EXERCISE STUDY IS EXPLAINED

Someone with some common sense took a look at that study about women needing an hour of exercise every day in order to maintain their weight and calls it BS. Susan Roberts writes on The Daily Beast:

...while exercise is essential for health, when it comes to weight control this new study suggests that the average woman can expect to avoid 0.1 ounces of weight gain a month. In other words, out of the average typical yearly weight gain of 8 ounces per year, she is likely to prevent a less-than-whopping 1.3 ounces—barely more than one-sixteenth of one pound—that would have otherwise occurred without all those trips to the gym.

With numbers like these, can we finally get rid of the propaganda that exercise is a panacea for weight problems? Far from encouraging women to hit the gym even harder, a study like this should send the message that although exercise has many wonderful benefits, preventing weight gain isn’t one of them.

The study actually shows that many of the women in the study who were already overweight and then did exercise an hour a day - get this - gained weight! So, I agree with Rogers, there is much more going on than exercise.

I know for me, I need to exercise. I need it to keep myself limber and flexible. I get stiff and my legs ache if I don't keep up with my exercise. I am sure exercise helps with weight loss, but it isn't as important as calories for me. And it is easier for me to manage my calories if I stay low carb, write down my food intake and stick to a plan.

So the bottom line is, learn what works for you and don't go running off after every new fad or study that comes along!

FAMILY DINNER

My brother and his wife and daughters are in town from Boise. They are touring colleges around the Bay Area with their youngest daughter and staying with one of my sisters. We gathered at the home of another sister to have dinner last night. I was telling them about my blog post yesterday - the junk food and addiction study.

All of my siblings are slim. All four of them. I am the only one who "takes after" our dad's side of the family (all of whom are overweight.) So when I was talking about food addiction being like drug or alcohol addiction and saying that I would be better off getting hooked on heroin because I would get skinny and be socially acceptable - they thought I was joking around.

And later when they offered me dessert and I said - "no thanks, remember, I'm an addict" - they laughed and laughed.

They really don't get it.

JUST A TASTE

The headline of the day:

The study, published in the Nature Neuroscience journal, found that when rats consumed a lot of high-fat, high-calorie food, it led to compulsive eating habits - similar to a drug addiction.

Another study that could have saved money by just asking me...or any number of overweight people.

I am sure this story is getting a lot of attention so I will not go through the details, but I will add my experience. Some of us can't eat "what we want" in moderation. My husband is always after me when I turn down foods: "Just have a little", "a bite won't hurt you."

Well, some people can have a little and then move on to the healthy alternatives. Me? When I am off the sugar, the high fat, the rich foods - I need to stay off. One taste and I am drawn back in like an alcoholic back to the bottle, like an addict back to the needle.

My friends and family frequently comment on my will power. Yes. I can be very strong minded when I am off the stuff. But don't ask me to to have just a taste. It is torture. It is why I have spent most of my life fat.

MY THIN(NER) CLOTHES

Many years ago I gave up on saving my clothes from my much smaller days. They were hopelessly out of date and the likelihood that I would need silk blouses and little suits ever again was slim. So the clothes I have held onto are much more recent and larger - hardly "skinny" clothes.

However, being back in a blouse I wore 4 years ago is quite cheering! Plus, I can almost button myself into a blouse I wore 7 or 8 years ago - so that is very exciting.

I don't really have a goal in terms of weight or dress size. I don't even know with the "new" sizing what size I would be anymore. I do know that I want to be able to shop in the regular departments of the stores. That is my goal.

I have long had a belief that whatever weird, ugly fabric is leftover after all the other clothes are made is what they make the plus size clothes from. Really. Walk through the store and see all the pretty clothes and then walk into the plus size department and see what I mean....I want out of that department!

MORE, MORE, MORE

The news has been covering the new study which proves that women over 45 must exercise an hour a day JUST TO MAINTAIN their weight. That or eat like a bird, which many older women certainly do. So discouraging for women to hear this when we already struggle to find 30 minutes a day to get exercise.

I am currently exercising about an hour a day 6 days a week (easy to do as I am unemployed right now) and eating about 1200 calories in order to achieve weight loss at a rate which keeps me motivated. I know I can't keep this up, calorie wise. I will need to get my calories up and slow the speed of the weight loss. I think that I will aim to do that after I get under 200 pounds.

I hope hat I will be able to continue the gym routine when I find a job. I am really focused on working close to home and gym so a commute doesn't burn up my time!

In the meantime, I will try not to get too discouraged by this study which makes it clear that this effort will be a lifelong one - I must embrace this as my healthy, life long way of living.

SUNDAY BIKE RIDE

Tom suggested a more impromptu bike ride today - just to the gym in Livermore. We have done that trip before, it is about 15 miles round trip, a straight shot down a busy 4 lane parkway with a bike trail.

This time he pulled a fast one on me and suggested an alternative route back, going through the vineyard area - the scenic route with just 1 hill, he said.

He didn't mention that it added about 10 miles to the trip!

But it was very pretty and much quieter (less traffic) and it smelled really good, too!

BUSY BUSY

I have been burning the calories all day everyday this week. Nothing like spring cleaning to keep the metabolism going all day long. I hope the scale shows a nice change - but even if it doesn't, the change in the weather has been great!

Up and down the step stool. Dusting, chasing cobwebs, cleaning blinds and shelves. I have not made it to our little pantry - but that is on the list.

I rented one of those carpet cleaners and have been cleaning area rugs and carpets, including the stairs. I hit Ally's room hard - let's just say she should not have carpet in her room....having taken a "Back Care" class, I used my good techniques and my back is just a bit sore.

The closets are cleaned out and bags are ready for pick-up next week. I am getting rid of my too big clothes right now. I have taken a few things in, the rest - gone.

Today I am cleaning up out on the patio and I have promised the dog a long walk. Spring cleaning and now a walk in the sunshine - now where is that pedometer?

FEELING HUNGRY

For the past few days I have been feeling hungry. Nothing has changed, just no longer feeling satisfied by the program I am on. I am going to stick with it, but maybe make some minor modifications to see if it helps.

I am eating 6 "snacks" of about 150 calories and a lean protein and vegetable meal, usually for dinner. All adding up to about 1200 calories per day. The snacks are in the form of shakes, bars, cereal which I eat with a bit of low fat milk, little crunchy things like cheerios (flavored with BBQ or sour cream and onion), puddings and there are other choices which I have tried and not liked or haven't tried from the company. These are high protein, moderate carb foods, fairly natural and nutritionally balanced.

I like that the plan is easy to follow. It offers variety in textures and flavors and although I have to be creative in planning the evening meal so it works for all 3 of us, I can usually modify a recipe and make one meal for a family dinner. Last night I made Chicken Picatta with Pasta and I skipped the pasta.

So I am thinking I may double up some of the snacks. For instance, make a double shake so it is more filling and see if that is more satisfying and lasts longer than an hour or so before I am hungry again.

I am already drinking a lot of hot tea and water already. I feel full after I eat my snack, so sometimes I think I just need to distract myself when I feel like I am hungry. Maybe I am just bored, looking for something to occupy myself.

Time to work up a new To Do List with small, distracting tasks.

WORKOUTS ON THE CLOCK

This morning I enjoyed the benefit of my daughter getting her driver's license. I got up and went directly to the gym at 6:45 instead of waiting to drive her to school first. It was so nice to park easily and the gym was pleasantly uncrowded.

Today I did interval training on the step machine. I read a funny post at Cranky Fitness about interval training suggesting it was like torture, so maybe I don't do it right!

What I do is warm up for 5 minutes, then increase my speed for 60+ seconds to as high/fast as I can, then recover for 1-3 minutes, then repeat. I do this for 30 minutes, then I cool down for 10 minutes.

The benefits of interval training include increased metabolism, increased fat burning and increased cardiovascular fitness. All this in a shorter period of time spent, due to the intensity of the workout. The intensity depends on the individual fitness level. What I could do 6 months ago was much different than what I can do now - and certainly much less that that of an elite athlete! There is a good guide for beginners on Spark People.

ONLY A DENT

I have been feeling pretty good about myself. I have stayed on plan, been exercising 6 days a week. The pounds are coming off. My husband actually noticed and mentioned that I have lost weight. So, feeling good!

Then, at the gym Sunday. I caught a rear view of myself in a mirror. OMG. That 35 pounds is really just a tiny dent in what needs to be done here. It may be a third of my initial goal, but, clearly, there is much more work to be done!

So - good work so far...I have 10 weeks until Maggie's graduation. So I want to lose 50 pounds before then. Can I do it?

And then the real question. After that big event, can I keep going? That is the real question. Because that will not be the end goal. I want to lose at least another fifty pounds after that. I have been known in the past to fall off the program after an event. So this time, knowing that about myself, I will have to recommit in a big way.

NORMAL

I was talking with a girlfriend the other day about the fact that I will never be able to eat like normal people do. That I have to eat less than most people to maintain weight and a LOT less to lose weight.

Everyone who knows me can see that I don't really eat that much. I am a waste of money at a buffet. I can nibble all day, but eat large amounts? No way. Yes, I occasionally binge, I sometimes make indulgent choices when faced with a menu, the holidays sometimes extend into March, that sort of thing. And then I am up by many pounds. Compound that by 20 years and here I am.

I realized that I was able to deal with this as a single woman. I didn't eat like most people, I ate mini meals most of the time. But when I got married, actually, when my to be husband and I began to co-habitate, I began to eat like a "normal" person. What I thought a normal person did.

NORMAL. What is normal?

In my mind normal was 3 meals a day and maybe a dessert. Dinner is the meal you have with the family. You have a protein, a vegetable and a starch. Breakfast and lunch are full meals, too. Gaining weight didn't have to do with letting myself go. It had to do with letting myself be normal - what I perceived as normal.

HELLO?

If I couldn't eat that way before, why did I think I could eat that way after? Major disconnect. Of course, it is because I wanted so much to BE normal. I didn't want to be exposed as NOT normal. It is that same magical thinking that if no one sees you eat that hidden stash of goodies then then you won't gain weight from eating it....right?

My girlfriend admonished me in no uncertain terms that she, and no one she knows who is slim and maintains a slim weight eats "normally" as I had perceived it. She very carefully watches her carbs, pretty much always has a salad for lunch, plain protein and veggies for dinner. Her indulgence is wine, not sweets.

And all these years I could have sat down with husband and family and have very small portions, left off the pasta and skipped the rolls; had a salad for lunch instead of polishing off leftovers of the previous night's dinner. I could have easily managed my weight like I did as a single woman without making a big deal about it. And no one would have thought I was ABNORMAL.

Because there is no normal.

ALL KINDS OF NEW FLEXIBILITY

Today I had the opportunity to see how I could operate with flexibility under my plan. I think it worked pretty well. I went to the gym this morning , then got ready for my job interview - which went really well.



I called an old friend to let her know she is on my references list, she said let's do lunch and I said I'm not eating, but ok. So I ordered carefully to meet my "lean and green" requirements and had a protein bar and some asparagus for my dinner meal. I couldn't pass up the asparagus...it is just too fresh and beautiful.



I think that worked out well, I could have nursed an iced tea and watched her eat, but that seems anti-social. I can understand why some people just choose not to meet people over meals when they are "dieting" but I love sitting with friends over food - there is no reason it has to be decadent food.

In fact, my friend and I split a grilled artichoke which had the most spectacularly flavorful olive oil brushed on it. You know you are getting into fitness when a grilled artichoke is tasting decadent!