonder that heavy weights like GM and John Hopkins spend time & effort on this, that too with a back up of FDA. (Only vegetables: OK again, as I started with a boiled potato -and explored everything from spinach, bamboo-shoot and lotus-root.... The GM diet referred to 'baked potato', I didn't know what I should do to 'bake' a potato; called Deepika and she -after a thought- advised me to look for the oven below the conventional stove. I managed with boiling the potato and placing it in microwave in 'oven toast' setting).
Day-3: I found that some articles had given the expected results as 7-10 lb weight loss. There has been an Indian version of this diet available at many websites, as the original had beef on day-4 & day-5. Indian version had beans instead. I also read that the GM-diet was "-designed to flush your system of impurities and give you a feeling of well being". (A combo of fruits & vegetables: OK again, as Ito Yokado had a variety of green salads and cut-vegetables.I found GM diet a bit expensive today!)
Day-4: A number of people had written that they could lose only 1-2 kg (2-4.5 lb), and had suggested that the effectiveness of a diet depended on one's metabolism ; what applies to one may not apply to others. Further, any crash diet would result in weight loss, albeit temporarily. (Only bananas & milk. Quite OK, as banana is always filling, and I don't mind surviving on bananas which I would call *our family fruit* - it was the plantain gardens that kept our finances in check, as our KKarisal thaththaa used to say. Banana has a sentimental effect on me!).
Day-5: The GM-diet program recommends users to repeat this diet once or twice a month, if it works for them. Was slightly disturbed by the word "if" . The NDTV site had commented that there was no evidence of this diet resulting in weight loss. (Only beef & tomatoes: One of the articles said hamburger is OK. During lunch time I drove to McDonald and bought a couple of hamburgers).
Day-6: First time I saw a comment that called GM-diet a hoax. There were many voices that doubted if it was indeed a GM-sponsored program, but overall they all favored the program, as it was harmless. Another one had suspected if this diet "came" from India as it used the words "cleaning" and "purifying" etc which were Yoga language. (Only beef & vegetables: Let me stick to it for just one more day; what do I lose, anyway?)
Day-7: I happened to look at a blog which had raised some basic questions -I wondered why they did not strike to me till now!
* Why would FDA 'fund' a clinical trial, that too for a nutrition program? Would it not show in FDA website, had it been true?
* There is no such institute called John Hopkins Research Centre -there are many "centers". The spelling "centre" may suggest it was written by a British or an Indian himself!
* GM Board of Directors has many a job to do; approving a diet is definitely not one of them! Approval of diet is not done in a Board Meeting level, however small or big or health conscious a company may be!
(Being the last day, I completed the diet as it said on paper, with brown rice, vegetables and fruit juices -knowing well that I was not going to see any loss of weight! Wasn't hard to locate "brown rice" in Japan -though I never spotted it before. It tasted the same as white rice).
On the 8th day, it became irrelevant to me if I had lost at least 1 or 2 kgs. I didn’t even care to measure my weight. What caught my attention was that we tend to believe in anything that comes in a 'nice' package, especially if it comes to you when you look for one! (What is 'nice' differs person to person) I felt for once like a layman who believes in ‘fortune teller’ (குடுகுடுப்பைக்காரன்) just because he also adds the phrase ”நல்ல காலம் பொறக்குது.. நல்ல காலம் பொறக்குது...” in each sentence!
On the 8th day, it became irrelevant to me if I had lost at least 1 or 2 kgs. I didn’t even care to measure my weight. What caught my attention was that we tend to believe in anything that comes in a 'nice' package, especially if it comes to you when you look for one! (What is 'nice' differs person to person) I felt for once like a layman who believes in ‘fortune teller’ (குடுகுடுப்பைக்காரன்) just because he also adds the phrase ”நல்ல காலம் பொறக்குது.. நல்ல காலம் பொறக்குது...” in each sentence!
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