Given the choice, I prefer the health benefits of menthol.

"Diet" foods should be banned. If you eat right and eat less you don't need "diet" foods.

This isn't necessarily true. My periods of greatest health have involved eating very small meals very regularly. My stomach shrinks pretty quickly, and pretty soon a half of a restaurant sandwich feels like the equivalent of three filled buffet plates during non-healthy periods. The trick there is to keep up that regularity, or you'll end up feeling really hungry and tripping up by eating more than you can comfortably digest, thus stretching back out the stomach. Bleah.

Sure, HFCS isn't particularly good for you, nor are partially hydrogenated oils or "diet" foods with little beneficial substance. Eating less and moving more, focusing on fresh produce and less-processed foods... all these things are great. The real problem a lot of people have, though, is that their eating is based on behavioral development. Somewhere along the line, people have learned: food makes me feel better. Food makes me forget. Food makes me calmer. Food makes me remember good things. Food makes me feel less lonely. Those are problems that are much less easy to solve than simply buying the right kinds of foods.

And on top of that, when behavioral addictions are involved, unlike alcoholics, over-eaters don't have the liberty of quitting cold turkey. (Well, they can quit eating cold turkey. But they can't quit eating.)

What I'm saying is: it's a multifaceted, deep-level problem and it's not going to be fixed unless people make the behavioral changes for themselves.

On another note - there's nothing wrong with putting vinegar AND oil on one's salad, if you're not overdoing it. Olive oil is very good for you - and it's not medically advised to cut out fats completely.

I didn't mention above, but I thought it prudent to add:

My eat habits are 100% behavioral, and I'm personally fighting it using - well, I'm not even that happy to admit it, but whatever. The author of another book I've liked in the past (The Artist's Way) has written a diet book. And while - much like her first book - this book is in part annoying and preachy, it does suggest something that helps me, personally. If I'm going to eat, I have to write. I have to write about what I'm choosing, what I've eaten, and why. If I'm eating badly, I am forced to look at it, and more importantly, I'm forced to look at the underlying reasons.

I love olive oil, but instead of bathing in it via salad and stir fry, I drizzle it sparingly on steamed or raw vegetables with the calmness of a shaman and the meticulousness of tea ceremony.

My husband has a bunch of Torani syrups so I went and looked, all of them are made with pure cane sugar.


I know I was surprised at how many foods HFCS is in. It's hard to buy a loaf of bread without it anymore!

I'm fat. I'm fat because I eat more calories than I expend.

I eat more calories than I expend because, ultimately, I don't really mind being fat (though how much I mind varies over time) and enjoy eating the calories.

I drink diet sodas because they provide the same benefit as regular sodas but I can't really tell the difference (personally, Splenda tastes fine to me, has no side effects, and I'm fine with it). If regular soda tasted better to me, I'd drink them.

I think Cherny's point, "If you are FULL, you're overeating," is a good one. There are exceptions, of course, but my understanding is that you are supposed to stop eating before you feel full, not once you feel full. That involves a greater awareness than I have of my own body, and I frequenly overstuff myself as a dog would. Heh. It's also something that I heard a doctor explain to my mother a long time ago, after she had half of her stomach removed After the Ulcers Attacked!

Smaller portion sizes eaten as smaller meals throughougt the day help to regulate our matabolism, I think, and one may even develop a better understanding of how much food she can consume in one sitting. I just can't seem to find the time to prepare 5 snack packs for the day. Maybe with my new cookware/equipment, that will become less of a problem. I've also read that certain food combos assist metabolism, while other foods, mixed together, slow it down. But I may have read that in a book written by Suzanne Summers.

On the whole, eat well and exercise, moderating indulgences as you see fit based on the body type you want to mantain or have. I'll eat healthier and exercise more, but I'll never cut out carbs (mmm, breads!) or sugar (mmm, booze!) in pursuit of a smaller, less flabby waist line. My beer marsupial pouch stays with me.

Well, sure. This is why I said "if you're not overdoing it." A teaspoon of olive oil is not bad for you.

Hey, don't knock it. My mom lost (and has kept off) on the order of 100lbs on the Suzanne Summers plan after 3 decades of failed attempts.