Opus 2017-124: Healthy Insights: Metabolism, part 1 of 5, Guru or Not?

I was talking with one of “my” doctors and he was giving me advice on weight loss and diabetes.  The only problem is, he is a podiatrist, not an internist.  I have a lot of respect for him and understand that he still knows more than I do.  So I listen.  He recommended a couple of books to me.  The first he identified as “Fast Metabolism”.  At the library there were several with that phrase in the title by the same author.  I began to get the impression this was an ongoing series and I was supposed to buy them all.  Only one was on the shelf, so I check it out.

Pomroy, Haylie.  The Fast Metabolism Diet.  New York:  Harmony, 2013.

The doctor said that the key to weight loss and health was speeding up our metabolism.  That makes sense to me because that thought had already occurred to me.  I examined the book with an open mind.  Keep in mind that in my world view an open mind is always skeptical and engages its gestalt.  Thinking is not taking one piece of See’s candy and assuming that anything brown and bumpy is dark chocolate peanut clusters.  Thinking is wondering how adding cummin to a recipe will change the interaction of the flavors. 

So I read and keep my mind engaged.

I have read enough diet books to recognize a diet guru when I meet one.  This book quickly made it clear that I was walking with a diet guru.  The first clues were the cover.  It promised me I could “lose up to 20 pounds in 28 days”.  I would be impressed but I am not looking for a quick fix of water loss and an empty digestive tract.  I do not believe you can safely lose 20 pounds in 28 days, not and keep it off. 

The second clue on the cover was the statement that I could “eat more food & lose more weight”.  It reminds me of people who walk carefully down the sidewalk avoiding the cracks because they don’t want to break their mother’s back.  I also stopped believing in the tooth fairy at a very young age.

Strike three was in the back where I was invited to visit the authors web page where I could go shopping with her.  $$$.

At this point I have put the book down several times but I keep thinking there will be something of value.  I am not going to buy into her diet plan but she might have some insights of value.

To be continued...

homo unius libri