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Mmm, the wholesome natural goodness of corn. “You call it corn. We call it maize.”

For people of European descent, like me, the history of corn only goes back a few centuries, when Columbus brought the first corn plant to Spain. It became a food crop in Europe in the 1500s, and spread to Africa and Asia as well. But in evolutionary time, 400-500 years is not very long. I  venture to say that except for Native Americans, who cultivated corn for millennia, corn is a novelty to our bodies. Like kudzu in Georgia, it’s a foreign species. We haven’t evolved with it, so we don’t digest it well. [This is my own theory--I'm researching it. This article is close but doesn't quite support my "foreign substance" hypothesis.]

Oh, I love corn. I ate a bunch of corn tortillas as I wrote this post, just because I was thinking about corn.

<Homer Simpson voice>Mmmm.  Corn.  <Gluttonous drool>

Corn is a trigger food for me. If I leave it alone, I don’t think about it. But once I have it, I crave it continuously. Like kudzu in Georgia, it dominates in a foreign environment.

The only remedy is to consciously, and uncomfortably, force myself to stop, until the call of corn fades away. Not just corn on the cob and popcorn, but cornbread and those terribly tempting bottomless baskets of corn tortilla chips at Mexican restaurants–even when they taste like cardboard!–call my name.

<Homer Simpson voice>D’oh! Don’t take away my corn!

I often hear friends say that when they diet, they refuse to allow themselves to feel deprived, so they “never say never” to any food. I get this. The world would be a dismal place if I told myself I could never, ever again eat chocolate, doughnuts, little chocolate doughnuts, or even corn.

Even so, the world, for me, is a better place, when I “buck up” against the fear and frustration of feeling deprived. It is my duty to myself to Just Say No to corn.

My friend JK writes:

Help, I’m 48 and starting to get a pot-belly!

Can you tell me more about your eating/exercise plan?  Is it Atkins?  Nicki/Roll Ur Own?  Can the food plan help me if I’m not keen on the gym?  I’m willing to walk, and I love to bicycle.

Please tell me more, or send me some web links when you have a chance.

PS.  I think one of my food sins has been ice cream.  I’ve got to cut back on the Haagen-Dazs.  I say “cut back” because the word eliminate is too painful.

Here was my response.

My short answer is: Atkins (if you have a lot to lose—and I don’t think you do), then Weight Watchers.

My long answer is (and this is my own theories based on experience—I’m not a doctor, as you know!):

My body likes food, because it needs food to live. When my body was evolving, food was scarce. So, the body I have now was designed to thrive in a world where food is scarce. In such a world, foods high in sugar and fat were rare, but they were healthy because they gave me lots of energy to survive through the harsh winter. Therefore, my body really wants them.

Food triggers memory. My body is designed to remember foods that are good for me. So when food was scarce, and I ate fresh strawberries one day, my brain made a memory. The next day, my brain said, “Hey, are there any more of those strawberries? Mmm, they were yummy!” and I went out for more strawberries (while they were in season). And when there was meat, my body remembered that too, and so I craved meat until there was no more to be had.

Today, food is plentiful. Foods high in sugar and fat are everywhere. And my body still wants them, even though it doesn’t need them. And when I eat something yummy and caloric–such as bread (a newfangled invention, in the annals of human history), ice cream (fat! sugar!) or candy (whoa, mama!)—my brain says, “Stop everything, I gotta have more of that!” Why? Because my old brain still thinks that I need all those calories to get through the harsh winter.

So, I lost weight by forgetting what the yummiest (most fattening) foods tasted like. Then I stopped craving them. Then it was easy.

If I ate them *one time,* my brain remembered and said, “Mmm, more please, more please, MORE PLEASE, MORE PLEASE.” and would not shut up. And then I would have to go through the pain of forgetting about them all over again.

For different reasons, the Atkins Diet instructs people to eliminate high-carb foods from their diet completely. They say that the diet works because it invokes a state called ketosis (Google that for more info), and that once you achieve ketosis you can blow it by cheating even once. But I think Atkins works because our food memory fades. And it fades faster than we think—in about 3 to 5 days…even for the foods we think we can’t live without.

So, my advice is: give up ice cream for a week, even if you think it is impossible. Let your brain forget what ice cream tastes like, and dissociate that taste from the calorie rush your body gets when you eat it. Then see what you think.

I can’t say that I have completely eliminated all the bad stuff myself—I had some sweets on the 4^th of July and I am still in a bit of chocolate chip cookie withdrawal. (OK, so maybe with chocolate, it takes more than 3-5 days). But working this theory has helped me a lot.

Let me know if this helps!
-n.

Oprah, we adore thee.

I was so inspired to hear Oprah on a TV commercial for her show, angrily exclaiming, “I cannot believe I am still talking about weight!” She got back up to 200 pounds when this news item hit, and now she has enlisted her infinite personal resources to get back on track. Go Oprah!

She dedicated today’s show to the topic. I missed the telecast but here’s the link to the web resources. (I’m anxious to post this even before I have a chance to watch it): http://www.oprah.com/dated/oprahshow/oprahshow_20081030_bobgreene.

So now we know how Oprah will return to her best weight. I’ll be looking for why this happened to her, or to anyone. I have my theories.