Jump on the Bandwagon! No Minds Required!

Okay, I can't believe how often I see "bandwagon jumpers" on the bulletin boards I read. Do we women not have minds of our own? Can we not evaluate information for validity and put just a moment of thought into it?

For example, someone recently posted that her doctor told her to make dinner at night, but not eat it until the morning and he "guaranteed" she'd lose 20 pounds. Now most of us will believe a doctor because, well, he's a DOCTOR!

But in truth the idea that eating more in the evening will cause you to gain weight, and eating less will automatically cause a loss, is an old wives tale.

A calorie is a calorie is a calorie and it doesn't matter when you eat it. If you eat less calories during the day than you expend, you're going to lose weight. It's not rocket science, people.

But that's not what bothered me. What drives me nuts is the posts that follow. They were all just jumping on the bandwagon. "Oh wow! I'm going to try that! Yeah, count me in! Should we make this a challenge? I should try that too!"

Why do I care? I mean it isn't like it's a BAD thing to eat a larger breakfast and smaller dinner. It really isn't my business either. Why care?

I guess I care for two reasons.

One--It isn't the topic that bothers me, but the bandwagon jumping. I swear if someone posted that they read that if you drink chilled yak piss every full moon and then dance around a mullberry bush naked, we'd see a "Yak Piss Challenge" on the WW bulletin boards within mere moments. This is our HEALTH we're talking about, people. Shouldn't we look into things before we decide to do them? Seriously! Read these boards! Someone will post that they use a certain diet pill, and five others will immediately plan to start taking it.

Hullo!!!!

McFly!!!!

The second thing that bothers me is that you just don't see this from the men on the boards. It looks as if women (not all, I'm generalizing here) just can't seem to have their own minds about things. And then GOD FORBID you actually post something that disagrees. I pointed out that calorie is a calorie thing and it offended people. One lady said that her brother-in-law had lost 20 pounds by not eating after 6 p.m. so the proof was in the pudding.

Well...nooo...he lost 20 pounds because he cut back on calories or increased exercise. Perhaps he was no longer eating extra calories in the evenings. Point out that this is a correlational fallacy, though, and suddenly you're evil! Okay, no one called me evil...but people just didn't want to believe me.

Which in a way is a good thing. Don't believe me! What do *I* know? After all, I'm just a computer teacher who may know nothing about nutrition. (Actually my major was health education, but I've only taught that a few times.) What I'd love to see is more people saying "Wow, that's interesting...can you tell me where that research is?" or "Where did you read that? I'd like to learn more about it." rather than just saying "Oh really? Chilled yak piss, you say? Okay cool! Can I get that at www.yakpiss.com? I'll start Monday!"

Just a pet peeve of mine...

The Ass is BACK!

Wooo!

The other day I was getting dressed and I looked in the mirror, and there it was! It was right there where I last saw it! The ass, my friends, is back. NO more suffering from noassitol. No more baggy britches. No more butt that looks like it's sliding down the backs of my legs.

Wooo!

I asked it where it's been. It said nothing.

I tried to give it a guilt trip, "Do you have any idea who WORRIED I've been? I mean you've been there for 38 years and all of a sudden I turn around and you're gone? Do you know what went through my head?"

No response. It just cracked a wry smile.

Okay, I apologize for the cracked a smile comment. That was beneath even me.

The boobs are back too...not all the way back, but at least I no longer look like Flat Stanley! Oh, and hips! I have actual curves!

I've gained back 9 of the pounds I lost in the hospital by working out and eating 25-30 points a day. I always get a little squidgy when I get on the scale and see a gain, but I honestly do look a lot better than I did at 106. I wish I was a cute 106 who could completely pull it off and be petite and beautiful, but in reality I looked washed out, wasted, and scrawny.

Oh! The muscles are back too! I'm back to my pre-surgery workout schedule of an hour to an hour and a half a day. I think that's really helping pout some definition back on my body. My stomach still looks like a map of the London subway system, but oh well.

But the ass, baby, is BACK! Look out J Lo! Here comes T High!

Lies We Tell Ourselves

I've been on reading the Weight Watchers boards and been on some WWers mailing lists for a year and a half now and I've seen the same old wives' tales spread over and over again.

I think we want to believe that weight gain isn't our fault, and lack of loss isn't our fault. And we're right, sometimes it ISN'T our fault! Sometimes that doggone body just won't cooperate for a week, or even more. That's frustrating.

But often times the simple explanation is we've been eating a little more (or a lot more) or we've been exercising a little less (or a lot less) and it's showing up on the scale.

Here are some things I've read that I've actually researched and found to be at least partially untrue: --Being on the pill causes weight gain: A study came out recently showing this to be untrue.

--It's that TOM and I have to overeat. Science News Daily says that's not true. Are we doing it because we're told "that's what women do?" The mind can play powerful tricks on us. (Here is the article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/07/990709082904.htm)

--I've been working out for a week, or four weeks and I've not lost. I must have gained muscle weight. You can't honestly build enough muscle in that short a time to actually gain weight. You MAY see a reduction in inches during that time because as you work your muscles they tone up and tighten up, but you didn't gain weight because you walked a few miles every day, or even lifted weights. (I've been working out for well over a year now, 7 days a week most weeks, and I've never seen a weight gain from a workout...but this is based on my researching. Unless you are doing really heavy weight lifting and supplementation, you won't see a weight gain from exercise.)

Some things that might tip the scale a bit:

-High sodium intake will cause a temporary water retention, but that should be gone at next weigh in.

-Not drinking drastically enough water. If your body doesn't get enough water it will hang onto what it has. Now this MIGHT, but probably won't, show up on the scale. ONE DAY of not enough water isn't enough to cause this, or even not getting quite what WW says you should.

-Excessive caffiene intake can cause a small amount of water retention.

-Injuries and surgeries can cause water retention.

-Not eating enough. Crazy, but true. You can slow your metabolism by not eating enough. Your body freaks, thinks it's starving and shuts down, hangs onto fat. Now this isn't the same as eating low in points while not exercising. This would be eating under points, burning lots of calories. Mix it up. Eat low one day, high another (I do four low days, one medium day, and two high days every week and I lost 92 pounds in 46 weeks).

-Stupid body that won't cooperate but gives you no reason. If you KNOW you were completely on program and you exercised your tiny little hiney off and you still showed a small gain, just try not to stress about it. The body does that sometimes! Relax! It will come off.

Other than that, most of the time the fact is we're taking in more calories than we're expending. Don't lie to yourself because the body is the ULTIMATE lie detector! You can't pull NOTHIN' on it!