Fat, Sugar and Salt...Oh, my!

I'm still reading David Kessler's book, The End of Overeating. I thought I'd be finished by now. It's certainly riveting but life intervened. Anyway, I'm back to the book. Can't wait until I get to the part that tells me how to stop being seduced by the fat, sugar and salt the evil food industry has secretly added to the prepared foods I buy.
Yes, even I am sometimes amazed by the number of calories in restaurant and packaged foods. Absolutely floored. I don't think people are ordering the "blooming onion" thinking it's a low cal appetizer but who knew how many calories (1500) were in that crispy delight? And don't you dip the onions in Ranch dressing? If not, you should (NOT).
Since I don't frequent chain restaurants (and in truth, I've never had the "blooming onion" although I've had fried onion rings many times), I've sort of convinced myself that if I order smartly, I'll get something that passes for healthy food. But that's a delusion. Because I've worked in restaurants. I know how food is prepared. And I know that if it tastes really good to me, then it is indeed full of, as Kessler points out, fat, sugar and salt. Because my palate is addicted to fat, sugar and salt.
And that's the main problem for me. Yes, I know when I'm satisfied. I know when I'm overfull. I can look at a burger and get pretty close to guessing the weight. I can control the portion size when it comes to feeling full but I cannot control the urge to eat more sugar, fat and salt.
They've hooked me! I'm addicted. So should I try a slow detox by avoiding certain foods when eating out? Should I avoid eating out all together???? Please, don't suggest that I do that. I can't bear to think about cooking three meals a day every day of every month. I love to cook--just not for the two of us. I like to cook grand meals with many courses involving hundreds of ingredients, lots of utensils and copious amounts of food. But dinner for two. Boring.
And what about food shopping? Trader Joe's, evil Trader Joe's. They tempt me with each new product. Bottled sauces (that I could make on my own) entice me. Curiosity takes hold and I have to buy them even though the label screams salt, sugar and fat at me.
So no restaurants. No supermarkets. No specialty stores. But even my local farmers' market is chock full of temptation--breads, cakes, cookies, tamales, prepared dressings, bbq sauce. Is there no haven for me?

Fat and Fit

I just joined the YMCA closest to my house. Not in the most desirable neighborhood but I'm a former New Yorker so I'm fine with it. I joined because when I get Medicare in June, membership will be free. Free! I love that word. Free!
Today I went to an aerobics class filled with women my age, all sizes and shapes, all fit. The teacher, thank you to the powers that be, is fat. She's in her 40s and fat. Not like 400 pounds fat but maybe like 170 pounds fat. Round. Fat. I love it. She was a very competent teacher. She performed the entire class and was not any more out of breath than any fit woman would be. I love her. I love the Y. I love the class.
For once, I didn't feel like I had to make sure my t shirt covered every bulge. Sure there were slim people in the class but the teacher was fat. Did I already say that???? The teacher was fat. I'm going to take every class she teaches.

Message to Oprah

I'm a fan. I'm not a fan. I was a fan. Oprah has changed through the years. She's so needy. She appeals to the neediest among her fan base. She sometimes creeps me out. I'm so sorry that she's gained weight. I'm especially sorry that she still doesn't understand. I'm not into the spiritual thing like she is (I'm spiritual...but in a religious way and that isn't what she means when she says spiritual) and these people she had on her show yesterday send shivers up (or is it down?) my spine.
Oprah, Oprah, Oprah. This crap about "being good to yourself" is a trap. You are already too self indulgent. You are already too good to yourself. You eat mashed potatoes when you feel bad. That's self indulgent. You stay in bed when you should be out there running the treadmill. That's self indulgent. You work too hard? Honey, we all do!
I have to tell Oprah to stop searching. This is all there is. Live with it. Love it. And, please, Oprah, learn to accept that you will never look like Cher. Jeez. Who would want to! Not the way she looks now, anyway. You can only look like "your best self" (there, that's Oprah language so maybe she can understand).
And looking like her own best self might be weighing 200 pounds. In a work out suit. With sneakers on. Wind in her hair as she jogs through the snow.
And these diets she goes on. She doesn't want to eat the way Bob tells her to eat. She hates eating that way. So she cannot follow that diet forever. Bob eats that way because he likes it. And because eating that way makes him rich!
You know, I don't know if this "blown out" thyroid thing is real or not. But she's been fat so many times before that I gotta say, "no". That's not it. She's fat because she eats too many calories compared to the number of calories she uses. End of story. If the thyroid is the "excuse" du jour, what was the excuse all the other times?
I'm sorry, Oprah. Get real. Get "authentic" (another one of those meaningless words that the spiritual people fling around). Stop looking for reasons past your own hand to mouth!
Now, my own problems. I'm fat because I eat too much. See, how easy that is? Just cop to the truth and you'll feel oh so much better.

What is fat?

I missed writing yesterday because I made a presentation to the state dietetic association. Didn't get home until late. I had a great time seeing friends from around the state-people I only see at this meeting once a year. No one noticed my weight. No one ever notices my weight. "You're not fat"-that's what they say. I met one dietitian, another writer (who is definitely NOT fat) who was speaking at the meeting, whom I had never met in person before. She doesn't live here but we know each other from list serve posts. Her first comment to me, "Why do you think of yourself as fat?", left me wondering. Have we all re-evaluated what we think of as fat because so many of us are fat? By all standards-body weight, BMI, % body fat, waist measurement, clothing size-I am fat. I have too much fat on my body especially around my middle. Have we gotten so used to seeing moderately fat people that we now only think of hugely fat people as fat?? No one could possibly describe me as thin.
I wonder how people do describe me. What do they see when they look at me? Does no one see my neck and chin? My belly. The rolls around my waist? When I stand next to someone who is lean, I feel like a blob. When I shake the hand of a thin person, I feel their thinness in my hand. I wonder if they feel my fatness. When I hug a thin person, I feel the difference in our bodies. If it's so obvious to me, isn't it obvious to them?
For those of you who don't know me, I bet you're wondering if I just don't have a distorted view of body. I can assure you I do not. I am 62 inches tall (or short....) and I weigh (after having lost 10 pounds!) 160 pounds. Hello, America! That's way too much. Oh, sure. I have dense bones and lots of muscle for my age because I work out. But there's that fat around my middle. It's unmistakable. 36 inch waist. That's many inches of fat deposited around my middle. Making belt wearing an impossibility.
Maybe having re-evaluated what we think of as fat is one of the reasons so many of us Americans are now fat. We've accepted moderate fatness as the norm. We had to re-adjust our thinking as the nation gained weight. The clothing manufacturers certainly re-adjusted their sizing-making clothes wider. Tricking us into thinking we aren't gaining weight. But that's another story for another day.
Today I'll take my 10 pounds slimmer body (not so sure you can even think of 10 pounds less as "slimmer") to Nordstrom for the St. Johns knit sale.....Hey, 70% off! It's my birthday tomorrow! And I lost 10 pounds. Doesn't that qualify as reason enough to celebrate???? With a purchase. Of something in a smaller size-even if it's only one size smaller?

It's not fair

My daughter says it's not fair that her friend can "eat whatever she wants" without gaining weight.
I have my theories on that. Nothing based in fact. They're just theories.
For one thing, once you get fat it seems like it's way easier to get fatter. One cookie here, one slice of pizza there and voila, you've gained five pounds. Or so it seems.
Maybe the person who seems to be a bottomless pit is really not eating all that much. Perhaps she is only eating large quantities-or what seem like large quantities-occasionally but eats sparingly the rest of the time. That would mean that her overall intake is moderate.
I think most people forget that it's not each meal but intake for the day, week, month, over a lifetime that determines your weight. So just because some one chows down on pizza, coke and chicken wings (yum) once in a while doesn't mean she'll end up roly poly. You've got to secretly spy on her during the rest of the day. She's probably eating fat free sugar free yogurt and drinking water.
Lastly, the chances are if she's really eating the same way you are-that is, with abandon-she's probably going to get fat. It just hasn't caught up with her yet!
There is justice in the world, I hope. Otherwise, it's not fair!