Trying to outrun the weight gremlins
My GF V.'s lost 40 lbs this year. The loss was preceded by a fall in which she broke her leg, and while in hospital, she was diagnosed as diabetic. They read her the riot act, and bye bye pastry, béarnaise sauce, champagne. To lose that amount of weight at 60-plus is a monumental task.
V. is not eating anything she remotely enjoys, she's hungry, and says the 15-20 last pounds just refuse to come off. You might expect a total physical transformation, but not exactly. She does look thinner, but remains a short, roundish, pigeon-breasted little bustler. The essence of V., a bright-eyed chickadee, is that of a vivacious bonne vivante.
I thought of V. when I read Michelle Slatella's article, "I Can't
Outrun My Weight Issues" in the Styles sections of the November 13th New York Times. Aghast at midlife weight gain, she launches into an exercise regime, "two yoga classes and four 45-minute treadmill or elliptical sessions each week" and after a month loses... one pound.
I too am voluptuous witness to the fact that an hour of brisk walking or weight-bearing yoga each day is barely sufficient to stay even, let alone lose weight. Michelle has, for now, decided to ramp up the routine, adding weight work, and says, "I can't tell how much this is helping yet."
V. wonders if now, her blood sugar readings back to normal, her energy renewed and her wardrobe completely replaced, that last 15 will just have to stay.
Once health concerns are addressed, the unending severe diet is not a joyful way to live: deprivation, self-loathing, sporadic results. Sallie Tisdale's essay, "A Weight That Women Carry" is the most articulate article I've ever read about the futility of dieting to meet an unrealistic goal. (Originally published in Harper's, 1993, you can find it here.)
V. is not eating anything she remotely enjoys, she's hungry, and says the 15-20 last pounds just refuse to come off. You might expect a total physical transformation, but not exactly. She does look thinner, but remains a short, roundish, pigeon-breasted little bustler. The essence of V., a bright-eyed chickadee, is that of a vivacious bonne vivante.
I thought of V. when I read Michelle Slatella's article, "I Can't
Outrun My Weight Issues" in the Styles sections of the November 13th New York Times. Aghast at midlife weight gain, she launches into an exercise regime, "two yoga classes and four 45-minute treadmill or elliptical sessions each week" and after a month loses... one pound.I too am voluptuous witness to the fact that an hour of brisk walking or weight-bearing yoga each day is barely sufficient to stay even, let alone lose weight. Michelle has, for now, decided to ramp up the routine, adding weight work, and says, "I can't tell how much this is helping yet."
V. wonders if now, her blood sugar readings back to normal, her energy renewed and her wardrobe completely replaced, that last 15 will just have to stay.
Once health concerns are addressed, the unending severe diet is not a joyful way to live: deprivation, self-loathing, sporadic results. Sallie Tisdale's essay, "A Weight That Women Carry" is the most articulate article I've ever read about the futility of dieting to meet an unrealistic goal. (Originally published in Harper's, 1993, you can find it here.)
Comments
Remember the days when it was considered normal for women to gain a little weight around menopause? Before we were expected to wage a never ending war with our bodies? And who has the kind of time these days to spend 5, 6, 7 hours weekly at the gym??
I also underwent a big weight loss this year, and am ongoingly learning how to live in such a way as to maintain it. I will say that it is getting easier with time, but I will also say that I recognize quite clearly that I will never be able to go back to eating whatever I want whenever I want if I wish to maintain this weight. For me, that's okay. Every woman has to make that decision for herself, though.
Style Spy, I have always somewhat enjoyed the losing part (all that achievement and the compliments) but maintenance loses its appeal fast.
;-p
it's like we think, not only do we (women) have to look wonderful and slim all our lives, but that we are actually bad people if we don't... now there's health issues and there's health issues... but i've reached the point in life where, if i can't enjoy good food and some nice sweets once in a while, what's the point? i walk 3 miles a day, my main diet consists of fruit, vegetables and chicken, whole grain products... and guess what? i still look like my grandmother.
i sold a short story last year, and got little congratulations for it from "friends" and co-workers. i lost 5 pounds (walking through paris, mind you) and you would think i'd won the nobel prize.
it's ridiculously frustrating. none of us is getting out alive, and being a skinny minny in my coffin will not comfort me for all those chocolates and creams i can't have.
"Better to be Fat and Fit Than Skinny and Unfit" is a great NYT article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/19/health/19well.html?_r=1
"Last week a report in The Archives of Internal Medicine compared weight and cardiovascular risk factors among a representative sample of more than 5,400 adults. The data suggest that half of overweight people and one-third of obese people are “metabolically healthy.” That means that despite their excess pounds, many overweight and obese adults have healthy levels of “good” cholesterol, blood pressure, blood glucose and other risks for heart disease.
At the same time, about one out of four slim people — those who fall into the “healthy” weight range — actually have at least two cardiovascular risk factors typically associated with obesity, the study showed."
I can honestly say it has changed my life completely. It lays out the facts of the damage that dieting does to the middle-aged female body and then goes on to give constructive advice that should be followed 80% of the time, thereby leaving room for treats, etc.
I have now given up all wheat products, dairy, alchohol (I never drank much anyway) and caffeine completely. I eat fruit every three hours to maintain an even blood sugar level, eat full-fat goats cheese and yogurt, drink white tea and never feel hungry and most importantly have thrown away my scales. I'm eating at least seven portions of fruit and veg a day plus fish, lean meat and if I crave something sweet I have a handful of almonds.
After four weeks I can fit into my leather jeans again (haven't worn them for six years!), am sleeping beautifully and feel more mentally alert than I've felt in 20 years. Most importantly my food tastes delicious.
This is a book I'm recommending to all my friends.
The benefit of looking good is just a secondary benefit in my case but feeling lighter and more supple can only be good for my health - even my small varicous vein has stopped throbbing!
OK I've said enough!
I'm trying to follow Michael Pollen's advice in "In Defense of Food": Eat food (by which he means unprocessed), not too much, mostly plant-based; don't eat anything your grandmother would not recognize as food. (This is a guideline, but while my grandmother never heard of sushi, but it counts as 'food'.)
The whole unprocessed food thing goes without saying. I've always eaten that way, which is why I was getting so desperate at my runaway body shape.
The grandmother trick is ideal - Japanese grandmother's would have recognized sushi! - but wheat and cow's milk should be eliminated as much as possible. They are cheap and easy to produce which is why they have become our staple diet in the West, but our bodies cannot digest them - it's all in the book!
Read it and be converted!
Anonymous: I am not in agreement, nor is V.
those last ten years are usually spent in some crummy nursing home anyway -- especially, if like me, you have no children.
my mother says you should check into a fancy hotel for the last year of your life and be catered to continuously... then, at least, you'd go in some comfort.
good for you, GP, if that's working for you. but for me, i think i'll go get myself a nice glass of port and some chocolate.
The only thing I can compare it to is that lovely full-but-not-bloated feeling you get from eating a meal of fish and a salad. I feel like that all the time now, just by giving up wheat and caffeine.
duchesse - if you can't find the book on your side of the Atlantic I am happy to send you a copy from the UK.