Medical fact: your body needs proteins. Proteins contain amino acids, which are metabolized by the ribosomes in your cells. You need these to replace worn cells, to feed cells, just to make your body work. Medical fact: you need fat, to have healthy skin and a properly functioning nervous system. You need both protein and fat more so than carbohydrates; protein also provides a denser medium for "energy," the result being energy that is longer lasting. (Ever hear of "hitting the sugar wall?" Look at Everest climbers. What do they stock up on in their climbs? Granola bars? Heck no; peanut butter and meats and cheeses and anything protein based!)

Carbohydrates are recognized by the body as being nothing more than sugar, whether they are complex carbohydrates or simple ones. They end up being the same thing as far as the body is concerned. Only so much can be utilized; the remainder is stored as body fat for later use. Meanwhile, having so much "sugar" in your diet increases the amount of freely circulating insulin, which prevents the body's natural fat-burning enzyme, glucagon, from burning body fat. Excess insulin is also the insidious culprit responsible for such other maladies as hypertension and arterosclerosis, to name but two.

A basic rule of thumb: if it had a mommy and a daddy, you can eat it. Eat green veggies, watch the fruits. (You want to reduce the sugar intake, after all, to keep the insulin down so glucagon can go back to work.) Of course avoid sweets. Drink plenty of water, diet pop if you need pop. Read labels, keep the carb intake to 20-40 grams a day.

I personally eat no pasta, bread, cereals, anything grain based, and am really light on rice. I eat meats, fish, shellfish, poultry, eggs, cheeses, real butter (margarine will kill ya, you do NOT want to know what's in that stuff, but I could tell you if you want....) nuts, berries. Green salads, green beans, spinach, mushrooms of any sort, cottage cheeses... you'd be surprised what great meals you can make.

The best part is, you're not hungry. Your body uses stored fat, and you help it metabolize more quickly by giving it the protein it needs. (There is a particular amino acid the body needs which can only be found in red meat.) And of course on occasion, go ahead and treat yourself to a piece of pie. But you will feel the difference!

I know this life-style is under raging and scathing attack from vegetarians. All I know is that man was NOT meant to be a cow; he was a hunter-gatherer from his start. Ever since the advent of agriculture did he start getting middle age spread and all the other so-called "aging maladies" which come along after half a lifetime of eating like cattle. (Ever look at a cattle feed bag label? The feed is 60+% carbohydrate by weight, maybe 10% protein. We raise our cattle to FATTEN them, don't we...?)

For the record, I love read meat... but, I have to have my bread and noodles to go with it sometimes...