No resolutions

It's been so long since I posted anything that I forgot how to get to my blog! Brain dead.
No resolutions to eat less or eat better or eat more healthfully or lose weight or exercise more or live a better life. For a fleeting second last night while I was eating a plateful of ice cream, partially melted and topped with Magic Shell, I gave some thought to making a resolution or several resolutions. Nah. Why bother. I have no motivation to stick to them. What's in it for me?
When I worked at the County Health Dept. we used to use "contracts" with our clients. "I'll eat less fat". Sign here. Like that would mean anything to me at all! Oooh. So scared. I broke the contract. Not.
So I don't do well with promises or contracts or resolutions. No future plans. Today was not a good day for food. Two parties. Cookies, cupcakes, posole, chili, chips, bagels, noodle pudding. Just to name a few things that I ate. Not sure I can remember all of them even if I try. Food coma.
Tomorrow is a new day. Perhaps I shall start the day with oatmeal Wouldn't that be perfect?

I've been thinking

A journalist contacted me this week to ask if she could interview me about my "struggles" with weight because she's writing an article about fat dietitians (my words-not hers). She sent me a few questions to ponder and I actually pondered. I decided that I no longer consider my weight to be a "struggle" issue. I'm not thinking about losing weight any more. I'm healthy. Healthier than a lot of skinny people I know. I'm sure there are evil things happening deep in my body-I'm getting old and I do have to die one day and I expect I'll die from "something". But I don't have any of the usual maladies associated with obesity and/or aging. A few aches and pains in the morning but they go away quickly. And maybe a few grey hairs but that's not from being fat. I do want to continue to eat the way I know I should be eating-meaning lots of plant foods and lots of water and happy amounts of cheerful foods like ice cream and fried chicken and pizza.
Losing weight probably won't do anything for me. Blood pressure and blood sugar are normal. Cholesterol is fine. Back doesn't hurt. Feet don't hurt. Legs don't hurt. I'm agile and fleet of foot. If I lost weight, my chin would hang more, my butt would wiggle more, my boobs would hang even lower. What's the point?
So I thank her for sending me those questions. Bye bye dieting. Bye bye restriction. Now if I could just be more mindful----

Another reality tv show aimed at us fatties

Thintervention. Catchy play on words. Caught my attention. Another BRAVO reality show--this one copied straight from The Biggest Loser. Only the name has been changed. Two trainers. One dominant and bitchy. The other laid back. One male. One female. Lots of name calling. Not much comaraderie on this show, though. If I thought the advice on BL was bad, this one wins the prize for handing out ridiculous platitudes and misinformation.
I had watched the original Jackie Warner reality show a few years ago. Watched as Jackie spent most of her time building her business and fighting with her girlfriend and mother. She spent very little time training anyone. She was attractive and, although not particularly intelligent "sounding", she was ambitious.
This new show is very disturbing. First, Jackie looks terrible. Yes, her abs are gorgeous and her arms are toned. But her hair and her skin look really bad--she definitely does not look healthy.
I will admit that I have not seen all the episodes but what I have seen is enough to make me hope that the show is not renewed.
Ms. Warner is obviously promoting a book, one written without (if I am understanding her premise) a shred of scientific knowledge. "Clean eating". Yes, good buzz words. But she spouts some pretty ridiculous crap on the show when she opens her mouth. My guess is that there was a ghostwriter for the book.
I won't attempt to argue with her knoweldge of exercise science (although I'd again guess that science is not her strong point) but her knowledge of nutrition is sketchy and suspect.
Most of us dietitians recommend a weight loss of approximately 2# per week. That's the norm. Of course, we fatties are not "normal" so we can throw that out the window. But we all know that some weeks we might lose five pounds and others just one. And it might not have anything to do with how hard we worked out or what we ate. Our bodies rule us. There are hormones, especially if you're female, that both help and hinder weight loss. And then there are unknown reasons that might account for fluctation in weight loss that have to do with metabolism and the body's defenses. In the end, we just want to lose weight (well, I want to lose FAT. I don't care what I weigh!).
Ms. Jackie berates her fatties for losing only two pounds in one week. She accuses them of cheating. In fact, it appears as though on the next episode she will be bringing in a lie detector because she is certain they are lying.
One of the contestants, Stacy, has revealed that she has polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Of course, she doesn't blame PCOS for her weight because she has admitted to overeating in the past. But having PCOS makes it very difficult to lose weight. And, yet, Jackie brings her to tears with accusations of cheating and not working hard enough. That's criminal.
Thintervention needs a dietitian to help Jackie understand how the body works. Please, someone, help Jackie Warner. And, will someone get this woman an aestheticisan for her skin and a hairdresser for her hair.

I'm not dead yet

I've deserted you. I haven't posted in forever. And yet, interestingly, according to google analytics (tracks number of people who read blog) pretty much the same number of people are finding and reading this blog each day. So I apologize to all who have come here looking for something new and timely. Perhaps tomorrow.

Blog URL for Biggest Loser contestant expose

For those who asked, the blog where I first read about The Biggest Loser contestant is

http://www.bodylovewellness.com

Eat what you want

I've had it up to here (picture me holding my hand above my head, please) with people writing about "eat whatever you want and lose weight." Then they list the easy to follow steps like "stop when you've had enough." Holy shit. If I could stop when I had enough fried chicken or ice cream, all would still not be well. Truth is, when something tastes really good, I don't want to stop. I CAN stop but I don't want to. Tastes too good. If something tastes like crap or just not great, I can stop after one bite and walk away.
Plus, even if I stopped when I'd had "enough" (whatever "enough" is) fried chicken, that wouldn't work. You cannot eat whatever you want. Can all these thin people stop telling me that I can eat whatever I want or that the secret to weight loss is to just stop when I've had enough. I want so badly to "believe" in mindfulness and intuitive eating as a way to lose and maintain my weight but I have been unable to STOP when something tastes good. I don't eat until I'm ready to explode (don't like discomfort) and I surely know when I "should" stop because I know I'm not hungry any more. Not hungry for food but still hungry for the flavor and texture of the food (if it's fried chicken, for example). It's all in my head....I suppose.

Nothing is ever as it seems

I've been reading the blog posts of an interview with one of the former contestants from The Biggest Loser. The contestant is blowing the whistle on what goes on at "The Ranch". I'm not shocked or surprised by what the contestants do to win. I am shocked that the professionals are either helping them achieve thru means less than healthy and/or are aware of the shenanigans and turn a blind eye.
A relative of mine is a script supervisor for a very popular reality show. Script supervisor? It's a reality show. Yes, there is a script or a story line. And, yes, editing is often very creative. But I wanted to believe that The Biggest Loser, because there are MDs, dietitians, personal trainers all associated with the show....I wanted to believe that even though the exercise regimen was way too intense for unfit obese people and the diet seemed a bit restrictive....I wanted to believe that they were training the contestants to lead a healthy life. According to the recent writings, that's not the case.
I mentioned in a previous post that one of the finalists in this last season frightened me because he was so intense. I was worried that he would do anything, including starving and dehydrating, prior to the finale to win. And not because I thought he wanted to win the money but because he just wanted to win!
Not sure if The Biggest Loser will send out a response to what's been publicized about the tactics the producers/trainers use on the show. And would I believe it? I interviewed a former winner (Ali Vincent) and found her to be quite "normal", very fit looking and excited about the opportunities that the show gave her.
I don't know. I'm going to have to think about this for a while. The show was beginning to get pretty boring and annoying this last season: too many product placements; too many repeated segments. And too much of Jillian overstepping her bounds--she's a trainer for goodness sakes but she was acting as though she had several degrees in psychology (yes, I know her mother is a shrink but the knowledge isn't passed from mother to daughter thru the placenta).
Disillusioned. Disappointed. Dissatisfied.