Imagine if it were that simple. In fact, if it were that simple we would not be in the weight crisis that America seems to be in now. For starters, most women are “starvers” before they are ever “eaters” meaning they will forgo food all day long only to eat one meal, possibly two that day and not overeat in the two meals that they do have because they are truly used to operating on such low cals. Secondly, women tend to be more active than men in their day to day lives and if it was just about cals in vs. cals out, activity would have to count for something once dieting and they would begin to drop something.

But it’s not just about that. There is so much more to it and it seems that every time I turn around there is some new “guru” out there telling you how you should just ‘push away from the table’. If you have been trying to lose weight, or better yet, optimize your physique by losing the last 10 to 15 pounds for a while and you have some clown telling you to just “push away from the table” when your diet is cleaner than a dish straight out of the dishwasher, it could get ugly. I find the battle to look good naked is not represented well in the diet arena. There are no studies done on those who are lean (18% to 20% body fat for women) trying to get leaner (12 to 14%). There is nothing out there that tells you the leaner you get, the harder it is to get there again should you gain weight. There is nothing out there that acknowledges REPEAT dieting and the struggles that you incur.

Plateaus, stubborn weight loss, weight loss after a sudden, dramatic gain, weight loss on a seasoned athlete, etc. all pose very difficult situations in which a person can try to lose weight and most likely not succeed on just the simple “cals in vs. the cals out” method. Some situations truly require patience, creativity and intimate knowledge of the human body to be able to shed the weight. Others require you to know a bit of endocrinology or holistic medicine. Regardless, just trying to balance eating less with working out more is not going to get you to your goal, you’re going to have to experiment some.

There are many factors that affect a person trying to lose bodyfat in an effort to be lean. Let’s look at some of them:

Diet History

If you have never dieted before, you will most definitely fall under the CIVCO umbrella the first time you try. In fact, you could even do Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig and get fairly good results. Whatever you do it does not matter because the body has never gone through a diet before so it will respond to a new stimulus almost immediately. However, if you are a career dieter, you will notice right away that the more you diet, the harder it is to lose. When I say this, I do not mean the length of time you are on a diet, I mean the amount of times that you have gone up and down in weight.

Hormone Profile

Hormones are complicated. Do I need to say anymore? Add in an autoimmune to the picture and you have a recipe for frustration. Hypothyroidism, PCOS, Syndrome X, faulty menstrual cycles etc. can slow your progress down to a grinding halt where you never seem to get past the “same 5 pounds” you keep going up and down. You may starve yourself to death but if any of these issues remain unresolved, you are doing nothing but digging yourself further into a hole emotionally and possibly physically.

Muscle Mass

Depending on the amount of muscle mass you have, weight may fall off easier for you than others. The more muscle you have the easier it is for you to get lean. This is not the same as losing weight, this is about losing body fat. If you desire a very lean appearance and you lack a considerable amount of muscle, you will find that you are required to do a bit more than the average person to achieve it. Now I need to be more specific here: I do not mean you need to be muscular or have popping biceps, I want to make that clear. But you do need to have some muscle on your frame. Whenever I have a client who is doing “everything right” and yet cannot seem to get as lean as they want it is typically due to the fact that they lack significant muscle mass for their frame. Again, not the same as needing to look like a body builder of any kind, but you lack the amount of muscle necessary to provide an adequate base BMR to help you out with your dieting.

Supplement Abuse

If you previously abused fat burners, energy drinks or other stimulants, you are in for a battle. Again, you can argue CIVCO all day long but in the end, you are in a permanent plateau until you re-establish equilibrium to your system. I find that it can take as much as one year of “fixing” for every one year of fat burner abuse. This, of course, is purely anecdotal information as I have never seen a study that addressed this phenomenon but I have had plenty of experience working with clients who once abused fat burners.

Set Point Theory

Most of us have heard of this theory and if you have not I will sum it up for you in this way: your body has a certain weight that it wants to be or stay at and it will take an act of nature to successfully move past it or keep from moving to it. If you come to me wanting to lose a particular amount of body fat and want to be a certain weight and have either never been that low before in your life or have not been it in more than ten plus years, I am going to give you the hairy eyeball first and ask you how much it means to you. Am I being a Debbie Downer? No, I’m being realistic. Before you embark on a hard journey, I am giving you a chance to adequately pack for it. So you need to get a big enough bag that can hold your emotional fortitude, ambition, motivation and resolve or be open to the fact that it might not happen.

You may honestly be in a true plateau right now as you try to reach your ideal (not your body’s ideal) body weight. If that is the case, do not be discouraged by those that tout the CIVCO mantra. Their experiences are much different than yours in that their clientele just wants to lose weight. That is much different than what you desire. Because you strive to be leaner, you do not apply to their general public studies performed on general public people who have lots of weight to lose and many habits to change. There are very few studies, if any, on lean folks who eat clean who want to lose another “10 or so” pounds but now find it hard to so. Instead, keep searching for information that speaks to your exact situation and that will help you to stay focused.

Now you know I am eventually going to cover every scenario in this post so stay tuned as I focus on metabolism this week. So much to cover and so little time to get it out to you. *sigh*

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I grew up in a middle class neighborhood that was a true suburb in that it had less hustle and bustle than that of a big city but still had enough activity to label it more than a small town. But it also had this strange “country” feel to it that “city folk” would make fun of whenever they would venture into our little city. Now when I say country, I don’t mean Garth Brooks and the Grand Ole Opry, I mean I lived on a street that had a community center for teens on one end of the street and a horse stable on the other. Ummm, yeah. Talk about a dichotomy there.

Another thing that we had in my neighborhood was a “beach”.

Let me tell you right now, it is not a “beach”.

It is a river’s version of a “cul de sac” and it sits all the way down a very long, winding road (ironically, the same road as the horse stable) in the ‘city-country’. The river ends in a lake and the city has cordoned off parts of it for people to swim there. I think in my twenty-some-odd years of living on that road, I might have dipped my feet in the beach water maybe once. I wouldn’t swim in that water if you put a winning lottery ticket on a buoy halfway out and told me I could have all of the money when I got to it. Knowing that water, I would have to spend my entire lottery spoils on good healthcare after that.

Why? Because there is no tide; there’s just a river that drains into the lake (and if you knew where that water was coming from, you’d think keeping the beach open would be criminal). There are no filters, drains, purifying systems, nothing. And over the years, we humans have done a number on that water. From pets swimming in the water, to baby diapers left in the sand, people using it as a port-a-potty, to normal toxic waste coming in from the river, Mother Nature has not been given much time to regenerate and restore this body of water. So year after year, the damage has been done and now you are left with a very unsafe body of water fighting to keep some sort of balance with nature. And right about now you are asking yourself, “Where is she going with this?” Glad you asked.

Do you know what that lake represents? Your liver. Yes, your liver. That poor organ that takes up so much precious real estate on the right side of your body that you abuse more than your favorite pajamas is just crying for some love. I wouldn’t trade livers with some of you (I am making this sound like an actual option) if you paid me a million dollars. Right now, your liver is screaming:

“Dear God in Heaven, can you cut me some slack down here? What do you think this is? A waste paper basket? Enough already with the artificial sweeteners, fake food, smog, alcohol, tainted meat, stress and etc. Can you give an organ a break for crying out loud? All day long you have me shuttling junk out of here and then you think I’m going to help you lose weight, too? MAKE UP YOUR MIND! I’m taking this to the union! Convert energy, store energy, digest food, clean your blood. Enough! I need some relief down here and don’t think because you throw me a juice drink here or there that you are helping me out with cleaning up this dump. You’re not.”

Ok, once you get your liver to pipe down and get some sense, you need to pay attention to what he’s screaming about.

I have spoken about the role of your liver on numerous occasions but now it gets its own article. One of the things about ‘dieting with a specific look in mind at the end’ is everything needs to be on point for this to happen. We take dieting for granted and we shouldn’t. It is not easy nor is it guaranteed so we should be looking for ways to take advantage of every gift we are given in this area. Your liver just happens to be the best gift ever in the fight for a hot body but we do not appreciate it. Instead, we forsake it. Think about what we ingest on a daily basis and it is not too hard to see how much we seem not to care about this organ.

A primary function of your liver is to metabolize fat. If you keep it busy doing everything else (your laundry, your taxes, you know, all the stuff you don’t want to do), it cannot help you to lose body fat (Notice I didn’t say weight. If you want to lose weight just lob off a leg, we want to lose body fat here).

The best way to help your liver out is through detoxification. I bet you think that I am going to tell you to buy a detox of some kind to clean out your liver and then love all over it by avoiding the toxins above plus a few more. Wrong. I am going to tell you to avoid the toxins above (and a few more) but do not buy any pills or potions to “detox” your liver. While keeping it as clean as possible will allow you to lose more weight than you would have been able to if it was all clogged up, I am all about espousing nature and letting her take her course. Instead of focusing on trying to do some “weekend detox” or “instant flush”, just stay true to your clean diet, limit the toxins to as little as possible and drink plenty of water. Your liver will do fine all on its own.

Cleaning your colon does not clean your blood or your liver. Drinking a juice blend of 4 fruits and 3 veggies doesn’t do it either. No, your liver cleans your liver and does it quite nicely. It’s the only organ that can regenerate itself! How’s that for efficiency? Knowing that this organ can regenerate its own tissue and filter blood at a rate of 1.5 quarts/min., it almost seems silly to think that an herb can accomplish half as much as this powerhouse can on its own.

If you stop whatever weapon of choice you are consuming right now, you will allow your liver a chance to clean itself. It’s just like a cat, only it doesn’t demand things of you and then ignore you in your own home like an unwelcomed guest. When left to its own devices, it will clean and purify itself on its own and really does not need much outside help from you. Drink plenty of water (close to a gallon), eat lots of fruits and veggies (you should already be doing this) and limit the fake stuff in your diet (**transparency alert** I love diet coke. I’m working hard to wean this habit so I feel for you) and you are well on your way to maximizing the fat loss through your liver.

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I love alcohol.  Seriously. 

Nothing beats a great glass of wine with an even better steak dinner.  It can be relaxing, yummy and almost daring depending on how often you indulge.

But consuming it on a regular basis is not going to get you the body that you want.  It may get you some extra pounds—not because it makes you gain weight, but because it drops your guard and you make bad choices—or possibly some temporary relaxation, but drinking in and of itself makes for a crappy cheat meal.

Occasionally I will read of a trainer saying it is ok to have a drink with their meal as a treat and to count it as a cheat meal.  I hear you trying to keep the client focused and not putting them in a “box of denial” and normally I am the most easy going of folks when it comes to rules.  But alcohol is one that I have a no tolerance policy for when you have a goal that you are trying to reach. 

I get it, too, that it is easy for me to say that because I am no longer shooting for that “look” anymore.  But when I was going for it, I did not drink.  Ever.  Not at Christmas parties, birthday parties, never.  Just was off limits. 

Why?

Because it wastes so much precious time. 

It’s as simple as that. 

Alcohol does not cause you to gain weight.  It just keeps you from losing.  After you get over the dehydration caused by your drink or two, you then have to go about shuttling all the toxins through your liver.  That takes precious time away from your liver to do the thing it likes to do: breakdown fat.  So how do we make this work as a “cheat meal”? 

Once a month if you want to keep progressing—and it would be the only cheat that I would have that meal, that day, that week.

I am typically asked if it matters if it is “lite beer” or “gin vs. vodka” because of the calories.  This has nothing to do with calories.  This has everything to do with the fact that your body does not recognize alcohol as anything but a toxin.  It is not a carbohydrate.  It carries 7 cals per gram when carbs carry 4.  It takes about 24 hours to make it through your system and it is a stimulant typically causing you to have an increased appetite—i.e. munchies. 

Some of the biggest arguments I have had as a nutritionist have been about alcohol.  I get it, it helps you relax.  I know you want to have a glass every night but I am telling you, it will catch up to you more than anything else in your diet.  I can tell when I drink.  I don’t like it so I have since stopped (although I turn 40 this year and I can tell you it is going down!  Sorry…time to focus.)  being as casual about it as I have been the last year and a half so I am back to my original policy of general avoidance.  But for the brief time in my life that I let it back in to my food choices, I could tell the difference and it was not worth it.

Cheats are personal.  Some people can do the nibble thing.  Others need a meal and that’s it.  Some need to know that have the freedom to have something whenever.  Regardless, choose your weapon of choice sans alcohol when you are trying to lose weight or affect a change in your body.  Nothing is worse than wasting time and that’s exactly what alcohol does for you.  Wastes time.

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Ok, we’ve all hit it.

It’s inevitable.

The dreaded weight loss plateau.

What in heaven’s name do you do now? 

If you’re like most women, you panic!  [Picture Gotham City burning; the Bat signal on the clouds; nothing but mayhem below—you get the idea!]  You start googling everything under the sun.  Here are some classic examples:

how to break a weight loss plateau

how to add intensity to cardio

how to lose 5 pounds in 5 minutes

hacksaws and their effectiveness (I see we’re getting desperate here)

It’s right about now when all rational thought tends to leave your mind.  You can no longer be trusted with your own exercise program.  You are as volatile as Elizabeth Lambert on a soccer field with a sea of pony tails in front of her.  Basically, put the keyboard down and back away slowly. 

Let’s be smart and think about this.  What causes a weight loss plateau?

1)       You’re in a rut. 

Have you been doing the same routine since the gym opened 3 years ago?  Seriously, when’s the last time you changed your workout?

2)       You’re too chicken to raise the weight.

If you have been lifting the same 10 pound weights since you can remember, it is time to make your exercises harder.  You must gradually increase resistance so you can keep challenging yourself.  Now, if you do this and you realize you can lift a car by yourself or one of the stones in a strongman competition, I would venture to say that that is not your issue.  At that point, you need to keep reading for other ideas.

3)       You do the same intensity workout day in and day out.

Your idea of an interval workout is leaving the remote by the tv and standing up in between commercials to change the station.  You need to branch out and add some hutzpah to your routine!  No matter who I talk to about this, I always find someone that knows this to be true but still doesn’t actually *do* it.

4)       You’re a hamster stuck in a wheel.

Now you’re the opposite of 3.  You are so neurotic about your exercise, you are doing plyos on Mon., Wed. and Fri., marathon training on Tues., Thurs., Sat. and Sun., Yoga on Wed and Sat, Jujitsu on Mon. and Thurs., Rock climbing every other weekend, bootcamp Tues. and Fri. and etc.  You have more going on than a bingo hall on a Friday night.  Less is more in this case.  Back it down and you’ll lose 5 pounds right away.

5)       You’re starving.

Have you pushed the cals so low you don’t even realize you’re biting your nails for extra protein?  When’s the last time you took a break dieting?  Every woman is on some kind of diet at some time in her life.  Have you been on one just a wee bit too long?  Do you count everything that you eat?  Or measure everything?  Have a hard time letting go of the structure?  Believe it or not, if you walk away from this for a week or two, you’ll probably break the plateau.

There are countless reasons for weight loss plateaus, these are just a few, and all of them are frustrating.  Before you make any rash moves, take two minutes to be as objective as you can possibly be about your program.  Keep track of how you are feeling and how you are doing with your program so you can spot trouble before it happens. 

Keep in mind, three things have to be the same for 3 weeks in a row to constitute a plateau:  bodyfat, pictures and weight.  If you are only checking one of those, it is not a true plateau!

It’s time for me to start a new series.  I have not decided on what it is going to be but I have kicked the idea of a weight loss plateau around.  Just know, another series is on the way very soon and like the ones before, will be very informative. 

Ok, get to the gym and start raising that weight!!:o)

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So far in this menu series we have laid out proteins, fruits and veggies using a simple system of color coding.  Color is tremendously important in the world of food because the more colorful the food, the nutrient packed the food is.  Keeping your plate looking like the Rainbow Coalition is a great way to stay on the healthy side of life. 

But unlike protein, fruits and vegetables, starchy carbohydrates are not easily broken down by color.  A perfect example of that would be potatoes.  You have red potatoes, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, Yukon gold potatoes—and I would recommend that you eat them all at the same frequency because none is more nutritious than the other (ok, sweet potatoes have a slight edge;).   

Starches are also *not necessary* to be in your diet the way that fruits and veggies are or any other food source for that matter.  Yes whole grains are healthy, but they are not necessary.  For one thing, we just started eating them as a species.  We never ate grains on a regular basis thousands of years ago.  We were more meat based and plant based.  Also, no matter what grain you choose, it will require some level of processing just to be palatable.  When’s the last time you went wheat berry picking? 

So going strictly by color might not be the most prudent methods of choosing a starch.  But what about a starch’s texture?  I would venture to say that a starch’s texture is far more important than any other aspect of its composition.  There are 3 types of texture:

Shards of fiberglass:  This starch is the mainstay of any person’s diet who honestly says they are serious about looking good naked.  Fully represented by cut up gums, acquired taste buds and hard core chewing, this starch is all about health.  Do not even THINK of giving this to any family member who has not been thoroughly sworn into the “I care how I look AND feel club” or you will never hear the end of it.

Barley, quinoa, couscous, shredded wheat, millet, brown rice, steel cut oats.

Pass me the water, please:  This starch is characterized by a thick, smooth feel on the palette.  Nowhere near as intense as the shards of fiberglass family, but not an easy sell either.  Family members may not hate you after these, but they are still not party favorites. 

Lentils, beans, oatmeal (slow cooked), Ezekiel bread, oat bran, whole grain, brown rice

Flashbacks of Sade:  That’s right, these are Smooth Operators.  Eating these guys makes you forget about the 3 molecules of water that you’ll be holding on your butt for every gram of starch in them.  To be honest, you don’t care.  If you could slap a stick of butter on these and hum while eating them—you would!  These guys make ya wanna holla every time you eat one.  Family members will eat most of these starches but typically they bathe and dress them in things that would make you do double cardio just knowing they were in the house.

Potatoes (sweet, red, white, gold), Squash (acorn, butternut, spaghetti), pumpkin, root veggies, bananas

There are some foods that are missing off of this list on purpose:  peas, corn, lima beans, tortillas, pasta etc.  They just are not worthy of any good press.  Try to limit them to one time per week or less if possible.

Here are the rules:

1)       VARY YOUR TEXTURES!  Because we are creatures of habits and eat oatmeal like it’s our jobs, we deny our palettes the fun of pumpkin!  Texture is AS important as color when it comes to variety and beating food boredom.

2)       Try to have at least one from each texture every week.  If you are not eating starches on a regular basis, try starting with the Flashbacks.  They are easier to get down and chock full of vitamins.

3)       Do not repeat a texture in a day.  Most people have 1 to 3 starch servings per day but may find themselves eating different variations of oatmeal all day long.  Do not do that.  Vary your starch as much as possible.  Although quinoa, millet and spelt are all very healthy for you, eating them all in the same day may preclude you from any long board meetings for a few days.  Easy on the fiber there quick shooter!  OY!

Ok…we’re getting closer to having all of our foods laid out on the counter.  We have fats next and then we ‘order’ them.  I hope you have been trying some of these suggestions as to how to put some variety in your menu.  Feel free to share some tips in the comment section below if you have any!  I really want to hear about them!:o)

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What a one hit wonder they were!   And when it comes to menu planning for an effective diet, you do not want to be a one hit wonder!  But you do want to C.O.L.O.R. yourself bad! 

Menu planning may seem incredibly daunting task at first if you think you are just going to write one up without a “plan”.  You know how much simpler life seems when you have a step by step guide that shows you how to do something.  So let’s quickly break down the process of making a menu and it’s as simple as adding some C.O.L.O.R.:

C             Color code it           How many colors do you have in the week?  Can you add more?

O             Order it        Your goal decides your menu format.  There are a few and we’ll cover as many as we can.

L              Liven it up     Too much seriousness in your menu is no good.  Let’s dress this puppy up!

O             Optimize it      Step back and look at all you have.  Can we improve anything anywhere? 

R             Repeat it all over again      Create your own “bank” of menus.

If your menu has COLOR, it has everything!  When I receive food diaries to check out (and in season I probably view over 50/week), I see many of the same eating patterns that we as busy people like to perpetuate:

Eating the same thing everyday

Limited choices of fruits and veggies

Focusing on only the “super” foods (how much broccoli can you eat?)

No “fun” in the diet

No rhyme or reason for food placement

If you do not know why you do something or are not sure how to do something, you will never really do it well.  You are just going through the motions faking it while in reality you hope you are “making” it.  But you know you really are not making it yet you are not quite sure why.  You are falling short somewhere and it is getting old to you.

There are hundreds of books out there with recipes in them and now there are even people selling ebooks of menu plans.  You are more than welcome to find one of those and follow them if you want.  But what’s going to happen?  You are going to become bored with the food choices or feel limited by the way they put the menus together.  What happens if all of the recipes are not clean enough for your goal?  What if they give you plans and their lowest cal level is 1400 and you are 4’10” and 95lbs?  That’s like Thanksgiving for you!  And because you do not know why they did what they did, you cannot adapt it to be what you like it to be.  How about just creating your own menus, with your own fun added to them? 

Let’s begin the process of creating our own menus and take it step by step—from color coding it all the way to repetition—because face it, no one really knows what you like but you.  And success depends upon you planning an effective menu and adhering to it as much as possible.   Next post:  Adding some COLOR!

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If you have been on my Facebook page today (and if not, friend me now and go check it out) you would have seen my ’smokin’ body’ friend Mandy (and I do mean smokin’ body!) ask me to check out an article.  It was on Time Magazine’s blog and it was about exercise making you more fat.  She wanted my take on the article and you know that’s just asking for trouble!

I am sure everyone thinks that that article is ridiculous–and you know, you would not be too far off!  BUT, on the same hand maybe not.  I am warning you…this is going to be long.  Also, I am going to come from two completly different angles on this article so be prepared to stretch your brains today. 

First point:  I want to always look good naked.  I don’t just want to be thin/skinny/small/whatever.  If you said to me right now, “Jodi, you have two choices 1) thin but with a saggy tummy and an ass that could be mistaken for a sackcloth at an Amish Revival OR 2) big like Queen Latifah but you could lift a small child with one butt cheek”, I would be in a day care right now moving some kids around!  Do you hear me?  I ALWAYS WANT TO LOOK GOOD NAKED.  PERIOD.

So whenever I read these articles I have to laugh.  We want what we want but just don’t want to work for it.  Starve me to be thin but dear God in Heaven–don’t make me work!  OY!  What do you mean I have to work hard?  Sweat?  Oh heck no!  So instead of accepting that the human body was meant to move, exert energy and be active, we conduct study after study after study to prove how inactivity is ok or not ok.  Or better yet, we fool ourselves into believing that walking up a flight of stairs to get to our chair–I mean work–is a good substitute for exercise.  The fact of the matter is if you want to “just” lose weight (and muscle tone), then go ahead and just diet…or cut off a limb–whichever is the path of least resistance to you.  But if you want to be beautiful, hot, sexy, healthy and whatever other adjective you can put in there, then get your butt up and grab a kettlebell and work that posterior chain until you can put a cup on it and call it a tabletop!

Looking good naked is hard!  And it is rewarding.  And it separates you from all the other folks out there.  Looking good in clothes is not super easy but it is not as hard as looking good naked.  I do realize that if you are reading this blog, you want to look good naked. 

So no matter how many of these articles people print up, those that are concerned about how they look as a finished product are not going to pay them much mind.  They know.  And those that are looking for an excuse are going to laminate the article and use it as a place mat for their meals.  Know what I’m saying?  To me this is like politics or religion:  your views are not going to be swayed by one article or news piece.  It’s either you get it, or you don’t.  It’s as simple as that.

Now to bend your mind a bit…

Second point:  He’s right.  Yes, you heard me.  He’s right.  I am a perfect example of what he is talking about.  The problem is, he has the mechanism all wrong.  If he keeps up his research he will eventually get it right.

Most of you know me so you know where I am going to go with this.  I am a big girl.  I have no problem telling you that.  In fact, it’s the pink elephant in the room when you meet me.  I am not ashamed of it nor am I intimidated by it.  But I am frustrated as all get up about it at this point in my life.

I was always thin.  I was the girl that couldn’t get pregnant because I didn’t weigh enough.  I actually had to gain 10 pounds to get pregnant with my first child.  I have had to lose weight 2 times in my life:  when I graduated college (what do you mean I will gain weight if I sit in a library from 4pm til midnight 7 days a week eating Snicker’s bars?  Who knew?) and after my second child.  In between those two very brief times in my life I weighed no more than 110 to 115 pounds.  Then I competed. 

Competing brought my body to another level.  I had muscles on my muscles and if I got any leaner you would be able to see the outline of my intestines through my skin.  But just like this article, I was too extreme.  I dieted to the macro, worked out to the very last minute that I could each day and never backed off.   One month after I got off stage for the last time, I let myself gain about 15 pounds to put me at about 10 pounds above my normal skinny weight.  I hung out there for a year but get thisàI never stopped show dieting and didn’t stop working out like a clown.   Instead, I fried myself into a state of fatness gaining 40 pounds in 4+ months with no change in diet and no change in exercise.  And for the first time in my life, I was “fat”.

My fault? Yep!  Cause? Jackass behavior and metabolic disruption.  Plain and simple: I fried my adrenals and depleted my metabolic cup.  Could I have fixed it?  Sure—if I knew then what I know now, yes.  But it took me 4 years to learn that diet and exercise can make you fat if you are not responsible about it.

So this brings me to his shortcomings in the article, and honestly, the short comings of America.  Why do we have to be so SO?  Why must we be just SO far to the right or SO far to the left?  The point that he is bringing up in this article is valid but he did not QUALIFY it.  Instead he SENSATIONALIZED it and made it trivial and silly.  He made it so ridiculous that you cannot see what is really going on here.

Exercise doesn’t make you fat.  EXTREME exercise makes you fat.  Extreme exercise while over-dieting really makes you fat.  Endless deprivation.  No good fat in your diet.  Lack of sleep.  No recovery.  I could go on for days.  But working out and then “rewarding” yourself with a muffin is not even worthy of an article never mind a deep discussion.  No, let’s talk about the REAL deal.  Most women are bingeing and (not always) purging themselves into the land of heaviness.  JUST EXTREME ON ANY END WILL DO IT.

This is now what I am all about:  BALANCE.  Hormonal balance, emotional balance and physical balance that will elicit that beautiful, lookin’-good-naked body to perform on a level it never did before.  Bring on the balance!

Now I am not a “soap box” kind of girl.  I don’t typically champion causes or want everyone to “get fit” because I am.  That’s great for you if you are that way.  I am much more of a sharp wit and would rather sarcasm you into the right way to do things than rah-rah-shish-kum-bah you.  But this is now my new mantra because seriously ladies, I cannot stand to see the look in your eyes when this happens to you.  It’s devastating. 

So just know, this guy is a putz.  His article is too simple and lacks merit.  But the underlying message is real and you need to take heed.  In the mean time, I am going to go try and pick up my 3 ½ year old with my butt cheek because although I am now a big girl, I am tight.  See you at the gym!  WOOP WOOP!

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