Photo from Mount Royal, Frisco, Colorado.

"That is happiness; to be disolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep." - Willa Cather

Friday 27 February 2009

weight loss


After 3 days straight of eating exclusively oatmeal, gum and flødeboller (chocolate-covered marshmallow cream balls), I made it below my target weight. I was aiming for 50.1 and this morning I weighed 49.8! It took just over one month. So those of you who guessed one month were the closest.

I guess it goes to show that it's not what you eat that makes you lose weight, but how many calories. This was also the result of a study from today's New England Journal (http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/360/9/923). It looks like the percentage of fat vs. protein vs. carbs has little if any bearing on how much weight one loses. It's simply adherence to calorie reduction. Interestingly, higher education and income may actually have more of a bearing on success than the diet one choses (http://www.ajph.org/cgi/content/abstract/95/9/1539?ijkey=008854a87208e56ec0c7b8ded8aa33fc193d3e5b&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha). Of course I did feel like crap after three days of that diet.

Though I'm happy about the weight loss, I keep thinking about how step-daughter told SR that when she moves to Denmark she promises she'll be as thin as me. There is a fine line between trying to be healthy and a fast runner and being obsessed. This line woulnd't be so important if I didn't have kids. It is astounding the impact we have on our kids. There was an interesting article in the NY Times about orthorexia http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/health/nutrition/26food.html?_r=1&em (when one becomes obsessed with "righteous eating") and the affect parents with orthorexia have on their kids. Having a kid with an anxiety disorder seems like a slightly worse problem than eating a Kit Kat bar.

Running Song of The Day: Do You Know What it Feels Like? by Enrique Iglesias

5 comments:

Phatgirlslim said...

Hi there! I saw an article on the study you mentioned. It surprised me that people found it so surprising. I've lost 37lbs so far using the WW system and the one thing they preach is that it's not so much WHAT you eat but HOW MUCH. If you want to use your points on beer and pizza every day, go ahead. You'll lose weight, you'll also feel like ass but you will lose weight. I tried the Atkins thing and by day 3 I was ready to kill someone for an apple! I felt tired, depressed and deprived. Now I've lost this weight eating pretty well what I want and just keeping tabs on how many calories I take in through the day.

As a side note, I was wondering if you had any pointers for an ex couch potato who is interested in starting running. Now that I've become much more active (and have lessbulk to move around) I find myself envious of those people I see gliding down the sidewalk in the morning. I want to know what that feels like! Any tips?

Danni said...

I'm on day three of making a concerted effort to drop some weight and your picture is making me salivate. Ugh. Good job on seeing your number. You're right on about being careful about what you teach kids. Eeeks.

H said...

Yeah, I'm so worried about making sure I don't impart my own body image issues to Angeline. It's part of the reason I want to be at my goal weight and just maintaining by the time she's old enough to know what's going on, so I am not bringing up weight, only how foods can enhance life and athletic performance.



The thing about the Calories... the odd thing for me, though, is since I started doing clean eating (completely eliminating processed foods, eating every few hours), I've lost weight very quickly despite the fact I'm eating more Calories than I was. So my personal experience hasn't reflected... I saw they didn't really have a clean eating option in the study, either. Calorie counting used to leave me lightheaded and still not losing weight, or barely. Now I feel awesome and the weight is falling off... So I'll stick to this regardless of the studies. :)

Anonymous said...

Those marshmallow cream balls are making my mouth water! I wonder if you can get those in the USA...

Abbie said...

I remember those marshmallow chocolate things from a great chocolate store in Brugge, Belgium. Yumy. I think it's funny that people would rather count calories and control portions rather than just eat healthy: lots of green veggies, fruits, whole wheat breads, beans, lentils and limiting meat, dairy, etc. Low fat, high fiber... it all makes sense to me!