Golly, I’ve been away from the ol’ blog for quite a while now. And in that time, my food-journey has been colorful. Let me recap:
- Post-Paleo (ended October 31, 2010) – once this ended, I attempted to stay low-carb but went off the rails more than once (per day!)
- Thanksgiving 2010 – took a day for all things I love: Mashed potato, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, etc. Once the pie was gone (and it went down the hatch!), I was pretty back on track.
- December 4, 2010 – Joined our Weight Watchers at work group. WHAT? I know! I don’t know what I was thinking. I’d heard about WW changing their plan and thought I could do it. I was encouraged by my therapist to take a more “balanced” approach, since I have a tendency to obsess over the low-carb ideals…
- December 18, 2010 – lost 2.2 pounds on WW, and then went COMPLETELY OFF THE RAILS which lasted until last night. I baked, I ate, I baked some more, I had pasta, potatoes, chocolate, white chocolate, peppermint bark, popcorn…did I mention what a good baker I am? I’m exquisite! But might I mention that, to me, sugar is a drug. The more I have, the more I want, the less real food I care about eating.
So that’s my story in a nutshell. It’s the story of my life, really, condensed into a 6 week snapshot. While I appreciate my therapist’s view that I am a bit OCD in the diet realm, the fact of the matter is, for me, that I cannot eat a little bit of carbs! At least not the grain variety. Once I get on bread and baked goods (sugary or not), it’s all over. Today I feel bloated, my tummy is round and hard, my jeans are tight. I will have to get on the scale tomorrow and whether it is up or the same, the fact remains that I must be low-carb.
Of course, I’ve paid my “dues” to WW and will continue to join with my co-workers each Tuesday night for the next 10 weeks. I will not be counting my Points Plus, however, I will be counting carbs. I want to support my co-workers and cheer them on, even though I know that they are on a failing path (not my opinion, this is scientifically proven fact).
I have been on vacation this week, and have spent some of my time catching up on some reading and watching that I’ve fallen behind on, like I have been watching my YouTube friends, I have watched Tom Naughton’s Fat Head movie (thankfully, it is now on Hulu.com), I encourage you to watch it! I was gifted a BEAUTIFUL Nook Color by my loving husband this Christmas and the first book I purchased with it is Why We Get Fat, and What To Do About It by Gary Taubes. I am really enjoying that book. I keep trying to picture my arteries becoming inflamed when I ingest carbs….trying to remember what I believe to be true. It’s not easy with that sugar calling me from the kitchen!
I know I complain about this journey more than I should. I want to take a reflective moment and pat myself on the back for the 20 pounds lost in 2010. I was reading Gary Taubes last night when I got into bed and before turning out the light, I went to the kitchen and tossed a pound of truffles, a half pound of white chocolate Bliss candies, and some M&M’s. Time to make 2011 the last year that I resolve to lose weight! My pre-resolution for 2012 is to keep off all of the weight that I will lose this year!
Won’t you join with me?
Happy New Year all!
Hooray! Welcome back to blogging! I'm excited to "see" you again. I am going back to Body For life...We'll see how that goes!
ReplyDeleteOk so ironically this is the first time i have come across y9our blog and i saw your commont about the science behind wws being a failing option in weight loss. the irony is i was just debate it and low carb and well what is your science and please share. feel free to email. i don't want to start any heated talks i just want to understand the whys
ReplyDeleteHey Amy,
ReplyDeleteBest of luck to you. I just can't be trusted with carbs! Dang! Yeah, mini-goal to blog 2x per week. It's easy to let life get in the way! ~M
Hi Wendy,
ReplyDeletethanks for stopping by and I welcome the question. I am not the best one to answer it, but here goes! First of all, I'd suggest you check out my links on the right-hand sidebar. Particularly, Gary Taubes & Jimmy Moore's sites. I would also recommend that you watch Tom Naughton's Fat Head Movie (link in post). It's on Hulu and worth the time! Tom fully explains how we've been led to believe, basically thanks to our government, that the low-fat, high-carb way of eating is the healthy way. This goes back to the 60's....and it's never, EVER been proven to be a fact! Doesn't that scare you? That the whole country is being fed a bill of goods that has no basis in science!
So, WW is one of those plans that is based on this untested, calories-in/calories-out rule of thumb. Basically, the slothful, glutenous fat people are eating themselves fat and if they'd all shut their pie holes and get off the couch, they'd be thin! Wow, wish I'd thought of that!!
After you watch the Fat Head Movie, then I'd suggest highly, even though I have yet to finish it, that you read Gary Taubes' new book Why We Get Fat - I'm only 3-4 chapters into it and the fog has lifted and I'm learning so much!
What has been proven to be true (and I can't quote you chapter and verse here, but I've read it again and again), that fat storage occurs when insulin is at work in the body. Insulin's whole job is to store fat and to negate the release of the fat we already have stored. Carbohydrates (and a bit of protein) release insulin in the body. Fat has no impact on insulin. So, my statement that WW is a failing system is based on these points. That said, people will lose weight on WW, and this may very well be because in the process of cutting calories, people are cutting their carbs without even realizing it!
Please check back in and I'll be addressing some more of these points as time goes on. And again, please check out my friend's links and listen to their podcasts as well. There's a wealth to learn and the USDA is not the source I'd recommend to teach us!!
~M