My good man Ben and I have started the CSIRO diet which is laid out in a book. For the xenophobe enablers CSIRO is the leading research institute in Australia. The background is we’re overweight. Yes Eff Ay Tee. I was a skinny kid then I got fat when I married. I have no idea if that’s why. I have changed my eating habits once (along with exercise) which was very successful for around 1-2 years but then life interrupted with the coming out, depression and I lacked the means to do all sorts of things I’d prefer to do. So here I am and here we are.
It’s been 5 days now so I can give a very reasonable first impression of it.
It is quite clear this book has been based on research on women relating to high protein modest carbohydrate diets and was funded by Meat and Livestock Australia. This is not a good sign and is a good example of how commercial interest influences and biases research outcomes today. The other issue is the heavy female basis and exclusion of men, though this makes sense in the context that women diet more than men do and are certainly more likely to buy a book on it. Men really are ignored in the health industry and the feeling’s mostly mutual.
The actual diet in terms of nutrients seems quite reasonable from everything I’ve learnt over the years. It is of course higher protein and modest carbohydrate (ie not Atkins but less than average Australian eating). It has a decent amount of all minerals, vitamins and fibre, It stresses high chain carbohydrates. It stresses consuming some good fats over fat elimination.
There are two ways to approach this. One is to follow their recipes laid out for up to 12 weeks, the other is to follow the general daily guide. The daily guide is good and based on portions of meat, vegies etc so it’s less anal than counting calories but you are still counting which is necessary for discipline purposes.
We followed the other way, namely the recipes. Ben liked the no thinking easy structure and I think it’s a good way to adapt back to better eating habits. Because I know it’s not about dieting but about permanent change of eating habits (and exercise). Here we hit the first real snag of this diet, at least in terms of the recipes and weekly structure which make up most of the book.
The cost is freaking enormous. The list of expensive ingredients is sky high. Naturally meat isn’t cheap but fresh fish? This is like 30+ bucks a kilo. Then there’s the extras like sherry, herbs, feta etc. I’m sure you get the gist. Sadly fresh vegies are also expensive which is a shame and one of the reasons why so many Aussies eat shitty food. It’s simply cheaper. There is no way a poor or working class family or possibly even single is going to follow this diet. No sirree this isn’t just for women, but Chardonnay women and the information for wine is in the book to back that idea up.
However, it delivers two things I admire the book for as much as despise it. The meals are tasty oh yes they are. By any reasonable and fair measure they are fresh, interesting and loaded with flavour. They are also moderately filling, so far I can honestly say I haven’t been hungry. These two are a huge plus for a diet in action.
There is one odd thing and I really don’t know where to place the cause. I am really rather tired and had odd bone/muscle soreness which seems to have settled down a bit. I suspect the tired might be from my drop in caffeine but it could be something else.
The one thing I’m not doing well enough is the exercise component which I well know is of critical importance. I have not noticed a weight loss yet but I have not weighed and I know better than to do so too often anyway. Weight loss takes weeks, months and years my friends not days.
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csiro, diet, eating plan, health, total wellbeing diet
John “Jack” Ross was our last surviving veteran of some 417,000 brave Australians who served in WWI, the Great War. But now our last WW1 Digger has passed on quietly in his sleep on 3rd June 2009 in Bendigo.
