I went into the cafeteria at work yesterday afternoon to pick up an energy bar (because I was starving!) when one of the cashiers tells me, “Long time, no see you!” The ESL made me smile (it sounds like the sort of minor flub my mom would make) but she had a point. In the past month, I’ve only bought one lunch from the cafeteria (down from everyday). Aside from saving about $25 – $35/week, bringing my own lunch has made a tremendous difference in how I feel about food and my lifestyle. I can’t say that bringing my own lunch has made a significant difference in my weight loss but it simply makes me feel like I have options when it comes to what I’m eating for lunch. I’m really picky about food (and don’t find most of our cafeteria’s food to be all that great) so my lunches have been limited to salad, sandwich & chips, or the occasional garden burger. Not only was it boring to eat the same lunch over and over again for over two and a half years, I think it was also impacting how I felt about my food choices. I don’t really like feeling deprived and when those feelings take over for a prolonged period of time, I tend to feel angry and have an intense desire to rebel. Rebellions are great when you’re a teenager but not the most efficient way to lose weight. I used to think of preparing my own lunch as a big chore-like ordeal but lately, my perspective on it has changed tremendously. For one thing, I know that it doesn’t take me THAT long to prepare my lunch and snacks for the day (especially when I do it the night before). It also makes me feel special – I get to eat a healthy, tasty lunch that is often different everyday and that I actually look forward to eating. And instead of guessing if something is healthy (or if it is even going to taste good), I know exactly what’s going in my mouth. I’ve been really surprised how much of an impact something so simple has had on my well being. I guess it just feels really empowering. Instead of feeling like a victim or that I’m getting punished, I feel like I’m getting something special (in a good way).
You don’t usually see too many fat people like me on TV. Except when they’re trying to lose weight. Is it just me or does it seem like the number of weight loss shows on TV has gone way up in the last few years? In any case, here are a few shows that I regularly watch or have watched in the past.
The Biggest Loser - Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of NBC’s hit show. There are plenty of things that I like about The Biggest Loser. For one thing, the program emphasizes losing weight through diet and exercise. I also just find the show really entertaining – there’s always somebody who I’m rooting for or somebody who really gets on my nerves. At the same time, I really hate how the show gives people some really unrealistic expectations. I mean some of those people lose like 30 pounds in a week! It took me a year (all of 2007) to lose and maintain 30 pounds! They also don’t seem to emphasize the emotional/mental part of being overweight. I can’t imagine that a lot of those people got so big without some sort of emotional eating problem. And I really don’t think Jillian yelling at them “WHY ARE YOU FAT?” counts as therapy. A number of the contestants from previous seasons have gained the weight back, which to me points to the fact that they’re losing the weight way too quickly and not dealing with the underlying issues. Even with its shortcomings, I still think it’s a really fun show and it keeps me entertained while I’m doing my Tuesday night resistance training workout. And Bob the Trainer is super hot.
Ruby - If you have the Style network, I’m not sure how you can miss this one. Is it just me or is this show on ALL the time? I *HEART* this show. The show stars Ruby, a charming morbidly obese woman with the most awesome Georgia accent (“M so esighted yall”). The show follows her life as she tries to lose weight through the help of a physician, a prepared meal plan, nutritionist, personal trainer, and psychiatrist. I love this show because somebody of Ruby’s size can easily (and justifiably) get gastric bypass – instead, she’s actually doing all the hard work. She’s losing weight the healthy way and focusing on the three key components (food, exercise, emotional work). I was also really impressed with Style’s depiction of Ruby. It’s so easy to objectify somebody of her size and turn the show into a gawk-fest. Instead, you get to see what it’s like to live in her shoes and how hard she has to work to reach her goals. I don’t have the Style network any more but I can’t wait to get the next season on iTunes as soon as it comes out.
Big Medicine - When I had Discovery Health, I used to watch this one off and on. Big Medicine focuses on a father and son team of surgeons who practice gastric bypass surgery. I personally think getting gastric bypass is like cheating – it’s like the fast food solution to weight loss. For that reason, I don’t really have much empathy for many of the patients featured on the show. I do like watching the show because I find the father/son team pretty entertaining. The show also features the world’s worst therapist ever, and merely getting the opportunity to make fun of her keeps me tuned in. This show can get formulaic (obese patient wants bypass -> patient must be cleared by insurance -> oh no we’ve hit a snag! -> Dr. Davis fights with insurance and gets patient cleared -> obese patient now must be cleared by world’s worst therapist -> oh no therapist thinks patient is too depressed for surgery! -> wait, patient is 700 pounds, how could he not be depressed? -> never mind -> surgeons have a hard time sticking long sticky instruments in patient’s enlarged abdomen -> meanwhile, plastic surgeon removes excess skin from another gastric bypass patient -> OK, back to surgeons with long sticky things -> patient lives! -> patient loses weight effortlessly!), which is probably why I don’t watch it as regularly.
Numerous programs on Discovery Health – Discovery Health seems to have bought all the rights to every program ever created about morbidly obese patients. I’ve watched a lot of these and I really find them fairly depressing (and somewhat offensive). The programs tend to really objectify the featured people (e.g. closeup of a bed-bound morbidly obese person eating high-fat food). A lot of the people featured are either in serious denial (“I hardly eat anything! I have no idea how I got to be 700 pounds!”) or looking for gastric bypass for a quick fix. Not particularly inspiring.
I was looking at the 2008 Feltron Annual Report (you know that graphic designer who produces those cool reports summarizing his personal life each year) and started thinking about my own personal data for 2008. I don’t have time to make nifty infographics but here are my most notable quantitative and qualitative data for the year. These skew very much in the fitness area because I’ve been so focused on that (and I have tons of that data stored in WalkerTracker).
- net pounds lost – 18.8 (I say net because I kept yo-yoing last year)
- weight milestones reached – -40, -50
- miles hiked (estimated) – 96
- miles run (estimated) – 130.5 (I didn’t count my training run/walks)
- number of days I did not workout (I’m counting walks, hikes, swims, and resistance training as workouts) – 58 (this felt really bad until I figured out that that means that I worked out an average of 5.9 times/week)
- average steps taken – 10,500
- total steps taken – 3,843,149
- places visited – Seattle, Washington, D.C., St. Louis, Austin, Las Vegas, Yosemite
- trips to Seattle – 4
- trips to St. Louis – 2
- nights spent at the W Seattle – 9 (clearly not enough)
- most awesome place visited – Yosemite
- most fun place visited – Las Vegas
- number of times votes – twice (Hillary then Barrack)
- number of concerts attended – 4 (Bridge School, Death Cab for Cutie, The Police, John Mayer)
- swimming instructors acquired – 3
- level of swimming competency – I won’t drown but I can’t say that I know how to swim either
- bicycle riding instructors acquired – 1
- level of bicycle riding competency – I can ride a bike but I still have a fear of riding near cars
- cool new toys acquired – iPhone, Macbook
- months without cable/pay TV – about 7 – 8
- best film watched at the movies – Milk
- best film watched through Netflix (three-way tie) – Confessions of a Superhero, Caramel, La Vie en Rose
- most boring/painful thing I decided to do that I vow to never ever do again – taking a stats class (at night after work)
- notable teeth invisaligned – 2 front teeth (plus other ones I didn’t notice)
- number of photos taken and posted to flickr – 2118 (this might include old photo scans)
- most listened to artist (according to last.fm) – Death Cab for Cutie (followed by Dido and Sarah McLachlan)
- most listened to album (according to last.fm) – Death Cab for Cutie – Narrow Stairs
- most listened to track (according to last.fm) – Death Cab for Cutie – Bixby Canyon Bridge
- amazingly awesome healthy meals prepared – spinach lasagna, mushroom lasagna, chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, cranberry chicken with baked parsnips, sweet potatoes, and apples
- best meal eaten – mom’s grape leaves (I don’t think anything can ever top this one)
- ounces of Diet Pepsi consumed – way too many
- ounces of water consumed – way too little
- new cats acquired – one (Scully)
- cats deceased – one (OJ)
