This blog is not supposed to be about weight loss but now that I am happily entering a relationship I have been letting my good eating habits slide. That assumes of course that I had good eating habits to begin with. Trust me, I've always been good at eating. Whether what I was eating was good for me is not really up for debate. The answer is no.
With Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes on both sides of my family I have to be careful about my health. A reader educational moment: Type 1 diabetes is also known as Juvenile Diabetes but can strike at any time. My father had to go to the hospital on Sept. 11, 2001. Talk about depressing -b eing hospitalized and the only thing on any channel is coverage of the terrorist attacks. Anyway, the main difference between the two types of diabetes is that in Type 1 you do not make any insulin so you are insulin dependent and must give yourself shots. My father had pancreatitis and so developed diabetes when he was in his late 40s. My mother's father got it in his 30s. Obviously neither were "juvenile".
Type 2 means you either don't make enough insulin or your body is confused and doesn't know how to use the insulin you are making. Both my grandmothers developed Type 2 later in life, sometime around 60 or so.
I am also blessed with the genetics that lead me to be apple shaped. Even though it doesn't feel like it to you perhaps, it's much better to have a big ass than to have a big tummy, at least healthwise. A waist of over 35" for women and 40" for men increases your risk for several things like heart disease and diabetes. My waist is 36". I am thick in the middle people. Thick in the middle. This is not surprising given my genetics. If you lined up all my closest relatives you'd see a lovely display of people who could pass for pregnant if they weren't so old and/or male. The only anomaly is my aunt's big 'ol heiny. She's kind of a giantess anyway while the rest of us are petite little things (with belly bulge) so we'll just ignore her.
So yes, this blog is not supposed to be about weight loss but really, attempting weight loss and dating often go hand in hand. I'm not overweight. I am finally at the weight I should be for my BMI to be in "normal weight" category. I was securely in the middle of the "overweight" category about 3 years ago. If I lost 10 pounds I'd be right in the middle of "healthy" instead of skirting the line. Right now, if I gain 1 pound I am back in "overweight". Folks, I can gain one pound between the time I get up and the time I finish my shower. Without having eaten. It would be nice to be more safely ensconced within the "healthy" section.
I'm not saying I should lose weight because some arbitrary number would make me happy. I could care less about the number. Most people are actually surprised I weigh as much as I do at 5'2". "You weight 135! Wow, I never would have guessed that!" (Here at Sassy Pants Inc. we (I) feel the need to be truthful about age and weight.) If I could just look like I lost 10 pounds while only having lost fat and gained muscle that would be cool because fat has been slowly creeping back onto my abdomen. This is not good for my self image. It is also annoying because there is a super killer awesome six pack nestled snuggly underneath the fat layer. I teach a class several times a week at my gym that's all abs, just abs. I can do crunches until the cows come home. Unfortunately those cows have been bringing back milk, cheese, and ice cream. Not to mention some whoopie pies, cookie dough and fudge as accompaniment.
It's not that I can't lose 10 pounds. It's that I won't. Why?
I. Eat. Too. Much.
We'll see if I can manage to eat less. Not a diet. I don't do diets. But perhaps passing on the second (let's be honest here - third and fourth) piece of fudge, or deciding on the small fries/mocha/nuggets instead of the large. I'm going to focus on the tiny little choices that add up over the course of a day and week. We'll see how it goes. I did turn down a whoopie pie the other day. I walked right past the store and took a walk at lunch instead. Go me!
With Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes on both sides of my family I have to be careful about my health. A reader educational moment: Type 1 diabetes is also known as Juvenile Diabetes but can strike at any time. My father had to go to the hospital on Sept. 11, 2001. Talk about depressing -b eing hospitalized and the only thing on any channel is coverage of the terrorist attacks. Anyway, the main difference between the two types of diabetes is that in Type 1 you do not make any insulin so you are insulin dependent and must give yourself shots. My father had pancreatitis and so developed diabetes when he was in his late 40s. My mother's father got it in his 30s. Obviously neither were "juvenile".
Type 2 means you either don't make enough insulin or your body is confused and doesn't know how to use the insulin you are making. Both my grandmothers developed Type 2 later in life, sometime around 60 or so.
I am also blessed with the genetics that lead me to be apple shaped. Even though it doesn't feel like it to you perhaps, it's much better to have a big ass than to have a big tummy, at least healthwise. A waist of over 35" for women and 40" for men increases your risk for several things like heart disease and diabetes. My waist is 36". I am thick in the middle people. Thick in the middle. This is not surprising given my genetics. If you lined up all my closest relatives you'd see a lovely display of people who could pass for pregnant if they weren't so old and/or male. The only anomaly is my aunt's big 'ol heiny. She's kind of a giantess anyway while the rest of us are petite little things (with belly bulge) so we'll just ignore her.
So yes, this blog is not supposed to be about weight loss but really, attempting weight loss and dating often go hand in hand. I'm not overweight. I am finally at the weight I should be for my BMI to be in "normal weight" category. I was securely in the middle of the "overweight" category about 3 years ago. If I lost 10 pounds I'd be right in the middle of "healthy" instead of skirting the line. Right now, if I gain 1 pound I am back in "overweight". Folks, I can gain one pound between the time I get up and the time I finish my shower. Without having eaten. It would be nice to be more safely ensconced within the "healthy" section.
I'm not saying I should lose weight because some arbitrary number would make me happy. I could care less about the number. Most people are actually surprised I weigh as much as I do at 5'2". "You weight 135! Wow, I never would have guessed that!" (Here at Sassy Pants Inc. we (I) feel the need to be truthful about age and weight.) If I could just look like I lost 10 pounds while only having lost fat and gained muscle that would be cool because fat has been slowly creeping back onto my abdomen. This is not good for my self image. It is also annoying because there is a super killer awesome six pack nestled snuggly underneath the fat layer. I teach a class several times a week at my gym that's all abs, just abs. I can do crunches until the cows come home. Unfortunately those cows have been bringing back milk, cheese, and ice cream. Not to mention some whoopie pies, cookie dough and fudge as accompaniment.
It's not that I can't lose 10 pounds. It's that I won't. Why?
I. Eat. Too. Much.
We'll see if I can manage to eat less. Not a diet. I don't do diets. But perhaps passing on the second (let's be honest here - third and fourth) piece of fudge, or deciding on the small fries/mocha/nuggets instead of the large. I'm going to focus on the tiny little choices that add up over the course of a day and week. We'll see how it goes. I did turn down a whoopie pie the other day. I walked right past the store and took a walk at lunch instead. Go me!
Comments
Here's something you might want to consider: BMI is horseshit. It doesn't take into account body type or muscle mass. Shaquille O'Neill's BMI is somewhere around 32. That makes him dangerously obese (25 is the high end of normal, 30 is obese). But his body fat percentage is somewhere around 4%.
I've learned that body fat percentage is a much better calculation -- 25% is the high end of normal, but you probably want to be under it. I've lost 5 pounds, which means my BMI has gone from 28.3 to 27.5. But my body fat percentage has gone from 23.3% to 18.8%.
If you looked at my BMI, you'd think I was making little progress. But if you looked at my jeans, you'd think differently.
You've posted that you go to the gym regularly -- remember that every time you replace fat with muscle, you're actually gaining weight because muscle weighs more, but you're getting healthier.
OK. I should really be working now.
that's all I'm sayin'....
I'm all about the exercise as opposed to "dieting". Obviously, a few food lifestyle choices have to be made but mostly my weight loss and the changes in my body have been a direct result of exercise. I have only lost 15 pounds but I've gone from a size 14 to an 8 because of the muscle to fat ratio.I'm more fit than I've ever been. Now i want to look that way - just a little bit more than I do now.