Talk of the Town: Diet myths debunked!

Four diet myths busted! These tips from our friends at realsimple.com:

Myth No. 1: Don’t eat after 8 p.m.

The Theory: You burn up the food you eat earlier in the day, while late-night calories sit in your system and turn into fat.

The Reality: Calories can’t tell time. “Your body digests and uses calories the same way morning, noon, and night,” says Mary Flynn, Ph.D., a research dietitian at the Miriam Hospital, in Providence, R.I. They may sit around a little longer if you eat, then lie on the couch and watch Letterman, but when you move around the next day, your body will dip into its stores. That said, there are other solid reasons to avoid late-night snacking, not least of which is that snacks you grab when you’re tired tend to be unhealthy ones.

Myth No. 2: Pasta makes you fat.

The Theory: When you eat carbohydrates, your body turns them into sugars, which are then stored as fat.

The Reality: Carbohydrates per se don’t make you fat; extra calories do, whether you eat them in the form of carbs, fats, or protein. Besides, carbohydrates include vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, which are important parts of a healthy diet. In short, the problem isn’t pasta, but the sheer volume consumed. A dinner entree of capellini pomodoro from the Olive Garden packs a whopping 644 calories and 14 grams of fat. And that doesn’t include the Parmesan cheese and bread sticks.

“Americans tend to eat too much carbohydrates, fat, and protein. But they overeat carbs most of all,” says Barbara Moore, Ph.D., a nutritionist in Clyde Park, Mont., and a spokesperson for the American Society for Nutrition. “You go to a restaurant and you’re served three cups of pasta with lots of sauce.” Those three cups of pasta can pack up to 600 calories without the sauce.

Myth No. 3: Going on a diet is the best way to lose weight.

The Theory: Switching to a prescriptive plan temporarily is the smartest way to drop pounds.

The Reality: Short-term, you do lose weight on any plan that results in your eating fewer calories. But temporary changes don’t lead to permanent losses.

“A diet won’t work if you think of it as doing a different thing for a while and then you’re going to stop doing it,” says Christopher Gardner, an assistant professor of nutritional science at Stanford University School of Medicine. “If you have a new way of eating and think, I’m going to eat like this forever, that’s the way to lose weight.” And keep it off.

Myth No. 4: To lose weight, you need to cut calories drastically.

The Theory: Eat much less; weigh much less.

The Reality: Sure, if you subsist on 1,200 calories a day, you’ll take off weight, but it won’t be for long. Consider an analysis of 31 studies of long-term diets, where the diets averaged 1,200 calories a day. The report, published last April in American Psychologist, found that within four to five years, the majority of dieters in these studies regained the weight they had lost.

The Best Advice: Don’t starve yourself. “If you want to lose weight and keep it off forever, you need a modest calorie restriction that you simply continue and never stop,” says nutritionist Christopher Gardner.

The Sahuarita High School class of 1998 held its 10-year-reunion on July 12. Heidi (Olsen) Wright and Lindsay (Riba) Horton organized the event at the El Charro Caf/ located in Tucson.

It was a night of dinner, drinks, and a lot of catching up with old friends. There were 47 in attendance, the farthest traveled was Bea Alvarez who came from Las Vegas, NV.

The title of “Best Preserved” was a toss up between Abe Enochs and Shawn Hardaway. Abe got the most votes and walked away the winner.

A few other awards were given to classmates as well, such as “Least Recognizable” went to Mario Felix. “Most Children” went to Sloan Tamietti, “Most Recent Child Born” went to Angel (Flores) Lock who had a baby boy in March of this year.

Rory VanNoy, Alex Woody, and Greg Coppo, received awards for “Serving our Country”. And the award for “Marrying your High School Sweetheart” went to Tammy (Van Sickle) Woody and Alex Woody who both are from the class of 1998!

Another highlight of the night was classmate and magician Rodney Housley who shared many of his magic tricks with everyone, many of the classmates are still trying to figure out how that card got in his pants? Everyone had a great time and the organizers are looking forward to the 20th reunion in 2018!!

La Posada resident and World War II veteran Bernie Sullivan was honored earlier this month when he was visited by Capt. Daniel Horgan, 56th Fighter Wing chaplain, and Col. Hank Reed, 56th FW vice commander, and other personnel from Luke Air Force Base. Bernie, a native of Chicago, was a member of the Army-Air Corps, the precursor of today’s Air Force. What’s more, he was a 1942 graduate of the Luke pilot training class. The visit was an opportunity for Bernie to share memories of his experiences at Luke and during the war with people from succeeding generations.

Bernie’s daughter, Margaret Fried, Pima Community College, Tucson nursing instructor and academic adviser, was also there.

Luke Air Force Base was a year old when Bernie trained there. He recalled he flew three different aircraft during the war, the Martin B-26 Marauder, the P-38 and the AT-6 Texan.

Bernie says his favorite plane to fly was the Martin B-26, which at the time was known as the ‘widow maker.’

Many things were different in the early 1940s, including getting special permission to marry. Bernie obtained the required paperwork and married Margaret Long at Luke Chapel in December 1942. They raised four children—Bernard Sullivan, Jr., Ellen (Lindt), Joanne (Horton) and Margaret (Fried).

Bernie, whose call sign was Sully, was presented with a coin and piece of Arizona sandstone carved with the word ‘peace’ in Hebrew, from his Luke Air Force Base visitors.

rford@gvnews.com