Smoke more.... eat less

Years ago, I remember my grandmother telling me that in the country, parents used to encourage kids to smoke and drink coffee so they wouldn't eat so much. Of course, cigarettes were 10 cents a pack in those days.

But it took a million dollar study to tell us what some country bumpkin already knew.......

Scientists publishing new research through the National Bureau of Economic Research have concluded that quitting smoking is the biggest quantifiable cause of obesity.

In a working paper released Monday morning, Charles Baum of Middle Tennessee State University and Shin Yi-Chou of Lehigh University in Pennsylvania found that a decrease in the average number of cigarettes smoked per person in America likely causes an increase in obesity.

Referring to the Body-Mass Index, a crude but common obesity measurement, the researchers write: “We find that cigarette smoking has the largest effect: The decline in cigarette smoking explains about 2 percent of the increase in the weight measures. The other significant factors explain less.”

During the past three months, Gordon has been on a health kick and lost 35 lbs. Here's what I can tell you about my weight loss.

1) Eat the food pyramid and become a fat ass. Seriously, I consider flour to be poison. I eat as much as I want for any given meal; as long as it's meat, dairy, vegetables and fruit. What I have found and what I've researched is that bread screws with your body's ability to regulate it's insulin levels. As I've eliminated bread from my diet, I've found that I feel much fuller after a meal with a lot less food.

2) Despite Michelle Obama's war on food, I've found that nothing beats good old exercise. I was a 155 lb track and cross country runner in college. During cross country season, I would run 8-10 miles a day. But that didn't count the number of miles I walked around campus and to my job which was at least three miles from my apartment. That's a lot of burn when compared to sitting at my computer blogging.

I've kept a log of my running and when I started, I walked/ran 3.5 miles in 45 minutes. Last night, I covered 4.5 miles in 40 minutes.

And it all started by just walking on the treadmill for three minutes and running one. Each day, I increased that run interval by fifteen seconds. You'd be surprised at the improvement if you just give yourself the time.

3) I rarely drink beer, if we are out, I might have a glass of red wine. For the most part, I keep my beer consumption limited to ball games and concerts.

For me, I can't drink one beer. If I have a beer I have to chase it down with some nachos, cheese coney's or pizza. It's a never ending cycle for me.

So you can follow that prescription for weight loss or smoke.

You decide.

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