Neat Feed Me! Post

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feed Me! blog has inspired me to post mini-mammoths…

I highly recommend checking out the latest Feed Me! post. I would love to see lots of responses to this post for the sake of giggles.    Now, I have to go on a hunt for contradictory blurbs to join in the fun!

-AngryGrayRainbows

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Alli & Laxitive Abuse

 

 

A convo over at BigFatDelicious has inspired this post.  So, go check out Vesta’s post!

So, what kind of ally (okay… “alli”) causes:

What are treatment effects?

alli™ works by preventing the absorption of some of the fat you eat. The fat passes out of your body, so you may have bowel changes, known as treatment effects. You may get:

• gas with oily spotting
• loose stools
• more frequent stools that may be hard to control

Right.  Gas with oil that accompanies it.  Frequent stools that MAY BE HARD TO CONTROL.  For those of you who are more familiar with eating disorders, does any of this look familiar to you?  It does to me anyway.  It reminds me of laxitive abuse or any kind of product abuse that is used for the purpose of causing food to fly through ya.  Oh sure, the FDA approved this one, but it also approved Fen-Phen, so call me crazy for wanting to be extra cautious. 

This potentially triggering, diet friendly site even goes so far to say:

One-third of Alli consumers may experience gastrointestinal problems like diarrhea, spontaneous oily discharge, flatulence with discharge and oily stool, according to the company’s studies.

Another concern: Alli blocks absorption of fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, K and beta-carotene, which are key to many physiological functions, including energy, metabolism and immunity.

That’s why it’s recommended that Alli users also take a multivitamin with meals.

#1 – Is weight loss really worth spontaneous oily discharge?  Beyond that, this is a form of chemical fat restriction and purge.  In the long run, how does this effect the metabolism?  How much ya wanna bet that it  s l o w s  it in the long-run – like every other diet gimmick on the planet. 

#2 – Does a multi-vitamin truly make up for the lost vitamins that alli causes you to flush?  The research has been all over for years that the effectiveness of vitamins is variable and sometimes vitamins even cause horrible things like cancer.

#3 – While alli may cause weight-loss, is there any evidence that it ultimately IMPROVES HEALTH?  I haven’t seen anything yet to this point, except the pat kind of article that equates weight loss with a gain in health, which I know from first-hand experience isn’t always a real correlation.  For example, the weight loss I had via calorie restriction caused me to get sick every time I even walked out in the drizzle.  My complexion went gray and my hair thinned and still hasn’t rebounded completely.  I was always covered in bruises for mysterious reasons.  I was starting to wonder if I was some kind of hypochondriac, because it seemed to me that EVERYTHING was going wrong (there are so many things, I’m not going to list them all unless ya’all wanna see the horrible thing).  The only weight loss I have ever experienced that contributed to my health was a by-product of self-acceptance and daring to eat what I truly wanted.  That meant really getting to know my hunger and my cravings.  It meant that sometimes when I craved cookies, I ate cookies, because I dug and found out I really wanted cookies.  Sometimes when I craved cookies, I’d end up eating soup instead, because I realized what I really wanted was nice, warm veggies, broth and a slow, stable release of energy.  Intuitive Eating is great stuff.   

To me, alli sounds like Eating Disorder Lite – and maybe it’s not all that lite.  Time will tell. 

Friends and readers, you deserve better than alli.  You deserve better than “spontaneous oily discharge” and “hard to control” bowel movements!  Even if you’re overweight and even if you have the “death fat”, you are worth more than this bullshit.  Our bodies are wiser than common culture gives them credit for.  How about we make allies with our own bodies… rather than spontaneous oily discharge?   Ew.

–AngryGrayRainbows

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Fat Acceptance isn’t just for fatties

I’ve noticed in some of my reading of late that some would say that to accept your body size and to accept your fatness is the same as saying you “give up”.  It’s talked about like it’s a bad thing…a bad thing to accept yourself.  I, myself, have been told that to accept my fat is just an excuse.

Giving up?!?!  An excuse?!?!

Giving up?  Giving up what? 

Dieting?  Self-imposed guilt?  Self-hate?  Feeling “less than”?  Trying to live up to other people’s expectation?  Starvation?  Restricting?  Judging others and myself?

An excuse?  An excuse to do what?

Eat?  Experience hunger?  Stop tracking every morsel I eat?  Gain weight (or possibly lose weight)?  Love myself for who I am?  Be kind to myself with movement and fun?  Treat myself with respect?

Do you see how insane that is?

What’s even scarier to me is that other fat people are the ones telling me this.  Is it because they are afraid of my progress?  Are they afraid of trying something new?  Are they secretly happy for me that I’ve finally found this road to travel?

Fat Acceptance is not just for fatties either.  One of my most staunch supporters from the beginning has been Angry Gray Rainbows and she is not considered fat or obese (although she’s experienced all sizes in the past).  I have other people in my life that are thin and that love fat people as they are. 

I believe that the stigma attached to being fat will only be undone when everyone accepts everyone else for who they are and how they look.

~sas

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We’ve hit the “50″ mark

On behalf of me and Angry Gray Rainbows, we want to thank any of you who have come to visit us on our blogging journey.  AGR just posted our 50th blog entry and it is so exciting!

I know both of us wanted to be able to reach out to others who might be going through the same things we were but I don’t know if either of us realized we might actually get any readers.  And from the comments we’ve received we’ve gotten some awesome readers!

I hope we make it to 500 and that you’re still along with us!

~sas

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So Sad…

From JunkFoodScience…

A snippet: (but I highly recomment checking out the full article at JFS.  There are some really amazing and sad stories…)

 

The Mayo Clinic also reported that 20-25% of gastric bypass patients develop life-threatening post-op complications and even the recent Lap-Band U.S. clinical trials done to earn FDA approval had reported 89% of patients had at least one adverse event, one-third of them severe. A recent study by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University found that 56% of bariatric patients had 62 different gastrointestinal complications and abnormalities. The surgical complications and failures of bariatric surgeries are so significant, according to bariatric surgeons with Tampa General Hospital in Florida, that revisional (second) surgeries are required in up to 23% of gastric bypasses and in 5-36% of vertical banded gastrophy cases. Vomiting after gastric bypass procedures occurs in up to 68.8% of cases and can become chronic, resulting in severe malnutrition, according to Brazilian surgeons in a 2005 study published in Obesity Surgery. The long-term nutritional complications are even more extensive.

I did a quick DogPile search to find a picture to head this post with… but the first thing I saw was, “Is Weight Loss Surgery Right for My Teen?”… and now I no longer have the heart to rummage for a pic.  It’s just too sad.

–AngryGrayRainbows

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Cutting Calories “Boosts Memory”… hah

The geniuses at the BBC are reporting that a study found that cutting calories by 30% improves memory.  Article here.

Really?  When I did such things, I became so malnourished that I could hardly spell my own name.  I couldn’t find my way out of a lunch bag.

I wonder if this is more of a placeabo effect than anything that these folks in the study responded as they did.

I also love how there can be one teeny study on 50 elderly people and that teeny brush is widened to color that all of humanity’s memory can be helped by severe calorie restriction. 

Since, calorie restriction is such a hot topic right now, how come no one is researching the potential PROBLEMS with eating this way?  The media does like shocking headlines and all.  How shocking would, “Calorie Restriction Makes People Fatter and Unhealthy” be to the average joe?

–AngryGrayRainbows

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Losing weight once the “issues” are dealt with

I wanted to believe it.  I even told other people the same thing I was being told.  “If you’re an emotional eater, once you work through your issues you will lose weight naturally.”

  *poof*  No issues, weight loss ensues. 

Well, it’s not true. 

The last three years have been key to my life.  I addressed major issues in my life.  I was in therapy, I was getting ED support, I was making new friends and  I was actually sorting out life issues.  There were major issues with my parents, my sister, my marriage, my spirituality and my self-respect (or lack thereof).  I worked on all of these things and I worked my ass off.  Are they 100% “fixed”?  Maybe not, but I’m at peace with these issues.

Ok, so why am I still overweight? 

Where do I start?  I have yo-yo dieted for over 30 years.  I have lost the same weight over and over again, only to gain it back and pack on more.  I have hurt myself – mind, body and soul – in the name of weight loss.  I can even say I’ve almost taken my life (a couple of times) because of the stress I’ve put on myself about my size.  I have told myself over and over that I’m a failure because I can’t lose weight and that only starts the cycle once again…hate myself and call myself names, eat to comfort, beat myself up, eat to avoid feelings, hate myself, eat because I’m hungry.  Sometimes within that cycle, there was weight loss.  I have placed these huge expectations on myself and because of this I feel myself to be a failure.

“If you’re an emotional eater, once you work through your issues you will lose weight naturally.”  What if you don’t? 

Am I a failure?  No!  Far from it.  Life is full of different experiences.  I have moved from one experience (hating myself and dieting) to another (accepting myself and not dieting) and I don’t see myself going back to dieting EVER.  The experiences and adventures of the past few years have taught me that if I never lose another pound, or even if I gain weight, I can accept and love myself.  Am I saying to not work on your issues?  Absolutely not.  But do it to be a better person for yourself.  Do it because the anger and bitterness of the past can be mind numbing sometimes.  Work on those issues that bring you down or that hurt you and keep you “stuck”.  Give yourself the chance to see who you really are. 

Just remember that your size does not determine your worth.  It’s society’s loss if they don’t accept fatties for WHO they are, not what they weigh.

~sas

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The Irony of Not Liking Food

 I cannot say that I’ve ever particularly liked eating.  The “healthiest” reason I’ve ever had for this dislike is that I don’t want to stop doing whatever interesting thing I’m doing to eat. 

However, it’s deeper than that for me in many ways.  I was often force-fed as a child.  I would be told to finish all my food, even if I was gagging and trying not to throw it up at the table, because I was so full.  Ironically, the same parents who ensured I was overfed to the point of being ill, also thought it was horrible that I was a chunky kid at times.  I was constantly compared to thinner girls and women and told how and why those people were better for being smaller.  It was loads of fun let me tell you.

Today, sometimes I have nausea when I go to eat food – even if I’m very hungry.  I honestly think that this is psycho-somatic of sometimes just being afraid of being force-fed and being afraid of food on some level due to old bad experiences with it.  

The irony of my not liking food is that it made me fat.  I call this out, because I’m sick of hearing how fat people are gluttonous food lovers.  I became obese at a handful of points in my life simply because I COULD NOT STAND FOOD.  So, I’d let myself get very, very hungry and you know my body wasn’t going to stand for that for very long.  I would inevitably find myself eating the highest calorie and/or highest fat thing in the house I could find to just quickly get the stupid eating process out of the way so I could get on with my life and forget about food again for a while. 

In the last several months, I have started enjoying food on a deeper level than I can ever remember experiencing.  I do still have my nausea bouts now and then, but I can now trust myself to put whatever food down that is causing me to feel sick rather than to force myself to finish it out of traumatic habit. 

It was a huge step for me when I was able to start eating the kinds of frozen dinners that I’ve pictured above.  I’m veggie and I have a sensitive stomach so Amy’s, Ethnic Gourmet and various cereals was about all I ever ate  (for the most part) for a long time.  This was an improvement because there was better nutritional value in these things than the bag of cookies I’d finally get hungry enough to finish off in starved desperation when I refused to feed myself properly before.  It was a big step for me, because I became willing to spent the three to five minutes microwaving the stuff and the extra time it takes to eat a pot pie as opposed to some oatmeal cookies.  Seriously.  No joke.   

I am so happy that I now seem to be smack dab in the middle of a phase where I am willing to put some real effort into preparing food for myself.  I will cook.  I will organize.  I will even make sure the food presentation is kinda cheery, cuz I’ve realized that actually matters.  I sit and I really taste the food.  I never thought I’d feel so free with food.  So, whooo hooooooooo!

Whenever I see fat protrayed as gluttonous, I want to shout my story.  I know I’m not the only one too.  Yes, it is possible to be fat, because you truly do not like food.  Fat stereotypes are nowhere near the reality.

Fat can be caused by so many things.  It is not about fat and lazy (I’m talking to you BBC).  It can be the natural shape a body prefers to be and perfectly healthy.  It can be the result of trauma.  It can be due to SO MANY THINGS that have nothing to do with laziness. 

In fact, one of the fattest women I ever knew was one of the most active I ever knew.  She played rugby every other day of the week for hours.  She volunteered.  She helped her friends move.  She walked her giant dogs.  She was always fixing stuff up around the house.  She sewed.  She cooked.  She was (and is, but we lost touch) amazing.  There is so much to admire about her. 

It is ironic that thin is considered some kind of virtue, but when I was striving towards thin, I was the most self-centered that I have ever been.  I could not keep relationships, because eventually someone would get between me and my obsession and they’d either let me go, because they realized how messed up I was or I’d let them go out of sheer frustration.  Nearly every minute of every day was spent in some strategic move to burn calories and/or limit food intake.  I didn’t volunteer.  I could hardly form a sentence.  Many days, it was impossible to even force a smile…. I was so starved and angry. 

So, when my friend Sophie mentions that the British government is complaining about fat people because they are going to bankrupt the National Health System, I think about all the active and outgoing fat women I have known… and I think about all the so obsessed with thin that they are completely self-destructing people I have known and I wonder why fat is being blamed so heavily.  Unhealthy people come in all shapes and sizes, including thin, fat and everything in between.  Healthy people are just as diverse.  Fat people can be active.  Thin people can be sedentary.  All combinations are possible!!  How long as we going to allow a bloated and manipulative diet-industry to tell us otherwise?

–AngryGrayRainbows

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Validation & Relief

I’m training my replacement for the job I resigned today.  OMG… it is so validating.  He is angry.  He is frustrated.  He doesn’t understand when the boss speaks her weird gibberish speak and he talks back to her IMs because he finds them extremely condescending. 

I have worked with this person for nearly four years.  I have known him to be calm and good natured.  To see this boss bring out the worst in him as she did in me is extremely validating.

On the other hand, I feel bad for him.  But, we all make our choices and he is choosing to go into this knowing all the crappy things I’ve said about it. 

It’s just nice to see that it wasn’t all me, ya know?  People kept suggesting to me that the situation COULDN’T POSSIBLEY be as nuts as I said it was and that maybe it was me just making things hard or crazy or something.  Now I get to see first hand that these isn’t (at least in large part) the case. 

I even suggested that my negative reviews of the job were just my POV and maybe he’d see things 180 degrees differently.  By this time, he had already had three hours of exposure to his new boss… and he responded with no- this boss is weird and difficult. 

In other news, I had another interview today.  The interview went over an hour and a half, so I’m thinking that’s a good sign that I will get a job offer.  The team lead seems very calm and secure.  He says he is laid back and doesn’t like to micromanage one little bit.  He also says he believes in taking full lunch breaks and that two much overtime is counter productive… so, I might even take this job if offered.  We shall see….

–AngryGrayRainbows

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BBC Oozes Stupid Again… Yay!111!!!!

Today I find this.

Snippets of the insanity:

So if we want to remain slim, should we be shunning fat people?

“Concern over the obesity epidemic seems to be throwing up a whole load of off-the-wall ideas but the message remains the same, that sensible eating and exercise are the major components to get your weight under control.” (Dr Tam Fry, chair of the Child Growth Foundation)

In short, research is being done because of this horrible obesity is taking over the world problem.  The research is looking at ways that fat people may not be at fault for being fat.  But, we’ll end the article stating that people are STILL AT FAULT… and before that we ponder if we should SHUN fat people???!!!!!!??????!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow.  The compassion just overwhelms me to tears. 

I have an idea!  Let’s shun ignorant bigots!

Okay, okay, I’m too much of a bleeding heart to really mean that.  Shunning them would only allow them to evolve further into pond scum.  Sigh.  I read a few months ago that the Brits were going to try to teach school children to be able to think more subtley and not fear ambiguity.  I hope they get on that already!

*Small disclaimer – I do not mean to bash all British people, but the institutions that perpetuate  this ignorant non-sense. 

–AngryGrayRainbows

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