Don't Blame the Fat Lady

Posted in Wellness Wednesdays

 

It’s the time of year when many of us turn our attention to our health.  Ok, let’s be honest, by health I mean weight.  Now three weeks into my resolution to lose six pounds, I’m down two.  Not exactly a stellar performance, but it beats the alternative.

The startling facts are, according to the CDC, 33.9 percent of U.S. adults are obese, and another 34.4 percent are merely overweight.  Which leaves those folks at healthy weights in the minority. 

There is certainly no shortage of approaches to weight-loss.  The multi-million dollar weight loss industry hawks thousands of books, magazines, weight-loss centers, and food substitutes.  Our problem is not from lack of information, or even for lack of trying.  I know very few people, even in the healthy-weight category that aren’t trying to drop at least a few pounds.

To be fair, the problem for obese people is a lot harder to tackle, it’s not just their imagination.  Tara Parker-Pope’s NY Times article, The Fat Trap, explores the frustrating problem that so many people encounter of gaining back weight that they so diligently worked to lose.  Turns out it’s not a problem of willpower or discipline.  And it also turns out it’s not true that a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. 

A typical 30-year old woman who weighs 190 pounds can eat about 2,600 calories a day and maintain her weight.  But the same woman who achieved that weight by losing over 10 percent of her body weight will only be able to eat about 2,300 calories per day without gaining weight.  Yes, unfair!

To blame are the metabolic and hormonal changes that accompany significant weight loss.  So it really is harder for someone to keep the weight off after losing it than it is for someone who never varied from that weight in the first place.  To really add heft to the unfairness of it all, this effect on calorie burning may last up to six years.  

Which brings me to my six-pound goal.  I am not overweight by any measure of the word.  But I have consistently gained a half a pound a year for the last 16 years.  So I’d rather reverse that course now, before I land in the land of the metabolic catch-22.  And for that, I will share a little inspiration, Michael Pollan’s, Food Rules, an Eater’s Manual.

Most of us have figured out that it’s easier to keep up a moderate exercise program consistently than a drastic, complicated, intense one.  Well, it’s the same with an eating program.  I don’t buy the philosophy that the more complicated it is, the more effective it is.  I think we all know what to do, we just need a little reminder. 

Michael Pollan’s compact book is just that, a quick reminder of what you already know.  The book contains 64 rules, they read much like a series of blog posts.  They revolve around the central advice, “Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants.”  The first section defines food.  For example, food your great-grandmother would recognize as food, things with ingredients that a third-grader can pronounce, foods that aren’t pretending to be something they are not.  The last two sections are on making the healthiest food choices and tips for portion control. 

If you, like I, need a little inspiration to keep the resolution you’ve made year after year by following advice you already know, I recommend this short read.  It’s not rocket-science, it’s just common sense, something we can all use a little of from time to time.

Related Posts:

            Racing to a Milestone

            Do French Fries Count as a Vegetable?

            The Myth of the Skinny Retirement

 

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Comments

[fred doe]

shooting for a specific weight is counter productive. we are not boxers or jockeys. a weight range is more logical say ten pounds through the year. people don't weight the same in the course of the day. if you weight in first thing in the morning wearing only what you were born with then do the same at the end of the day you'll be heavier. through the year it will fluctuate say winter v.s. summer. when i retired almost four years ago i tipped the scales at about 210 (i'm 6 foot) now i'm in the 180's i don't eat as much as i used to. i used to be able to put away a 3lb prime rib with out stopping now i have to take some of a one pounder home in a doggy bag i used to be able to strike fear into hearts of chinese buffet establishments just by walking in the door. now i'm a washed up has been. ( but i digress) less is more. eat less and eat better. next year i'll weight in the 170's. syd if you really want to lose 6lbs then find a friend and bet them $300.00 to lose 6 lbs in six weeks. if you both lose it then the bet is null and void. but if you win then you have $300.00 bucks extra and the right to crush your opponent with verbal humiliation:) (just because one's retired dosen't mean you can't stay competitive)

[Retired Syd]

@Fred: That's funny because I was going to wager with my neighbors for a weight loss competition. I'm glad we didn't do it though, because they have each lost 6 pounds already in the first 2 weeks of the year.

[Jacq]

I've been using my fitbit (just a fancy shmancy pedometer) and my loseit.com app on my phone. It's totally calorie based but quite freakishly accurate. So, for me, at least, it appears that a calorie really is a calorie.

Since June 30, I've lost 23 pounds which is kind of bizarre since I haven't really felt like I've even been on a "diet". The app is just a reminder to me to check in and consider whether I'm really hungry or if I'm eating out of boredom or habit. About 95% of the time, it's a food stopper, the other 5% well... :-) It doesn't seem to make a big difference in the grand scheme of things and just being consistent is pretty darn awesome.

For me, it was something I've wanted to tackle before menopause hits when I've heard that weight loss becomes considerably more difficult. Hopefully by that time I'll still be maintaining. I still have 8 or 9 pounds to go, so we'll see.

Good for you on your 2 pounds! Only 6 more to go!

[Retired Syd]

So I use that LoseIt app too--must be that it appeals to the accountants in us. But the problem is, on a day where I eat way too much, I tend not to record those days--defeating the purpose.

Having said that, as of today, I'm down THREE!

Congratulations on losing 23 pounds, not that is quite a feat!

[Tamara]

I might be able to appreciate the finer points of your post were I able to get past the very delicious and distracting photo you've elected to display!

Fish and chips, and a beer . . . one of life's simpler pleasures to be sure.

I'm heartened to hear you disclose your slow weight creep, because I've been aghast to discover same occurring over here. Since I know it's not of issue of needing to put more calories out (currently in training for what I think is my 15th half marathon) it's clearly an issue of too many darn calories in!

I've shed 4, with 6 still to go, and am working to clean up my diet a bit in the process. The immediate reward of course, irregardless of whether I manage to get the last 6 off, is I'm feeling much, much more energetic throughout the day.

[Retired Syd]

Tamara: I was waiting for someone to comment on my photo! I thought I'd come right out with my weakness--fish and chips.

Although this particular dish was not my absolute favorite. It was at Manly Beach in Australia, and they DON'T USE MALT VINEGAR on fish and chips in Australia. It's just not fish and chips without malt vinegar if you ask me.

(As a side note, my first job when I was 15 years old was H. Salt Fish and Chips, where I actually learned to like fish and chips. Oh how my life would have been different if I had worked at Fresh Choice instead.)

[Ron]

The two books thatI found the most useful were:

http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Get-Fat-Vintage/dp/0307474259/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327695310&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Science-Low-Carbohydrate-Living/dp/0983490708/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327695402&sr=1-1

Additionally, two very good responses to Ms Pope's article are:

http://www.jerrynaughton.com/?p=356

http://garytaubes.com/2012/01/updates-for-2012/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=updates-for-2012

[Retired Syd]

Ron: Those were very interesting articles into what might be missing from the mainstream discussion. If you have time for it, I found the full letter on the subject http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/response-to-nytimes-the-fat-trap/ the most interesting. Especially as it relates to criticism of Paula Dean (for the butter instead of the carbs.) I myself never find myself overeating foods with fat but I can't stop myself from eating the whole damn baguette when it's in the house!

[Jacq]

I count the high days too because I'm doing it for science and analysis. LOL I can't get good data if I don't count the highs as well as the lows. (When I go over, I feel the urge not to count it though - I think it's the "what the hell" effect?) But it would be like estimating your average expenses and not counting travel or the annual insurance payment. Although I do tend to want to ignore or minimize those too. I think most people do? That leads to problems though.

I'm always over my threshold on a weekly basis but am fine with that. Basically because I set my goal at 1.5 pounds a week, but come out somewhere between 1-1.5, so I get to feel like I'm cheating - even though I'm really not. ;-)
If I could stay away from booze and chips, I'd weigh 100 pounds soaking wet. Sigh... moderation. Good thing baguettes and chocolate don't do it for me too.

[ab belt]

that's so true! a friend of mine used to say: "girls, if you want to lose weight, go get a boyfriend":) and indeed it depends mostly on hormones and metabolism. we all know that a felt in love person can not to eat, drink and sleep and still stay full of energy. dear boys and girls, go fall in love! find new exciting interests and activities, do whatever you are passionate about and you will never be in need of dieting.

[Kathy Sterndahl]

I love Michael Pollan's books! But don't forget your plan to eat all the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables every day. That does it for me. I don't have room for much else.
PS - I finally caught up with your blogs! Glad you didn't give it up.

[Jack]

It is all about discipline when you really want to control your weight. There is no short cut. Regardless of what programs you follow, you have to do it religiously and stick to it.

[Bill Birnbaum]

Hi, Syd... You're right, "It's not rocket science." Though it's easier said than done, we simply have to ingest fewer calories than we burn. The first step in losing weight is to "lose it in our mind." Bill

[Funny about Money]

Wait, what? "A typical 30-year old woman who weighs 190 pounds can eat about 2,600 calories a day and maintain her weight. But the same woman who achieved that weight by losing over 10 percent of her body weight will only be able to eat about 2,300 calories per day without gaining weight. Yes, unfair!"

Isn't 2600 calories an awful lot? Even 2300 calories sounds like quite a bellyful. How much do you need to sustain life, anyway? Just googled "2300 calories" and up came a PDF specifying what you'd have to eat to rack up that many calories. If I consumed that much in a day, I'd couldn't waddle across the room. Hard to understand how it could be "unfair" to be forced to restrict your food intake to twice what the average Algerian eats. Poor darlin'!

[Tamara]

Syd, just found this in my notes from our 2010 Australia trip, "Took ferry from Sydney Harbor to Manly Beach and had two beers and a delicious seafood platter dinner (oysters, shrimp, calamari, battered fish and chips) at The Manly Wharf Hotel."

I considered the whole evening to be a quintessential shrimp-on-the-barbie experience.

[Lose Fat]

wow!I actually had great luck with the first phase of South Beach diet -- it is really VERY similar to this, some low fat egg dish (no bread!) for breakfast, salad with lean protein for lunch and half protein/half veggies for dinner.They start adding grain and fruit back in phase II -- and that's when I fell off come to think of it! Maybe I should try that again for 30 days and put the weight training back in. OK! Will start tomorrow and up the exercise too,will let you know, sure don't expect to lose 20 though!Trying to figure out what "Mexican restaurant" he goes to to get the "grass fed beef" plateau grande, LOLL.....I kind of think it's Starkey's power plate, without the brown rice!

[Mary]

If you ever want to feel like an absolute saint about your eating, look up this blog: http://thisiswhyyourefat.tumblr.com/

You simply cannot imagine how nauseous food could be, nor that there are people who would eat this stuff.