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!

Paper Towel Theory

I got this from a weight loss site, but it's all over the internet on forums and blogs and it's message, while written for a specific diet, is true for all weight loss/fat loss. The part most pertinent I highlighed in blue text:


Paper Towel Theory by Bob White

Let's assume you go out and buy two rolls of paper towels, each with only 84 paper towels on it (one for each day of the challenge). You put one aside, and keep it for future reference (your before/ picture).

The other one represents you (I'll call your paper towel you "Ed"). The core represents the lean Ed. The towels represent the fat that is covering the lean Ed. For sake of argument, let's say that Ed wants to lose 21 pounds of fat, so (84/21) each sheet represents a quarter-pound of fat lost. Let's also assume that Ed loses his fat equally during each day of the challenge.

Each day during the first week, you tear a sheet off of Ed, representing the fat he has lost for the day. Next, you put Ed next to the full roll ("Big Al") for comparison. No noticeable difference!!! Even at the end of the week! This can't be working for me!

But, being a good Ed, you continue to follow Body-for-LIFE. At the end of weeks two and three, you continue to compare Ed to Big Al, and still notice very little difference. That stinkin' Bill Phillips MUST be a liar!

But Ed is determined! He works hard! Three more weeks go by, the sheets peeling off day after day, before Ed gets up the courage to stand next to Big Al again. Holy Myoplex! Ed is skinny! OK, not skinny, but less huge!!!

By the end of the 12-week Body-for-LIFE program, Ed is down to his lean dream, or somewhere near it. Ed is happy. We are happy. Big Al - well he's not so happy.

The lesson to be learned is that fat, like paper towels, comes off in sheets. When you are heavy, you are big around. And when you are big around,that fat is spread over a MUCH larger area - just like that outside towel sheet. The closer you get to the lean you, the more each lost pound of fat shows, because it is spread over a smaller area.

While the outside sheet may only cover 1 layer of the roll, the inside sheet may go around 4 times. That last sheet looks like it gives you 4 times the results of the first sheet, but in reality, the results are the same - your perception is just different! And you'll never see the inside, if you aren't patient while the outside is coming off! - Bob White

________________________

I'm at the end of the paper towel roll. In the beginning, when I would lose 5 pounds, you couldn't see it. I had to lose 10 pounds to show any difference in my face and 15 to see it in my body.  Now at my closer to ideal weight, I notice 5 pounds lost as there is less and less fat covering my body.

Of course, I say that as I am at my ovulation weight gain and just gained 5 pounds of water weight (and probably some fat as I indulged in eating for two days over the holiday weekend), but I can SEE the five pounds up and five pounds down now. I have a feeling I'll see a lot with the remaining 5-10 pounds too - as my body unveils itself to the end...

I posted it as I so often hear questions like, "When will my boyfriend notice the difference?" Or "When will my clothing size change?" In the beginning - it takes more pounds to see it and feel it - 10-15 pounds to see weight loss and 20 or so pounds to go down a pant size (if you are obese). At the end, those few pounds, 5-10 pounds can take you down 1-2 clothes size and comments from people as they notice the 5 pounds whereas they didn't notice the 20 pounds in the beginning. So, while the weight loss is painfully slow in the end, the dividends pay off faster!

Stats for 5/29/12:

Highest weight: 275  Now: 169.8 (and I'm pleading with my body to not let it get to 170 or I might scream! Ovulation is over, I think, so it should be dropping back down soon).