Plus, the whole purpose of writing daily in 2013 is to push myself toward finally publishing one of my many book ideas. At the rate I'd been going, I would've probably seen Jesus come back before my book hit the shelves; the discipline of writing daily has been a great exercise. With that said, I can't use all my writing steam telling the world about teeny mustaches and grown-ups wearing tutus, now can I?
With that said, I've been sharing a few things I love since it is February. You can read about Things I Love (TIL) no.1 and no.2 if you so desire.
On to TIL #3:
I know you know by now that I have explored the areas of diet and exercise for a while. I've had challenges with co-workers to cut out sugar and have scoured the interwebs for the latest and greatest perfect-diet-du-jour. I am a huge nerd and I genuinely enjoy reading medical websites and health blogs, as well as having deep scientific discussions with my equally nerdy brother in law. In fact, I think we both accidentally made my pregnant sister cry because of our 'helpful' diet advice. oooops.
I've honestly struggled with my weight/size my entire life. It's not SUPER noticeable to the outside world because my 5'8'' body wears extra pounds well. But it is enough for me to know. {And maybe a few others--I recall the one time in 9th grade when we were supposed to wear hand-me-down cheerleading uniforms and of course, very few fit me. I painfully found this out by trying them all on in a room full of short, tiny girls giving me the stink eye. The only taller (read: above 5'4'') cheerleader in the past had worn a size 4 and had zero lady lumps. My summer 'surprise! You're a C cup!' growth spurt caused the whole squad to have to re-wear our current uniform the entire year. gasp.}
From that point on, I've tried everything under the sun to lose weight and keep it off. Carrot sticks and diet Sprite? Yes, please. Until I almost fainted at school. That one cost me 10 extra pounds after I gained back the initial weight lost. No sugar? You betcha. Until I lost the will power and ate triple the amount of sugar I had been before starting. That one got me a firm extra 10 pounds as well. You get the idea. With each fad, I can do it for aboooouuuut 4 weeks. {Vegetarianism lasted 6 years though. I was proud of that one until the doctor said I'd killed my female hormones. oh, snap.} With each of these attempts at weight loss, I'll usually lose 10-20 pounds, go back to normal eating (because that's what happens when you live life), and gain the original weight plus a little extra. Boo, right?
Well, it turns out that it isn't just me and my broken will power. It's the nature of tinkering with your body. You may remember how I decided to 'go primal' to kick this 'problem' once and for all. I had some success. In fact, RAPID success. But that's the problem. Like I said, I know HOW to lose weight. I can do it well. But each time, I get cold and shivery like a chihuahua in a pool (and not half as cute!) and start to show signs of metabolic distress (anyone else have a peeling scalp and hair falling out in clumps? No? Just me then.) This is where rapid weight loss can get dangerous. I've realized that as much as I want to be my ideal size without too much extra junk in the trunk, I don't want my metabolism to suffer for it.
Enter the whole friggin' point of this post. I'd read a book (surprise!) written by Matt Stone called Diet Recovery & another called Eat for Heat. He's funny, smart, irreverent, and well-versed in the latest dietary dogma. Anything you've tried, he's done too. But instead of being stubborn and lying about progress after the weight-loss honeymoon ends, he tells it like it is. Because of this, some of his ideas grow/change with experience. I was frustrated at first: "just tell me what to eat, Matt!" But that's the problem in a nutshell. Everybody is different and every body is different. I started following his general recommendations to restore metabolic function and have seen a pretty remarkable improvement. My average temps went from 97.4ish to 98.7 in about 4 weeks. My hands and feet are warm, I don't have to wear my black puffy coat indoors as much (you guys who know me are probably laughing right now...), I had some eczema that cleared up when my temps normalized, and I went up a cup size. Thankfully, more chest is a problem I'd like to have now that I don't have to fit in any cheerleading hand-me-downs. That's about all I've seen so far, but this is a process. I no longer feel the need to lose weight by some arbritrary timeline. Bikini by Spring Break? Maybe not. But I have the freedom to approach health as more than a number on a scale. Metabolism is now my friend and frankly, it's kind of refreshing to hang out with the new kid in town. Weight loss was getting too bossy and was kinda starting to piss me off.
I'll keep you posted as I learn and experiment. Are you interested in this? Do you have low temps or symptoms of impaired metabolism? If you want to see what I've been doing, grab Matt's new e-book Diet Recovery 2** while it is ON SALE FOR 99 CENTS. Yes, less than a buck. But get it before 11:59 Eastern on 2/15/13 or it goes up to $9.99. Which to be honest, is still worth it in my opinion. And isn't that why you are reading my blog in the first place?
**Edited to add: Matt's book has some harsh language in it, as well as a few pictures of women's body parts to show the changes in body composition when restoring metabolism. But of course, he does it in a totally inappropriate way cuz that's how he rolls...so, you've been warned. Doesn't detract from the message for me, but it's nice to have a heads up I guess.
