Feeding Wisdom

I am at the stage in my transformation where the speed isn’t as dramatic, and I appear to be on a plateau. What is actually happening, though, is that my muscles are getting more developed, and the fat is being burned off. I’ve actually gained weight (3 pounds) but my BMI has dropped. I’m right at the threshold between normal and overweight. I still want to get firmly into ‘normal’ territory- if only to have a bit of breathing room, but I’ll take what I can get.

In the meantime, I’ve had some physical exams, and the news is pretty good. My blood lipids are excellent, and my bone density scan is normal- excellent, in fact for someone my age. My doctor feared that the prolonged time I was on Prilosec (2 years!) had damaged my bones, but I had a couple of years after that to rebuild them. That, along with taking Vitamin D, did wonders for me in many ways. I cannot say enough good things about Vitamin D. Many people suffer things that are related to a deficit of this important vitamin, and should have their levels checked.

The best part is that while I still want to lose 10 to 15 more pounds, my body seems to have found a settling point. The best part is being able to buy ‘normal’ clothing, and wear tall boots again. I missed being able to do that. I’ve dropped another size- although different designers seem to have different ideas about actual sizes. I’m a 12 in Lauren and Levis, a 14 in Lee, and stunningly, an 8 in Chicos. It’s clear that there is a huge discrepancy in sizes. I’ve noted that ‘large’ in St. Johns Bay has gotten much larger, and I can get into a medium in their t-shirts, but still have to wear an XL in their button-up shirts. One simply cannot grab something off the rack- even in the same design line- and hope it fits. Same with shoes, too.

I buy most of my clothes in the fall- I like the cut, color and weight better, and wear them year-round. It’s so cold at work that it’s necessary to wear winter-weight clothing. I don’t even bother with sleeveless tops or open-toed shoes, or sundresses- I’d freeze to death. I buy clothes to last.

The French have the lowest rate of obesity in the EU, but it is growing. NPR did a report about it, and it revealed some interesting things. Interesting things about US, in fact.

“When I was in the U.S., everybody, they are eating all the time in the streets. They always have something in their hands, like coke or sweet drinks, and they are always eating in their car,” Bresier says.

“They always have something in their hands…” “They are always eating in their car…”

I do not allow sodas in the house. I rarely drink any soda or sweet drinks any more, and don’t miss them. As for eating in the car- that is a giant ‘no-no’ for me. For one, there is no food I can get at a drive-through that is edible to me any more. I eat before I leave to go somewhere. My car is not a dining room. My sister got mad at me once when I insisted we go inside a restaurant to eat, rather than eat en route. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked me. “Nothing. My car, my rules.” I have water in the car, and rarely, a granola bar.

“We’re copying what we see on American television shows,” he said in French. “Now we think we have to do things we never did before, like open our refrigerator as soon as we walk in our front door, no matter the time of day.”

The importance of cooking fresh food and avoiding dependence on high-calorie, processed food is at the heart of efforts to reduce obesity in France. It’s not complicated, says Catheline.

If that any time, anywhere, mindless eating habit could be broken, perhaps the hold of obesity upon our country could be broken as well. It isn’t easy, but there is good food available. The French are onto something. Maybe we should pay attention to their observations.

I have been on a plateau with my weigh-loss for nearly 3 months. It’s frustrating when all my exercising, careful eating, and sharp attention to detail seem to be for naught- but is it?

I’ve learned that the body has its own way of dealing with things, and that it’s best to let it dictate how it goes. It’s taken me nearly two years to lose 40 pounds, which seems like an agonizingly long time for such a ‘small’ amount of weight. I still have 10 pounds to go to achieve my goal, and want to lose five to ten pounds beyond that- as a ‘cushion’.

I’ve done this doing nothing more than eating when I’m actually hungry, controlling my portions, cutting my fast-food to zero and my restaurant eating to twice a month, eating real food, and removing wheat and most sugar from my diet. I do not eat ‘diet’ or heavily processed foods, I do not avoid fat, and I read labels like a hawk to avoid wheat gluten, HFCS, transfats and other toxic substances. Yes, I just called wheat gluten toxic- because the GM wheat has doubled the gluten content, and the protein in that gluten acts like a neurotoxin on me.

That was driven home when I drank a beer without remembering what it was made of. The beer was delicious, and I enjoyed it immensely, especially now that I know that I can never drink regular beer again. The after-effects- the aching joints, the foggy head, and worst for me- the very unhappy guts- lasted nearly a week. It was a hard lesson in letting down one’s guard.

It’s awful when I have to see the ingredients label when someone offers me a salt-water taffy piece (it’s gluten-free). It’s embarrassing when I have to forcefully turn down bready treats offered repeatedly to me- risking hurt feelings, or reminding friends who invite me to dinner about this really overwhelming allergy I now have to deal with. But that is the way of things. This is my new life.

My new life isn’t all rejection and regret, though. Seeing myself becoming slimmer, feeling my clothes loosen as I tone my muscles and whittle the fat down, not getting sick like I used to, not having sleep apnea or migraines… those are the benefits of my vigilance and mindfulness. The pair of trousers I bought a year ago- the ones that catapulted me out of the plus-size department and back into the Misses- are now loose on me. My sizes are steadily edging downward, and I look forward to the fall when I tend to replace most of my clothes. I’m a comfortable 12/14 (depending on the maker). When I hit my goal, I might be 8/10 or 10/12. I was 18/20 W when I started. I don’t even look in those departments any more. Large now hangs off me like a banner- forget XL or 1X. 1X now actually makes me look like a kid in adult clothes.

Having a neck again is nice. So is being able to tuck my feet up under me, or crouch with my knees to my chest- which I could not do when I was heavier. I never got so big that it affected my gait or my sitting posture, but crossing my legs is a lot easier. Not having to haul that 40 pounds up six stories of stairs is also quite nice- and my feet love me again. My arms look good- I am not ashamed to show them off. And it’s really nice to be able to get clothing that shows off my hard work- not tight fitting, but complimentary. Those compliments are frequent. I am constantly being told how good I look (which makes me wonder how bad I looked before!). The best part is that although I am on a plateau, the weight is NOT going up. It is holding steady.

This is a good thing. It means my body is resetting itself to its new weight. I am not craving anything, and have no desire to ‘binge’ or ‘cheat’. If I want a bowl of ice cream, I eat one. Or a piece of chocolate, or Chinese takeaway- I get it. I do miss some of the ‘bready’ things I used to enjoy- like pizza and pita bread and panko crumbs and properly made roux for gumbo (it’s made of wheat flour), but I am going to learn to bake again with gluten-free flours. I’ve already found recipes for GF cookies, breads, and other things- and when I have some time, I plan to start baking again.

I have learned that if I want to kick start another weight drop, I have do be counter-intuitive in my eating. You would think that eating less would make you lose weight. No. Actually, eating MORE does it- eating one or two BIG meals seems to crank up the metabolism. I am also aware that I have more muscle mass, and that is heavier than fat- so my current plateau might be due to that, since my BMI is still dropping. Exercising will boost the metabolism, burn more fat, and ultimately drop weight- albeit more slowly now that I am closer to that goal.

But I will achieve it. It’s like that final sprint to the finish line- it’s in sight, but still a ways away. I know that when I reach it, I will be happy, but I will not drop everything and turn into a lounge lizard. That is the fatal error many people make- stopping the regimen, going back to their old habits, forgoing the exercise. I intend to keep going to the gym, eating real food, and maintaining my weight. I may switch venues- but I have seen what exercise can do, and do not want to go back. And it isn’t as unpleasant as I used to believe it was- yes, I sweat, but it’s a good sweat. I know that the hour between my exercise and my meal gives my body time to burn off more fat. I get cranky when I can’t exercise. This is a good thing.

I’ll bust through this hopefully final plateau, and achieve my goal. And I will maintain it.

One of my Live Journal friends, kmo, posted about an interesting thing called limbic hunger. Here’s an excerpt:

Bert W. Herring, the author of The Fast-5 Diet and the Fast-5 Lifestyle, draws a distinction between two kinds of hunger: somatic hunger (the deep-rooted need for food felt when one is famished) and limbic hunger (the cravings for specific foods or an emotional food craving that occurs without starving). [1] I cannot remember the last time I actually experienced somatic hunger (knocks would), but I quickly acquired an appreciation of limbic hunger when I started fasting 19 hours every day. Before starting on the Fast-5 lifestyle, when I entered the kitchen and saw food lying around, I would experience a sensation that I identified as “hunger.” This sensation, which I did not feel before some edible tidbit found its way into my field of view, would prompt me to graze off and on throughout the day. The sensation that caused me to reach for that tidbit, when I hadn’t felt hungry before seeing it, is an example of limbic hunger.

Now when I walk into the kitchen outside of my five-hour feeding window and I see food, I don’t even consider eating it, and consequently I don’t feel the urge to reach out and pop it into my mouth. Since the only kind of hunger I ever routinely experienced was limbic hunger, and now that limbic hunger has faded away, I never feel hungry. My friend Jason, who introduced me to the Fast-5 notion, wrote me to say, “I generally skip breakfast and eat lunch around noon and dinner around 5pm. Combined with a higher-fat paleo-ish menu, I am rarely hungry. A big contrast to the multi meal carb-fest of old. I find my mornings are more focused without the “most important meal of the day.””

Interesting thoughts. I try to avoid ‘food cues’ myself- and don’t leave stuff out where ‘see it, want to eat it’ will happen. I may have to relocate my one and only vice- the bowl of dark chocolate by this terminal- I consider dark chocolate medicinal, and don’t over-indulge- but there it is…

I used to be obsessed with food- to the point of hoarding it. I thought about it all the time, bought cookbooks and cut out recipes and planned meals with incredible attention. I also ate by the clock. When my weight fell below a certain level, that stopped like a switch had been flipped. I told my friend who owns the “Curves” gym I use that I felt that when my fat got below a certain level- it lost its ‘voice’. It no longer controlled me. I wonder if this idea has any validity- can fat control a person? I’ve already heard about a possible ‘obesity’ virus- what about controlling fat?

It’s an idea worth pursuing…

I really like this new(ish) ‘locavore’ movement: it says to eat foods that are grown within x miles of your home- the maximum radius being 100 miles. I can live with that- and do. Heck, I have a micro-garden that’s about 40′ from my home in my back yard. It’s Garden 0.0, since this year I am not installing a ‘proper’ garden because I wanted to see where the shade is going to be. My back yard is rather shady, but I have a decent-sized sunny patch.

But I digress. I also subscribe to Heifer International’s Community Supported Agriculture program. They have a big ranch at Redfield, and a huge organic farm in a river-bottom area. This field got flooded out in the storms of late April, but some stuff survived, and we had our first delivery last Friday.

Folks, there is nothing better than fresh veggies delivered to you by the farmers who grew them. The broccoli, chard, turnips, kohlrabi and radishes were scrumptious. They rode in a truck, sure- but only 40 miles. Who can beat that? I really admire Heifer anyway, so participating in this program is a privilege.

My neighbor has installed his giant garden, too. His tomatoes are still small- the rain and cold weather we’ve been having (unseasonably cool for May in Arkansas) have kept things stunted. And many of the plants at Wal Mart and other nurseries show the strains of the horrible wet and cool weather we’ve had. I’m tempted to get the sad-looking tomatoes for 50 cents each, but I am afraid that they might have some sort of virus. The flood killed two of my rose bushes outright- but the rest made it.

Since my diet has become very limited, eating locally and simply has become my new direction. Any more, boxed meals- dry or frozen- taste way too salty or processed. I carefully examine hams for salt content- Kentucky Pride has become my favorite. It’s hard to find non-injected pork- I thought the newer breeds were already tender, but they keep adding ‘mixtures’ to the meat. I need to find plain, un-messed with pork. Same with other meats. I know I’ll have to pay an arm and leg for them, but I’ll put my own ‘stuff’ on them.

Speaking of ‘stuff’, high-quality balsamic vinegar has become my ‘sneakrit ingredient’ of choice. A splash of it in a crockpot or roasting pan adds some wonderful ‘oomph’ to a beef or pork roast. It’s worth every penny to get the expensive stuff, folks…

May 1st marks 2 years since I entered my exercise program in earnest. In that time, I have lost nearly 40 pounds, changed my eating habits, and have acquired the habit of eating and exercise which I plan to keep for the rest of my life.

But my journey to that point started long before that, because I had several major obstacles to overcome before I could start. The major obstacle was depression- seasonal affective depression. I need light- lots of it. The irony is that I also have albinism, so having lots of light literally blinds me, and burns my skin. I had to find a way to get the light I needed, and climb out of my depression. Conventional anti-depression drugs are highly toxic to me- so they were out. I used the internet to do some research to figure out what I could do that did not rely on Big Pharma’s head-killing drugs to drag me out of the darkness.

I worked on the light problem, first. I have a terrible time waking up when it is dark- so the only time I had no problems was a 4-month period around mid-summer when the dawn was early enough to awaken me naturally. That left 8 months of struggling to get going. I’d researched ‘dawn simulators’, devices with timers that started with dim lights and gradually brightened them to full brightness like a dawn- but they were very expensive. My solution was simple and quite inexpensive: a lamp with a full-spectrum bulb connected to a timer. The light came on, and so did my brain. I could feel the light literally waking me up behind my closed eyelids. Sure, it wasn’t the gentle, gradual light up of a natural dawn, but it did the trick. I use it year round.

I also purchased a Light Book from Apollo lights, but the lights were very bright, and unfortunately hurt my sensitive eyes. Plus, the proper timing of this light simulator clashed with my work-prep, so I had to lay it aside. It did help some, but I needed a different, less painful solution.

Further research revealed a steadily increasing attention to Vitamin D, and its effects on many systems of the body- including depression. Vitamin D is manufactured by the skin, and you have to have at least 20 minutes or more of sun exposure without sun screen per day to get any effect. And the UVB rays that do this do not penetrate glass, so while I got decent light in my eyes on my way to work (on clear days), I didn’t get good skin exposure. I decided to supplement my Vitamin D after my doctor tested my blood and found I was deficient in it.

Within weeks, I noticed a major brightening of my mental state, and since I work inside a place with no windows and few opportunities to get outside, I continued to supplement all year. One thing Vitamin D does is actually increase your resistance to sunburn, and I tested this last year when I visited a friend in Santa Fe, NM, which is about 7000 feet above sea level. She wanted to slather me in sun-screen. I hate the stuff, and ‘forgot’ to wear it when we went out. My friend insisted, so I proposed an experiment: I’d put it on one arm, and leave the other exposed, to see what would happen. What happened was that the exposed arm developed a lovely bronze color, and the covered arm remained pasty white. I evened that out the next day. I did not get a sunburn.

I made it through this last winter with two major milestones: I did not get depressed, nor did I get a cold, flu, bronchitis, or my annual bout of laryngitis. I’ve had bronchitis and/or laryngitis every year since the late 80s. Often, I’d lose my voice entirely for at least two weeks, and would lose about that amount of time sick at home with an awful cough.

That did not happen this year. I do not know if it was the supplementation of Vitamin D, my gluten-free diet, the probiotics I eat in my food, or some combination thereof- but it was nice not to become ill. I still take Vitamin D- 1000mcg every other night- I’m going off nightly, because I am outside more working in the yard. I’ve mown the yard several times in sunny weather without burning- and getting a light bronzing on my arms. (My form of albinism permits a small amount of pigment to develop- but my ‘tan’ is everyone else’s winter skin.) I will apply a light sunscreen to my nose and arms as summer progresses- I don’t want to tempt fate.

But my newly brightened mind, ease of awakening and brighter outlook have enabled me to take the next step- getting exercise, and sticking to my eating habits. When you are weighed down by depression, the last thing you want to do is change a comforting habit- and food is comforting. And some people have a distaste for pain and sweat that starting exercise often brings. I did not have problems with pain. And I have learned that sweat is a good thing. I welcome it. It makes me know that my metabolism is operating properly, and burning fat, instead of carbs. And I now understand that natural ‘high’ that exercise gives- which helped me to maintain the habit. Without it, I would probably not be as enthusiastic about it as I am- but it’s a good sort of high- the reward for taking care of one’s physical body.