30 lbs down!!!

I'm thrilled!!!
30 lbs lost forever!!! In just under a year.
Thank you, fast-five! Thank you, no sugar diet! I'm so happy, thankful for the tools that I've used, and proud of myself!

To be realistic, this just means that my weight range now extends down to the magic 30lb loss, I don't weigh that little all the time. Yet!

On another note, I was thinking of readjusting my expectations for the holidays to be happy with just maintaining rather than losing. But why should I lower my expectations of myself? I can do this. There's no reason to shoot myself in the foot by admitting the battle's lost before it even starts. So -- here's to continued loss over the holidays!!
:)

Exercise while fasting? Yes!

More proof that FASTING IS GOOD FOR EVERYTHING!!

I prefer running or working out on an empty stomach. If I've eaten I feel too sluggish. Now there's a study on why that might be a good thing!

In this post at The Well blog at NYTimes.com, Tara Parker-Pope talks about a study showing that exercising before breakfast (i.e., while fasting) helps prevent weight gain and helps muscles maintain insulin sensitivity, among other benefits. I recommend the whole article but I've copied the conclusion below.

The subjects were divided into 3 groups. Group 1 ate a big breakfast and did no exercise; Group 2 ate a big breakfast before exercising; Group 3 exercised before eating a big breakfast. Groups 1 and 2 both gained weight, with Group 1 gaining more weight than Group 2.

The article says:
"Only the group that exercised before breakfast gained almost no weight and showed no signs of insulin resistance. They also burned the fat they were taking in more efficiently. “Our current data,” the study’s authors wrote, “indicate that exercise training in the fasted state is more effective than exercise in the carbohydrate-fed state to stimulate glucose tolerance despite a hypercaloric high-fat diet.”

"Just how exercising before breakfast blunts the deleterious effects of overindulging is not completely understood, although this study points toward several intriguing explanations. For one, as has been known for some time, exercising in a fasted state (usually possible only before breakfast), coaxes the body to burn a greater percentage of fat for fuel during vigorous exercise, instead of relying primarily on carbohydrates. When you burn fat, you obviously don’t store it in your muscles. In “our study, only the fasted group demonstrated beneficial metabolic adaptations, which eventually may enhance oxidative fatty acid turnover,” said Peter Hespel, Ph.D., a professor in the Research Center for Exercise and Health at Catholic University Leuven in Belgium and senior author of the study.

"At the same time, the fasting group showed increased levels of a muscle protein that “is responsible for insulin-stimulated glucose transport in muscle and thus plays a pivotal role in regulation of insulin sensitivity,” Dr Hespel said.

"In other words, working out before breakfast directly combated the two most detrimental effects of eating a high-fat, high-calorie diet. It also helped the men avoid gaining weight."

How about it? Do you prefer to work out fasted or with something in your stomach?

UPDATE: I've started trying to add a full-day fast (which, given my eating window, turns into a 44-hour fast) once per week. I've been jogging about 38 hours into the fast and I've felt no ill effects. Though I should add that I don't run very quickly. And after reading the article mentioned above I've completely stopped worrying about exercising while fasted; I think being mentally relaxed about it helps.

Bouncing weight

I get all excited when I have a new low weight. Unfortunately, my weight bounces around within about a 5-lb window, and it may be another week before I see that low weight again. And it may be another three weeks before I can usually hit that weight. And another six or eight weeks until that weight is the high end of the window.
I think that's why it feels like I'm on a long plateau. Yesterday I was at 157 -- I first weighed that much the end of October, six weeks ago. But at the time it was my low weight and now it's my high weight. Nonetheless, when I see the number, part of me says, "Nooooo! I haven't lost any weight in six weeks!" Then I have to take a deep breath and get over it. :)
That said, I can't wait to get back down to my new low weight, 154.1. :)

Feeding the beast

I think it's Suze Ormann who has stated on her show that debt, especially when hidden from a spouse or family, usually correlates with weight gain. And when people fix their debt, they lose the weight.
I feel like being in control of my nutrition has helped me feel more in control of many aspects of my life, including my finances.
This article from Salon.com about types of purchases made with cash vs. credit/debit cards could almost be talking about my relationship with food... :)

"[The authors of the study] make a pretty authoritative case that grocery shoppers who pay with credit or debit cards tend to purchase larger quantities of unhealthy food. Basically, when you pay with cash, the theory goes, you tend to weigh your purchases more carefully. Credit and debit cards, on the other hand, seem to encourage impulsive behavior. Or, as the authors put it, "the abstract and emotionally inert nature of card payments ... reduce the pain of payment." Whereas, cash hurts , and "visceral responses such as feelings of pain can extinguish consumptive desires. With the extinction of desire, vice products no longer seem so appealing."

Full article here!

Black and white rules

I've heard (and said!) many times that Fast-5 works because it's easier to NOT EAT for most of the day than to EAT REASONABLY for the entire day. There's no second-guessing yourself or rationalizing that extra cookie.

Bevan James Eyles has a great podcast about this exact subject. Black and white rules (i.e. "no sugar, ever!") are more useful than limited rules (i.e. "not too much sugar today").

When you have a black and white rule, your mind will start to find ways to comply with the rule. Your mind will work with you.

But, when you have the limited rules, your "internal lawyer" will start to find loopholes and exceptions. Your mind will work against you to rationalize the exceptions to the rule.

The trouble, for me, was convincing myself that the rules really were final. No eating before 5pm, no sugar, no flour. Those are my eating rules. At this point, emotionally and mentally they're pretty easy to follow. I don't give myself the option of breaking them. I've even joked that my only superpower is not eating until 5pm no matter what.

Anyhow, if you check out the podcast I'd love to hear your thoughts. Mr. Eyles says it much more eloquently than I do.

Bullying and tolerance

There's a fascinating story on Slate.com about the bullying suffered by the author as an overweight child. I read it with great sympathy, as I myself was a magnet for childhood bullying. The story made me remember times that I had stuffed down the memory hole; it's uncomfortable, to say the least, to remember those times. The worst for me was about 5th through 8th grade, when a clique of "cool girls" selected me as their victim. I still remember, in 8th or 9th grade, when the ringleader asked if I'd like to hang out with them sometime -- first, I thought they were horrible people and didn't want to spend time with them, and second, I thought it was a trick, so I said no. Looking back, I wonder if it was a genuine offer -- perhaps she had a change of heart (or was acting under duress from her parents).

In any case I don't remember much about that group in high school and I missed my 10th high school reunion -- maybe I'll see how they're doing at the 20th. After her 30th reunion, my mom said something wise: "Life has a way of ironing people out." After success and failure, degrees and marriages, job losses and divorces, children's births and (sadly) deaths, people that were plain nasty in high school had mellowed. Life comes into perspective. (LOL -- she did say it took 30 years.)

I wasn't bullied for my size, which was tallish and chubby but not crazy fat. I was (still am!) socially awkward and had no skills for dealing with confrontation. I think there was just something about me that screamed "victim!" I was lucky enough to have three amazing friends -- the only ones from childhood and high school I'm still in touch with -- and a wonderful family, so I had an emotional safety net that many bullied kids don't have. During adolescence I gained more confidence and the bullying faded, though I never was in a "cool" clique. (And I'm still not.)
There was an insightful comment in response to the bullying story mentioned above (full comment here, emphasis mine) :

The moment they convinced you that the reason for the bullying was your being fat, they won. And the moment you realized it was nothing but a power play, you started winning your self-esteem back.
Bullies come in all shapes and sizes, and so do bullied kids. If it weren't your weight, it would have been something else. [...] I realize now that just like a dog senses fear, the potential bulliers sensed vulnerability/receptiveness in me. And I spent years before I finally figured out that [...] it was mostly not about the bulliers, it was about me, and would continue to be until I dealt with it in the present tense. [...] —kipouros

Wise words! Like sexual harassment and rape, bullying isn't about the obvious issue; it's just a power play. And the only way to face it is to trust yourself and gain confidence, learn those social skills (even how to have a verbal fight) and use them. Set your own agenda and set your own boundaries instead of reacting to others' plans and actions. Take responsibility for yourself!

The bullying issue is a bit off topic, but I think it's relevant because many weight issues are related to emotional ones. I remember gaining weight as a child immediately after a traumatic event -- I've wondered if I'd have remained slim, like the rest of my family, if I'd received some sort of counseling at the time. And as with everything around me right now, all this seems to relate to some sort of unified theory of life that supports fasting. Intermittent fasting is the best way I've found to take responsibility for my nutrition, health, and appearance. It's also made me calmer and more open to positive emotions, love and gratitude, and readier to accept people. And because I'm more committed to my own well-being it's made me more decisive about cutting contact with toxic people.

Thoughts? Has anyone read the article?

Are we making Fido fat?

The animals that live with us are getting fat too.
Nobody is safe from a toxic environment!!
Thanks to Seth's blog for this link.

We never repent of having eaten too little, part 2

Last night I didn't get home before my window ended so I didn't get to eat everything I had planned. I thought about extending my window but, with the Thomas Jefferson quote in mind (we never repent of having eaten too little), I just put everything away and saved it for today.
And how to I feel?
I feel fine.
Not hungrier than normal, and none of the "ooooh I shouldn't have eaten that" remorse.
He might be on to something.
If only I could remember that quote every day... ;)

weight spike

Ugh! My weight just went up three pounds in two days. I'm sure it will come back down, normal fluctuations and all, but I hate to see the number climb. I have to remind myself that a few months ago I was thrilled to be under 170, then under 160, and in another few months I'll be thrilled to be under 150. Remember the big picture!

free weight loss

I was checking out the Mindful Muscle site, where they're selling a diet program (it looks very good), and it made me wonder how much people spend trying to lose weight. A quick google search says that in 2006, Marketdata estimated that the total U.S. weight loss market was worth $55.4 billion. Assuming a U.S. population of 310 million, that's an average of $178 per person. (Corrected. Wow, was I confused about the U.S. population size!)

In my 11 month long weight loss odyssey I have spent a grand total of $8 on products. Eight dollars. That was on a book called "Dr. Gott's No Flour, No Sugar Diet". The whole diet is contained in the title though, so it wasn't even necessary to buy the book.

Dr. Herring, the author of the Fast-5 book, provides it free of charge. To me that embodies the mindset of Fast-5. It is the antithesis of the more-more-more mentality. It's about opting out of the consumer culture, not participating in the money game. I really respect that. This is a great diet and he could be earning bank with it; instead, he gives it away to all takers.

So not only have I lost weight for free, I've saved a ton of money on groceries. That's like getting paid to lose weight. :)

And most importantly, I feel like I'm in control. I'm not dependent on a paid coach or trainer or therapist. I'm responsible for my own weight and (with a little help from my blogger friends!) I'm getting results.

Thank you, Dr. Herring!

it's the food, silly

Which matters more, diet or exercise?
For weight loss, the answer is...
Diet.

Exercise is important for a million reasons but, if you don't change your diet, it won't make you thin.

The brilliant minds behind the Mindful Muscle blog write about this in a post called When Exercise Doesn't Work.

It makes all the sense in the world. Changing our diet is simple and yet sooooo much harder than going to the gym.

Accountability

Great post at the Mindful Muscle blog about 8 habits for weight loss. They're hawking their product, of course, but the list is absolutely inspired.

1. Measure what you want to improve. What gets measured gets done.
2. Take photos
3. Do something every day
4. Make it easy
5. Practice only one habit at a time
6. No "wondering & worrying" questions
7. Get a little help from your friends. Build a social network.
8. Be accountable to someone

Their post has examples and explanations of each point. I've found that measuring (pounds, calories, miles run, etc) helps me stay on track. And as far as #7 and #8 go, the blog comments make me feel like part of a social group and like I'm accountable to my readers. I don't know if I'd still be going strong if I weren't able to read the blogs of other fast-fivers. This blog has given me a place to process some of my fasting/weight issues and I really appreciate the feedback from you, readers.
Thank you so much! You're keeping me on track!

lowering my goal

So I weighed in this morning at 154.3, just a few pounds away from my original goal of 150. I can already see that it'll take more than 4 lbs to get to where I want to be... I'm losing weight unevenly and the stubborn lumps are even more obvious now than before. I'm lowering my goal to 145 lbs, which will put me at a BMI of 20.2.
It may take months but I'll get there! :)

It's worth it :)

Holiday eating (forced social eating!) and more sweets than usual. It's too awkward to get an ingredient list from everyone at a potluck so despite my best efforts I'm sure I've had sugar. I can tell because the day after sugar I'm ravenous all day. But it's worth it to wait for my eating window! I just bought a holiday dress in size 8.
Last year's was a 14.
:)
All the effort really is paying off!

Let’s make it easy on ourselves

Is it easier to eat well when there’s a big chocolate cake sitting in front of you or when there’s a lovely plate of veggies and hummus?

Veggies, of course. So don’t put a chocolate cake there.

It’s all about avoiding the need to use your willpower. Save it for when you really need it; those times will certainly come. Don’t test yourself just for kicks and don’t make every day a battle royale. Find a way to design your day that makes it possible to meet your goals.

Great post from Brad Pilon about throwing the Halloween candy away to eliminate temptation. I also heard a wonderful podcast by Bevan James Eyles about creating the right environment to promote success. Everything seems to point at the same thing: Take charge. Plan. Change the environment. Create a context conducive to your goals, be they weight loss (like me) or studying for school or anything else.

For me, candy is my downfall. My plan: avoid it entirely. I don’t have it in my house at all. If a guest has it I’ll stick it out of sight in a cupboard. In stores I avoid the candy aisle like the plague. I lie to friends and colleagues who offer chocolates, saying, “No thanks, I’m not big on sweets.” If I were Pinocchio my nose would stretch across the room. (Is it magical thinking to hope that it could become true through repetition?)

Though I have to admit, all the holiday candy out now makes me a little nostalgic. Mmmmm. We had some good times together, Christmas candy and I… Eating bags of Reece’s alone in my room then feeling so gross and embarrassed that I hid the wrappers so no one would find them in the trash… Oh wait, maybe those times weren’t so good. ;)

The point being, we don’t need to torture ourselves unnecessarily.

Food addiction?

The University of California hosts public lectures by various researchers and professors on a wide range of subjects. The recordings are available through iTunes U for free, just download iTunes to your computer and search for UCTV. I love the ones about health and medicine in general and the whole series on obesity.

One about food and addiction asks, Can food cause addictive behavior? The short answer seems to be: Yes, it can. Link here.

This is the blurb: What environmental factors contribute to obesity? Kelly Brownell of Yale University is the Public Health Director at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. He explores causes and prevention of obesity and other nutrition problems. He integrates information from many disciplines and specialties ranging from the basic physiology of body weight regulation to world politics and legislation affecting issues such as agriculture subsidies and international trade policies.

Dr. Brownell mentions that Coke and Pepsi’s trade association, the American Beverage Association, raised their lobbying from $1 million/year to $20 million/year to defeat the sugared-beverage tax. I’m becoming convinced that soft drink companies are in the same moral swamp as tobacco companies. If consumed as directed, harm is done to the consumer. I was in Atlanta, GA recently and ended up touring the Coke facility there – they really are masters of marketing. (Evil, evil marketing. Somehow they've convinced us to equate carbonated sugar water with love, family, and happiness.)

I’m really interested in what people think of the lecture on food addiction. It made me think of this post by Brad Pilon, which points out that there’s no conspiracy to make us fat. The conspiracy is for food companies to make money by selling us more food. They actually don’t care one way or another if we get fat, as long as we keep buying. We are collateral damage in their campaign to improve their bottom line.

This also relates to other musings about willpower. I think we need to re-think willpower; if we swear we won’t eat something, then eat it, it’s not just that we’re weak. We’re obeying our bodies. The problem is that our bodies sometimes don’t know what’s best for us. Realizing that overeating may have an element of food addiction, with all the crazy dynamics of addiction, may give us another tool to tame our eating habits.

Dr. Brownell says that at a meeting that included nutritionists and addiction specialists, the addiction researchers were much more open to the idea of food addiction than the nutritionists. There seems to be a collective mental block about recognizing that food affects us in a million ways beyond simply giving energy. This NYTimes article about a ketogenic diet to treat pediatric epilepsy also mentions the difficulty the medical community has with accepting food as therapy. As Hippocrates said, “Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food.” Medicine is powerful, and so is food.

This post is already a bit all over the place so I'll go ahead and repost a great lecture by Dr. Robert Lustig about why sugar (especially fructose) is bad for us – basically, it’s metabolized like a poison, just like alcohol. I really recommend it to anyone trying to cut down on processed carbs; it’s great motivation.

To sum up: current research indicates food can cause addictive behaviors. Use that knowledge as a tool when examining your own relationship with food!

Clothes

After my last trip, doing laundry and putting clothes away led to going through my clothes and pitching tons of clothes and shoes. It makes me feel lighter, less cluttered. When I accumulate too much stuff I start to feel like I’m at the service of the stuff rather than the other way around.

Doing this after a trip seems to help because, after having survived just fine without the stuff for a few weeks, I realize I don’t need it and don’t miss it when I don’t have it available. It’s also easier to hush that little voice in my head, saying “but I got that in [foreign country] / it was a gift from [loved one] / I got that for [special occasion]!” I have lots of gifts and mementos that I use and enjoy – I need to learn to get rid of the ones that I never use and just take up storage space. The stuff is completely irrelevant to the happy memories and the loving relationships!

Among the objects I donated is a lot of size 12-14 clothing. Yaay! I don’t want it in my house. I’m burning bridges with my heavier weight and making a commitment to maintaining a lower weight.

I’m wearing mostly size 10 now. The difference in cut between a size 14 and a size 10 is amazing. I once saw a report about why larger size clothing is unflattering and the designer said that, while thin people all have basically the same shape, large people all carry weight in different places so their clothing has to accommodate a wide range of body types and is generally cut very baggy. In size 10’s I can start to see that the clothing has better construction and is much more flattering to the body’s form.

Looking forward to trying size 8’s… in a few months…

Sweets=hungry. Fat=full.

Have been noticing recently how certain foods make me feel. Specifically: if I have a sweet dessert like a Lara bar after a meal, then it’s guaranteed that 15 minutes later I’ll be trolling the kitchen, opening and closing the fridge and cupboards until I find something else to munch on. If I have an apple or other not-super-sweet fruit then the tendency to snack is much lower. A couple of days ago the last thing I ate was very fatty – avocado/tomato salad drowned in olive oil – and when I woke up the next morning I still felt full! I didn’t even become aware of my stomach again until late afternoon.

If I go over my calorie limit it’s usually because of late-night grazing, not the meals. I think it may be worth upping the (good) fat intake. It’s high in calories but it prevents mindless grazing later. The trick may be eating something that’s just fat, avoiding the combination of fat+carbs (helooo, donuts).

Maybe if I eat the sweet stuff in the middle of my window it will have less of an effect? Or really, is there ever a good time to eat this stuff?

Has anybody else noticed something similar? What is that last thing you eat at night? How does it affect your appetite?

whoa... the whole country is thin...

Traveling again. I’m in a skinny country. Seriously, people here are really slim. (It’s a developed nation; we’re not talking malnutrition.) On the street I keep thinking people are young until I see their wrinkly faces. It’s made me realize that where I am in the US – and I think in most of the country – it’s very rare to see a trim senior. Well, I want to be like these people when I grow up. They’re living proof that old≠fat and gaining weight as we age is certainly not fait accompli.

Things I’ve noticed:

1. Eating is a formal activity, done at a table with silverware and other people. You don’t snack between meals and you don’t eat while walking around. The meal ritual is very important. I think sharing the meal makes it more satisfying and social pressure to not have a fourth serving may help too.
2. Now that I think of it, drinking alcohol is ritualized here too. Almost everyone drinks but it’s generally done in a group, with much laughter, and even on nights out I haven’t seen anybody really drunk. (Speaking for my own circle of acquaintances. Not to say everything is perfect here and somebody is surely getting smashed somewhere in the country.)
3. Serving sizes are modest. Restaurant servings are so small compared to what I’m used to that when the plate arrives I wonder if I should order a second one. Sometimes I do, but usually I realize I’m full after the first plate.
4. Fresh fruit & vegetable stands are on every corner because most everyone picks up fresh groceries every day. These are then used for actual cooking, not just heating up processed things from boxes.
5. People walk. For miles. I get worn out trying to keep up with little old ladies; a quick errand of “just a few blocks” might mean 20 minutes there and 20 back. And this isn’t considered special exercise time, it’s just doing errands.
6. The dark side: social pressure to be thin is intense, especially for women, and size discrimination is common. I feel like I get a free pass for being American but if I lived here I would sort of be expected to get with the (thin) program to fit in.

I think it’s the social rituals around eating that help keep weight down. Maybe I need some of those rituals. Because it’ s not just about willpower. It’s about creating an environment where it’s easy to eat well and exercise as part of daily life.

P.S. I just looked up average BMI’s for women – in the country where I am now it is 24.4, the high end of normal. In the US it’s 28.1, in the overweight range and closer to obese than to normal.

(Body Mass Index: under 18 is underweight, 18-25 is normal, 25-30 is overweight, 30 or over is obese.)