Meaty!

I have been running around all day, volunteering at the school, grocery shopping, even got my workout in. And I came in from shopping just a bit ago and had my choice of snacks and chose . . . sliced chicken breast. I thought I would want the granola bar, but then I realized, no, I really want that pack of chicken right there. That's pretty darn huge for me! I mean, honestly, my eating is nowhere near perfect but this shows me that the changes I am making are working and clearly my body is sending out new signals. I'm glad about that.

So, thinking today and I was thinking about how in this society we are damned if we do and damned if we don't. If you're fat, you should get up off of your lazy ass and do something. But when you do, every choice you make will be judged. Should you really eat that? Aren't you doing too much? Not enough? And if someone doesn't know how hard you work to lose weight they automatically assume that you "did" something. I was reading a blog a while back where someone who had lost a lot of weight ran into someone she hadn't seen in a while and they just assumed she had had weight loss surgery. This isn't a judgment about the surgery itself for those in genuine need, but I think it's telling that we've come to a place where this is the default assumption.

I was reading a little article about Kelly Osbourne the other day. She has lost quite a bit of weight but it has been over quite a long period of time. The comments on the article were various people insisting she's back on drugs or had surgery or "another Hollywood bimbo with an eating disorder." Despite the fact that this weight loss wasn't overnight, no one believed she could have done it any other way. (I know the rags have said she has a thyroid condition she refuses to treat but I don't believe tabloids. I'd have to hear her say that.)

No matter how much a celeb loses or how slowly they lose it, the media will call it "massive amounts" and say it was "lost quickly." And it's dangerous and unhealthy but HEY! Watch the Biggest Loser! We can't win. There are conflicting messages about everything. What to eat, to exercise or not, how to exercise, how much to lose per week. If you focus on yourself too much, you're selfish and/or obsessive but HEY! Watch the Biggest Loser! Now I do watch the Biggest Loser but I am aware that those numbers are unrealistic for me and I don't care right now if anyone calls me selfish or obsessive just because I am doing the work I need to do to get this weight off. But I think about all of the other people out there who don't know that. A while back I had some friends who went on Weight Watchers together. The first week they lost about seven pounds each. The second they lost 2-3 and were so upset and I knew that they wouldn't continue much longer (and they didn't). No amount of explaining could make them understand that the 2-3 was normal and the 7 pounds were the anomaly.

And amidst all of this chaos and commotion we wonder why so many people don't know how to lose the weight. I saw a comment on a weight loss message board from someone who was surprised that sugar had calories. She was making a big pitcher of iced tea every night and sweetening it with sugar and someone told her how many calories are in cup. She was shocked.

We're just a mess aren't we?