I am not a big fan of mainstream shows like 20/20, but last night I heard that Jeff Garlin, from “Curb Your Enthusiasm” was going to be talking about his food addiction. My curiosity got the best of me so I tuned in a little prime time action to hear what he had to say.
Turns out he was promoting his new book, “My Footprint: Carrying the Weight of the World“, a memoir about his struggle with weight loss and food addiction. His weight topped out at 320 and when he received a Living XL catalog in the mail and opened it up to see a model that looked just like him, that was his “aha” moment.
Regarding the Living XL catalog, Garlin says,
“What it really is, is a catalog that helps you stay fat. Like, if you don’t have a chair that can hold you, we’ve got the chair. A thousand-pound capacity!”
I think Jeff Garlin is a funny actor and he’s probably a nice guy, but I don’t agree with the concept of food addiction as a disease. I do think that each of us has a unique chemistry and I believe our food choices have a huge affect on metabolism. Rather than buy his book, I would recommend you incorporate whole grains 
into your meals and eat plenty of fresh vegetables. Think about skipping the frozen and packaged food aisle completely when you are grocery shopping. I totally agree with Jeff that sugar and flour don’t help anyone, so it’s no surprise that he eliminated processed and refined foods such as bagels, Cap’n Crunch and donuts from his diet. This is a no brainer Jeff. It’s makes me think of one of Allan’s first posts “What Is Your Foundation?”. No one wants the cells of their body made up of Cap’n Crunch and donuts. How gross is that?
Garlin talks about how he never felt full after eating mass quantities. He just wanted more and more. I believe this was clearly because his body wa
s not receiving proper nutrition, not because of a disease. The fact is that highly processed foods, refined sugar and flour products can create a craving cycle.
When you eat that donut today, the only thing it’s doing is guaranteeing that you will want a donut, or something similar, tomorrow. Stop the madness!
Eating healthy is not foreign to me. In other words, I haven’t consumed Cap’n Crunch or fast food of any kind for 20 plus years. But last fall I decided to get super serious about my diet as I neared the big 5-0. Though I was already cooking plenty of my meals and eating fresh veggies and brown rice, I decided to stop eating ALL refined and processed foods. The first couple days I found myself hungry all the time. What worked for me was sitting down to a small bowl of brown rice and healthy fermented vegetable pickles every time I got hungry, and chewing my food like crazy. That’s it. I’m sure it sounds boring as hell, but it really helped with any cravings that I had experienced in the past. Eliminating cravings is key when trying to clean up your diet and really get healthy.
I am not promoting his book, but here is a link to some excerpts if you are curious about it. It basically reads like his personal diary. It might be funny and entertaining, but I won’t be buying it. Perhaps it will inspire some to ditch processed foods, if so, that’s fantastic.
I am just saying, if you are really serious about making some changes to your diet my recommendation is EAT REAL FOOD!
Skip the book, save the 20 bucks, and go buy some short grain brown rice, barley, millet, groats and quinoa and get serious about adding real food into your diet.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I love Jeff’s comic work from his appearance on “Everybody Loves Raymond” as the chunky grocery store fruit sorter to best buddy of LD in “Curb Your Enthusiasm”. Getting back to basic foods seems to be a new idea for our culture, how odd. It works though, both for emotional and physical well being.
Cheryl,
I love Jeff in Curb Your Enthusiasm too. It’s a great show. But I think he can be just as funny being a little lighter. I’m glad he’s getting healthier and thinking about what’s going into his body.
Taking nutritional advice from someone so out of balance seems unwise. He is a funny guy and just from his screen persona, he seems like a good person also. But this seems outwardly like a crass attempt to make money. No thank you.
I hear what you are saying Allan. But hey, if Jeff helps some out of balance person make a connection, or see the light regarding food consumption, then it has some redeeming value. And who knows, maybe it’s a funny read?
The relentless media coverage after 9/11 contained countless images of people from Pakistan, Afganistan, Iran and other regions. Having spent over a year in that part of the world, mostly India in the 70′s I became vegetarian, mostly as a survival tool. Ever seen semi-outdoor butcher shop in Kabul would switch Colonel Saunders Vegan. I told my nieces and nephews i would give them 5.00 for any obese person found on CNN or whatever footage taken in the region. They had to be honest. Never paid one time. Are they starving? I was asked. No they just don’t eat as a national pastime. Much of their diet is rice, beans, fruit, and veggies. most bread is whole grain. Malnutrition is a reality there as here, but we are the fattest people on the planet. I got back to the states, Miami where I lived, but did not crave a big mac. Soon learned that being veg was kinda hip, and impressed the hippie chicks, so I stayed with it, Been 40 years and I truly believe that Soy products are better protein than animal meat. You cant get fat on Brown rice, tofu, veggies, beans, and fruit. Drink plenty water. My favorite is Lundberg organic brown basmati rice. One Love and out