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Tag: dieting

Kalla’s toxic new thriller

“I see how it looks…. Just another teen suicide. Or maybe an accidental OD. Another addict who fooled his parents. No…! I know my Owen…. Never, never, never….”

image - Fit to Die book coverThis is the reaction of Owen’s mother – who happens to be a U.S. senator – to her son’s death in Daniel Kalla’s latest thriller Fit to Die (Simon & Schuster Canada). L.A. detective Cari Garcia initially writes off the reaction as a mother ignorant of her child’s drug use, and bristles against the political pressure to determine the young track star’s cause of death. When she learns he died from ingesting a capsule that contained 2,4-Dinitrophenol, or DNP – used as a fertilizer, pesticide or explosive, but also abused by people to lose weight – she becomes more motivated to solve the mystery, in part because of a tragedy in her own past.

Meanwhile, here in Vancouver, toxicologist Dr. Julie Rees is dealing with a mysterious increase in deaths among bodybuilders, finding out that DNP is the cause. Then, a famous pop star and social media influencer dies in her penthouse, showing the same symptoms. And the co-owner of a wellness centre with locations in Los Angeles and Vancouver dies of a similar overdose. All the cases are connected and the L.A. and Vancouver police and medical personnel have to work together to find out who’s behind the influx of DNP on the market.

Like all of Kalla’s books, Fit To Die is an intriguing read, suspensefully written. While I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as I have his other thrillers – it was somewhat repetitive and the main characters’ backstories didn’t ring as true to me – I still wanted to know whodunnit. I also value having learned about the real-life issue of toxic diet pills and gaining some insight into body dysmorphia and eating disorders. I trust Kalla’s facts, as he is not only a writer, but an emergency room physician and a University of British Columbia clinical associate professor. He was kind enough to answer some questions via email.

JI: There are some Jewish-sounding surnames in the novel. In what ways does your being Jewish enter into your novel writing?

DK: Well, in this case the Hertzberg-Davis Centre is the real forensic lab for the LAPD. So that made it easy. I couldn’t remove the Jewish influence in my writing even if wanted to, which, obviously, I don’t. I’ve written a historical trilogy, The Far Side of the Sky, that is explicitly a Jewish story. In thrillers like Fit to Die, I don’t consciously think about my background or religion, but there is no doubt it influences the writing.

JI: Do you name characters after friends, or sometimes offer naming opportunities for charity auctions or the like?

DK: Haha. I learned early in my writing career to never name a character after a friend. It only ends badly. I’ve never auctioned off a character name for charity, but I would love to. It can be agony finding the right character name. Why not outsource it?

JI:  This is your 10th thriller. How has your writing style and/or process evolved since your first one?

DK: I hope I’ve learned from some of my past mistakes. Paradoxically, it gets easier and harder. Easier in the sense that I’m more confident in my voice and the nuts and bolts of my storytelling. Harder in that I’m more critical of my writing and fear becoming derivative in my stories. But the one thing that keeps me going is my enthusiasm for telling a new story. I think I’m more passionate than ever.

JI: From the several thrillers of yours that I’ve read, your topic choices are timely and coincide with current events. The medical side, you’ve got covered. But what are some of your sources for other aspects? In this book, for example, how the dark web works and even the pop culture aspects, including language, like “partizzle”?

DK: I obviously have a huge advantage with respect to the medical background, but that’s only a part of it. As you point out, this story – about a (real) and deadly diet pill that is marketed online to the most vulnerable and amplified by toxic social media – took some intense research. I had to learn all about body dysmorphia and immerse myself in the TikTok culture, which explains some of the Zoomer slang one of the character uses, like “partizzle.” I was lucky to have a local VPD superintendent help guide me through the logistics of what an investigation into this kind of complex online conspiracy would look like.

JI: Where do you find time to write?

DK: For me, it’s never about the time. I’m lucky to work in the ER, which is shift work, but I think I could find time no matter what my day job was. For me, it’s all about momentum and inspiration. When I have those, I find the time. When I don’t, free time doesn’t help.

JI: What part of your soul does writing feed?

DK: Not to sound overly melodramatic, but it kind of feeds my core. Medicine does, as well, but in a very different sense. I find purpose as a doctor, but I find my passion as a writer. I can imagine retiring one day from medicine, but I can’t imagine not writing.

JI: Can you speak about the process of getting a book from idea to publication?

DK: The challenge of transforming the kernel of an idea into a publishable novel always seems insurmountable from the outset – this book particularly. I wanted to build a compelling mystery and resurrect some characters from a past novel (The Last High) and introduce new ones, all while tackling a highly sensitive yet vitally relevant topic: how the toxic diet culture and social media prey on the most vulnerable. I like to think I met the challenge, but, of course, that’s for each reader to decide.

Posted on September 1, 2023August 29, 2023Author Cynthia RamsayCategories BooksTags Daniel Kalla, dieting, eating disorders, fiction
Action plan for your health

Action plan for your health

(photo from libreshot.com)

Most people are super-excited about starting some sort of a nutrition and wellness plan, especially leading up to a celebration such as a new year, and after all of the holiday indulgences many of us enjoy over Chanukah. But, no matter the strength of our intentions, soon after we start and a few months into the new year, our commitment tapers off.

The Talmud teaches, “the blind eat but are not satisfied.” What does it mean to be blind when it comes to eating?

We should start with asking ourselves, why do we place such importance on food and why should we be planning for healthier nutrition, and better wellness habits?

Are we conscious that nourishment is for spiritual, mental and moral clarity, purity and holiness, as well as to physically strengthen the body?

Choosing nutrient-rich foods is the first step to providing our body – and mind – with the nutrients it needs. And the way our foods are prepared and eaten can influence how well those nutrients are absorbed and used by our body.

The average human brain contains 10 billion nerve cells. And there are many studies showing how our choices of food affect our moods and brain function.

People often say they need to lose weight but then quickly forget what they said if they have travel plans or holiday celebrations. The reality is that eating healthier is a habit that has to be taken seriously and one that has to be a habit all year round regardless of season, travel plans or celebrations. Eating consciously is vital to our health and longevity.

We also shouldn’t remain blind to the supernatural dimension of eating. There are many blessings the practice of Judaism provides, and this kind of daily gratitude can help us derive greater satisfaction from life, including from our food.

There are two dimensions to a person’s eating – sustenance for our body and sustenance for our soul. Our body seeks nutrients, as does our soul. Most people live out their lives without ever really grasping the idea of eating or balancing their nutrition, suffering physically from overindulging and missing the most important lessons from and a spiritual relationship with G-d.

When it comes to food, people bounce between extremes. We go all in for stuffings, creamy dressing salads and huge cuts of meat, but then cut out entire food groups to compensate. People all of a sudden start talking about gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free diets and, of course, the ever-so-popular detox. Our bodies are made up to be a perfect system so, unless some of these foods are causing you real health issues, there’s no evidence that eliminating foods completely is better for you.

What makes sense is an action plan.

With so many fad diets, it’s not always easy to differentiate between truths. There are many diets we hear about from friends or friends of friends, that such-and-such has worked for them. But adherence to most of these diets is short-lived because they aren’t based in knowledge and aren’t sustainable or convenient for the individual. In many cases, diets eliminate highly nutritious, essential foods from your meals. As well, if you follow a very restrictive diet and then change your eating habits when you reach your ideal weight, you might find yourself starting to overeat, as you crave the foods you had eliminated, and now satisfy even some of those cravings.

Although no two people are alike and everyone’s nutrition needs vary, when it comes down to it, weight loss is fairly straightforward. Making better food choices, cutting out bad high-fat foods, empty-calorie refined foods, cutting back on calories in general, and getting more exercise pretty much sums it up.

If your goal is to maintain your weight, lose weight or, in some instances, gain weight, calorie quantities need to be adjusted. These varied options will mean different amounts of proteins and overall calorie intake, which, when coupled with an appropriate exercise program, will help you attain your healthy weight – and, in the process, learn how to eat healthily as a lifestyle instead of as a fad or resolution that lasts only a few months.

In general, it’s important to eat protein for every meal, and to keep a pattern of three meals and at least two snacks per day together with eight to 10 cups of water. It’s not recommended to skip meals and then double up at the next one. More evenly spaced meals will help keep your energy level up, and protein at each meal, as well as afternoon snacks, will help keep you from getting hungry.

Remember that the right food is medicine for body and soul, and a balanced diet is one of the simplest ways to better health, and exercise is the least expensive antidepressant.

Marat Dreyshner has more than 25 years of culinary experience and a passion for health, wellness and nutrition. He joined Herbalife Nutrition in 2016, and he and his wife Ella work together as nutrition and wellness coaches.

Format ImagePosted on November 30, 2018November 29, 2018Author Marat DreyshnerCategories LifeTags dieting, health, lifestyle
Seven sins of weight loss

Seven sins of weight loss

Hands up if you like to eat!

Now hands up if the fact that you like to eat has made you want to throw the other half of the apple pie you just ingested across the room because IT WON’T LET YOU LOSE THE WEIGHT YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO LOSE!

Recently, as part of the Jewish Book Festival at the JCC, Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, known (maybe only by me) as Dr. Diet, presented about his new book The Diet Fix. The book details why more than 90% of diets fail, leaving people with frustration and/or apple pie all over their living room. (For a review of the book, see jewishindependent.ca/jewish-book-fest-in-a-week)

As someone who personally struggled with excess weight for most of his adult life – likely as a result of too much McDonald’s for most of his teenage life – before managing to kick it back to the drive-through a few years ago, I was intrigued to listen to and meet Dr. Diet to see what new concepts he could teach me. I wanted to see what he could tell me that, quite frankly, I hadn’t already learned from my dear friend Google.

While he didn’t get into the meat and potatoes (or cake and cookies) of dieting tricks, strategies and science, he did talk a lot about the psychology of dieting and how our society responds to it. More of a what-NOT-to-do presentation.

The good doctor presented what he called the seven deadly sins of dieting. Essentially, this is a list if misunderstandings or misdirections society has placed on the path to eating healthy and losing weight.

In no particular order (except for the one he presented them in), here they are for your consumption.

1. If you’re not hungry, you’re not losing weight. WRONG!
Starving yourself isn’t the key to weight loss, Freedhoff explained. As a matter of fact, he suggested that waiting until starvation kicks in before feeding yourself will more likely make bad cookies…I mean, choices (darn auto-correct!).

2. You must make sacrifices to lose weight. WRONG!
If you are constantly making sacrifices you aren’t likely to make this work on any long-term basis. It should be a choice of preference, not a sacrifice.

3. You need willpower to succeed. WRONG!
The reality is that we only have a limited supply of willpower. So if we are depending on that for success we are likely to fail at some point. Try having a long, hard, stressful day at work, then coming home looking for willpower in the crunchy, salty snack cupboard.

4. You should accept blind restrictions. DON’T DO IT!
A lot of people follow fad diets. They read that this new Garcinia Cambogiolawala plant can help you lose weight if you eat only that and a pickle for five days straight.

Despite my undying faith in pickles, if you don’t know why or how a diet will work, don’t do it!

5. You need to sweat it out. SO WRONG!
Reality weight loss shows like Biggest Loser preach that if you’re not pushing your self to barf-inducing levels you won’t succeed. On the contrary, Dr. Freedhoff said, if it’s not enjoyable, much like point #2 and #3, it’s not likely to last long.

As a point of perspective, he added that it takes running a full marathon to burn 1 pound of fat. Yet it takes only one hour sitting on your tuchus at the neighborhood pub to put it back on. The line, “You can’t outrun your fork” is one I will use again and again from now on.

6. You need perfection to succeed. WRONG AGAIN!
According to Dr. Freedhoff, people accept doing their best in just about every facet of their life except dieting. When someone is on a diet they believe they must be perfect in order to succeed. Obsession leads to unrealistic expectations. Once again, it won’t last. And you don’t need to call them cheat days. Maybe just try “living life days!”

7. We must calmly remain in denial. DENIED!
We avoid dealing with our true feelings about how we are struggling with our weight or eating habits. If we fool ourselves about what we really want to do or can do we are just denying ourselves the chance to find confidence in our abilities to succeed. The consequences of struggling are guilt, shame and despair. Which often leads to? Binging!

Bottom line: It seams that what the Diet Doctor is saying is that it’s more important to tackle our weight issues with our heads than it is with a program or a set of diet rules.

Set clear goals that you know you can work with long term and take them on one step at a time. Otherwise, well, we’ll see you again at the next diet meeting!

Format ImagePosted on December 17, 2014December 17, 2014Author Kyle BergerCategories It's Berger Time!Tags diet, dieting, fad, JCC, sins, weight loss, Yoni Freedhoff
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