Friday, November 13, 2009
We. Are. Fucked.
Yup, that's right. We as a society are nutritionally fucked. No ifs, ands or buts about it. It becomes more and more and more apparent to me every day. People are clueless. Utterly clueless. And it's being completely taken advantage of.
Let's look at TV to start with. We have lovely commercials such as those put out by the Corn Refiner's Association telling us that HFCS is fine and nothing to worry about. After that, General Mills tried to convince us with a big white check that cinnamon toast crunch and froot loops were healthy choices, with tons of whole grains and fiber and the ability to increase concentration and help your heart. And my new FAVORITE commericals by far, are the Nutella commericals, like this one I regularly see on TV praising the health benefits of the hazelnut spread and this one I've only had the joy of youtubing:
Oh and you can't forget... hagen daaz's newest ice cream invention that only have 5 ingredients!!! Since when did 3/5 of your ingredients being crap become something to brag about? Oh wait, it's pure, natural crap. That's right.
And finally, I can't stop without a wonderful recount of my favorite bastardization of nutrition of all time... David Zinczenko, Editor in Chief of Men's Health Magazine and author of "Eat This, Not That!", and in particular, his season 7 appearence on the Biggest Loser. During this particular challenge, the teams had to identify which meal option was HEALTHIER. Not least fat. Not least calories. Not most balanced. Not most nurtritaional. They were specifically told (and this was repeated) to chooise the healthier option.
One round was A) Grilled chicken burrito with the works (like, ohhhhh, a dollop of guacamole), I believe prepared with brown rice too, or B) 18 lite beers. The correction option was A, but they were told that if it was 17 BEERS, that would have been the healthier option. Excuse me?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!? Are you really telling me that a lovely burrito with some healthy fats, decent carbs and lean protein that would keep me satisfied for hours and has some excellent nurtrients is worse than drinking 17 beers? I think it took a week to pick my jaw up off the ground. Fucking Zinczenko. And people really honest to god trust him and think his POS books are a good source of information. Ugh.
So does it really surprise me that people are clueless? It shouldn't but the stuff that comes out of people's mouths... Recently, I had two amazing overhears from my cube. The first was from a friend of mine, a relatively informed one (compared to the rest of the population) who is actually trying to loose weight. I guess he had recently visited the golden arches and was looking up some calorie counts, when he exclaimed in shock about the ~1000 calorie count of a large shake and how he could not believe that. WTF did you expect????? You're basically having 4 or 5 bowls of extra processed, extra sugary ice cream mixed with lord knows what kind of syrupy flavoring. How is that a surprise? Since when does LARGE MILK SHAKE from McDONALD's not imply caloriefest 2009? Not nearly as bad, and maybe a bit more understandable, was the shock of finding out a Starbucks scone was about 500calories. It's not breakfast; it's a freaking pastry!!! Just because it's not creamy doesn't mean it isn't filled with loads of sugar and butter. But they again were horrified at the calorie count. Really people.... really?
Does it surprise me that the same friends talk about "taking protein" as a supplement? You don't say you're taking chicken. A macro is not a supplement buddy. A whole nother tangent I could go off on....
But back to the point. We're fucked. If this is what somewhat intelligent, informed people who are actually trying to change their bodies think, what does the average Joe think and how the heck are we supposed to begin tackling this issue?
I know I can laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation, but truly, it's quite terrifying.
Let's look at TV to start with. We have lovely commercials such as those put out by the Corn Refiner's Association telling us that HFCS is fine and nothing to worry about. After that, General Mills tried to convince us with a big white check that cinnamon toast crunch and froot loops were healthy choices, with tons of whole grains and fiber and the ability to increase concentration and help your heart. And my new FAVORITE commericals by far, are the Nutella commericals, like this one I regularly see on TV praising the health benefits of the hazelnut spread and this one I've only had the joy of youtubing:
Oh and you can't forget... hagen daaz's newest ice cream invention that only have 5 ingredients!!! Since when did 3/5 of your ingredients being crap become something to brag about? Oh wait, it's pure, natural crap. That's right.
And finally, I can't stop without a wonderful recount of my favorite bastardization of nutrition of all time... David Zinczenko, Editor in Chief of Men's Health Magazine and author of "Eat This, Not That!", and in particular, his season 7 appearence on the Biggest Loser. During this particular challenge, the teams had to identify which meal option was HEALTHIER. Not least fat. Not least calories. Not most balanced. Not most nurtritaional. They were specifically told (and this was repeated) to chooise the healthier option.
One round was A) Grilled chicken burrito with the works (like, ohhhhh, a dollop of guacamole), I believe prepared with brown rice too, or B) 18 lite beers. The correction option was A, but they were told that if it was 17 BEERS, that would have been the healthier option. Excuse me?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!? Are you really telling me that a lovely burrito with some healthy fats, decent carbs and lean protein that would keep me satisfied for hours and has some excellent nurtrients is worse than drinking 17 beers? I think it took a week to pick my jaw up off the ground. Fucking Zinczenko. And people really honest to god trust him and think his POS books are a good source of information. Ugh.So does it really surprise me that people are clueless? It shouldn't but the stuff that comes out of people's mouths... Recently, I had two amazing overhears from my cube. The first was from a friend of mine, a relatively informed one (compared to the rest of the population) who is actually trying to loose weight. I guess he had recently visited the golden arches and was looking up some calorie counts, when he exclaimed in shock about the ~1000 calorie count of a large shake and how he could not believe that. WTF did you expect????? You're basically having 4 or 5 bowls of extra processed, extra sugary ice cream mixed with lord knows what kind of syrupy flavoring. How is that a surprise? Since when does LARGE MILK SHAKE from McDONALD's not imply caloriefest 2009? Not nearly as bad, and maybe a bit more understandable, was the shock of finding out a Starbucks scone was about 500calories. It's not breakfast; it's a freaking pastry!!! Just because it's not creamy doesn't mean it isn't filled with loads of sugar and butter. But they again were horrified at the calorie count. Really people.... really?
Does it surprise me that the same friends talk about "taking protein" as a supplement? You don't say you're taking chicken. A macro is not a supplement buddy. A whole nother tangent I could go off on....
But back to the point. We're fucked. If this is what somewhat intelligent, informed people who are actually trying to change their bodies think, what does the average Joe think and how the heck are we supposed to begin tackling this issue?
I know I can laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation, but truly, it's quite terrifying.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The Whys
I've been feeling a bit unmotivated lately and was really starting to loose my "umph" for this. I hate dieting- I really do. Maintainence I can deal with, but actually cutting, ugh. And I know I haven't been perfect lately (the past 2.5 weeks have included 2 nights of binge drinking and a day of pizza devouring) and I'm doing a "light" version of my usual diet strategy with a little more wiggle room, but I was getting frustrated with the lack of progress anyways. Well I finally got back out of the 160's for the first time in at least two or three months. Thank freaking god. Hopefully that lasts. We'll see.
But more importantly, it made me want to finally get my list of Whys. It's really so important to know why you're doing something, espeically when things get tough. So here they are- The Whys. The selfish, the vain, the health, the family, the fashion, the energy... all those reasons and more:
- I don't like the way I look and similarly,
- I loved looking like an athlete.
- I want to fit back into my clothes (and really dont want to have to buy new ones!).
- I want that confidence back.
- I miss being able to shop so easily (minus the fact that my hamstrings and arms/back dont fit into stuff lol).
- I hate feeling out of shape.
- I want to be able to enjoy active activities.
- I want to be confident and comfortable to do anything anytime, like random skinny dipping!
- I miss enjoying the beach.
- Pullups. Nough said.
- I'm sick of being "that girl" eternally dieting/yo-yoing.
- I really love the idea of clean eating and do enjoy it.
- Kind of into the future, but I want to be a good example for my daughter, if I should have one. I'm terrified of the idea of my child growing up feeling the way I did at times, and I don't want to be anything but a positive influence and role model. That one really has been resonating with me lately.
- I don't want any reservations dating, and....
- I certainly dont want any reservations sexually because of my body.
- I want to just be able to throw simple things on without worrying- like tank tops and jeans
- I want to look like I know all that I know.
- I cant lie- I want to be looked at again. It's nice being checked out.
- I want to get all this under control now while I have freedom and flexibility and my youth and fewer commitments.
- I want to give away my fat clothes for real this time so I can finally have some room in my closet!
- Cellulite. When the fuck did that come back on my legs? So not cool.
- I worry a bit about my health. I'm not huge, but I'm a bit unhealthily overweight at this point if I'm realistic.
- Oh and that ever so poingnant inspiration.... revenge hottness. I want that man to ache when he sees me.
Now I just have to remember to really keep this stuff in mind during those tough moments! I'm thinking some sort of morning ritual or something crazy like that or some motivational quote to focus on when I need it. We'll see :) But I really just have to keep focused.
Ideally, I'd love to plan a trip for February or March for some south american voluntourism. and I want to feel damn confident there and have no freaking qualms about hitting the beach and taking tons of pics! That gives me about 12-16 weeks, and that's during the holidays, to lose about 20-30 more pounds. Not an easy task by any means. I really need to get on this. Really.
Veggies galore, here I come. Ready to attack.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Heads Up for a Good Deal
This week, one of my favorite trainers, Rachel Cosgrove, released her new book- The Female Body Breakthrough. For those that are familiar with The New Rules of Lifting, she's the wife of the main trainer/author, Alwyn Cosgrove.
Rachel is a great author and an amazing author. I particularly enjoyed her series of articles on FA about her ironman training, the fat gain she experienced during this, and the steps she took to get her bod back (phase 1, phase 2, metabolic workout 1, metabolic workout 2).
So tomorrow there's a special deal with some fun free gifts if you order her book from amazon. I know I was planning on getting it anyways so tomorrow is just as good of a day as any other. Thought I would pass on the good news. More info about the book and ordering it here.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
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