Weight Maven

A Maven is someone who wants to solve other people’s problems, generally by solving his own.

– Mark Alpert, The Tipping Point

I’ve been blogging since 2001. In the early days, I wrote about information design and my day job in web development. Around 2006 I went on a political tear and ranted and raved as the bleeding heart liberal that I am. In late 2009 I turned my blog (then called IDblog) into Weight Maven. My focus is now on weight, diet, and the current hysteria around the obesity “epidemic” — especially as it relates to both policy decisions and the demonization of fat people.

I also write about figuring out the best way for me to eat to get to and be able to maintain a healthy weight. I started with a predominantly paleo/primal approach in mid-October of 2010 because I found the general concept of ancestral health very compelling. A few months later, I adapted my diet to be closer to the Jaminets’ Perfect Health Diet.

I’m not yet at my goal weight, but I have lost more than 125 pounds. More importantly, I have peace of mind about my eating. I’m not ravenously hungry, I am mostly craving free (save when triggered by major stressors), and I feel like this is something I could do for the rest of my life.

Here’s a little more of my current thinking:

• Calories in vs out — or eat less move more — are insufficient explanations for or solutions to the prevalence of obesity today.
• Our industrial diet has broken our metabolism and appetite regulation mechanisms.
• Avoiding or moderating carbs may be useful or even necessary in weight loss, but carbs per se aren’t the source of the problem and going very low carb may not be the best long-term solution.
• Our diet may be as much of a problem for what it omits (nutrients, especially fat-soluble ones) as for what it includes in excess (sugar, refined grains, veggie oils).
• Michael Pollan is onto something. Diets that work may do so because of their emphasis on real, whole foods as much (if not more) as any specific macronutrient ratio and/or avoiding specific foods.
• While exercise (e.g., Biggest Loser style chronic cardio) may help in the short term, using specific types of exercise (e.g, HIIT) to address underlying issues is a better longer term strategy.

I’m currently studying nutrition via NTA’s nutritional therapy program. I’m also greatly influenced by the people on my blogroll, especially Stephan Guyenet, Emily Deans, Chris Kresser and Paul Jaminet.

BTW, nearly all my relatives are from either Pittsburgh or San Diego, so the answer to “are you related to so-and-so Mazur?” is probably no. Though I was surprised once by a co-worker who went to law school with one of my cousins. So it can happen!

Beth Mazur
Washington, DC

Last updated: December 10, 2011