Who Made You Fat?

So my friends at ACAM run a wellness blog called Community Table with a lot of great stuff. Earlier this week they posted an article from London Free Press that got me thinking. It centers around why we are fat, who or what is at the root?

Steve Siebold, author of Diet Fat or Get Tough, "Getting fat is 100% your fault. It's not partly your fault; it's completely your fault."Siebold is well aware of the tolls obesity takes as a former "fat-tub-of-lard with my belly hanging over my belt." The article, of course counters that there are medical reasons for obesity.

As you can imagine this mentality has gotten a lot of flack for its hard hitting blunt mentality.What do I think about it? I have to be a chick and make a Sex and the City reference to the infamous "He's Just Not That Into You" episode. I want to talk about how my brain is hardwired and how it was too late by the time I had a real choice, but alas the option to put the fork down has been staring me in the face ever since I realized there was a choice.

I had it all written out - how habits are formed from the crib and so forth - but if that is truly the case, why was it that during UKC I experienced a significant reduction in cravings? Well, my body was detoxing from all of the toxins first of all, but what I was left with was what I think normal people experience. Things sounded yummy, but I didn't have the hard hitting cravings I was once a slave to; which, came back after I started reintegrating certain not-so-good foods into my life, by the way.

Lets take a look at some of the 'Die Fat or Get Fit' fundamentals

* "Fat people eat for pleasure; fit people eat for health" While this assumes non-fat people are fit, how many times have we heard, "I used to live to eat but now I live to eat" on The Biggest Loser?

* "Fat people believe there's a secret to getting fit; fit people know there is no secret" Where is the magic diet pill people have died trying to find?

* "Fat people are obsessed with food; fit people are obsessed with success." I actually see the other side, fat people are obsessed with success so much so they get in their own ways trying to find perfection.

* "Fat people believe 99% compliance is good; fit people believe 99% compliance is terrible" Well, that's a bit extreme for me, that fit person sounds a bit crazy in my opinion

* "Fat people negotiate the price of success; fit people just pay the price" Okay, I see that. Trying to find the easy way out or talking yourself out of that 1% compliance. But once again, doesn't everyone do that?

So what do you guys think? Fact or Bull? As Mr. Siebold says, "This epidemic will continue to escalate until people wake up and realize they are the problem as well as the solution."

Yoga For Dummies DVD

So everyone that knows me is well aware that I'm lacking in the balance/coordination department. Kettlebells have helped with that a lot and my flexibility has increased as well.

Lately my hips have been tight, I'm not as good with stretching as I should be, so why not try yoga as a one stop shop exercise?

I have to admit that I bought a ton of fitness DVDs when I worked at Best Buy that have gone unused for years. I did a Kathy Smith yoga video and was so lost that I stopped. Well last night I popped in Yoga For Dummies DVD and liked it!

It really is the basics, but it gave a good overview of where each part of your body should be and what it should be doing at various stages of the moves which I found helpful. I was actually mad at myself that I've had the DVD for a long time and never used it.

I'd try to get it on Netflix or the library since it was really basic, but the instructor was helpful and the "dummy" tips were useful too.

UKC Numbers

Here are my stats for UKC for 6 weeks (42 days)

Intake: 51,925 calories
Output: 131,763 calories (per BodyBugg, KBs burn a lot more!)
Deficit: 79,838

Pounds Lost: 19
Total Inches Lost: 14.75 !!!!
Neck: 1.5 inches
Arm: 2.0 inches
Waist: 6.25 inches
Thigh: 5.0 inches

In The Interest of Full Disclosure

I thought I'd piggyback off of Chris and post my weights at various times for full disclosure.



My weight has been a constant struggle, I first started to notice it in 5th grade, but definitely in 6th grade. I only weighed 125 or so that year, but I couldn't fit into the juniors section (Limited Too, lol) that my friends could.

I remember weighing myself the summer between 7th and 8th grade and could not believe that it said 156. That was when my first real diet started. After that it was about 10 pounds every year from there, I'd lose some weight and gain it back. Eventually, I started to gain more back than I had lost so my dieting really served as a way to stave back the weight gain.

I fit into Limited / Express up until the second half of my first year in college. After that my ability to lose weight deteriorated, which I now know was due to lack of muscle, lots of fat, and probably PCOS (which BTW my doctors lacked to diagnose me as until 2009!)

That is why I'm proud of the 12 pounds I lost in 2009, I actually did lose a total of 18, but slipped towards the end of the year. But, the important thing was that UKC made sure that I stuck with my goals and thanks to it I have continued the downward trend.



I'm not going to say what my Week 6 numbers were (stay tuned this week), but I will say I finally felt validated with my progress above and beyond how much better I feel physically and mentally. I will say that the next dot on the chart does put me at "only" severely obese status. It's a hard pill to swallow, but yes that is a good thing. :)

Last Day of UKC

We had our last day of official UKC today. I can't believe that we all met exactly 6 weeks ago for orientation. People say it takes 3 months for a full turnaround and confirmation of behavior, but I feel like we have a good head start.

I feel the change in me. My aftercare plan is really to keep moving because I know that's really important. I know that it is a slippery slope food wise so I'm not planning on making any dramatic additions, the longer I go with the original plan the longer I prolong my momentum. (I am looking forward to brown rice tortillas of all things though, oh and balsamic).

I want to start doing morning workouts, if not at the gym then at my house doing videos/kettlebells/pool. My Bodybugg shows a bigger burn when I workout in the morning, so why not capitalize on that?

Unlike other plans, my stomach has shrunken so much, too. It's unbelievable actually. What usually happens is I lose 15 pounds and I'm in the same pants and they are baggy in the legs. This time I've lost some of my tummy, I started in a XXL workout pant from Old Navy and as of this morning I fit into the large sized pants.

Honestly, I feel like I'm sprinting past other "diet" plans I've been on, as of last week I'm lower than I was a few years ago when I lost a bunch of weight and as of today I am following the weight loss track of when I did the UCI meal replacements plan in 2004.

What's the official number? You'll have to check out Wednesday's episode.

My Progress...

So I was feeling down after the weigh in, but I know there's progress being made in terms of how I feel and how my clothes are fitting. It should be interesting to do measurements on Saturday.

These are what the past year have looked like, 'Wk 0' is around Mother's Day 2009 and I'm at about my heaviest, 248. 'Wk 29' is December 2009 and 'Week 40' pics were taken yesterday.

Confession...

So in complete honesty, I fell off of the wagon last night which is made even worse by the fact I had just left our group counseling session. I think it was mainly about it being an ingrained tradition for my birthday and having that feeling of food and family around me.

I had made plans to meet family at Friday's of all places for dinner. It's easy to get to for everyone and the portions aren't humongous like other chains. I had resolved to eat grilled chicken and steamed veggies, but I went a little too long without eating and BS'd myself into having one potato skin and a burger - no sauce and only the bottom bun. But I digress, not having the sauce or the top bun don't make the offense any lighter, I committed myself to the program and I broke my promises.

I usually avoid black and white thinking, but I know it is a slippery slope and accountability is my thing, which is why I'm posting for all to see. I've even thought about waiting even longer to reintegrate things back into my diet for that very reason. Part of the only reason I'm actually posting this is because my body felt terrible last night and this morning and I told Chris.

Yesterday I had a light breakfast and salad and got in extra cardio. But, all of that PLUS everything I'm doing today is only to play catch up for the moment of weakness yesterday, no matter how I look at it. All of the cardio I do today will not be to move me forward, it will be to make up for setbacks last night. (I still had a calorie deficit and that was with the Bodybugg's interpretation of KBs).

It's been a tough week with cravings, but in a way this has recommitted me. Emotional eater me won last night, but I'm making it a priority to be stronger the next few weeks until some not-so-bad things come back into my life.

What's done is done. I woke up this morning, took all of my vitamins, my apple cider vinegar, packed all of my food for the day, have consumed 40+ oz of water and am planning on going to the gym at lunch and in between work and UKC tonight.

Oh, BTW, my allowance system takes money away for these very things. Booo :(

There, I published it, now I have to do it.