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Weight Maven

Musing about weight, food, & health.

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About

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

My cats

Last updated: December 10, 2011

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  • About

    Beth MazurWeight Maven is written by Beth Mazur. Beth believes that obesity is more symptom than cause and that the real problem is our Western diet -- especially sugar, refined grains, and industrial oils. Beth writes about nutrition, ancestral health & food policy. And cats!

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  • May I suggest?

    • Our Western diet: Prescription for disaster?
    • About ‘emotional’ eating
    • Alton Brown's Live and Let Diet
    • Gary Taubes & Why We Get Fat
    • Sugar: The Bitter Truth
    • The 4-Hour Body’s Slow-Carb Diet
    • Obesity: cause or symptom?
    • A disturbing reason why BMI is predictive
    • Low-carb vs paleo vs Weston Price
  • Twitter

    • I'm in! MT @indefenseoffat Another huge THANK YOU to those who have donated to our Kickstarter so far. kickstarter.com/projects/kenno… #paleo #obesity 1 hour ago
    • @LowCarbR I definitely need to start the walking in place while watching TV. May need to get a standing desk for my laptop first ;). 1 hour ago
    • Doing the in-house version of HPI's Corporate Athlete program ( hpinstitute.com/training-solut…) today and tomorrow. Looking forward to it! 10 hours ago
    • Oh well. RT @thatpaleoguy And with the push of a button, my first unfollow related to paleo shit slinging... 1 day ago
  • Blogroll

    • Chris Kresser
    • Dr. Sharma's Obesity Notes
    • Evolutionary Psychiatry
    • Food Politics
    • Foodtrainers
    • Gnolls.org
    • Hunt.Gather.Love
    • Hyperlipid
    • Mark's Daily Apple
    • Matt Metzgar
    • My Carb Sane-Asylum
    • Obesity Panacea
    • Paleo Diet
    • Perfect Health Diet
    • Primal Blog
    • Small Bites
    • Summer Tomato
    • SuppVersity
    • The Daily Lipid
    • Weighty Matters
    • Whole Health Source
    • Zoe Harcombe
  • See my extended blogroll.
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  • Disclaimer

    This blog is the story of one woman's journey to understand the rising rates of obesity and apply it in her own efforts to lose weight. The information and opinions provided here are believed to be accurate and sound, but readers who fail to consult appropriate health authorities assume the risk of any injuries.

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