Once we are adults, it is not anyone's job but our own to monitor what goes into our mouths. It's not that nutritional and medical information is not necessary or helpful; it is. It's not that loving friends and family are not necessary and helpful; they are. But when it gets down to the particular foods you choose to eat on a given day, you are the boss.Here's a great discussion about whether maintenance is truly possible. Be sure to read the comments.
~ Geneen Roth, "The Constant Food Critic" GH June 2009
Excited about the Biggest Loser finale tonight? I am. While I'm OK with any of the finalists winning, I can relate more with Helen and Tara.
~♥~
14 comments:
Hi Lee! Thanks for visiting my blog! I need all the help and encouragement I can get!! Loved the discussion on maintenance.
So true! We are the boss of what we put in our mouth! At any given time, we can chose or not chose to eat something. I do that every day & I chose to eat healthy most of the time. Sometimes it is harder than others but at those times, I take a time out, think thru why I want to eat this or that, what will it do for me, will it feel good afterwards, is it worth it or am I better waiting for a treat I would rather have & enjoy totally.
I was overweight when I was younger & I have not only maintained that weight loss but have lost body fat & gained muscle as I got older by learning & applying what I learned to make food choices that are right for me & exercising to mold a body that I want for me. It may not be what others want but I like it that way.
We can all do it. You just have to put your mind to it, get past your own roadblocks & make yourself important enough to say you deserve it!
"Fat acceptance bloggers" is a new one for me...talk about putting a negative attitude out there! People choose to overcome all kinds of obstacles, challenges, and adversities. It's fine if someone chooses to believe they can't do it, but just because you have made that choice doesn't have anything to do with anyone else.
One comment was that if you have lost the weight by creating a new life style, then maintenance will be easier than if you lost it by a method that can not be maintained. I think that is spot on. And another said to read things and surround yourself with words and people and thoughts that lift you up. Excellent advise.
Controlling your weight is obviously hard, but that sure doesn't make it impossible...far from it.
This is a great quote. Missed Biggest Loser last night rats!
Helen looked fabulous last night.
I just visited the maintenance link and am bookmarking it for future reading.
I have heard and read about "fat acceptance" for a good long time. I have also struggled with my weight for years and maintained an over 100 lbs weight loss for the past 5 years too. If people want to be fat, that's fine. For me, it interferes with longevity and it's a risk factor for a lot of illness (cancers etc.) I'm not into risking my life.
I would not label "fat acceptance" as being negative because Kate Harding does not think of being fat as a negative. I just bought her book and I'm reading it slowly (don't know if I'll finish because as one of the commenters on the other blog put it, reading all the "you're going to gain it back!" statistics can really undermine (if you let it) your own weight loss goals.) But she's funny, sort of, if she weren't so serious about how hard it is to keep weight off. It's depressing reading all that crap.
Anyway, have read every Geneen Roth book. She doesn't diet either. She just lives her life but it took her a helluva lot of diets to figure out what works for her.
Wow, POD, you've maintained a 100 pound weight loss for more than five years?! When are you writing your book?
I think there should be non-skinny acceptance, especially for women. I don't think people who are overweight or obese should have any bias or ugliness shown toward them whatsoever but accepting obesity is not the answer either. I know that isn't what Harding is about either. It just seems that some who don't bother to read her blog or book might think she's advocating for obesity to be normalized instead of pointing out that it is entirely possible for people who are overweight to be healthy.
Yikes, I was taken aback by how Helen looked last night. She looks shrunken and underweight to me -- and that's on TV. I can imagine what 117 on a 5' 6" frame looks like in person. Still, she kicked butt and has worked very, very hard to win the prize facing fierce competitors younger than her own kids. Pretty dang inspiring. Don't count us pushing fifty women out!
Maybe I should have waiting until this morning to comment and chosen my words more carefully. But my comment last night was directly at this line in the article:
Kate Harding, and the other fat acceptance bloggers, basically argue that maintaining weight loss is impossible, and women should simply accept themselves at the weight at which they wind up.
The negative attitude remark was specifically directed toward the” argument that maintaining weight loss is impossible”. I have never heard of Kate Harding, and admittedly, never read her blog and probably never will, but it’s nothing against her. In my mind, “Fat Acceptance” means accepting fat, not whether or not you accept fat people. But again, I have never heard of this concept, so I may have misunderstood. For the record, I accept, love, adore every living soul on the planet (unless they are super mean) and a person’s weight is no more relevant to me than their skin color or sexual preference. If they are talking about accepting “fat people”, then I am with them all the way. I absolutely believe that someone can be classified as “overweight” and be very healthy. I just don’t like giving credibility to the notion that because they choose not to maintain a certain weight, then it is impossible for anyone else to do it.
Congratulations POD, for doing the "impossible"!!
Patty - OMG, my comment to POD was not referencing your previous comment at all! There are some "fat acceptance" that definitely put a negative attitude out there. Some are hostile to people who are working toward losing weight and becoming fit. I'm sorry... :(
Yikes!!! Oh Lee, I swear, I didn't think you did. I have so much respect for you and, after reading POD's comments, her as well. And I just started thinking about the whole discussion and wanted to clarify my thoughts, and I promise you I didn't think there was anything negative going on at all.
I love reading all the different positions on a topic and I learn so much.
Looking at my last comment, I should have been more clear in my clarification! :-) Because I was reconsidering my thoughts and not feeling defensive.
I am the one that is sorry for not being better at the written word and getting in a hurry!
I have actually kept off more than 100 lbs but with chemo I put on 20 lbs (steroids) but since chemo lost that (again) but I'm not advocating accepting fat. I don't accept mine. It's just too darn risky. As I have written many times, I wish I knew then what I know now. ;-)
I wrote about my fat venture in Eating: A Mixed Review. I sort of explain my penchant for reading weight loss books and memoirs.
And I'm not freaking about what anyone said. It's all fine. In fact, I have to go visit Patty's blog now. ;-)
Well, I blew that link although the url it's going to is hysterical, imho.
Try this one.
Patty - we're good? :)
Always were,and always will be in my book Lee! :-)
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