Monday, August 13, 2012

The Bad News, But Not Hopeless

Dr. Arya Sharma has a brief post today about "Why Diet and Exercise is Not a Treatment for Obesity."  In brief, heavy people who lose weight must work much harder to keep it off than do those who are naturally the lower weight.

It's true for me that I have to eat like a person who weighs dozens and dozens of pounds less than I do to maintain my current weight at nearly 15% below my highest weight.  And I still have a long way to go.  But I'm not giving up: although I'm currently eating about 1200 calories and losing nicely, I'm much more satisfied with those calories as nutrient-dense foods than I could ever be with that number of calories in Special K, aspartame-sweetened yogurt, Lean Cuisine, and Slim Fast.

My typical day looks like this:

Breakfast -- 1/3 cup (dry) oatmeal made with one piece of fruit and 1/2 oz nuts

Lunch -- giant salad of mixed greens and other veggies with 1/2-1 cup beans, 1/2 oz nuts, and one fruit

Supper -- different cooked veggies, usually one serving of starchy vegetable or rice, either beans alone or 1-3 oz of fish/poultry/meat, a fruit

Snack or Dessert (sometimes) -- a couple of fruits in a smoothie with flax and kale, or a slice of Ezekiel bread toast with peanut butter and a little homemade jam, or just some fruit

2 comments:

  1. I have a difficult time with my weight as well. I eat preatty food but if dont eat very carefully I will gain fast. I have a lot to go before I feel better but it is so hard. I need to exercise more but finding time is difficult.

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    1. Thanks for commenting, Amber. Now, two years later, I'm more of an omnivore, eating more calories, but losing steadily--I think I'm 10 or 15 pounds below where I was when I wrote this post. The thing that has made the difference for me over the last year is Overeaters Anonymous, particularly via therecoverygroup.org .

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