Sometimes the stories you read in the paper are so bizarre - but they're true!
Recently, I jumped on the scale and realized that two years of CoVid isolation had put on a few extra pounds. So back on the scale again, back to measuring food intake - the usual stuff. There is no secret to weight loss - or weight gain. Just 100 calories a day in excess means 3000 calories a month, which translates to a pound of body fat. Over a year, that's 12 pounds. Over a decade, 120.
The mythology is that fat people gorge themselves on huge amounts of food. But you can gain weight with just an extra slice of bread once a day, for a decade or so, and end up morbidly obese. The snowball effect comes into play as well - once you gain weight, you tend to exercise less, and as a result, your caloric burn goes down - again, not by much, just 100 calories a day. That doubles the weight gain formula.
It is interesting how some folks stay skinny without much apparent effort while others get fat as houses and don't see themselves as over-eating. Again, 100 calories a day - that's a candy bar or a small Coca-Cola - or an extra glass of beer, wine, or whiskey (the original empty calorie!). There may be some genetic impulse to eat when you are already full, or more precisely, to not feel full and stop eating when you are full. A study of Labrador dogs found that a gene mutation leads to some dogs eating even after they were "full" - the "full" feeling isn't present in those dogs, and they get fat as houses.
We dog-sit a Labrador-mix and while she enjoys food, she isn't a food-hound. On the other hand, our neighbor has a sweet old lab named "Peaches" who is as big as a house. Poor Peaches! She doesn't mean to overeat, she just goes nom, nom, nom until the food bowl is empty. Of course, owners keep filling the food bowl, so that is part and parcel of the problem.
Myself, I don't blame weight gain on anything other than my own behavior. Sure, it would be neat to claim that it was genetics or a virus or bacteria or some psychological condition I can't help. I could claim to be "big boned" or have "hormones" that cause weight gain. I could blame high-fructose corn syrup (which tastes awful, which is why I stopped consuming it) or other aspects of the American diet.
I could do all that, but it would be externalizing and not really solve anything or cause me to lose weight. The hard thing is to modify our own behaviors - and that's no fun at all. I'll blame Trump instead - or maybe Biden! Or maybe the waitress at the restaurant. She gave me permission to over-eat.
That would be a cop-out. It is a struggle to lose weight just as it is a struggle to save money - I made the connection before in my blog. And the answer isn't quick-and-easy solutions (that never work) but changing habits over time and ingraining them into our lives. When I started this blog more than a decade ago, I didn't keep track of my income or spending. I just spent money willy-nilly on whatever piece of eye-candy (or actual candy) that I thought I needed or wanted. I was stupid.
But over time, I started tracking expenses, balancing my books daily and paying off my credit card daily and today, well, it is part of my life. I can't imagine living any other way now. Not knowing the balance in your bank account? Not knowing what you charged on your credit card? That is insanity - to the new me. The old me went along with it.
So I got back "on the wagon" and one place I want to cut back on calories is in alcohol. It is easy to cut $100 a month out of your budget if you call Comcast and tell them to go fuck themselves and then go to the library and check out some books or DVDs - for free. It is better for your soul as well as your pocketbook.
Similarly, if you like a glass of beer or wine or whiskey now and again, one way to cut out 100 calories out of your calorie budget is to cut back or eliminate drinking. There is a reason they call it a "beer belly" - it comes from alcohol consumption.
So I was all set to get back in the saddle and then read this story online which motivated me even further. It is a story so bizarre that I didn't believe it at first!
There is a lady who was named "Cat Pause" (I am not making this up!) who lived in New Zealand, apparently, and got a PhD in "fat studies" (I am not making this up!) and gave lectures and traveled the world promoting the idea that we should not "fat shame" people or discriminate against people who are overweight (in other words, Americans, I guess). She wanted to "normalize" obesity and argued that you could be healthy and obese at the same time.
She died at age 42 of a massive coronary. You just can't make this shit up.
You know there is a reason they call it "morbidly obese" - it is deadly.
And unhealthy in so many ways. In addition to cardio-vascular problems, excess weight can destroy your joints - you knees, your back, your hips, your feet - even your neck. It leads to pain and discomfort, reduced mobility, and a generally unhappy life. Why would anyone defend that?
Not only that, people will find you less and less attractive and may even be repulsed by your appearance. Granted, appearance isn't something you have much of a choice about, unless you are a Hollywood star with a good plastic surgeon (and don't go back to the well too many times). If you are born ugly, well, that's a tough break. Then again, it never stopped Steve Buscimi, did it? Or for that matter, Macauley Culkin (the two look like twins, these days!).
But things like tattoos, hair styles and body weight are somewhat within your control. The first two are moreso - you have to set out to get a bad tattoo. Hair is a little trickier - some of us are born with great hair others with problem hair, and yet others with eventual baldness (which rocks - work with it!). Body weight is a little harder to control, but not impossible.
The problem may have genetic roots but is also psychological. We try to lose weight, fail at it, and then get depressed. Depressed people then drown their sorrows in food. It is a vicious cycle. And we know full well when we are doing it, too - sneaking that extra piece of cheese from the fridge or something and feeling like a "naughty boy" for doing it - and at the same time getting the dopamine reward from eating. It is a habit and habits take time to break.
But Ms. Pause wants none of that. Rather than try, she advocates just giving up trying and getting as fat as a house and telling the rest of the world to "deal with it". Sadly, this seems to be a trend, with women's magazines "bravely" putting overweight models on the covers or people arguing that "fat shaming" is akin to the holocaust. Popular bloggers and vloggers and podcasters or whatever have jumped on the bandwagon as well. One of them, "Mr. Avocado" has gone from a skinny vegan to a 300-lb tub-o-lard and argues that it is a healthy lifestyle. Ouch.
Again - the parallel to finances. It is like the people who argue with me that saving money a little at a time - is stupid as the only way to "get rich" is to invest $500 in some hyped IPO or "stock" or whatever. But even if those things go up 100% in value, you only have $1000 - and that ain't much. And if you double-down your bet, eventually you lose it all - you can't hit the "next big thing!" over and over again. People want quick and easy answers to complex problems and usually those are not only the wrong answers but horrifically wrong answers.
Contentment is the key - not "Happiness". We were sitting on the screen porch watching the sunset, sharing a glass of wine after using the hot tub. I mentioned to Mark that his IRA account went up in value last month by more than we spend in a year. Of course, we both realize that isn't the norm and eventually, there will be a bad day when it goes down by half in value. But still we are not worried. Even with "all that money" I can't think of a single thing I need or want. Fancy car? Been there, it was fun, but I don't want to do it again. Boat? Maybe someday, maybe just rent one. Fancy phone, fancy electronics. big TeeVee, all the cable channels? Nah - that crap just makes you unhappy - it is the "Little Debbie" of consumerism - all empty calories.
But yet most people lust after these things. To not want a brand-new car or a big Tee-Vee (the bigger the better, right?) or the latest iPhone is seen as abnormal. Whaddya, buddy, a Commie or something? Being content means being happy with what you have and not pining for the impossible. And the greatest contentment I have found is not being in debt all the time to have "desirable consumer things" but rather to live on less and live without debt.
Maybe that is the same with weight gain. The goal is to be content - to eat enough and no more. Gorging on huge steaks or those gross hamburgers that are taller than they are wide is not happiness - it just makes you feel sick afterwards. Cramming cookies down your cakehole may seem like fun - to a 3rd grader - but even they get sick (physically) from too much of a good thing.
Normalizing over-consumption isn't the answer. The answer is to do the hard thing and be content with what you have. It isn't sexy, it isn't controversial. It never makes the cover of Fortune 500 or Vanity Fair.
But it is the right thing to do, and deep down inside, we all know this to be true. Even Cat Pause!
