NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER SURRENDER

It should come as no surprise to anyone that you can't really trust what people who are trying to sell you something say about their products.  Ultimately, they are there for one thing only: to get your money; and while they may not (or in plenty of cases, may) outright lie about their product, they certainly are going to present it in the very best possible light, obfuscating anything negative as far as the law allows. And the law is often pretty flexible about this.

Nowhere is this as insidious as in the realm of food and medicines.  Marketing  techniques are  specially designed by experts to appeal, to make a product seem not only delicious but so good for you. And sometimes, it's fine --- if you eat the right amount. But the people selling you the product don't WANT you to eat one serving. They want you to eat lots and lots, and buy more. So they trick you with package design and buzzwords.

Bottom line, it's not enough to read labels --- you have to know how to intepret them. And here is a great little article to help you avoid some of the nasty tricks the food industry pulls on its customers, ranging from downplaying serving size to sneaking transfat under the radar. Just another reason we're all better off shopping in the produce, dairy, and meat aisles --- or better yet, the farmer's market.

There's an article in the NY Times making the rounds, The Fat Trap. I was interviewed for this article but my material didn't make it in (no big deal, that sort of thing happens a lot, and it was lovely to speak to Tara Parker-Pope again). I am not convinced of the usefulness of the study Dr. Proietto did --- he had people on a 500-calorie a day diet of Optifast shakes and low-starch veggies for 8 weeks. How big a surprise is it that the weight came back on when they started to eat normally?

The article could be rather depressing, if you hone in on its message of how difficult it is to lose and keep off weight if you've ever once been fat, and the evidence presented that many people may even be genetically inclined to fatness. But it's not an insurmountable condition, and I find hope in the findings of the National Weight Loss Registry, which tracks those who have maintained a loss of 30 pounds or more for a year or longer. Parker-Pope writes, "Registry members exercise about an hour or more each day — the average weight-loser puts in the equivalent of a four-mile daily walk, seven days a week. They get on a scale every day in order to keep their weight within a narrow range. They eat breakfast regularly. Most watch less than half as much television as the overall population. They eat the same foods and in the same patterns consistently each day and don’t “cheat” on weekends or holidays. They also appear to eat less than most people, with estimates ranging from 50 to 300 fewer daily calories."

So there you have it --- a sort of a sensible guideline for what you need to do to maintain. But what none of the commercial weight loss programs, diet books, or trainers prepare you for is how incredibly difficult it is to maintain. I know this first hand, and have been struggling, hard, for the past several months. When I first started losing weight, I was working out two hours almost every day --- usually an hour walk combined with some kind of heavier cardio such as an hour on the elliptical. Like Janice Bridge, a National Weight Loss Registry participant Parker-Pope describes in her article, I was strict about my food plan, weigh ins, exercise, and countering indulgences to the point of obsession. And that is what it takes for someone like me. It's an enormous amount of energy to expend every single day, not to mention time.

I became fatigued by this routine, and one of the things I've been coming to terms with is that I can no longer maintain two hours of day of exercise, at least not in the long term. I can do some exercise almost every day, though. Sometimes it's just "found" exercise --- parking the car in the farthest spot and walking, taking the stairs, making an extra trip to walk to the mailbox down the street instead of stopping on the way home in the car. Other days it's planned sessions, and in the short term, as I try to get back on track, I'm adding in some extra through daily walks.

I also can do better with my eating. If the research is correct, it's actually physically harder for me to maintain a weight loss. I have to exercise MORE to get the same calorie benefit as someone the same size who has never been overweight; and I have to eat significantly fewer calories to maintain my loss.

This isn't happy news, but here's the thing --- I think we have to look at it as part of the cross we have to bear, so to speak. Everybody has stuff they have to deal with. I'd rather be genetically inclined to fat than genetically inclined to stupidity. It may not be easy, but I can manage fatness. There's only so much you can do to manage stupidity.

And the Fat Trap is just another reason to focus on health and fitness over weight. I know I am never going to be a size 10. I don't care. But I do want to run a marathon. I do want toned arms and abs. I do want a healthy heart and normal blood pressure. Those are goals I can work towards, and as I wrote yesterday, weight loss is a result of working towards fitness goals. In my quest to find what is sustainable, I'm happier than ever about my decision to take weight loss off the front burner and concentrate on fitness.

Hey ... never give up, never surrender, right?

 

Comments

[Natalie]

Hey Cindy, I just wanted and say that I find your blog persistently inspiring. I've been reading it for two years and have in that time - slowly slowly - lost about 10% of my body weight, taken up running, and (hardest of all) not given up when my weight stagnated for ages. And when I have one of those days (or weeks!) where it all feels like an uncomfortable hard life long slog, I find your honesty and attitude to be such a helping hand! It's like that (kind of corny) slogan - no one said life would be easy, but they promised it would be worth it. You constantly remind me that this won't be easy, but it will be worth it. Much joy to you xx

[Cindy]

Hi Fran,

Thanks! I didn't go anywhere, although during busier times I post less frequently. You can search the archives for past posts(check the list on the left ... you might have to scroll down).

Best,
Cindy

[Fran]

Hey, Cindy! Welcome back. Maybe I missed some blogs, but it seems like ages. To everything you said....I say, "ditto." I can't remember a day in my life that I haven't thought about losing more weight. At least now, trying to stay to a pure plant-strong food plan, it's easier.
I'm a junk-food vegan and I've discovered that a person can nosh no matter what food plan they're following--and that keeps one from losing weight! Duh. Who'd have thought.
Anyway, keep up the good work. Just think, having really strong abs will really help breath control when you're singing.