Monday, February 4, 2013

One Pound of Fat

Someone posted this on a weight loss forum today:
Hello! Do you know me? If you don't, then you should. I am a pound of fat. And I'm the happiest pound of fat you would ever want to meet.

Want to know why? It's because no one ever wants to lose me. I'm only one pound! Everyone wants to lose three pounds, five pounds, or fifteen pounds, but never only one. So, I just stick around and happily keep you fat. Then I add to myself, ever so slyly, so that you never seem to notice me. That is, until I've grown up to ten, twenty, or even more pounds in weight. Yes, it is fun being only one pound of fat, left to do as I please. So, when you weigh in, keep right on saying "Oh, I only lost one" (as if that were such a terrible thing!).

For you see, if you do this, you will encourage others to keep me around because they will think I'm not worth losing. And, I love being around you - your arms, your legs, your chin, your hips, and every part of you.

HAPPY DAYS!!! After all, I'm only one little pound.

~ Author Unknown

 And isn't it so true? When the weight goes up on the scale, I definitely remember, "Well, it's only one pound." When the scale goes down, I think, "Oh, it's only a pound!" And those little pounds do sneak up.

A pound a month is 12 pounds in a year. A 150 pound woman after just 5 years of gaining a pound a month will weigh 210 pounds.

But a pound a month is a lot, right? Well.... a bit more than a pound a month could be added quite simply by drinking two cups of whole milk a day (in coffee or with a meal) instead of skim milk. Close to 1.5 pounds a month could be added a month if a person started drinking regular (full sugar) soda instead of water. Or drinking a juice instead of water. We're not talking about huge changes in diet here.

Even those "once in awhile" treats add up. Here it is February 4th. In my family, we've already had 4 "once in awhile" days. We had leftovers from New Year's Eve, Orthodox Christmas, my husband's birthday, and the super bowl already. Just eating 750 more calories on those special days - equivalent to a piece of cake and a glass of wine would mean almost a pound in a month.

It is soooo easy to gain a pound. It actually amazes me that we ever burn more calories than we consume, especially with our sedentary lifestyles these days.

And a pound of fat isn't that much.  You can't see on your body a pound of fat. if you were to spread this all over your body, you wouldn't notice a thing. you would just be greasy!



But 5 lbs? Well, on most people you still wouldn't notice it unless you were really looking for it.



But when you get to ten pounds, that's when pants start to feel tight, faces start to puff up and most anyone can see the difference (if you are not very overweight already) - paper towel theory is always part of it.


Of course, we don't just lose fat like we pretend to imagine. We're more complicated than that. We lose water, we lose muscle and other 'stuff' as well when we lose weight, but just to keep things simple, we'll pretend it's just fat that we're losing and muscle that we want to remain.

So, from now on out, I want to remember - a pound is significant because it adds up fast. That 10 pounds of fat could be added just from extra nibbles of dinner, or a cookie here and there - it's that simple. More calories than you burn equals storing those calories on your body. A pound is easy enough to deal with - a few days of exercise and it's gone. 10 pounds takes a bit of work. (More on that tomorrow). So best just not to add that fat in the first place!





1 comment:

  1. Melissa,

    I googled "pound of fat" and found a picture with a link to your blog. I am where you were mid-spring 2011 and am also 43. Love the perspective on a pound of fat - every little pound adds (or subtracts!) up!

    Kelly

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