I am reading this book called Ultrametabolism. It is an excellent book. I really like it because it tells you a lot about how the body functions and processes everything. I know a lot about it, but you always learn something more. It also tells you how you burn fat and use your calories. I think it feels great to be working this hard on P90X but proper nutrition is essential and understanding the human machine is extremely helpful.
This past weekend, I ran into more people fighting the weight battle. It isn’t hard really. Parties tend to bring that out. Parties have food. Food brings guilt. Really overweight and obese people tend to make comments as they guiltily take the food. Things like, “I’ll do better tomorrow” or “I really worked out hard today.” My favorite is, “You only go around once, right?” Right. I don’t really believe that, but let’s say I did. If you only have one shot at all this beautiful world has to offer, why spend that shot miserable?
I went to get a slice of cake. At the table, three people who were pretty big were sitting together. I grabbed the knife to cut a slice and someone said, “It’s already sliced.” The pieces were cut into almost three inch by three inch squares. I just looked at it. “Not for me it isn’t,” I said with a smile. I then cut a smaller slice that could be enjoyed but didn’t have to count as a full meal replacement in calories. Then came the sarcastic remark with a snarl. Yes, a snarl. “Why bother?”
Really? That kind of remark can only result in a response that is going to be offensive. I just smiled and said, “I don’t need that much.” Truly, no one does. Not after two hours of appetizers and a catered dinner. I could have just whipped out my iPhone and showed them my before and after shots and say, “Because four years ago, I looked like you.”
That would have been very mean. Not entirely inappropriate given the comment made to me, but mean. Even the response I gave felt awkward. It always sounds preachy. The further I get from 2008, the more preachy it sounds. The comments made toward me about being in shape and being careful about what I eat are always judgmental and sometimes even hurtful. Intentionally. It’s as though, after losing 85 lbs, keeping myself in shape was just the easiest thing in the world. Actually, it’s the hardest part. Losing the weight is actually the second hardest thing. The real battle starts when the weight is gone. Now what? Let’s see if you can change permanently. THAT takes work. But when people are having a problem, taking the first step, that conversation is just fiction.
What I really wanted to say was something that would be helpful. Encouraging.
So I heard someone tell a story later about "Jane." She was sitting next to the person who had made the remark. "She lost 25 lbs on Weight Watchers but is having a hard time right now." I can imagine that if you have a weight problem, sitting in front of neatly sliced, 27 cubic inch pieces of white bread, lard and sugar will do that. The 25 lbs were a great achievement but it was only the beginning of the journey for her. Weight Watchers is a fine program but there is one thing that I had to ask. I always ask it. “Does she exercise?” I knew the answer already.
“No, she doesn’t like to.”
“She’s plateauing. Without exercise, her metabolic rate is slowing to adjust to the fuel intake. Once this happens, she will not make progress, be hungry and be miserable. The ‘diet’ is doomed.”
When I was on my Optifast Diet, I lost 75-80 lbs in just under 4 months. It came off at about 5 lbs per week. I lost another 5 when the diet was over as I started to really exercise and take in enough food to make the physical engine run hotter. It was a 900 calorie per day diet and there were people on that diet who could not lose weight. 900 calories per DAY. Every week, you heard the same sob stories. I would get the same looks of envy and, yes, anger as they could see my program was working. I knew one thing about their failure…it was almost surely that they did not exercise. Every diet fails without exercise. EVERY DIET FAILS WITHOUT EXERCISE. Even a 900 calorie diet. Your metabolism slows to accommodate the caloric intake and has no reason not to without exercise. The lower the calories, the more torturous the diet.
I know what I am talking about. But as I said, the further I get from being fat, the less credible my story is. No matter what I say, every large person knows that I am lying and that I found the solution and I am selfishly keeping it to myself. It’s as though I found some miracle cure and I won’t share it.
Want to know a secret? I will share it with you today because today is Valentine's Day. I did find the cure. It’s called exercise. And even though I am doing P90X right now, that is not the exercise that has helped me keep the weight off. This is new for me. All you need to do is some form of physical exertion for 30-40 minutes per day. That's it. That and understanding what your body needs and giving that to your body. That’s all. But no one will believe it. I just want to shout at them…
“I WAS OBESE!”
[later that night]
To my word, I left NO Yoga X on the floor tonight. Did it all. Struggle through some of the last leg exercises. There are definitely some exercises that I kick butt in and some that kick me back. I can feel improvement in all phases. To cool down after my 90 mins of YOGA, I did about 25 mins on the treadmill at 4.2mph. It's a pretty good pace and it looses things up for sleep.
I don't talk about my eating much on this blog. I pretty much have the same thing every day. 1 cup of Oatmeal with 1 cup of Natural Apple Sauce. Two cups coffee with skim milk. Salad at lunch with maybe 2 ounces of chicken and fish...the rest of the salad in greens and olives. One cup coffee in the afternoon with one 120 cal Nutrigrain bar (that's my sweet). Shakeology at dinner with one protein bar. Handfull of nuts about 9:30PM. That's pretty much it with water all day long.
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