A 6 lb. Stealth Intruder


The other day my daughter and I went to Old Town for a little tour of California history. There was an ancient scale outside of the 1886 pipe and tobacco shop which required 25 cents to render your weight. Without a care in the world I dug out some quarters from my purse and my daughter stepped on. “Oh, the usual”, she said after looking at where the dial landed. Although its been about a month, I am still trying to recover from the final landing place of my own dial, farther around the semi circle of numbers than I have ever seen it when not pregnant. If I had food in my mouth at the time I would have choked on it.

You have to understand. All I seem to think about is food and how much and what kind I am eating. It’s not like I got so busy with my life that I forgot to take care of myself. I take a lot of care! I eat more vegetables than the average bear, I drink only water, watch my sugar intake, and I exercise at least 3x a week in a pretty substantial way. I felt like my body had been invaded by an unnoticed intruder.

THE STEALTH STRATEGY UNCOVERED
How have I processed this you ask?  I had to step back and survey all of the variables. First, I just turned 46, and you know what they say about the middle age spread. But I thought that was for people who stopped taking care of themselves the way they always had, and I was not in that category.

Second, I considered that since starting Crossfit workouts in the past 6 months I have actually been lifting weights like I did in college, and we all know that muscle weighs more than fat. Sorry to say, while I might have more definition, I certainly didn’t see 6 pounds of extra muscle anywhere. But I was willing to concede a few pounds to this possible source of weight gain.

My dear husband, anxious to help me bounce back, gave his confident diagnosis,“It’s because of all those protein bars you keep making and trying out.” True I have been trying to perfect my recipes for this and they are not for people on a diet!  Or maybe its because I enthusiastically bought into that, “Dark chocolate is full of antioxidants so you should consider it as good for you” idea. 

CONCLUSION: INNOCUOUS ACCUMULATION
My conclusion is that it isn’t any one thing, but like the frog being boiled in the kettle one degree of heat added at a time, its an innocuous accumulation that can take you by surprise in Old Town…a little more chocolate than you’ve eaten before, a little more walking and less running, a little age gain which does seem to naturally change the metabolism even if just a little.

USE STRATEGY FOR GOOD
But if little changes can add up to extra weight, then little changes can also take it away. It you want to eat more nutrient dense foods which will benefit your health, then small changes are what you need, one at a time.  We’re really simple creatures, so keep it simple by keeping the changes small. Just like weight gain or weight loss, the small things you do will become real, healthy diet changes .

FIBER: A SMALL BUT POWERFUL CHANGE
One simple change to make is choosing entrees with a greater fiber content. Fiber is crucial to good health for many reasons. It gives a feeling of fullness which satisfies your appetite earlier, it helps greatly with elimination, and it is known to benefit the heart by lowering cholesterol. 

In addition to these benefits it helps to protect you from Type 2 diabetes, which has reached epidemic proportions in the United States.  Twenty- four million already have it,  and 57 million are close behind in a pre-diabetic state.  “In fact, the number of adults diagnosed with type 2 diabetes has more than quadrupled since the early 1980s.” (1)  What we eat is converted into blood sugar and sent into the bloodstream for energy.  Grains with their fiber stripped away convert very quickly and this is stressful to your insulin producing system, while grains with fiber take control and slow the whole conversion process down.  One study shows that people eating the most servings of whole grains a day have a 27% less chance of getting type 2 diabetes. (2) 

This week’s menu is rich in fiber- filled, delicious food. Canadian Pea Soup is made from split peas which provide 65% of your RDA for fiber with only one cup.  The fiber in Honey Sweetened Oatmeal is known to lower blood cholesterol levels. And lastly, the Chocolate Protein Bars have one full cup of high fiber flax meal plus 2 cups of oats.

Lets use the stealth intruder strategy I was confronted with…many small changes which add up to victory, and turn it around for the good. First change, be aware of which foods have lots of fiber and choose to eat them more. (By the way, the picture above is how I grind fresh, fiber and omega 3 rich flax seeds to make meal, which I then use to increase our fiber intake by slipping into everything possible. More OTL recipes with flax: Blake’s Shake, Champion Cookies, Chocolate Banana Omega 3 Pancakes), Tiny Turkey Loaves)

 

 

molly's avatar

Molly

(1) http://www.health.harvard.edu/special_health_reports/Diabetes
(2) http://diabetes.webmd.com/news/20070515/fiber-may-fight-diabetes


This information is solely for informational purposes. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. Neither Orange Tree Lane or any of its affiliates take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading or following the information contained in this information. The publication of this information does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this information does not replace the advice of your physician or other health care provider. Before undertaking any course of treatment, the reader must seek the advice of their physician or other health care provider.

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Comments:

The “crossfit adds muscle mass” theory is not just speculation. I am not going to say all six of those new guys are from your revived lifting habits—but I was at 165 for most of my adult life and I went to 175 within a couple months of starting crossfit.  I was a little shocked myself!  I have dropped it back to a couple pounds shy of that now, but there is no question that lifting produces muscle mass produces weight.  Now, what I need to do is schedule myself into a straight 10k competitive run and see how much the weight gain has affected my speed.

By Jomo on 2011 10 11

Well, I do remember getting up to my current weight in college when we lifted very serious free weights for many hours a week, but since I do a fraction of that lifting now, I assumed it could not all be muscle!!
I would be curious to know how the extra muscle weight affects your running speed. You have more to carry, but more carrying.

By molly on 2011 10 11

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