Thursday, August 8, 2013

"i did it, so you can too"

Many of the blogs i read -- which i find valuable -- are written by women of all ages, with differing degrees of metabolic damage.  Some of them have totally succeeded, some have lost weight but have maintenance or other side issues to deal with, and some are still struggling.  The difference between them and the review of [ahem] a certain book i hadn't heard about before, is that the book basically says what i wrote as today's post title.

The author of the book said it was simple:  he merely CHOSE not to be fat anymore.  It's simple, he says, just stay away from sugar and HFCS and fast foods, eat plenty of lean protein, and get up out of your computer chair!  He gets really testy about people who make excuses for still being overweight, and claims that all it takes is determination!  It's hard to tell from a review, but it sounds as though every other sentence begins with the word "I." 

THIS is why i positively rage against non-clinical male advice for overweight women.  Dr. Atkins, the doctors Eades, and endless other clinicians never paint solutions in black and white, but realize that infinite hues in between are the actual reality.  

People like the author of the book in question have NO IDEA how easy they have it.  Just as billionaires whine about hints that they should pay a bit more in taxes than working-class families, some individuals enjoy exceptionally good metabolic health and have no appreciation of the struggles of others.  Because THEY got fat eating boxes of cookies and supersized junk-meals, they assume everyone did;  because THEY resumed normal weight by bicycling to work and dropping sugar, bread and potatoes, they take for granted that THAT is all that's necessary for everyone.

Sorry, you self-righteous know-it-alls, you're wrong again!  If you merely crow to your friends, i couldn't give a damn, but when you promote this same old bullshit to those who struggle to drop a very few pounds but are still obese, it just plain makes me FURIOUS.

They can have no conception of how discouraging their advice turns out to be for people not so lucky.  People with recalcitrant systems can STARVE and not lose weight.  They can exercise till they do real damage to their bodies and not burn significant amounts of fat.  When the average American woman reaches the age of 50, she will have spent decades restricting her intake and attempting to work out enough to improve her physique -- at this point, just cutting out sugar isn't going to make much of an impact (she probably did it years ago, anyway).  A huge number of such women are immensely disciplined -- implying the contrary from the position of "authority" that many of these writers assume is an insult which shouldn't be borne.  

18 comments:

  1. Great post Tess! I read the same review and while I grant a positive attitude is always a bonus the lack of success that many women, in particular, and some men have in the weight reduction area does not automatically = non compliance or bad attitude.
    I can't recall where I read it but the fact that women of child bearing age are routinely omitted from clinical studies on diet becuase of hormones should tell even the most pedantic person that there is a reason men have different results than women when dieting. extrapolating a male diet success across women in general is a recipe for failure.
    sorry for the rant, great post as I said!

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    1. :-) my rant legitimizes rants in return.... thank you, and welcome to my ranting place!

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    1. thanks, Susan! the writer in question will surely not listen or care about my point of view, but at least i get it off my chest....

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  3. Tess, I initially missed that "fat by choice" part . I guess, for the very simple reason - I got so much used to guys blabbing along that line. Well,yes, I roll my eyes, shrug my shoulders, but it is so common. It is still painful and infuriating. I credit Gary Taubes the most for the explaining to the world that human body is not the colorimeter. I still feel justified. My husband thinks he is not fat because of his bicycling.
    BTW, It is very feasible for a certain person to reach a weight-loss plateau of 200 lb after loosing 100 lb , and stack on it forever regardless of her diet.

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    1. the fun part about having a blog is being allowed to blow off steam about things one would never say to a person's face.... :-) btw, thank you for reading and commenting here, Galina -- i always find your input valuable.

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  4. I'm always glad when someone succeeds, but yes, the if-I-did-it-anyone-can attitude is annoying.

    Good attitude and effort--sometimes tremendous effort--are necessary to anything worthwhile, but they're not always enough. People often don't like to admit how important it is whether the tide is at your back. Me--I'm thin partly, I think, because I didn't spend years of my life starving myself, never got obese, and had a thin biological mother* who I'm sure never starved herself. My mom, OTOH, barely eats anything but doesn't lose any weight. Being 83 and on insulin, she might never.

    *50 lashes with a wet noodle to anyone who refers to this person as my "real mother."

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    1. yes, i too like people to succeed (even people i don't care to associate with). they deserve to exult when they achieve something significant to them. what they don't deserve is to sneer at and insult those who tried and failed, despite their best efforts. :-( i have nothing but sympathy for these latter people.

      genetics definitely impact our efforts. my mother, like me, was always on the chubby side but never actually obese; my grandmother WAS, however, and my goal to is not follow HER footsteps....

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  5. In all areas of life a positive attitude certainly helps and it is great when you succeed in hitting the target or getting where you want to go. However, life certainly has many "infinite hues", and it can make it easier if more people acknowledge this.

    All the best Jan

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  6. It is my opinion that that will work for some people. The first "other" problem is to be able to do it. The second "other" problem is deficiencies, and other forms of nutritional issues, eating disorders, impulsive and compulsive issues, appetite, hyperinsulinemia, and all that other list that I have listed on my site. Choice is the first step, but not the only or last. It is not just women that go through life craving food.

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    1. so very true, Fred! as a matter of fact, your blog has been very illuminating for me!

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  7. Thank you Tess, I also like to take things from my chest on other people blogs.
    I don't crave food any longer and have no trouble to pass anything even when I am cooking that staff (I guess not because I am a pillar of strength, but because my fasting insulin is as low as it could be while being normal according to my lab results). However, my weight-loss stalled after loosing 30 lb. Conveniently, I reached an acceptable weight, but not BMI=25. I know, that even starving keeps me weight-stable.
    My guess - people who praise will-power and discipline too high, need to express extraordinary effort to be disciplined, and may have no idea that others who live years without binges and "re-feeding periods" still have trouble to reach their goal. There are other hormones than insulin, our body have powerful mechanisms to reverse a weight-loss .
    When I visited my mom in Moscow, she ate the same food as me and lost I don't remember how much, like 15 lb in first two weeks, then some more. She had more to loose than me, but she definitely can eat more carbs. She was dieting all her life, and was very involved in a big sport right before she got pregnant. LCarbing cured her gluttony.

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    1. Low-carbing tames my appetite, too! back in the old low-fat days i could be very full of those "healthy fruits and vegetables" and still be unsatisfied -- easy to see now that i craved saturated fat and the related vitamins and minerals! :-)

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  8. There are soooo many different co-factors on weight loss. There are so many of different co-factors (environment, ability to problem solve, chemical balances, other chronic diseases, living below the poverty line, living in a food desert, really crappy advice from doctors, really crappy advise from the never overweight.. just to name a few). There is never a "I'm living proof" that proves a 100%.

    If it were that easy, we would all be thin... glad you are ranting. PS, not sure what book, but I know time will reveal...

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    1. thanks, Karen! :-D sometimes when i get a good rant out of my system, i feel a little abashed....

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  9. Some people can eat a cement truck three times a day and stay rail thin. I'm not one of them. I do not have a hummingbird metabolism.

    That said, I firmly believe grain free can get anyone to a better weight. ;)

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    1. :-) i do grain-free for my joints and thyroid mostly. one problem i have -- when one has eliminated the REALLY nasty stuff and not reached an ideal weight, it's HARD to get the kinds of results people see when first dumping them. i still hover around a BMI of 27....

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