mizducky's migrations: a weight management blog with attitude

Genes that beat cold blamed for obesity - Diet and nutrition- msnbc.com

Link: Genes that beat cold blamed for obesity - Diet and nutrition- msnbc.com.

I have long joked about my physical build being the result of evolutionary impacts on my Eastern European Jewish ancestors--my people self-selected, so I quip, for the genetic traits of being squat and low-slung, all the better to avoid being blown off the Russian steppes by the wintry winds while digging potatoes out of the frozen ground.

Now obviously evolutionary selection doesn't work over quite that short a timeframe (i.e. mere centuries), but it always seemed plausible to me that it was indeed influencing our species shape over the long-term--and here is a report of a study implying exactly that.

Nevermind that the story misses the full implications of this point by still referring to obesity as a "disease"--nope, folks, your own study is implying that obesity is simply another evolutionary adaptation, like the massive amounts of fat carried by polar bears to survive in their native habitat. The fact that our environment has changed such that our evolutionary adaptations are now backfiring on us does make it a health problem, but disease-ifying a natural variation in human physiognomy is not helping the heads of people trying to cope with that variation one bit.

(In fact, it smacks of similar language I've seen used by certain plastic surgeons, who define small breast size in women as a "disease" for which breast augmentation surgery is the "cure".)

Weekly weigh-in: back to the latest plateau

These are officially yesterday's numbers:

• Yesterday's weight: 192.0 lb
• Change since last week: 0 lb
• Cumulative weight loss: 142 lb
• Average weekly weight change: -1.33 lb

Man, that stomach bug last week laid me pretty low--even after I was done with the main symptoms, I had low energy levels for days afterwards. All my little mitochondria and stuff must have been really pooped after fighting off whatever infection my gut picked up!

But now I'm back in the saddle again ... and back on this latest plateau. Somehow I suspect I might be on this one for a looooooong time ... and I'm okay about that. It feels pretty comfortable, like a good base from which to work on other aspects of my health--not least of which is increasing my stamina, not just in recovery from this recent bug, but in general.

Weekly weigh-in: laid low by the stomach bug

Oops, missed a week--but I have ample excuse. First, though, the numbers:

• Today's weight: 192.0 lb
• Change since last week: 0.0 lb
• Cumulative weight loss: 142.0 lb
• Average weekly weight change: -1.34 lb

I dunno about other regions of the country, or even other regions of San Diego, but among my bunch of friends this really nasty stomach bug has been making its way, and last week was apparently my turn. Man, what a nasty bug. A week later, and I still feel low-energy, and my tummy still feels a wee bit off. I will spare you all the details, except to say it was a major victory when my stomach felt stable enough for me to eat some plain yogurt in an attempt to repopulate my gut with some friendlier bugs.

Interestingly, after all the past several days' worth of, erm, fluidity, my weight remains the same. I'm just as glad. Weight loss as a result of illness is not my idea of a healthy practice, let alone a good time.

Beth Ditto on being fat | The Guardian | Guardian Unlimited

Link: Beth Ditto on being fat | The Guardian | Guardian Unlimited.

Here's a lovely little article full of empowerment and self-acceptance.

Even though I am working on healthy weight management, the "healthy" part of it includes not forcing my body down to society's exaggerated ideal of feminine slenderness--so I am "doomed" to forever be perceived as "fat" by those who are still hung up on that overly slender ideal.

Therefore, continuing to deprogram my brain from that societal tyranny of slenderness will forever be an integral part of my health regimen. And articles like the little gem linked to above are a great help in that endeavor.

Weekly weigh-in: recovery from oops, plus more busy-ness

Today's numbers:

• Today's weight: 192.0 lb
• Change since last week: -1.5 lb
• Cumulative weight loss: 142.0
• Average weekly weight change: -1.37 lb

Okay, back to where I was before. And back to being up to my eyebrows in work. I have to say, it's a bit of a challenge keeping up the discipline of this blog while having a life! But then, keeping up the weight management discipline while having a full and  active life is the whole point of the exercise, isn't it?

I mean, some of my more aggravating past dieting misadventures involved doing excellently at the weight loss thing--but only by dint of spending seemingly all my free time at the gym, and any left-over time obsessing over my tiny unsatisfying meals. Maybe the doctors and nutritionists, solely focused on the number on the scale, thought that was a healthy lifestyle, but I sure as hell didn't--and in fact, after two years I found I simply couldn't maintain the sanity anymore.

Interestingly, sometime last week I passed my two-year mark on this current "weight management not diet" adventure. And not to second-guess the future, but as of today I feel totally capable of continuing this adventure indefinitely.