Cake Watchers

[AuntieMaryHadACanary]

I have had enough of trying to be thin. Or even a bit thinner. I'm not massive but I am bigger than I should be. Its just too hard to lose weight. And I'm getting older - 41. And DH doesn't give a damn (God love him) Who has accepted their bodies, embraced their chubster self and stuck two fingers up at the world of thin? Come on women give some support to my fatty self

[Thefitfatty]

Fascinating GarlicShake. Not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but the university I work for is conducting a few similar studies (but aimed at the Arab population) and have had similar results. Especially in terms of identifying genes that put you at greater risk of obesity and Type II Diabetes.

I have to say my own experiences have been sadly similar. I've lost weight, and then put it back on even though I'm eating less and exercising more then I did when I was thin.

Right now I am losing weight (slowly but surely) because I'm on ADHD meds that greatly reduce my appetite, but I don't know if that's a permanent side effect or not. :/

[GarlicShake]

Blast, I forgot the links!

www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/tara-parker-pope-fat-trap.html

www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/health/biggest-loser-weight-loss.html

[GarlicShake]

Hello, Cake Watchers! I've just read two long articles showing it's actually true that your body tries to regain weight after losing it. Leptin levels remain permanently lower than normal - meaning you feel abnormally hungry - and your body burns fewer calories during exercise than 'normal' bodies.

They also show there is a genetic predisposition to obesity; some people are born with a post-diet type metabolism. They're telling the truth when they say they gain weight on restricted diets and exercise doesn't make as much difference as it should. What the article doesn't point out is that these people's bodies are actually well-adapted for survival! In a famine, the fat folks who can march for miles on half a slice of bread have the advantage.

I think the big thing to take from this is that dieting really does make you fatter - unless you're prepared to devote every minute of your life to it, like some of the article's subjects. So it's better not to start.

I also think it's important to know your own body. This is an emerging science - if you could afford to have all the tests in the world, you'd still only have a partial picture of how your metabolism works. So we need to learn from what our own bodies tell us. I know I can shape up quickly with not much exercise, but have to literally starve if I want to lose weight through diet alone. Not everyone's the same (and I can't exercise much due to disability, so am staying fat!!)

The research quoted offers some strong arguments against fat fascists & starvation-sellers :)

[AbelMancwitch]

Unfortunately though my clothes are feeling tight and the scales on Monday tipped me over into the officially "obese" BMI group. I'm going to have to reign in a bit as my weight is edging up and up and I can't afford new clothes either!

[Thefitfatty]

I'm a big fan of throwing away the scales. Frankly, I weigh 4 lbs heavier in the evening then I do in the morning. I usually gain 6 lbs the week before AF and it's gone the day after it stops. I much prefer going by how I feel and how my clothes fit. Basically unless things start feeling tight, I'm not going to cut back. (I will cut back when things start feeling tight, but that's cause I'm too cheap to buy more clothes).

[GarlicShake]

I'd suggest continuing with the reasonable plan, Abel. Dieting promotes an all-or-nothing mindset, so you start believing you'd expand to the size of a hot air balloon if you didn't "obsess"! In reality - if you're eating reasonably, like a person with no issues, that isn't going to happen is it? Maybe your settled weight is half a stone over your dieting weight? Why not give yourself a chance?

[AbelMancwitch]

See, I just had a week of not obsessing about food, I didn't go completely wild and I've put on 4lbs. God knows what would happen if I completely threw caution to the wind.

[GarlicShake]

I should probably point out that I can now only walk a mile, every other day, with plenty of rests :( All that pumping's gone to waste! And to seed.

[GarlicShake]

You could always ask her

I'm glad people get sweaty when exercising these days. I generally used to be the only person who was bright red, out of breath and soaked! I eventually decided the others weren't really there to increase their fitness: they mostly spent a lot of time looking in the mirrors or at each other ... Never figured out if there was a secret signalling system, though.

[Thefitfatty]

Jasper That's what I thought Crossfit was. She was doing this thing where she jumping jacks up onto two lay down seat thingys (the proper name escapes me), and another thing where she was doing this sort of star fish push up? The thing wasn't that the didn't look difficult, it's that she only did like 5 max and then took a 10 minute break. She didn't even break a sweat. And she's done this everytime I've seen her, so I'm not sure when she actually does a real workout. It was all very odd.

[JasperDamerel]

Go you!

I do crossfit, though, and it tends to involve everyone, thin, fat and in between looking hot, sweaty and grunting until they run out of energy to grunt with and then lying on the floor in a pool of sweat until they have enough breath back to cheer on the stragglers before getting up to put away their equipment rather than doing jumping jack selfies.

[Thefitfatty]

Awesome!

Although if people did point and laugh I'd honestly have to tell you to switch pools!

[Panadbois]

Go you!

I went swimming the other day, and no one pointed and laughed at me in my bathing suit. I looked normal. Average. The same if not slimmer than some.

[Thefitfatty]

So just a post to keep this wonderful thread alive!

There's a new girl at my gym. Very pretty young thing, tall and skinny. I think she's trying to be a fitness model or something because she keeps stripping down to her sports bra and short shorts and filming herself doing some sort of crossfitty type stuff. She'll do, like, five jumping jacks and then watch herself on the video for about 10 minutes (I'm totally judging her exercise routine).

Anyway, while she was doing this I looked at myself in the mirror, all hot, sweaty and struggling and grunting to do my last rep, and I felt fucking good. I mean, I'm twice this girls size (if not more), but at least when I work out I work out!

Usually I'd be a wreck of insecurity at the gym with a girl that looked like that, but I actually really liked what I saw in the mirror today and felt really good about myself. :)

Anyway, that's my positive thought for the day.

[Panadbois]

Love it! Where can I buy some of their confidence!

[AuntieMaryHadACanary]

Watched the clip, what an amazing woman, I loved the bit where she said to her thighs that they rubbed together because they love each other so much! Need to remember that.
I am trying very hard to think about whether or not I am hungry before I eat, has gone OK today. I am definitely feeling more positive about myself!

[Thefitfatty]

Oh Panadbois That's Ashley Graham! She's awesome. F-ing gorgeous and really positive and intelligent. Love her!

[Thefitfatty]

I'm fat and unfit, but I spend time working out with people who are really, really fit, and they aren't any happier than I am, and they are all really supportive.

The gym I usually go to is full of big, buff dudes (I'm usually the only woman) and they are so supportive and nice! Twice new people have started and when their personal trainer has put them on the treadmill or given them weights they've asked why they are going slower or getting less weight then me, given they are thinner. Both times the trainers have laughed and said "because she's way fitter then you!" Made me feel great.

[AuntieMaryHadACanary]

Great links people. Garlic i really like that article about normal eating, I need to refer to that often.
Jasper, good on you for exercising and doing so amongst the skinnies! Why should we feel ashamed? You're doing exercise just like they are! Glad you feel supported.
Panadbois I am going to watch that later, thanks.
Bendy I think how you are feeling is all linked to how thin and fat people are portrayed by the media. Thin = glamorous and successful, fat does not!

[GarlicShake]

No, Bendy, she's a hospital dietician in Canada :) No agenda there, other than helping people to overcome feeding problems of various descriptions. Her blog's full of really useful stuff - I tend towards the 'Evidence' section because I'm boring like that.

She really knows her stuff re nutrition, health and eating/lifestyle. When I see a persuasive 'healthy eating' theory, my first thought is often "What does Michelle the fat nutritionist say?"

[BendydickCuminsnatch]

Ok this is kind of out of nowhere as I haven't been totally keeping up with this thread, but I've realised that being fat makes me feel childish. I think I need to lose weight so I feel more grown up. I honestly feel like I'm healthy, generally happy, the only reason I really want to lose weight is that I envision myself thin, stylish, successful and grown up! At the moment I just feel childish. Maybe it's because I've been fat since I was a child? Anyway maybe I need to look for ways to feel more mature at the size I am currently.

[BendydickCuminsnatch]

Garlic she sounds fab!! But about £60 a session.... I don't know, is she just another food-scam money-drain? I'm so confused about everything diet/scheme/plan related that my bullshit radar is totally off 😄

[Panadbois]

hi there. I'm currently unhappily doing 5:2.

I wish I could love me as I am but I am struggling to accept me as a size 16.

Sharing this link on you tube about an inspirational plus size lady so I can watch it later too:

[JasperDamerel]

I started doing Crossfit a couple of months ago, and it's made a huge difference to how I feel about my body. I'm fat and unfit, but I spend time working out with people who are really, really fit, and they aren't any happier than I am, and they are all really supportive. Some of them have bodies like fitspo models, and some of them don't look all that different from me. And in lots of ways it's very nice to be really rubbish, because I get to improve lots, fairly quickly.

[GarlicShake]

Oh, good, I can post a link to the very wonderful Fat Nutritionist :)

Regarding the psychology of under/over/anxious eating, I don't think you can beat Susie Orbach. She helped fix my anorexia all those years ago, and has kept up to speed with current developments in body-shaming.