It’s Monday again. Trudging along, one step after another. Weigh in for this morning is 167lbs. I am supposed to be 160.75lbs today. Almost 7 pounds off. I am thinking about what to do with that. I am 3 weeks off. This is what I should have weighed on June 1st. Do I continue forward being behind, knowing in the back of my mind that I’m off track. Do I reset my dates & weights to reflect where I am at today? I don’t know what to do. I wish someone would leave a comment on which they think I should do & why.
More Hype, More Bullsh*t:
Did you see the government changed to food pyramid? Yes, here it is.
New One 
Old One 
Oooo0hh, it’s so pretty with all the bright primary colors. Do you see the differences? Grain, cereal & pasta is still the largest group. I don’t understand why they wasted,I mean spent, all that tax money without doing any substantive research on the problems causing obesity. Cereals & pasta, flour & breads are what is causing the majority of metabolic problems & overweight issues. They didn’t even spend any money researching that.
Aahh, that excellent math formula. With this, they don’t have to do any research at all on metabolic changes due to food types. No discussion on how insulin works in our bodies and how that can be strongly impacted by types of food ingested:
There is no factual, unbiased scientific data that supports calories in minus calories burned equals weight loss – every time. No where does the government allocate any of our money to do proper research for that either. See, I do believe we have a problem with obesity in America. But instead of beating up on all the overweight people because they are gluttons that are too damn lazy to lose weight, they should be doing better research to understand what dietary changes are causing such a wide spread problem.
I suspect one reason they don’t is because they are too corporate-friendly. I read something earlier today that the government research shows Nesquik is a healthy choice of beverage for kids. Since 50 percent of kids don’t get enough calcium***, Nesquik is a great solution that parents can rely on to get more calcium in their kids’ diet. Each serving of Nesquik provides all of the nutrition of milk, plus it is specially fortified with essential bone building nutrients such as calcium, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Zinc and Biotin. No where does it discuss the harmfulness of amping your kids up on that much refined sugar. Look at how much trouble they have discussing how bad fruit juices are due to the refined sugar content.
What can we do about this???
We have some really great things happening. Twitter, facebook, blogs. Especially blogs. I was so impressed to see what a strong vehicle blogs can be for getting new ideas out. But can we direct the benefits? Can someone blog about something and really gain media attention? I wonder about this. I wonder if regular people will be able to talk about something in a blog and really get a large number of people interested. Would the media attention really foster changes in say, the food industry, or the government?
You all remember the documetary “Super-Size Me”.
‘Coincidentally (not) shortly after Super Size Me was released, McDonald’s announced it was going to discontinue it’s Super Size menu. They of course denied it had anything to do with the film.’
So, this brought a small change. But my husband just told me he thinks they still do some form of super-sizing. We have a really great thing here in America, we are consumers. But we have forgotten that is where our strength lies. Our ability to NOT buy certain products. What if we were able to organize a tweet up, post info on facebook & advertise it on blogs and hundreds of thousands of people all over the US didn’t go into, say, McDonalds for a day, (or a week). And the blog ad could explain that we were doing it to motivate the company to make real changes to their poisonous food.
Could we find a way to influence researchers to do more accurate studies on the relationship to food type & metabolic changes caused by them on a molecular level. Find a real answer to why so many people cannot lose weight from a normal, healthy lifestyle.
What are your thoughts?????
Hey, I just found your blog & I love it. I have been reading the back & forth between you & April D., it is a very interesting debate. I personally am trying to lose 50 pounds. I, kind of like you, was always thin. When I turned 30, I got pregnant & had 2 babies in 2 years & ate whatever my little heart desired. My babies are now 5 & 6 —- & I still eat whatever my little heart desires! Anyway……I wanted to ask you a question about your wheat allergies, since I sometimes feel as though I have them. How did you eliminate them & did you eliminate ALL wheat & did you feel the difference immediately & if so, how? Thanks for listening to my rambling & I hope you don’t mind answering my tedious questions! I will be following your blog from now on!
Lisa – When I am being successful with it, I eliminate all wheat. Occasionally I will cheat with grainy bread or chocolate cake. When I do, the bread is painful & the cake just makes me lethargic.
Because of the addictive properties in simple carbohydrates, I go through a withdrawal period of some cranky-ness, sleepy-ness & trouble concentrating. That lasts about 3-4 days. Then my energy soars and my mood improves greatly. After I’ve done this for a couple of weeks, when I cheat, the withdrawal issues only last a few hours.
For some reason, it feels as though wheat products not only affect my insulin levels, but also my dopamine & seretonin levels. So, when my diet includes foods with wheat, I’ve noticed a little depression.
By ‘cleaning’ my diet, my moods get much brighter. Working with my doctor, we removed ALL wheat from my diet & reintroduced it, one item at a time. What I found was certain foods affect me differently. All the reactions were uncomfortable, but they weren’t exactly the same.
See, I find that so interesting. When your hormones changed from child birth, your body started reacting differently to the food you consumed.
I had a similar situation. When I quit smoking my hormone levels changed dramatically. ( I could tell when I first attempted to quit smoking, my hormones were being affected, my doctor would not believe me.)
There is definately something going on with the food we eat affecting our insulin levels, which cause our bodies to become super-fat-storing machines. I’ve spent time around a couple of obese, (300+lbs) women. They did not eat badly. Certainly not enough to gain THAT much weight. And their doctors did little to really test their metabolism.
Let me ask you some questions: Have you had your thyroid checked? If so, what was the outcome? And if so, was it by a general or family doctor or did an endocrinologist do the testing?
Look forward to chatting with you more!!
I’d really love it if the food pyramid just reflected that human bodies need a variety of nutrients and indicate which foods contain those important nutrients; instead of setting out these blocks of “Eat lots of bread. And some veggies.” I’m also puzzled at how much smaller the vegetable section is than the bread section still. Not to mention; when you look at the serving sizes indicated they do not match up with the visual given: eat 6 oz of bread each day and 5.5 oz of lean meats (for a 2000 calorie intake). Yet hmmm the grain section is REALLY large in the visual; the meat section is tiny. Just some things that strike me right off the bat.
Like you suggest, a waste of money to re-vamp and basically come out with the same thing they had before; but in New! Bright! Colors! And despite the fact that they fully promote that the only basis for any of their weight-loss information is “Calories in = Calories out” (putting aside any talk of different bodies); they try to claim “One size doesn’t fit all” in regards to their pyramid being “flexible”. Riiiight.
Those are some excellent points you bring up. The only difference I could find was a little bit large dairy section.
I am as sick of ‘calories in = calories out’ as you are of people posting on your blog about how you must be unhealthy due to your weight.
; )
Hey, don’t knock the new bright colors.
I mean how many millions of dollars did we spend for a color coded alert system after 9/11?
People dig pretty colors.
Besides, it still doesn’t beat spending money to change our money. Sure, I get how it makes the bills harder to counterfeit, but really, was it absolutely necessary to revamp the quarter (50 times), the nickle, and the penny?
I still haven’t seen a revamped dime.
Re :: The insane emphasis on grains over veggies: The US government has been subsidizing the grain industry for how many decades now?
Brahnamin – You are funny!! Most people don’t know how much that color-coded alert system cost.cost.
It’s the grain/veggie thing that shows the pyramid wasn’t done for improved health. Like I said, it’s all BS. We don’t have any ‘real’ info on what to eat, or how to honestly decrease obisity… or any other disease for that matter. Look at cancer. You can’t tell me with the billions & billions of dollars spent, they still have so little real info. The majority of the research money is spent researching ‘treating’ cancer, not coming up with a cure. I’m just sayin’…
Thank you so very much for such a detailed answer, Veronica. It makes sense to eliminate everything, and then reintroduce it. How does the low number of carbs affect your cycling? I was always told you needed a great number of carbs to run/cycle/etc. I never knew if it was even true. I am especially curious because I have just started trying to become a runner. Super low miles, but trying nonetheless. I know that I tried Atkins & gave up after a day due to headaches/lethargy. I know you’re not “doing” Atkins, but it seems like you don’t consume alot of carbs. To answer your question, I did have my thyroid checked (by my family doctor) because I swore that I either had a thyroid problem or diabetes. According to the tests they ran, I am not diabetic (although they said I was prediabetic 2 years ago) & my thyroid is A-OK. It just boggled my mind, since I used to be able to knock off a great number of pounds per week, anytime I so desired by eating fewer calories. I won’t pretend to have exercised, because I never did. NOW – I have actually started exercising & I have reduced my calories as low as it is “safe” to & I can hardly lose a pound! Calories in/calories out my foot! I used to believe it was just that simple, now I know better. Thanks again, I’ll be looking forward to your new postings!
The carb thing is another fallacy, kind of. Keep in mind, I am a cyclist, not a runner but…
A protein diet has made me the strongest on my bike I’ve ever been. Vegetable carbs are good for energy, but pasta & bread carbs make you weak & slow. Sugar carbs cause cramping and are dangerous for an athlete.
I ride 6 days a week right now. Mostly eating protein. I feel very strong. My speeds & distance are increasing. When I ride in the morning, I do not eat first. I am able to do up to a 40 mile ride without ‘bonking’. (When I do longer that 40 miles, I will eat 2 eggs first.) My body has learned to burn fat for energy. That took about 2 weeks.
What I tell my riders is: The carb loading that someone like Lance Armstrong does is very different than the carb loading a regular cyclist needs. Unless you’re a pro-racer, you don’t need to carb load for energy. What your muscles need is protein.
Your body will break down fat as you exercise – if it HAS to. It prefers simple carbs because it takes less energy to convert them to energy, and our bodies are lazy.
If you’re calorie intake is proportionate to the amount of exercising you do (and you eat enough protein) your body will not cannabalize your muscles, it will burn fat.
Most family doctors & GP’s do not know how to properly test for thyroid issues. An example: My step mother was diagnosed & treated for emphyzema, all the while she really had graves disease, which is a thyroid illness. She almost died because her GP wasn’t treating her for the illness that she had.
I don’t know how tall you are or how much you weigh. If I were you, I would go to an endocrinologist to be completely tested. I have so many friends that were told their thyriod was A-ok, only to find the gp didn’t do the right tests.
Be careful reducing your calories below 1200. If you put yourself in starvation mode, your body will automatically slow your metabolism to keep you ‘alive’.
I removed everything from my diet except for protein, then reintroduced certain foods to come up with the list of foods that cause my metabolism to slow down. I have to drink ALOT of water eating like this. I don’t mean that I have to drink water, I have to drink ALOT of water, like 150-200oz daily.
I also take really good liquid vitamins along with Omega Complex (3-6-9) EPA & DHA fatty acids, to help my body burn fat better.
When you remove the bad carbs, your body will go through withdrawals causing headaches & lethargicness. That will only last 3-5 days. Eat spinach to lessen the withdrawals. Popeye knew what he was doing!!
Good luck with your running, slow is always good. Sorry for the long response…
Note that the two food groups noticably larger than the others are cereal and dairy. The ones with most profit in processing and packageing. Check out the movie ‘the future of food’ on hulu.com.
Excellent point!
OMG. Did ya’ll watch that???
Is there any way to find out what companies produce foods with ingredients that are not geneticaally engineered?
I feel better about not eating veggies right now…
Something has to be done…
Veronica, Just got a link for one study on metabolism that I think you’ll find interesting (saw it referenced on Shapely Prose): https://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/332/10/621
I have more content on the topic floating around that needs to coalesce into a post soon.
I’m going to give you a quick answer, because I don’t have time to completely digest the report right now. Thanks for sending it, great info. An initial problem I see is they are looking for a cure for obesity – I am trying to suggest that obesity is a symptom of something else.
Just like the mild depression so many of us feel. I believe it is a symptom of something wrong in my system. I’m having to switch doctors because my current doctor disagrees with me & only wants to medicate me with really dangerous drugs (paxil, zoloft, prozac, etc.) for the depression instead of ‘considering’ some additional tests for what might be wrong.
I had an epiphany yesterday, but alas, I am so buried in work I cannot write it yet. I found the next answer to my question…
Thats it. Somtimes I can be really thick skulled. Thats what I’ve been trying to say. Not looking for excuses for obesity. But that in most cases its a symtom of greater problems. And discovering the real truths are not going to be easy. For instance, your wheat allergy, is that really what it is, or is it, celiac disease, or alloxin?
“The flour manufacturers use a form of chlorine gas to bleach and artificially “age” flour. The goal, of course, is a clean, white product. The chlorine gas reacts with the flour, oxidizing, whitening it and reducing the gluten.
But it also converts a dough additive called xanthine into a toxic substance called alloxan. The alloxan is an unintended byproduct.
So what is alloxan? Alloxan is a toxin which destroys pancreatic islet cells, resulting in diabetes. In fact, Alloxin is specifically used in research labs to induce diabetes in rats and mice for study purposes.”
“In 1910, bleach white flour was declared unfit as human food by the Federal Western District Court of Missouri. Legal wrangling ensued and the case wasn’t settled until 1919. But according to H.W. Wiley, first chief of the Food and Drug Administration, the enforcement of this law was “halted through the political influence of the flour millers” and “no notice of violations has since been made by the FDA.” Mr. Wiley’s book “The History of a Crime Against the Pure Food Law” discusses this case.”
http://www.healthy-eating-politics.com/white-flour.html
The first cheif of the FDA outlawed flour bleaching in 1919, and was replaced with someone from Pillsbury.
Headlines don’t get much better than -
Pillsburry Doughboy Appointed Fat Fighter In Chief
Or is it even something else in the process of wheat. The simple answer is remove wheat from the diet, simple???
And yes I agree, we have to do something. I think this kind of discussion is a great first step. The net is a vast rescource. Maybe we can do something constructive with it.
Sansom – Ah, what an incredible response. I am buried, I mean BURIED with a project at work so won’t be able to respond til monday, but thank you so much for posting this infomation – very interesting indeed.
I don’t know where in the world you are, but I am in San Antonio, Texas. Flour tortillas are almost their own food group here – and a super high incident of diabetes here…