August 10, 2012
75.6 pounds to go
When I first walked into the diet clinic, got on the scale and then burst into tears when the doctor walked out of the room I was in a very different place then I am now. That initial visit was full of information that was truly shocking to me. What motivated me to walk in the doors was the fact that I couldn't resist eating anything that wasn't nailed down because of the stress at work. I had realized that in my 32 years of living, I never figured out how to properly feed myself, wanted to learn, but had no idea where to start. Along with the scale (which is lucky to have survived the visit without extreme physical punishment) and the overwhelming eating plan, I also learned about another valuable tool: my resting metabolism.
One's resting metabolism is how many calories your body will burn in a given day according to height, weight, age & sex. A quick trip to Google and entering "resting metabolic rate" will direct you to a number of sites that allows you to punch this info in and get a result. (The best one I've found is http://www.bmi-calculator.net) Currently, it tells me I burn about 1700 calories a day. This means if I do nothing but lay on the couch marathoning "True Blood" and torturing my cat with the laser pointer I can eat 1700 calories and not gain weight. Now, here comes the kicker: if I punch in my target weight it will tell me I'm at 1367.
That's not fucking fair!
In my first few weeks of food mourning, I realized the simple fact that my current daily caloric intake of 1400 calories will be just about my resting metabolism at my ideal weight. This is how I get to eat for the rest of my life. And that my friends, is the difference between a diet and a lifestyle change. It also means that the only way I will get to eat more is if I exercise.
My second thought was "how did I go through my whole life (so far) not knowing this?" And the information is so easy to access and figure out! Why the fuck did nobody tell me? I have been on more crash diets than I can count: you name it, I've probably tried it: Optifast, Low Carb, Fat Flush, P90X, Infomercial diet programs, Vegetarian, Vegan, and even raw diets. Some lasted longer than others, but the most was 6-8 months.
How about if we don't tell anyone and throw away the evidence?
The difference between all of those other programs and what I'm doing now is awareness. I know what I am supposed to eat to lose weight. And I know what I'm supposed to eat when I get there. It's the same damn thing! Before it was always a race to the finish line, and then once I crossed it the "now what?" kicked in. Can I eat fast food now? Drink beer? Sometimes, if you exercise and bank the calories. The thing is, it takes a really long time to put on weight after a crash diet - and relatively little time to take it off - another amazing thing that our bodies do which still baffles me. As I mentioned in a previous post, it took me nearly 8 years to put on this weight and it will probably only take me a year to year and a half total to take it off. As for my feelings about this, I agree with what Brad Pitt said in Inglorious Bastards -
Brad Pitt: "I'd make that deal, how 'bout you, Utivitch, you make that deal?
Utivitch: "I'd make that deal."
Brad Pitt: "I don't blame ya. Damn good deal!"
It's a good thing this is a blog post and me not actually trying to imitate his accent in the movie because I suck at impressions. Mostly people look at me sideways and say "what exactly are you trying to do?" But back to the subject at hand: in previous crash diets I never knew what I was doing when I reached my ideal weight so instead I just ate like I did when I was overweight which is a recipe for disaster. It may be unfair that I'm short, a girl and only burn 1400 calories at my ideal weight while my two direct co-workers are over 6 feet and get to chow down closer to 2000. But as they say, "eh, whatcha gonna do about it? It's the way it is." At least now I know what to do.
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