A billion people have sent me this link to The Fat Trap on NYTimes.com. Ok, maybe not a billion, more like 5 but a billion sounded better and I’m in a silly mood.
So the Fat Trap goes something like this… Those of us that have been overweight are doomed because our bodies now like to be fat and will defend its fat to the death!
Honestly, my response is…
blah blah blah.
We’ve heard it all before and I say OF COURSE. Of course our bodies like to be fat. It’s warm and safe and easy in our time of plenty.
I don’t doubt anything the article says about hormones and how our bodies respond to losing weight, but deep down don’t we all know there are forces working against us all the time? Let’s not get into the specifics for a change. I don’t care who naturally burns 300 more calories a day or how many miles I need to run to work off that cookie. Let’s peer down from the 50,000 foot view.
Everyone’s bodies are different. We all know people who eat fast food for every meal and never gain an ounce. For Pete’s sake my husband actually sucked down weight gain shakes in high school because he was so thin. We also know (or are) people who gain weight after a few big meals. There are people who can enjoy 1 cookie without giving it another thought and others that can’t handle having a bag of chocolate chips in the house in fear they can’t control themselves.
Our age plays a factor.
Our activity level plays a factor.
Our hormones play a factor.
Our genes play a factor.
Our body image plays a factor.
There are so many variables, some we probably aren’t even aware of yet.
So knowing this changes what?
I’m not going to lie and tell you that losing weight wasn’t awesome for all the vanity reasons. For the first time in my life I was able to try on clothes without bursting into tears in a dressing room. Being thin was an emotional triumph for me. There’s no doubt about it, but I also FEEL better now and it’s not all because of a thinner physique.
I feel better physically.
There’s also no doubt that food and exercise affect my emotional state and mood.
I think we forget that for some being overweight is a byproduct of living a life you don’t want to live. I know that’s not the case for everyone, but for me it was, and I can’t be alone.
What I’m trying to get at here (and doing a bad job at it) is…. I don’t care about “The Fat Trap.”
I don’t care if I will have to work at maintaining my weight for the rest of my life because the alternative is what? Be fat and unhappy?
At least if I’m living the active life I want to live, eating a balanced healthy diet and enjoying exercise the worst case scenario is fat and happy.
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