Retrain yourself to recognize feelings of hunger and respect them. Eat when you feel them and stop when they stop. Don’t eat when you’re not hungry. This approach starts with eating breakfast, planning snacks, or eating only part of your lunch and saving the rest for a snack later on in the afternoon. Eat regular meals but don’t eat by the clock.
Eating When You’re Hungry versus Eating on Schedule — https://www.dummies.com/article/body-mind-spirit/physical-health-well-being/diet-nutrition/general-diet-nutrition/eating-when-youre-hungry-versus-eating-on-schedule-202578/
Ten Random Thoughts – February 2023
- I’ve had one of those nasty “Non-Covid Illnesses” for half of the month. This explains my paucity of posts.
- On the bright side, I’ve lost five pounds.
- There is much truth to Tiny Humans as Potent Disease Vectors.
- I’ve made and eaten lots of soup this month.
- The whiskey stock has not been touched.
- Beer on the other hand has been quite valuable in keeping my throat moist.
- Reheating leftover brussel sprouts in the microwave will make them explode.
- The Boss has this Non-Covid Illness too. This is the first time in years we have been sick simultaneously. Togetherness.
- With little motivation to do much of anything I’ve read and/or finished six books so far this month. I may have not started a book in the same month I finished the book but this is better explained in a post on ADD.
- My Chicken Meatloaf was Tiny Taste Tester Approved. It’s a nine year old post.
OK, back to my throat medicine.
Understanding Your Body’s Defended Fat Mass
Jastreboff’s research focuses on novel anti-obesity medications, specifically nutrient stimulated hormone therapeutics. She believes that a critical need in the field is to better understand obesity pathophysiology, especially how the body signals to the brain how much fat an individual should carry to store sufficient energy to function optimally; this is called the defended fat mass… Jastreboff cites the environment as a cause of obesity, specifically what she and other scientists call the obesogenic environment. “It’s not just the food, it’s not just the fact that we lead fairly sedentary lives,” Jastreboff explained. “It’s the stress, it’s the lack of sleep, it’s the circadian rhythm disruption, it’s things in our obesogenic environment that have led to this elevated defended fat mass on a population level.”
Yale Endocrinology Obesity Medicine: Approaching Obesity as a Complex, Chronic Disease — https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/yale-endocrinology-obesity-medicine-approaching-obesity-as-a-complex-chronic-disease/
You can now add your body’s defended fat mass to your personal list of reasons why you just can’t lose weight.
I must to go now. Super Bowl pig out starts soon and I have to adjust my defended fat mass set point.
Scary Charts (8 years old but still scary)
Which country stands out from the rest?
Don’t Eat More of Anything (Until You Decide What to Eat Less Of) — A Country Doctor Writes
A year ago this week, I made a stir with my post about five common weight loss myths. Today I had a patient conversation I have had so many times before: Someone was trying to eat healthier and lose weight at the same time. They are not necessarily the same thing.
Don’t Eat More of Anything (Until You Decide What to Eat Less Of) — A Country Doctor Writes:
Saturday morning. Coffee, clean the shower, catch up on news. Later I’ll work for a few hours on my Future Best Seller rewriting and editing my essay on changing habits, food choices and emphasizing what you don’t eat is just as important as what you do eat. Well, The Country Doctor wrote a nice post on this topic.
Thanks Doc.
Trouble in Paradise – 2022 Final Thoughts
Once again here’s the chart attributed to the New England Journal of Medicine from my first Holiday post Trouble in Paradise (it’s Weight Gain Season).
Personally I had the best Traditional Weight Gain Season ever. I didn’t gain any weight.
I just hope this isn’t sarcopenia.
More Trouble in Paradise – 12.22.22
Life puts hurdles in front of you: ice cream, home baked cookies, gift packages of divine seasonal sugary treats from well-meaning friends. Even if you work from home the seasonal threats are abundant.
Remember this chart attributed to the New England Journal of Medicine from my first Holiday post Trouble in Paradise (it’s Weight Gain Season)?
Today I introduce you to another Seasonal Threat for weight gain.
Stay the Course
Being housebound is no reason to eat all of the ice cream and home baked cookies in the house.
The fancy gourmet pecans though are OK because they are nuts.
It’s a good thing there’s no beer in the house.
Pizza and other food delivery services will tempt you. Stay strong.
PS. The estimated wind chill is minus 20 degrees F.
Trouble in Paradise – Update and Threat Assessment 12.08.22
This past Holiday season was the roughest in recent memory. I ate everything in sight. I binged on bagels every day for nearly a week. The cookies, cakes, and pies found their way into my mouth. The sheer quantity of food was my downfall. I put on the pounds and topped the scale at 202 pounds. Time to get back to my normal routine. I’m getting back to my usual habit of eating only when hungry. Avoid sweets. Shrink portions.
Journal entry 10 Years Ago
I was searching my journal on a different topic and found something I wrote 10 years ago. Back then despite eating healthy foods I continued to struggle with my weight. It was the Holiday season. I binged. Then I binged some more. Thankfully I’ve learned a lot since then like how diets really work. Source: Dr. Anthony Pearson.
In my last post Trouble in Paradise (it’s Weight Gain Season) I posted this picture of our dessert board on Turkey Day. It’s how I gained three pounds in three days. The cheese and crackers didn’t help. Nor did #10 twice.
Update and Threat Assessment
- The three pounds gained were lost but it took two weeks.
- I removed the beer from the house which was purchased for entertaining company.
- Yes, I drank the beer.
- M&M’s spelled correctly is TROUBLE.
- Two pieces of pumpkin pie are in the freezer. This is OK because pumpkin is a vegetable (botanically a fruit so still OK).
- Ice cream, normally not in the house but it is and calls my name every night.
- COOKIES.
The Boss came back from a cookie exchange with the neighbors with several dozen dangerous tiny bites.
Threat Level 4 Red.
Trouble in Paradise (it’s Weight Gain Season)
“Competition puts hurdles in front of you that you have to clear.”
OKC Thunder coach Mark Daigneault
Life puts hurdles in front of you that you have to clear. Like Thanksgiving. TGTIO (Thank God Thanksgiving is Over). We were out of town for only three days. I gained three pounds. I’m not good at math but I think this equates to one pound per day. YIKES. There’s 35 days until the first day of the New Year. At this pace I’ll weigh 208 pounds…
But I am not alone. This chart is attributed to the New England Journal of Medicine but I could never find the original source article.
As the years pass I get better at understanding why I put the pounds on. This was our dessert board on Turkey Day.
I can’t get Tex-Mex in Oklahoma. So when in Texas I need Tex-Mex. At one of my favorite Tex-Mex stops I discovered a new favorite, the #10.
The numbers above are calories, fat calories, and fat in grams. 2950 mg of sodium too (the original chart has more nutrition information).
We ate Tex-Mex Wednesday and Friday, the perfect bookends to Thanksgiving.
I had #10 twice.
Take Home Lesson
Salt, sugar, fat and excess calories. Taking and/or keeping the weight off is simple when you reduce intake of these four items.
Restaurant meals will kill you. Literally.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with every now and then so long as it’s every now and then.
My skinny jeans fit fine. I’ll get back to my usual routine and diet and the three pounds should come off and I’m good until the next hurdle. Until then I’ll wear my black t-shirts because dark colors make you look thinner.
More on the Obesogenic Environment
In an editorial in Obesity, Corkey discusses the many different theories explaining why obesity continues to increase despite best efforts at controlling weight gain in this environment, including increased availability and marketing of high-calorie and high-glycemic-index foods and drinks, larger food portions, leisure time physical activities being replaced with sedentary activities such as watching television and use of electronic devices, inadequate sleep, and the use of medications that increase weight.
According to Corkey, all of these purported explanations assume an environmental cause that is detrimental to the organism involved, (humans).
Boston University School of Medicine. “Finding the solution to obesity: Culinary medicine, emerging evidence-based field, ID’d as early intervention.” ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/11/221102115527.htm (accessed November 3, 2022)
Diseases related to obesity correlate with both the extent and duration of obesity. This suggests that diseases related to obesity will also increase more rapidly owing to the younger onset and more severe forms of the disease.
Barbara E. Corkey, Caroline M. Apovian. “En attendant Godot”: Waiting for the answer to obesity and longevity. Obesity, 2022; 30 (11): 2105 DOI: 10.1002/oby.23462
I have a growing sense of urgency to finish writing my future best seller.
I just have to figure out how to describe what I know in language simple enough for everyone to understand.
garyskitchen.net 