Good episode, guys. Nice tribute to Mousin. Given the general tenor of the show, I know it's hard to address something as grim as an actual death among the user base without it sounding weird, but I think you handled it well.
Cheapy: When that blogger said your comments "betray your background," he meant that despite your worldliness (i.e., you live in Japan), some of the things you say still mark you as a quintissential New Yorker (or at least, what guys like him think New Yorkers are like). I don't think he meant it in an especially negative way, though I do find his stereotyping of New Yorkers as "parochial" somewhat odd. Incidentally, since I'm from Atlanta, I consider myself a neutral observer.
Grammatical eye jab of the week: During the show, Wombat employed the oft-used rejoinder "the point is moot." The correct meaning of the term "moot" is often overlooked. A moot subject is defined as one worthy of discussion. So saying "the point is moot" is essentially like saying "that's debatable." The connotation in either instance is that the subject in question is trivial (kind of like this whole paragraph). Leave it to English to make the phrase "that is worthy of discussion" actually mean, "that's not worth discussing at all."
Wombat: What led you and your wife to go with Nutrisystem? I've been doing Weight Watchers for just over 5 weeks now. It was my wife's idea initially, but last week she ditched for Atkins, that traitor. Anyway, I plan to stay on it indefinitely because I think it's the only one of the major diet plans that actually teaches you proper eating and exercise habits and trains you to eat a balanced diet for the rest of your life. So far I've been very happy on it, feel better, get plenty to eat, and have lost about 15 pounds.
Growing up, my mom was the national chair for Overeaters Anonymous, so I got more than my fair share of education about eating disorders, diets, and nutrition (and they psychology behind all three). I think, fundamentally, a diet has to be a way that you can realistically eat for the rest of your life. Thus, I take a relatively dim view of Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, and especially low carb/no carb crap like Atkins and South Beach because they ask you to either eat their products exclusively or eat in a way that is unrealistic over a long period of time (no one in their right mind goes into Atkins thinking "I can do this forever!" or if they do, they quickly change their mind after a week or two). Moreover, once you go off those plans (they are all meant to be used for a finite amount of time), you are more likely to gain the weight back (plus a little) because you are generally unprepared to make healthy choices in a real life situation. My dad goes on and off Atkins practically every other month, which I know is doing irreparable damage to his heart and arteries (when he's on it, he eats butter like a candy bar and downs red meat by the ton), but he loses weight so he's convinced he's healthy.
Admittedly, I know less about Nutrisystem than I do the others, so I'd be interested to get your impressions of it. I wish you and your wife the best and hope it does work for you. Keep us aprised.
CAGcast #36: In Mousin We Trust
