Gaining 50 pounds proves nothing to no one

So, more than a year after the Maria Kang debacle, I wake up to this on my newsfeed.

"Woman packs on 50 pounds to prove 'no excuses' for being overweight"

www.today.com

Apparently, a while back, Katie Hopkins decided she was tired of having people tell her she was "lucky to be thin" and blaming their obesity on things other than themselves. She got so tired of it that she decided to eat 6,500 calories a day until she gained 50 pounds, just to show that it's only caloric intake and lack of exercise that makes people fat.

The only thing her "experiment" proves to me is that Katie Hopkins likes to fat shame. A lot. So much that she would undertake a drastic change in daily habits--one that made her cry because she thinks eating that much is so disgusting--so that she could continue to fat shame. It's that important to her.

And, honestly, it's totally off the mark.

All Hopkins did with this little foray into the world of overweight was prove that she, as an individual, with a normal metabolism, no physical or mental ailments that would beleaguer her weight control, enough money to afford a good diet, her genetic makeup and a bunch of other individual factors that make her a candidate for weight control success--would be overweight if she ate larger quantities of food than her body is used to.

I'm pretty sure science proved that already, first of all.

And secondly, proving that you personally eating a lot makes you personally gain weight says absolutely nothing about the rest of the population. To get all academia, it's not replicable and it's not generalizable.

So, congratulations on making yourself cry and force feeding yourself to gain weight so that you could then go back to your normal diet, lose the weight, and continue to fat shame--now in your mind, justified.

Hopkins has also said, "I don't believe you can be fat and happy."

To which I point her to this Tumblr.

Maybe Hopkins can't be fat and happy. She proved that to herself (unnecessarily since she already knew that about herself), but just because she doesn't like the extra weight and had to put massive effort into gaining it does not make that true for literally anybody else on the planet.

We are all different.

Hopkins, of course, is going to lose the weight in three months time by again drastically altering her diet and upping her exercise levels.

And that's great. But it doesn't prove that other people can do it.

It only proves that you can.

So, now, you're not just a random ignorant person making other people feel bad because you lack empathy and education about the different factors in obesity. Now you're an active participant in tearing people down to make yourself feel better about your life, willpower, cultural situation and genetics.

Congratulations, and good luck on your weight loss journey.








 

Beginner Body Combat for Moms and Other Not-Necessarily-Fitness-Type People

Look, it's no secret that I love Body Combat. I'm even considering becoming an instructor, once I have the time. I keep trying to get people to go, but the workouts are an hour long, the gym cost is expensive, and most of my friends have kids. It's just hard. Also, when you walk into a class of 50 people who have been doing it for years, it's intimidating. Most people don't come back.

And that makes me sad.

I don't have any real miracle story, except that I started it two years ago, when my kids were three and we were all about to lose our minds. It's been a mental sanity savior for me. I didn't do it to get results. I did it because it was so fun, and I clearly don't care about looking like a fool.

So, the first few weeks when I looked like a dead, and yet somehow constipated, 85-year-old penguin out of water, it didn't phase me. I get how people could not want to look like that, though. Particularly if they're already under immense societal pressure to be something they aren't.

So, to combat (HAHA) the time, expense and fear factors, I made a preliminary (and really shitty) video of ONE track that we do (a typical workout is eight different tracks, then push ups and abs).

The class goes fast with not a lot of instruction, so I picked a track with ONLY three moves (all kicks) that just repeat forever. I might do one for punches, but I probably won't do too many more. As crappy as these videos are, I'm not sure Les Mills would laugh if they thought I was making it easy for them not to make their bajillions of dollars on this.

HOWEVER, I would like to point out that the point of this ridiculous and silly video (in which my kids also do it) would be to push more people into spending their hard-earned money, and well-deserved time off, on body combat. Just a thought before you all sue me.

Either way, the point is, doing this has saved me not because I had some massive fitness goal, but because it was so much fun and it stopped me from eating my children. Seriously.

I did end up losing about ten pounds, and I swear I'm more muscular, even though the pictures aren't quite as convincing as I thought they'd be.

Regardless, the main point of this post is that you should do it too! It's easy. Or at least, it could be easy. You can do it at your own pace, tailor it to your own needs, and the biggest point...you don't have to do it right. Doing any of it, even wrong as hell, is really fun, and worth it, imo.

Okay. Here is my masterpiece.








Go kick some stuff and laugh at me, you'll feel better. OH! And watching it, I just figured out what I did wrong in the second half. You're supposed to be front kicking with the other leg and back kicking with the other leg. See? I know nothing. But still, we have fun.

And if body combat isn't for you, maybe Zumba is! You can check out the best shoes for the dancing workout here.






 

How to Love Me - Guest Post

Melanie Greeke took time out of her busy schedule of wrestling her three lovely children to write an inspiring piece on body image that I'd like to share here.

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As women, we are told how to look, what we have to do to achieve this look, and how inadequate we are if we fall short. This irritates the absolute shit out of me.

Women in a size small have a hard time finding clothes and feel fat in a swimsuit. Why? Because the media has given us unreal expectations of what a female body should look like. Size small? Not small enough. Super-model size thin? Too thin! Eat something, you skinny bitch. Size 10? "You'd feel so much better if you were a size 8." Size 20? "You have such a pretty face, I don't understand why you don't lose the weight!"

Because fuck you, that's why.

I had gastric bypass in August 2010 in an attempt to prolong my life because my weight and family history were leading me down a road I didn't want to travel, with two little girls who needed their mom to be healthy.

I didn't have gastric bypass to be skinny; I didn't do it to look sexy. I did it to improve my health for my children. And it worked.

But, even after gastric bypass and losing weight, I still feel the need to hide my thinner body. Oh no, the extra skin on my arms is unappealing to some! Oh no, stretch marks!

Melanie, stop it. Your insecurities are ridiculous. Let it go. You are absolutely the only one who cares enough to notice how much your "bingo wings" jiggle when you gesture your hands...and even if people do notice, who cares?  You know that shit is jiggling, too. Nothing to be ashamed of here.

So, I'm paving a new way for myself, and hopefully my daughters. We are going to love ourselves unconditionally. We will not engage in body talk or body hate. If we are feeling like there is room for improvement, we will improve, but no more standing in front of a mirror crying because skinny jeans make my thick Portuguese thighs look like sausages! No more will I allow the media to try to bamboozle me into thinking I'm anything less than absolutely spectacular. I'm going to love me for me. If I feel I need to change, I'm going to do it by myself and for myself. No man, woman, or TV personality will tell me what I need to look like.



 

Fitness Corner - 30 Days of Fitness: Contributor Post

Today, Joella from Fine and Fair takes us away from the Couch to 5K for a hot sec to talk about a different, and yet totally doable, fitness routine. It's based on the 30-day shred, and she's got nothing but good things to say!

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Last Wednesday, I did 250 squats.

I don't know about you, but for me? That's kind of a big deal.

When it comes to physical fitness, I have always been, let's say, inconsistent. I'd get into a solid workout routine, keep at it for a few weeks, and then forget that exercise is a thing for months on end. Surprisingly, all of that changed during my pregnancy with Canon. I was determined to remain healthy and strong throughout my pregnancy, committed to doing everything in my power to ensure the best possible outcomes for both of us. For the first time in my life, I was exercising consistently. I was doing yoga, water aerobics, swimming, walking, and even took up Zumba. The day before I went into labor, I was waddling, slowly but surely around the indoor track at the Y, when an older woman smiled at me and called out "Hope your water doesn't break!"

After Canon's birth, I was frustrated with having to recover from surgery before I could start easing back into the consistent physical activity I'd grown accustomed to. I started out slowly with walking, then the Babywearing Workout, then yoga, then Zumba. Consistency was difficult to come by while managing the needs of my 3 year old and my newborn, but I did what I could, when I could, re-building my strength and endurance as I went.

Fast forward to mid-April, when I started to see something about a 30 Day Squat Challenge popping up on my radar. At first, I brushed it off. I've never been successful at completing a fitness challenge. I made it 2 weeks into Couch-to-5K before hurting my knee and giving up. I made it a week into a push-up challenge once before forgetting about it. And despite owning Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred [affiliate link]for 5 years now, I've never done it consistently for more than a couple of weeks, and am decidedly...um...not "shredded."

But.

I decided to go for it, and I invited friends to join me. We got together in a facebook and encouraged and supported each other. We had a daily reminder of how many squats to do. We had a body-positive space to participate in this challenge together. Not all of us made it until the end, and those who dropped out or modified the challenge to suit their needs were fully supported.

So on the first day, I did 50 squats. And on the 30th day, I did 250 squats.

Next up, I plan to start a 30 day push-up challenge that starts with 5 push-ups and works up to 40, with several rest days thrown in for good measure. After that, the sky's the limit! A leg-lift challenge? Planks? Crunches? All of the above! In due time, of course. Will you join me?

The private Fine and Fair Fitness Challenges group is HERE. Just click "Join Group" in the upper right-hand corner, and you'll be added! Our next challenge will be starting soon, so join now and introduce yourself!


When you work out, you'll need a sturdy sports bra, so make sure to read about your best options here.





 

Why Parents Should Go to the Gym

Do you go to the gym? I didn't used to. After a brief affair with it in college where I went every day, I quit it, to happily never look back. Until now.

I'm not particularly health conscious, and I'm not concerned with my weight, so I didn't really have a goal in mind when I signed up for a membership in January. In fact, I did it for my husband. He'd been complaining about our one-room condo association gym. When I dragged the girls there to get him a membership, I found out they had free childcare for people working out. I was sold.

But I still hated it. I don't like the machines, and I don't like repetitiveness, and the smells, and the crowding, and the looks. Just not a fan. Then a friend of mine introduced me to Body Combat.

And I've never looked back.

It's fun! There's music, and lots of people, and routines. There's rowdy camaraderie and all sorts of people mixed together. It is exactly what I need to get away from myself.

You see, I find my life very boring, and those who say, "hey, you need some time for you, to just be alone, to get out," have good intentions, but, for me, that doesn't work.

The minute I'm away from my kids I'm wondering about them, missing them, worrying over them from afar. I'm just not used to being without them. So my break always ended up being just as bad as if I'd stayed home.

For me, the gym solved that. First we used the childcare. With the girls so close and me being able to go check on them whenever I wanted, the transition was smoothed over for me. But the girls ended up being sick for three months straight. No matter what I did, they always picked up some illness or another. They needed a break.

Now I actually pay for a sitter to come for the hour I go. It's worth it. They stay well, they're getting accustomed to me leaving, and I'm no longer worrying about them.

Here's why: At Body Combat, I don't have time to think about it. I don't have time to chastise myself for being away from them or worry about them. I have to keep punching and kicking to the rhythm, and by the end of the hour, I'm exhausted, yet refreshed.

It's social because I'm with a group of similarly minded people, and yet it's not intimidating because I don't actually have to talk to them. So that this group of strangers and I have gotten to know each other without all that pesky conversation. The regulars see each other every week. We know our different personality types just based on how we react to instruction in class, whether we jump around more or stand more, whether we punch close or far. Honestly, I'd say that if I met one of these women on the street, I'd be able to have a full blown conversation with her because I would know her speaking rhythms and what type of broad personality she has. A dozen friends just waiting to be made, but no one forcing anyone to make them.

The added bonus is that, physically, it actually works. I expected no results at all. I haven't exercised in probably seven years. I can't run a mile without getting an asthma attack, and yet my endurance and strength has increased ten-fold with this class. My body looks better.

I look better and I feel better. It gets me out of my humdrum self. It forces me to just do something without thinking about me or my family for an hour. And they're not kidding about the endorphins. I just feel better afterward. I can't explain it.

If you hate the gym as much as I thought I did, maybe try something similar. Just get out for an hour. A whole hour, no cheating. Grab a coffee, or take a walk, or go on a drive. Take pictures, or go to a library and read. Anything that gets you out of the house and distracted from yourself is a good start.

We have to keep ourselves balanced because no one else can do it for us. And when we feel more whole, it's easier for us to be there for our kids in our full capacity.

The gym. It worked for me.


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Why Do Women Need Fat?

First off, how exciting is it that we need fat? Super exciting.

The lower body fat that we all have in vast amount (around the world), feeds our babies' brains. This is, by far, the most interesting fact in the book I just read, entitled, Why Women Need Fat, by William D. Lassek, M.D., and Steven J. C. Gaulin, Ph.D.



I told my husband about it like this:

"Hey, honey, you know how you loved my butt when we were dating, and even moreso when I got pregnant, and then it went away a bit?"

"Yeah," he said. "Shame about that."

"Well, that's because it went into making the twins' brains!"

He laughed. "Buttheads," he said affectionately.

But it's true. The DHA used to line our heavier, bigger human brains is stored in our lower body fat as women.

The book is an intense journey through time and culture, purporting several ideas about corn oil, the changed American diet, genetics, and daily habits, showing how they relate to weight.

There is a villain. Dr. Ancel Keys, the doctor who falsely attributed increased heart disease to our fat consumption. The two authors suggest that animal fats are actually much better for us, drawing their conclusions on anthropological studies and history of human weights throughout the ages. In celebration, the night I read that chapter, I cooked our dinner in bacon grease. It was delicious, by the way.

And after you've immersed yourself in hundreds of pages talking about how small-waisted women are amazingly awesome and our brains are programmed to prefer them for childbirth reasons, and how Omega-6 is a bad guy on par with, say, Dr. Evil, there is a great section at the end that allows you to calculate your own "natural weight," an idea of the authors that shows that while women shouldn't try to melt off the pounds incredibly quickly through dieting, they could lower their weights gradually down to a certain set point. But don't stop at the first few graphs if you use this. Do all the exercises. Otherwise you're not getting the full picture of yourself that the authors had intended.

All that said, while there is a lot of really interesting information in the book, hunger studies, brain studies, talks of the hypothalamus and circadian rhythms, these are all just theories. Just theories being put forth as fact, as one would expect from an alternative diet book that expected to sell.

Now, I have no problem that these are two men telling all women how they can eat and lose weight. I don't care that they are super-psyched about women with tiny waists and large hips, but I do care about the way they present their information.

Just be aware of where their statistics are coming from when you read through. Take what you like and leave the rest. In some instances, they'll reference Americans in comparison with the Japanese, in some they reference the French, or the Swedes, or our ancestors, or Australians, Italians, Playboy Playmates or any other random group of people. But never at the same time. I assume they are taking the studies that back up their theories and leaving the others. So that you are surrounded with an eclectic array of advice.

Eat more dark chocolate like the French, more fish like the Japanese, and less corn-fed produce, like our ancestors did. I like my information to line up cohesively, so all of these incomplete and different studies being thrown at me in a stew of "lose weight like this" was hard for me to swallow.

Still, the main crux of this book, the Omega-3 versus Omega-6 battle was spellbinding, even if beaten to death by the end. They wanted to make sure we got it, I guess. Omega-3 good. Omega-6 bad. Got it. Really, I do.

The subtitle of the book is "How "Healthy" Food Makes Us Gain Excess Weight and the Surprising Solution to Losing It Forever."

While there is a lot of new and surprising theory, idea and research in this book,  I would not say that the solution to losing the fat forever is surprising at all, given the literature coming out all over the place purporting the same thing: eat less human-made, processed food. Eat more organic, natural and naturally-fed food. This is not shocking, but rather the way diet trends have been leaning for the past few years.

The best pieces of the text, in my opinion are the anthropological studies and conclusions, but that's to be expected since I don't really care about losing weight and my unused major in college was evolutionary biology.

For the dieting woman, there are some key aspects of this book that will make you pay attention. Particularly how and why dieting affects the body and why it makes you fatter. I was happy to hear it, too, because I hate dieting.

If you want to learn more about this book and the theories it's putting forth, join me in a book club discussion going on right now at BlogHer, just click here. 

This has been a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are entirely my own.