ADDENDUM It is now 6 years since the first edition of “My Diet” was published. This is a long enough stretch of time for asking oneself – given the importance of the subject – “Is there something I would have written or commented on in a different way ?” And also, “Given the abundance of information that has been generated and published between end of 2005 and now, what is it that I would include in the book today, say if it was to appear as a second edition ?” Well, I believe the answer would amaze you. Here it is: 1. The only thing I would change is the title: the new one would be along the lines of “The 10 Secrets For Staying Fit, Healthy And Lean;” the humble “My Diet” does not attract any attention at all. 2. It so happened that in 2007 I have read the book by Ebba Verland “The success of the Verland diet,” which helped me realize aspects of the body chemistry that until then I only have intuitively accepted as the guidelines. While I consider the Verland diet rather a powerful (alternative) therapy, the theoretical concept of Prof. Are Verland is demonstrated proven by so many cases that I would include a paragraph in the theoretical part of my book with reference to his work. 3. I would report the observation that very few people among the general public paid attention to this book and the concept in it. Amazingly, the vast majority still follows one or another form of the “classical” diets, all tied up to the idea of food being the precursor of overweight and obesity. None of the magazines or newspapers contacted expressed interest in publishing a review of “My Diet.” 4. I would report the observation that none of the large food or beverage manufacturers which I’ve approached accepted my proposals: many did not respond at all; others politely declined. My suggestion was very simple: “Take this book, evaluate and then endorse the concept in it – it does exonerate your products of all blame !” I’ve realized my own naivety only after the third or fourth polite refusal: the status quo is much more profitable for the big corporations, especially the trio Food-Drinks-Pharma. As things stand today they have plenty of room to justify any new product they’d like to; acknowledging that overweight is all down to behavior deprives them of a virtually unlimited space of operations and maneuvering. 5. I would include a remark that after the appearance of the first edition of this book several studies were reported confirming the effect of sexual activity on weight control, yet no explanation was given about the inconsistence of this particular observation with any and all of the diets that claim type and quantity of food is responsible for overweight and obesity. Nobody has braved to draw the obvious conclusion, which this book has drummed out for quite a while now: “Behavior is much more important than food! We are not what we eat, we are more what we drink, and most of all, we are the product of our own behavior!” 6. I would include the observation that a couple of years after the publication of “My Diet” FDA published a list of substances that are part of the food additives group – conserving agents, stabilizers, colorants, food supplements etc. – which of late have become suspects of exhibiting detrimental long-term effects; all of them now subject to additional studying prior to formal re-approval. That announcement – and I have to add I did not make it my crusade to follow up on the results of these studies, given I simply avoid intake of any and all additives, i.e. synthetic chemicals – simply justified, one more time, the logic I have explained in the book. 7. I would include the observation that recently articles started appearing in the popular scientific magazines, such as Scientific American, whereby serious doubts are cast over the condemnation of salt as food ingredient. I would just mention one of the most recent ones, entitled “It's Time to End the War on Salt” by Melinda W. Moyer (July 2011) running the subtitle “The zealous drive by politicians to limit our salt intake has little basis in science.” Being sick and tired of repeating it, I’d just say it one last time: “Read my book, damn it! It’s all explained there; just consider all my arguments and stop repeating nonsense such as ‘salt is bad for you, sugar is bad for you, junk food is bad for you,’ and the like.” 8. I would include the observation that just recently in Scientific American there appeared articles that start casting doubts on the mainstream beliefs, which are basically all centered around “food being the precursor of all our troubles with body weight.” One by David Freedman (Feb. 2011) entitled “How to Fix the Obesity Crisis” runs a subtitle “Although science has revealed a lot about metabolic processes that influence our weight, the key to success may lie elsewhere.” Another by Francie Diep (Nov. 2011) appeared under the title “Cholesterol conundrum” and the subtitle reading “Changing HDL and LDL levels does not always alter heart disease or stroke risk.” What can I say, I don’t even know which one of these is the “good” one, and I don’t care to learn that since it does not matter at all: I keep eating butter and lard as much as I like, and still prefer fat meat. Besides the clarity of grading of the factors affecting our health/weight (1=behavior, 2=water, 3=food), explained in detail in the book are the methods to counter the potential accumulation of “bad” substances as a result of eating food rich on lipids, end of story! 9. I would include the continuation of the “graph” displaying the only proof at my disposal, demonstrating the validity of my concept. Had I contemplated, 30-40 years ago, the idea of publishing such a book, I would have diligently collected data about my weight throughout the years, in order to show the resulting graph, in support of my claims. However, the fact is that it was only some 15 years back when I have started to consciously think about it, looking in retrospect at what till then has been more like intuitive sticking to the best national tradition and the logic of an active young professional with interest in many sports – that is, interest as an active doer, not a passive observer – and adding to that observations on the correlation of lifestyle, eating habits and health of many around me, not just myself. Because of the lack of other data, I’ve decided to place a “graph” showing photos demonstrating my shape about twice a year. The graph with my weight during the years would look like the figure below, with data oscillating between 72 and 75 kilograms for the last 40 years or so. The photos in the book confirm above trend visually (it took a while before even my closest have stopped considering this a display of Narcissism on my part, and have realized that I have no other tangible proof to offer, in order to validate my theories). Given the “new edition” would come after six full years since the first one, I would add some pictures from the past period that are at my disposal. Seen below is the “Graph” of Shape vs Time for the past six years: the shortest interval between photos is 3 months, and they are positioned approximately in the right place, on the time axis. SHAPE I   I I Jl-06 Jn-07 Se-07 Au-08 Jn-09 Se-09 Jn-10 Se-10 Ma-11 Jn-11 Se-11 I I I----------I------------------I-----------------I-----------------I-----------------I-----------------I------------------I------------------I------------------I------------------I------------------I-------------------I----------------- TIME March Sept. March Sept. March Sept. March Sept. March Sept. March Sept. 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 And that’s all, folks. January 2012, Burgas, Bulgaria © 2012 Ivan Daraktchiev

ADDENDUM

It is now 6 years since the first edition of “My Diet” was published. This is a long enough stretch of time for asking oneself – given the importance of the subject – “Is there something I would have written or commented on in a different way ?” And also, “Given the abundance of information that has been generated and published between end of 2005 and now, what is it that I would include in the book today, say if it was to appear as a second edition ?”

Well, I believe the answer would amaze you. Here it is:

1. The only thing I would change is the title: the new one would be along the lines of “The 10 Secrets For Staying Fit, Healthy And Lean;” the humble “My Diet” does not attract any attention at all.

2. It so happened that in 2007 I have read the book by Ebba Verland “The success of the Verland diet,” which helped me realize aspects of the body chemistry that until then I only have intuitively accepted as the guidelines. While I consider the Verland diet rather a powerful (alternative) therapy, the theoretical concept of Prof. Are Verland is demonstrated proven by so many cases that I would include a paragraph in the theoretical part of my book with reference to his work.

3. I would report the observation that very few people among the general public paid attention to this book and the concept in it. Amazingly, the vast majority still follows one or another form of the “classical” diets, all tied up to the idea of food being the precursor of overweight and obesity. None of the magazines or newspapers contacted expressed interest in publishing a review of “My Diet.”

4. I would report the observation that none of the large food or beverage manufacturers which I’ve approached accepted my proposals: many did not respond at all; others politely declined. My suggestion was very simple: “Take this book, evaluate and then endorse the concept in it – it does exonerate your products of all blame !” I’ve realized my own naivety only after the third or fourth polite refusal: the status quo is much more profitable for the big corporations, especially the trio Food-Drinks-Pharma. As things stand today they have plenty of room to justify any new product they’d like to; acknowledging that overweight is all down to behavior deprives them of a virtually unlimited space of operations and maneuvering.

5. I would include a remark that after the appearance of the first edition of this book several studies were reported confirming the effect of sexual activity on weight control, yet no explanation was given about the inconsistence of this particular observation with any and all of the diets that claim type and quantity of food is responsible for overweight and obesity. Nobody has braved to draw the obvious conclusion, which this book has drummed out for quite a while now: “Behavior is much more important than food! We are not what we eat, we are more what we drink, and most of all, we are the product of our own behavior!”

6. I would include the observation that a couple of years after the publication of “My Diet” FDA published a list of substances that are part of the food additives group – conserving agents, stabilizers, colorants, food supplements etc. – which of late have become suspects of exhibiting detrimental long-term effects; all of them now subject to additional studying prior to formal re-approval. That announcement – and I have to add I did not make it my crusade to follow up on the results of these studies, given I simply avoid intake of any and all additives, i.e. synthetic chemicals – simply justified, one more time, the logic I have explained in the book.

7. I would include the observation that recently articles started appearing in the popular scientific magazines, such as Scientific American, whereby serious doubts are cast over the condemnation of salt as food ingredient. I would just mention one of the most recent ones, entitled “It's Time to End the War on Salt” by Melinda W. Moyer (July 2011) running the subtitle “The zealous drive by politicians to limit our salt intake has little basis in science.” Being sick and tired of repeating it, I’d just say it one last time: “Read my book, damn it! It’s all explained there; just consider all my arguments and stop repeating nonsense such as ‘salt is bad for you, sugar is bad for you, junk food is bad for you,’ and the like.”

8. I would include the observation that just recently in Scientific American there appeared articles that start casting doubts on the mainstream beliefs, which are basically all centered around “food being the precursor of all our troubles with body weight.” One by David Freedman (Feb. 2011) entitled “How to Fix the Obesity Crisis” runs a subtitle “Although science has revealed a lot about metabolic processes that influence our weight, the key to success may lie elsewhere.” Another by Francie Diep (Nov. 2011) appeared under the title “Cholesterol conundrum” and the subtitle reading “Changing HDL and LDL levels does not always alter heart disease or stroke risk.” What can I say, I don’t even know which one of these is the “good” one, and I don’t care to learn that since it does not matter at all: I keep eating butter and lard as much as I like, and still prefer fat meat. Besides the clarity of grading of the factors affecting our health/weight (1=behavior, 2=water, 3=food), explained in detail in the book are the methods to counter the potential accumulation of “bad” substances as a result of eating food rich on lipids, end of story!

9. I would include the continuation of the “graph” displaying the only proof at my disposal, demonstrating the validity of my concept. Had I contemplated, 30-40 years ago, the idea of publishing such a book, I would have diligently collected data about my weight throughout the years, in order to show the resulting graph, in support of my claims. However, the fact is that it was only some 15 years back when I have started to consciously think about it, looking in retrospect at what till then has been more like intuitive sticking to the best national tradition and the logic of an active young professional with interest in many sports – that is, interest as an active doer, not a passive observer – and adding to that observations on the correlation of lifestyle, eating habits and health of many around me, not just myself. Because of the lack of other data, I’ve decided to place a “graph” showing photos demonstrating my shape about twice a year. The graph with my weight during the years would look like the figure below, with data oscillating between 72 and 75 kilograms for the last 40 years or so.

The photos in the book confirm above trend visually (it took a while before even my closest have stopped considering this a display of Narcissism on my part, and have realized that I have no other tangible proof to offer, in order to validate my theories). Given the “new edition” would come after six full years since the first one, I would add some pictures from the past period that are at my disposal. Seen below is the “Graph” of Shape vs Time for the past six years: the shortest interval between photos is 3 months, and they are positioned approximately in the right place, on the time axis.

SHAPE

I

I

I Jl-06 Jn-07 Se-07 Au-08 Jn-09 Se-09 Jn-10 Se-10 Ma-11 Jn-11 Se-11
I

I----------I------------------I-----------------I-----------------I-----------------I-----------------I------------------I------------------I------------------I------------------I------------------I-------------------I----------------- TIME

March Sept. March Sept. March Sept. March Sept. March Sept. March Sept.

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

And that’s all, folks.

January 2012, Burgas, Bulgaria