Putting Together a "Diet" Plan i.e. Lifestyle Change

Where does one start?  I mean, there's so much crap out there about diets and what to eat where do we actually get solid information.  I'll tell you --> THE HARVARD JOURNAL OF MEDICINE, that's where.  It's a reputable source, unlike those ridiculous pins from Pinterest.  In January 2009, the Harvard Women's Health Watch released a great article about diet and exercise guidelines that are based on ACTUAL RESEARCH FACTS.

Basically, long standing research shows that a Mediterranean diet is correlated to increased longevity, brain health, heart health, increased weight loss (compared to low-carb and low-fat diets), and decreased chances for development of Type II diabetes and cancer.  It's not the only good diet out there, but it's the longest studied diet and most easy to implement into our American food culture.

Why does it work?  Researchers admit they don't understand the full story, but can identify bits and pieces of reasoning.  One, monounsaturated fats (healthy fats) are anti-inflammatory and can stave off heart disease and so on.  Two, fiber slows digestion and keeps blood sugars under control (say goodbye to being hangry).  Three, plant compounds act on the cellular level to suppress the cellular mechanisms that cause cancer, immune problems, and advanced aging.  Plus, the Mediterranean diet excludes many foods known to cause health problems like refined carbs  and saturated fats (bad fats).

But what is a Mediterranean diet?  The basics are shown below in this awesomely modified food pyramid, that allows you to drink alcohol!

In addition, Harvard literally publishes the phrase "enjoy meals with others" suggesting that this diet is not about isolation and restriction.  Instead it's about vegetables.  Basically that's the secret of life.  Eat your damn vegetables (and whole fruits).  The "Divided Plate Diet," which the government now touts, is based on the Mediterranean diet.  Essentially, the gist is for a full meal, 1/2 your plate should be veggies, 1/4 whole grain, and 1/4 meat - snack on whole grains, whole fruits, dairy, nuts, etc.  Substitute in dairy and beans for meat where desired.

 

 

 TIPS!

1. Different colored veggies = different nutrients.

2. Whole fruits (yay fiber!), NOT juice (concentrated sugar).

3. Handfuls of nuts (go nuts for nuts...in moderation).

4. Carbs, we actually NEED THEM, but the whole grain kind.

5. Unsaturated fats (butter, whole dairy, red meat) = bad, unsaturated fats (olive oil, nuts, avocados) = good.

6. Spices and herbs make food more "exciting" (I feel cynical about this one) and can replace some salt.

7. Replace your red meats with legumes (peas, lentils, beans).

8. Wine is great (but in moderation, unfortunately).

9. Eat slower, be leisurely at meals, and understand that a car is not a dinner table.

10. And of course, exercise (at least 2 hours 30 minutes per week, minimum 10 minutes at a time).

 

Putting Together a Fitness Routine

So I have social anxiety and going to the gym to workout (something I'm not yet skilled at) in front of people I don't know freaks me out.  Something about not knowing how to use the equipment and getting looks of disdain from the gym regulars gives me a panic attack.  Plus, even though there is a private gym at my work (lucky!) I know it will be super packed with the coming of the New Year and there's limited equipment - so I'm going to start out by working out at home.

I am getting my cardio by walking my dog around my neighborhood.  She loves this plan!

 

I am doing my strength training using a small routine I put together using free weights and a balance ball.  The website My Fitness Bliss is simply amazing in terms of designing your own workout...and it's FREE!  It lets you choose body parts and then suggests exercises based on the equipment you have.  It will even suggest routines for you if you're not the Type A Personality kind like I am and want to design it yourself.  Only catch, to print it out you have to upgrade but I just take notes by hand and refer to them as needed (or sneakily use printscreen).

 

Chest (Red)

Chest Fly: Outer Chest, Front Deltoids

Dumbbell Press: Triceps

Shoulders (Orange)

Shoulder Press: Triceps, Front Deltoids, Outer Deltoids, Trapezius

Rear Deltoid Raise: Rear Deltoids, Trapezius

Biceps (Blue):

Biceps Curl: Inner Biceps, Inner Forearms

Back (Green):

Deadlift: Butt, Thighs

Arm-Leg Extension: Hamstrings, Butt, Upper and Lower Back

Thighs (Purple)

Squat:  Butt, Quadriceps

The pictures above are the basic routine I am following and I think it's perfect for beginners.  Please note that I emphasise upper body for a reason - I have chronic pain in my neck from a car accident and my physical therapist's direction was to strengthen my upper body.  

I don't want to be one of those people who obviously ignore leg day, so I've balanced the routine out with 3 lower body core moves...hoping to get that awesome bubble butt pinned all over Pinterest!

 

My Organs Just Look Uncomfortable and Are My Meds Keeping Me Fat???

A long time ago I saw the image below in National Geographic.  It is an MRI of an obese person compared with the MRI of a healthy weight person (notice no thigh gap on the healthy weight person!).  The thing that shook me about this picture was how uncomfortable the internal organs look in the obese body.  They are all smashed together and suffocating.  And the heart is enlarged, which is not a good sign (usually means untreated high blood pressure).

Often people who have suffered abuse or trauma disassociate from their bodies.  They come to identify themselves as what's in their head and their sense of self remains completely separate from the body.  I have had this problem.  This image though, reminds me that even though obesity has worked for me on an emotional level it is not working for me on a physical level.  This picture helps to bring me back into connection with my body and gives me the desire to let my organs stretch out a little bit and get comfortable.  The body is an evolutionary machine and there is plenty of room for everything meant to be there, unless you fill up that room with baggage.

Some people have trouble losing weight even when they try their hardest.  Necessary medications taken for health problems can keep the pounds on - but that doesn't mean changes aren't happening to your body.  Unseen proof that your health is changing for the better with proper nutrition and exercise include lowered blood pressure, stabilized blood sugar leading to decreased risk or relief from Type II diabetes, better cholesterol, better liver enzyme levels, and so on.

I myself have to take several medications for my depression which are known to be associated with weight gain and decreased ability to lose weight - Remeron and Effexor.  First I tried switching medications, but my doctor could not find anything as effective as those two.  So now I'm facing working for weight loss minus the immediate satisfaction of seeing intense and fast results - like a slimming waist line or pounds dropping on the scale.  Before this has discouraged me but this time I'm committed.  I've been assured that for some people it takes about 6 months to start seeing the pounds melt away, but it does start to happen....eventually. Until then, regular doctor visits will show me how my body is changing without me being able to see it.  Not as satisfying, but still better than nothing.

And my therapist points out something profound.  Statistically, according to a recent article entitled "Is Obesity Incurable?", only 2 out of 1000 people are able to keep the weight off.  You are 5x as likely to survive being shot in the head...  So if you "diet" to achieve a "result" what keeps you going when there's no longer any pounds to be lost?  If your sole motivation has been to watch the lbs decrease as you go along, what motivation do you have to keep up the hard work when you no longer are losing any weight?  HEALTH, that's what.  It's not about having a model body or fitting into a bikini in time for that trip to Mexico - it's about keeping your body going for as long as it can.

So while I admit I want to look better (though the concept of that bothers me), I want to feel better, be better, and be healthy too.

My Body Mass Index

One popular way to measure your degree of obesity is using the Body Mass Index (BMI). The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) would like you to know that "Body Mass Index (BMI) is a number calculated from a person's weight and height. BMI provides a reliable indicator of body fatness for most people and is used to screen for weight categories that may lead to health problems."  

There are all sorts of info graphics and charts you can use to identify your degree of abhorrent "fatness".  For example, at roughly 326 lbs and 5'5", I have a BMI of 55, as seen below.  If I put on 5 more pounds I will evade even being on this chart (and I dare you to try to find a chart that has higher weights listed than this-most stop around 260 lbs-it's like they are saying if you're beyond 330 lbs you're so hopeless you don't even need a chart!).  This puts me into the category of severely obese, something I probably could have figured out without the actual number.  I mean, I have high blood pressure and I get winded walking up a flight of stairs.  The fact that I'm fat has not eluded me...

 Just in case I didn't quite get it from the bright red number on the chart above, someone has made a useful info graphic that I can use to identify how fat I am.  In this case, I am the plumpest lady on the right, lack of thigh gap and all (thigh gaps and their stupidity will be addressed in a coming post).

Most of us already know of the controversy surrounding the BMI chart.  You can have minimal body fat and still be "obese" according to your BMI because muscle weighs more than fat.  Below is a picture of 5 lbs of fat compared to 5 lbs of muscle.  This is exactly why we should not so much focus on pounds lost or pounds weighed, but on measures like decreased waist band size and increased muscle definition.  Not to say BMI or the scale are useless, we just have to keep things in perspective.  And when 5 lbs lost doesn't seem like very much or isn't as satisfying as you want it to be, look at the picture below and think of that gross golden lump having been burned off your body!

A Little Pinspiration from Ted

Here's some inspirational Ted talks about health to get us in the mood...

How did I get to being 200 lbs overweight?

I grew up in an emotionally and physically abusive household.  My mom was mentally ill, she had histrionic personality disorder.  For those of you who are unfamiliar, let me run down the bullet points: constant seeking of reassurance or approval, excessive sensitivity to criticism or disapproval, pride of own personality/unwillingness to change or compromise, dramatic and severe mood swings, rage, blaming others for personal failures or disappointments, obsession with perfection and being perceived as perfect.  Her criticism and rage would often turn physical and as a kid I felt she didn't love me.  I used to be so afraid of her that I would get physically sick when she would come home from work.  I would hide.  The thing is now that I'm an adult, through many years of good therapy, I understand now that she did love me.  She in fact loved me so much that she wanted to make me perfect so that the world could never hurt me with its judgement.  <--not how it worked out...

My dad on the other hand tried to protect me, when he could, but was just as abused by her as I was.  And why did he stay with her? Because he loved her.  The truth? Because he grew up being abused and the experience was normal.  My mom was abused too.  My parents both had at least one alcoholic parent and were both sexually abused (by someone outside the family) as children and never received any kind of therapy for it.  As a kid, my dad's sisters both tried to set him on fire and In addition, my dad was beaten by his father who escalated the abuse to the point of drunkenly putting a shotgun to my dads head one night while he was sleeping.  My dad awoke and laid perfectly still till his father passed out, then left the house at age 16 and lived on his own.  

All this is to say, my parents did love me but had so much untreated trauma they did not have the capacity to raise a child in a loving and nurturing way.  My sole solace was my grandmother, who died when I was 8.  She provided stability in the face of chaos and when she died I started packing on the pounds.  The weight gain was complex, not only did I use food as comfort but I no longer had anyone there after school to make meals for me.  I started making my own dinners at age 8, which usually consisted of cheese and pasta or bread and juice.  Nutritional information was not something I had any knowledge of at age 8! In addition, the added pounds proved an effective method of protection.  I was bigger and as a result got beat less often.  The extra weight served as protection from a cruel world.  It made my mom focus her criticism and abuse on one issue, making the chaos of abuse more predictable.  And when I suffered rejection by my classmates I could blame it on the weight instead of internalizing the bullying as being a result of my natural defectiveness.  So this weight gain continued through my teen years and into adult hood. My mom and I reconciled when she was diagnosed with cancer and she mellowed out.  I became her primary care giver and her death in conjunction with an abusive boyfriend  I had for 6 years caused me to gain another 80 pounds. 

So three years ago I entered therapy after becoming suicidally depressed one summer. I worked through my family of origin issues, the abuse, my low self esteem, finding myself and now here I am- ready to tackle the oldest and most profound issue, my weight. I feel like I'm carrying around 200lbs of emotional baggage that I'm ready to let go of. If you're out there and you're reading this and you're ready, let's take this journey together!

Meet Princess Pity Cake

Hello there my cyber friends. My name is Princess Pity Cake.  I got the name because in my overweight lifestyle I had the habit of eating a whole cake whenever something bad happened and I was filled with self pity.  What I just said was pretty easy to judge, but by getting to know me you'll see there is more to the story than someone just out of control and making poor nutritional choices.

I'm turning 30 this January 14, and though I never thought I would be one of those people affected by their 30th birthday, I am.  I've been overweight the majority of my life and upon facing dirty thirty I realize if I don't change now I'll likely never change.  I'm roughly 200 lbs overweight, we'll over my healthy BMI weight which we all know is controversial.  I hope to lose the weight over 2 years and celebrate by traveling.  After the first 100 lbs, I plan to go to Mexico with some friends for New Years.  After the second 100 lbs I plan to go on a 27 day sojourn through Africa.

A little about me? I like anything vintage and am very into fashion (even as a plus sized woman I've been known as quite stylish because I know where to shop!).  An ex boyfriend got me into it and now I love WWE wrestling, there's nothing as entertaining as watching super hot guys throw each other around! I have a dog and 3 cats.  I work as a business analyst at a major biotech firm.  I am lucky I'm that I enjoy my job.  I am single right now and plan on staying that way during my journey.  I'll talk about why in another post.

Anything else you all would like to know?