Gaining to lose

Tags

clara k.showalter, fitness, gastric bypass, health, lap-band, life, weight loss

In a world which at times seems focused on weight loss, there are those who are so desperate to lose weight that they chose to gain it first.

Gastric bypass surgery and less invasive options like Lap-Band can seem like magic bullets. The weight loss post surgery is drastic. You may even hear a recipient of the surgery call it a miracle. As the push for surgery as an option grows, the companies providing the technology have pushed for changes in the regulations. Earlier this year, the FDA changed the requirements for Lap-Band surgery and lowered the Body Mass Index (BMi) requirement. By changing the BMI needed for surgery to between 30-35, more people are eligible to receive insurance coverage to pay for the surgery.

This means you find more people looking for ways to gain enough weight to qualify for the surgery. By engaging in binge eating, potential candidates hope they will gain the few needed pounds that will qualify them for surgery.

I’ve had friends over the past few years who’ve expressed similar interest. If they gain enough weight, they may qualify for surgery. It always boggles my mind. I had to work darned hard to get my weight off. I’ve had to work hard to keep it off. I know the process isn’t easy. I know that you’ve got to fail in order to lose and keep it off.

There are no magic solutions. There’s no easy path. My heart breaks a bit when I see people who think the only way to get the weight off is to make things worse.

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Working out the kinks

Tags

food rules, gardening, michael pollan, weight loss

Well we have a full week down and on the books. It wasn't too bad overall. I'm starting to figure out what the rules for my particular challenge are going to be over the next year. I know what my end destination physically is supposed to be.

I'm looking for six pack abs. To do that I'll need to be around 15% bodyfat. As of my starting measurements I'm at around 20% via caliper measurement or 29% via my Omron bodyfat tester. I'm not obsessing too much about the measurements just yet. I am paying attention to the scale as a way to help gauge my food consumption. I dropped 2.5 pounds last week. That tells me I've got a good caloric deficit going, even with the switch to some higher fat items.

I keep repeating that healthy fats are my friend. Yard raised poultry is rich in Omega 3 fats, as is grass raised livestock. I'll be doing some bloodwork later in the week to get an idea where my cholesterol levels are as well.

I spent part of the weekend following rule #62, which is planting a garden. Well I'm not actually setting up a garden. I live in an apartment. While I may end up planting some window box herbs, it's not totally practical to have a full blown produce stand on my front deck. So I do the next best thing. I'm helping out a friend with her garden.

I spent most of Saturday moving dirt. Now in order to grow healthy produce you need to have healthy dirt. Healthy dirt is full of decomposing bits. As organic material breaks down, it generates nitrogen which helps feed your plants! So a quality mix needs organic things in it. We went out to the Natural Gardener here in Austin and bagged 12 large bags of compost.

As a note, 12 bags of compost is a lot of compost. A second note, 12 bags of compost is HEAVY.

When we got back to my friend's house, it was time to mix the compost with peat moss and vermiculite to create a plant friendly blend. This is a fancy way of saying I got to play in dirt up to my elbows most of the afternoon.

I ended up with a small blister on my thumb, and a gash on my leg where a random yard flag jumped up and bit me. Best of all I got covered in dirt. Don't get me wrong, the process of creating something that's going to provide quality and yummy produce is fun, but dangit the inner 5 year old still likes to play in the dirt!