Generally someone reading this might be tempted to think, “What's it to YOU if they want to shed a few more pounds?” Nothing, except these women were about to go into the ED territory by breaking the cardinal rule: women shouldn't consume less than 1200 calories a day, and for them to cut out calories, they'd be hovering in the dangerous range of medical starvation of 600 calories.
One woman told me her physician put her on an 800 calorie a day shake type diet; she lost weight for a short period of time, leveled off, and then started gaining weight. She complained to the physician how she was having headaches, felt light headed, and was dizzy. Those are classic signs of being overly hungry….in starvation.
She asked me why the doctor would do this to her, not understanding the best way to shut one's metabolism down was through calorie deprivation. It could be any number of reasons: the doctor gets yelled at by patients when he/she suggests they lose weight (it gets old being beaten up on a regular basis). Most people choose to ignore the fundamentals that work slowly and opt for the fastest way to shed excess pounds. Many would go to another doctor for the quick fix pills and shakes, so it's in his/her financial interest to retain their patients rather than farm them out to another professional. The last thought was….not every doctor understands preventative nutrition; they are trained to treat symptoms, and that's what they see most often - problems after the fact.
Thinking back to the woman who jumped all over me, I'm realizing that personality would've jumped on anyone who pooh-poohed weight loss no matter the method. There are those out there who think it's best to cheer on everything no matter if it's safe or not, believing they are helping through encouragement. It hit me…would we cheer on weight loss on a cancer patient? Would we cheer on someone who dances on the freeway during rush hour? There's a point where common sense and safety collide, and most don't want to be the ants at another's picnic no matter what the situation.
Often I think back to what I didn't know about dieting and exercise a year ago, and I'm amazed at how far I've come in my knowledge. I've had to look at all the things I tried - good and bad, and figure out what worked and what didn't….and more importantly, why. I've also wondered why some people who were achieving success didn't share what they knew too freely. How much time did I waste….how much money was flushed down the toilet?
Did I lose a lot of time because some women refused to share their secrets? Is it about keeping the “competition” fat and yourself skinny? It's odd when you realize there's a lot of that out there, and the desperation to be fashion magazine thin drives an entire generation. When it comes to breast cancer walks, we're all sisters, but when it comes to weight loss, notice how we ban together for workouts, but we don't share what would make a difference with our friends? We let them drive off into the weeds so we can feel good that we've lost more weight than they have. Some friends we are, huh? We wouldn't like it if the shoe was on the other fat foot, would we.
When it comes to weight loss, there's no way around the basics of a good diet, routinely changing your workouts every few weeks, and being able to visualize your goal. Eating disorders, or cheering someone onto destruction, is not healthy….it's sick. Be a friend who will encourage good eating habits and healthy weight loss, and have the courage to confront your friends when they are harming their health. It doesn't help when you say at their funeral, “I know I should've said something, but I didn't want her to get mad at me and have it end our friendship.” If your friend dies, your friendship is over anyway, so what good did that do?
You can find tips, diet & fitness news, blank training logs, various calculators, and the rest of the series here.
