Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Hi. I'm a moron.

This has more to do with my neurosis, obsession, ongoing freaked-outedness, or whatever, with losing weight. To get a legitimate definition would probably take going to a legitimate psychologist, and, no. I refuse to be that insane about the whole topic. Going to a shrink would imply I'm taking the whole thing seriously, and I'm determined to laugh at myself over this whole idiotic mess, if it kills me. Damn it.

Anyway. If this topic has already bored you half to death, I understand. There should be a more reasoned post coming along sometime soon, when the Baby's well and I'm well and the migraine's gone. In the mean time I'm gonna shriek.

So, I've studied botany over the years. I lean toward the agriculture/food end of the subject (hence all these history of food books), so I've picked up quite a lot about nutrition. Mostly it's gory details, like which amino acids are lacking in which legume/grain combination, but I've picked up a solid working knowledge of what nutrients the human body HAS to have, to survive. You know. Protein, fats, vitamins, minerals, yadda yadda.

You would THINK I could apply this to MY OWN STUPID DIET. I've been eating a 1500 calorie a day diet for about six months now (feels like six years), and I had figured, you know, avoid deep-fried stuff and junk foods, and how much bad crap could I reasonably fit into 1500 calories, otherwise?

Apparently, quite a hell of a lot.

In my case, I appear to have a problem with saturated fat. I don't think I could have gotten more saturated fat into 1500 calories a day if I had tried, without resorting to extra-fat deep-fried bacon three meals a day. The dairy product addiction (in particular, butter) plays a huge role. This is all my parent's fault. They're the ones who insisted on raising me in the country, dairy country, and getting me hooked. I'm blaming them.

I've cut my saturated fat (and therefore my overall fat) intake by half to three-quarters per day, starting last Friday.

I appear to have lost two pounds.

I am a fucking moron.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Good for you! After you've cut back for a while, you'll be amazed at how much more you appreciate the creamy goodness. I take ages to go through a stick of butter now (when I haven't been baking), and when I do have some bread and butter, it's so much more enjoyable than when I'd have it without thinking.

Keep up the good work!

Catie said...

That is great news about the weight loss. I am also trying to lose weight but am just generally trying to eat better because I have no clue how to count calories. Better late than never.
I was wondering if you were going to be updating the etsy site this summer? Obviously not soon because of illness but just curious.

LauraLili said...

It isn't stupid, it's dairy, and dairy is yummy. I raise my (figurative) slice of cheese to you for making the effort to cut down.

Bells said...

but you know what? I reckon a bit of butter in your diet is way better than a lot of margarine. That stuff is EVIL!

amy said...

on your last post (I'm catching up)... Weleda Calendula cream is great for sore bums--not the one with zinc in it, just the straight calendula one. Aha--I found a link. Usually you can find it in the baby section at Whole Foods or any other natural food store. It's very soothing. My sister's kids call it "magic medicine." Mine call it "bummy cream."

As for dairy, I'm with Bells. I stopped eating any sort of margarine years ago, when I found out what they did to it. That many chemicals aren't good for anyone. Moderation. I went dairy free for a year with baby #1 (thanks, kid). Wasn't easy.

Anonymous said...

where do you get your yarn for the etsy shop?

Alwen said...

Well, I think all of us have certain areas where we really shine, and other areas where we have great big blind spots or weird beliefs or cockamamie delusions.

For example, why is it I can bake, but I can't cook? They both involve mixing food ingredients & heating them. It's not logical.

(And if you want to know one of my weird beliefs, how about this one?

McDonald'ses say on their sign, "Billions & billions sold," but how many times have you seen a delivery truck supplying them with buns & burgers?

Yeah, me neither.

I've seen the ice delivery guy at the local convenience store more times than I've ever in my life seen anything delivered to Mac's.

So how does it all *get* there?

Here's another weird tidbit about McDonalds. For a long time the corporate goal was a McDonalds within four minutes' drive of everywhere.

Doesn't that sound like an occupying invasion force?

It's the McDonald's aliens, I'm tellin' ya.

Unknown said...

A figured out that I was lactose-intolerant a while back, and even with being ever so violently ill, I've only really stopped eating dairy for about six months or so. I've lost loads of weight, but why did it take me so long to cut out a food that was making me fat and sick? I've heard that dairy has "happy chemicals" that make babies figure out that it's good and they should eat it. You probably know lots more about this than I do, but I think the endorphins (?) fooled you.

Louiz said...

I read somewhere that the human body over the millenia that we've been around have cravings for salt/fat/filling foods, which is why fast food places and pastry places do so well. This is because mostly what we as a race during our evolution have eaten has been fairly low in nutrients and calories so once we were able to process salt, fat and filling foods (I forget the technical terms, but high in carbs, I believe) our bodies found them really really over the top good compared to grass/dead rat/whatever, which is why it's hard to give up.

Amy Lane said...

Good for you!!! It's time for me to get my lard ass out of 'summerland' where I eat my way through the day...

honestly, if I could just get my head in the space I need it in, I CAN lose weight...I've done it before... I just need to THINK before I eat, and my head is some other place...