[wombat]

Hooray for the tip on the pita bread, mouse!!

Yeah, I live in Boston, and, same here, worked at a bakery, took stuff home and still wasn't fat because of all the walking, climbing and lifting I was doing, having that kind of job and not having a car.

When I first got a computer job in the suburbs and got a car to drive to it, THAT's when I got fat. Also, though, I think turning 30 had something to do with it!

Now I can get a job where I walk and take the train to it (if it's in the downtown boston parking quagmire) , work out, eat well, and that fat just stays on me. OOOLLLDDDDD!!!!! That's what I yam.

Chacaha -- any support for my theory that metabolism slows down as you age? Or is it that I should have started knocking out extra "kiddie foods" and "bar foods" when I was in my late 20s?

[chachaheels]

It does make a huge difference, doesn't it? When I lived in Toronto, I walked a lot more too. Basically I would park my car and it would stay parked except for the occasional drive out of town. I walked and took transit everywhere--and that meant lots of walking up and down long staircases every day, too. I did it because I simply just wanted to peek into all the stores along the way to work--I was always interested in who was showing or selling what and I met some incredible people that way. Weight gain was never a concern for me when I lived that way and it was one of the few times in my life where what I ate was simply never an issue.

But the minute you stop all that activity: you just stop using up energy, and just store what you don't use.

I should go and walk now. It's snowing really lightly today, and that's the big turn off--cold, dreary grey weather.


Trader Joe's is a US chain grocery store that sells a lot of organics and some pretty great house brand foods we just cannot get here in Canada unless you live near a Whole Foods, which can be similar but is far more pricey.

Mouse, Yay! that the pita bread's good. But still, go and get that breadmaker already. You've been wanting one for such a long time!

[mouse]

the daily exercise thing is probably doing it, jkat....just walking lots of places. i HATE that i don't have ANY movement as part of my natural routine--i go to the gym, but it's a concerted effort and i don't have anything that is just part of my life. when i was living in boston i used to walk and ride my bike everywhere--i didn't have a car. i weighed almost 20 lbs less than i do now, but i was in college and as such doing college things like drinking 40's every week, and working at a bakery cafe where i got to take home all the leftover muffins at the end of the day.

i rode to and from school and work and twice a week i'd bike from fenway to tufts u in medford, which is about 6 miles, and back. plus i was working at the restaurant, running around and lifting heavy things. i also was part of a kickball team. here, i work 20 miles away from where i live and it's all freeways--there's no way i could bike it. i get to work, spend 9 hours parked in front of my computer, and then drive home. i don't have time for anything else. it sucks.

[superscience]

maddy--your feelings about losing/gaining weight and male attention really resonated with me. When I was younger I got a lot of attention (both positive and negative) from men. I was thin, young and sorta hot, and was very uncomfortable with it. Also, I'm gay, but didn't come out until a few years ago. So, I think that part of my weight gain was to just sort of disappear from the male gaze. And, I certainly did.

And now, I've been out for a few years, I generally like myself, and it's really time to get healthy and put my body into the shape that I can like and enjoy. And, I wouldn't mind being "hot" again...

[jkat]

Maddy-

I really should add up how much I walk during the day. That might put this more into perspective for me. I mean, before I moved I would spend 1-1.5 hours in my car every day, and now it's not even the case that I get into my car every day.

Panic attacks are no fun.

Is Trader Joe's a US health food chain?

[mouse]

hey--for those wondering, it looks like trader joe's whole wheat pita bread is great. it doesn't have any preservatives, and the ingredients are only whole wheat, water, sesame seeds, wheat gluten, yeast, salt and vinegar.

[maddy29]

i used to walk a looot more, even though i didn't really realize it. now that i'm a 9-5 office drone, i do a lot of sitting on the ass. i think the main reason i've gained weight is from not having the daily walks-they really add up to a lot-even when i wasn't actually "working out" i was not overweight, because i would walk 20 min to class, walk 20 min home, then later on do it again, then walk to wherever....so most days i'd total up about 2 hours of walking-just as transportation. that was one good thing about panic attacks-it forced me to walk most places instead of taking the bus...

[jkat]

Thanks for your response chacha! I was hoping I'd get a reply from you.

Yeah, the last time I saw my doctor I had lost about 12-15 pounds, and he didn't even mention it. I will mention it when I see him in a couple of weeks though. I'm not actually that young (26) so I don't think it's the pudge left over from adolescence. I'm always leary of docs, although this one has been pretty good with me, as I've been given a 'shoulder shrug' on several questions regarding weight, diet, and exercise. But this one might just have a better attitude.

[chachaheels]

It might depend on your age too--with all the new activity you've been taking on since your move, and the stress of school, you may have dropped some of the weight you put on when you start adolescence. If you've actually grown and thinned out a bit, then that might be your answer. It does sound like you've been much more active on an ongoing basis, and a major life (style) change has happened, so it's not impossible.

If you're Type 1 Diabetes, however, and you've never dieted to lose this weight, and never really carried around the "baby fat" (as it's called) then you should really talk to a doctor to make sure things are all right.

[jkat]

I have a question regarding my own weight loss, and I noticed that there are a lot of very knowledgeable women hanging out in this thread.

I moved to a new city a year and a half ago. I do quite a bit less driving here than in the city I lived in previously, and I also walk more....to my bus stop and around campus mostly. My eating habits have improved, but they were pretty good to begin with (I'm diabetic so I'm pretty anal). Anyhow, I've lost 25 pounds since last January, and my only concerns are 1) I wasn't overweight to begin with 2) I haven't been making a concerted effort to lose weight & 3) at no point in my life have I ever been able to easily lose weight.

I'm not at all complaining, and I'm not dangerously thin by any stretch. What I am asking is if you guys think this is something I should be concerned about, or if it can be chalked up to lifestyle changes (and perhaps a little bit of school stress).

[maddy29]

yeah, i also realized that i tend to think of "getting in shape" as a short term thing, so that when i get to a good place, i think "ok, good job! now i'm done." it's stupid really, but i have such short-term thinking re: weight loss, and i'm really trying to get used to the idea that i have to do this for the rest of my life-exercising and stuff.....

[wombat]

Mmmmm

Word on the hostility/sex thing, but also the new "back off" vibes should help!

I think sometimes we have an image of ourselves, and we have a sneaky way of not wanting it to change.

I actually think I'm skinnier than I really am, because I was skinny growing up. But, what I do to sabotage is that if I notice I'm losing weight and my clothes are getting loose, I think I can AFFORD to indulge!

"I can get away with this little thing"
but, that's self-defeating thinking coming into play, I'm sure.

[maddy29]

yeah, for me it's weird, because i never used gaining weight as a way to cope, but i've found that since i gained this weight and it's stuck, i get harassed WAY LESS. sad, but true. i want to be healthy, but being a bit chubby is also really nice-men don't bug me as much, women don't seem competitive with me at all, which sometimes they do when i'm thinner. i remember spending a long time several years ago really working on the weight/harassment combo. i realized i was trying to control the way men treated me by controlling my body, and i was trying to NOT do that.

i also think for me, there is something personally dangerous about being thinner and "more attractive." i don't quite trust myself to be thin, if that makes any kind of sense. i think this stuff is all just left over crap that gets stirred up.

i remember about 5 years ago when i was in really great shape, i got bugged SO much by men-this nasty guy followed me out from a subway station for a few blocks and then finally accosted me, ugh. i just need to remember that i was a big ole wimp back then, and now i'm a lot stronger and more powerful, and will yell at people if they bug me. so i gotta remember that i CAN handle it.

[chachaheels]

maddy29 wrote:

but, the end result will be weight loss, which makes me weirdly nervous! i dunno dudes...at least i'm aware of it so next time i start feelign weird, hopefully i can address it then, instead of just gaining the weight back ++ more.

I've heard this from so many women. There's something we associate with the meaning of being thin--the personal meaning (or what it's meant to us, being thin and therefore "attractive") and the other meanings assigned to that reality (held by the world around us). This is why it's impossible to separate the role the emotions and mental state play in our physical health--they're all of a piece. If we're truly reticent about losing weight because it has connotations for us personally which we can't quite appreciate on a conscious level (but we know exists because of the way we feel in that state) then the weight will not come off.

Just for the record, the first time I was put on a crazy diet and lost a lot of weight I was young enough never to have really experienced "male attention" like I suddenly started to get at that time. Catcalls, idiotic remarks from my dad's friends and his employees (actually, vomitous remarks, if I remember correctly)...everything from, "Hey!! I remember you!! You used to be FAT!!! (voiced in social situations, with plenty of people around to witness...followed by obvious attempts to set me up with their sons at said social situations) to really discomfitting, unwanted remarks from just anyone on the street--ogling, rude remarks about my appearance, catcalls, men following me around as I went shopping or tried to just travel through my neighbourhood--all the stuff we all get. It was bloody terrifying and I remember being on edge for many years about men in general, and just far more insecure about myself after that. I also stopped working in the family business because I started to feel like it was dangerous for me to be in the offices alone when the crew would return. I think the whole experience was uncomfortable, as I ended up feeling really restricted and more than a little vulnerable to people around me, and even family member's opinions and attitudes towards me changed to reinforce that. Not mysteriously, the weight came back on and I started to feel a lot less constrained by the unwarranted attention and loudly voiced opinions. It really felt "unsafe", for quite a while, to be as thin as I was--and I never felt that way when I was the weight I'd been forever.

[turbojenn]

*duly notes to kick mousie's ass if she disappears* Done!

Mouse, if you go for getting a breadmaker, check craigslist - its usually flooded with them for about $20. I know I got rid of mine there in the wheat-banishment of '01!

[mouse]

i've been toying with the idea of getting a breadmaker; maybe i'll just make my own bread and i like crunchy toast, not white bread toast....that same farm also had an amazing bakery, too.

i was suprised to find that i hadn't gained any weight over the month i hadn't been working out, especially since it was over the holiday and i was definitely eating a lot of rich food and sugar. but i did notice a big difference in my ability to work the weight machines oh well, i'll get back up there in a couple weeks.

if i stop hanging out in this thread and noting my progress, i want someone to PM me and kick my ass into gear, okay?

[maddy29]

variables such as emotional reasons to want to gain weight (of which you may or may not be conscious);

yessssss. grrrr, this is why i'm so annoyed. i was doing great, being pretty moderate about eating and exercise, felt good, healthy, etc. i lost those 10 pounds over 2-3 months, so i felt that was a healthy way yto lose it. then i realized that i was getting thinner, my pants were feeling lose, and it felt weirdly bad. i knew there was emotional stuff going on but i did'nt know what the deal was, and then i just wasn't making workign out a priority.

i'm trying to focus not on weight loss, but just on getting healthy exercise, and trying to add more good stuff to my diet. but, the end result will be weight loss, which makes me weirdly nervous! i dunno dudes...at least i'm aware of it so next time i start feelign weird, hopefully i can address it then, instead of just gaining the weight back ++ more.

[chachaheels]

That question could have any number of answers.

It happens after large weight loss because the body forces its metabolic rate to act as though the body is starving. You start to "need" plenty of sugary foods, and everything you eat is automatically converted into stored fat, in an effort to keep you alive and also in the body's own efforts to repair any damage to physical tissue which occured during the weight loss. Other consequences of prolonged dieting also include hypothyroidism, adrenal insufficiency, suppressed thymus gland activity--basically, systemically, your body shuts things down. So weight comes back at a drastic rate, most of it fat mass, and it comes back in greater quantity because the body's been shocked systemically with the initial weight loss. It's like a desperate effort to keep you alive and try to restore what's been broken down--like the cell wall integrity in the lining of arteries, for example: body has to produce cholesterol to repair the cells, which, if current practices don't stop creating tissue damage, eventually increase and calcify.

In a way, the drastic weight losses people went to their doctors for way back in the 60's and 70's at least forced the body out of the reactionary "starvation" mode (until, of course, the Speed injections stopped). But the trouble with those was that people ended up psychotic as well as physically harmed (and all the same glandular damage took place but just in the opposite direction--things weren't shut down so much as they were forced to work much more quickly). Still, they were very effective and people signed up for speed injections for years on end, just to stay slim and youthful. Everone knows that as along as you're thin, you're considered much, much healthier than people who aren't thin, so the detriments were always ignored or considered minor.

In your case, Maddy, it could be lots of things: greater weight gain now just because of timing (Christmas holidays having just ended); greater stress which ended up affording you even less time for even less activity; variables such as emotional reasons to want to gain weight (of which you may or may not be conscious); use of medications or change in medications, which could include weight gain as a side effect; basic metabolic rate change that comes from age transition--to us all, I might add....any combination of the above, and many others I can't mention because of my own ignorance or inability to recall at the moment. On the other hand, you might have more muscle mass in place now than fat mass, and that always weighs more than just fat. But you'd still be able to fit into smaller clothes, if that were the case.

Is it that much harder to lose now that you're trying to get it to come off again--I mean, harder than before? Sometimes a metabolic change means you have to take a different approach in terms of the types of food you eat to try and reverse some of the physical changes which have taken place.

[maddy29]

well, i stopped working out froma bout mid-december to last week, and that was over the holidays so there was more food around, etc. stopping for a week and then getting back on track is fine, i'm sure....i just totally quit working out! gah.

yeah, that's the theory i heard, but i thought that was just if you were restricting calories, which i definitely wasn't doing.....

[wombat]

Wow, congratulations Turbo! Your ability to make good food that is still conforming to a diet is inspiring.

Congratulations to Mouse for working out!

Maddy -- you're scaring me. I was going to the gym regularly for the last couple of months, and now I'm taking a week off to do a project -- the same week that we had a birthday party (cake and ice cream) and people over (munchies including hummus).

When I go back to the gym and get on the scale, I'm sure I'll be sad.

The only theory I've heard about why you gain MORE if you've been dieting and exercising and then you stop is that your body is responding to "stress conditions" by hoarding calories. It's supposed to be in our genes from the caveman days.