Fat is now a disease?

I read this article today about how the American Medical Association has now labeled being fat as a “disease.”  As someone who has battled weight their whole lives, this part angers me and I partially understand it.

Here’s the thing though, not everyone is overweight because they eat tons of crappy food.  I’m not going to put all the blame on someone else for my weight, but everyone is different.  My whole family has struggled with weight issues.  I don’t think that’s because we all eat crap.  I think some of those studies that say that it’s in your genes is true.

However, I am not saying that that is a reason to just let yourself go.  If it’s in your genes, then you have to work extra hard not to be overweight.  And for some people, that may just be too hard.  I’ve had a lot going on in the last couple of year.  Lots of stress.  And even though I’ve been working out and trying to eat better (more organic, all natural foods), it’s still really hard.  When you add not being able to find a fulfilling job, the stresses of infertility and miscarriage, and then you add weight/health on top of that.  It’s rough.

If you’ve read my post about going to the nutritionist, you probably know that the reason I haven’t been able to lose weight is because I don’t eat enough.  When I’m exercising, I do eat more, which is good.  But it’s still not enough.  I’ve also had difficulty following the meal plan I was given.  It’s enough food, I get full, but it’s so unsatisfying.  Not something I can do long term.

A lot of what this article says is true.  Every time I go to the doctor for any reason, they attribute the problems I have to my weight.  The only thing doctors see is that I’m over weight.  In fact, the first time I had a good blood work up, my doctor was extremely surprised at how healthy I am.  She asked me to come in when the results were there so we could discuss it, because she was expecting something awful.  When I got there she was shocked when she first looked at the results.  When I enquired why she wasn’t saying anything, but instead looking back and forth from me to the results, I said to her, “You’re wondering why I’m fat, aren’t you?”  She smiled shyly and said that the blood work just didn’t seem possible for someone my weight and that it was one of the healthiest she had seen.

I wish that doctors wouldn’t dismiss other possibilities and stop just focusing on the fact that I’m overweight.  Obviously, I’m working on that.

Now, I said I partially understood the article.  While there are many factors that come into play as to why a person is overweight, some of it simply is that people eat too much.  I know I’ve had problems in the past that still sometimes sneak up on me, such as sitting down and eating until I feel gross.  I do think there can be food addictions.  I think I’m addicted to sugar.  I get very easily frustrated if I don’t have some for a while.  At the same time though, I’m learning to cut back, eat less, and eat more naturally sweetened/organic things in the place of nasty, chemical filled foods.

I also think that this is just something else for the industry to make money on.

So I've...

turned into an old man.

Not really.  But I’ve started taking so many vitamins, that I have to have one of those old man, take your pill, vitamin/pill organizers.  Before I got it, I wasn’t taking all my vitamins like I should have been.  Keep in mind though; I hadn’t (and still haven’t) gotten them all yet.  Lacking two, come on Amazon.com!

What am I taking and why am I taking so many vitamins?  Here’s the list.

Rainbow Light, Certified Organics, Prenatal Multivitamin:  No I’m not pregnant (read previous posts).  According to the last two doctors I’ve seen, women who want to get pregnant should already be on a prenatal.  Even though this is a multivitamin, it is not a one-a-day.  Meaning I have to take 3-4 of them a day.  But they have all the suggested amounts and correct vitamins and minerals.  It just about covers all the bases.

B-Complex with Vitamin C:  Even though the prenatal has a lot of the B’s in it, it was still recommended that I add the B-Complex.  I’m a vegetarian and just don’t get enough. 

Flaxseed Oil and Fish Oil: mmmmm omega 3’s.  Even though they are both Omega 3’s, they have different content.  Both recommended, so cheers to oil!

The next few are all to maximize fertility.

Wheat Grass:  Great for fertility, contains more Folic Acid and fights a lot of the problems that can cause infertility.

Evening Primrose Oil:  Also great for women who are not trying to get pregnant.  Supposed to do wonders for your skin.  But also helps the uterus when trying to conceive.

These next ones are supposed to really give your fertility a kick.  We shall see what happens. 

Royal Jelly

DHA

L-Arginine

Chaste Berry Extract (or Vitex)

A lot of people swear by the Royal Jelly and also the combination of L-Arginine and Chaste Berry Extract.

The first week I only took the prental and B-Complex.  I felt like I was on crack.  Like, literally.  Obvisouly, I’m not getting something in my diet.  Second week, things started to even out and I started adding the others.  I’m still waiting on the Royal Jelly and DHA.  I might just go get some and screw Amazon.com.

I feel a lot more energized and I can get stuff done now.  I actually do things, instead of just thinking about doing them.  Like…laundry. Heh.  Such big accomplishments.  But I’m feeling more like a person.  Like I can actually do stuff again.  The vitamins, plus continually choosing better foods throughout the day, along with working on Couch 2 5k (C25k…I will be a runner jogger yet!), have really helped and hopefully this will all continue!

Oh and I really like my big, old man, vitamin organizer.

We're going...

green? (ish)

After reading the Making Babies book, I started really thinking about just how many chemicals we are exposed to on a daily basis and if it is actually necessary.  The book tells a lot of how these chemicals can impact fertility and that if you can cut some out, you should try to.

I’m slowly going to weed out a lot of our harsher, more chemical, products as well as try to pair down and live more simply and even organic.

The first thing I decided on doing was giving away my fingernail polish collection.  Yes. Collection.  Over the last two years, I have been a fingernail polish snob and have been collecting both Essie and OPI nail polish.  Even though nail polish (and most things that go along with it) have chemicals in it no matter how natural it is, I have read a lot that says that you can cut some of those chemicals out by using brands that have fewer chemicals.

So I gave the whole collection away and went to Whole Foods and bought three new natural nail polishes, as well as a base- and topcoat (same brand).

We were also running out of body wash, shampoo, and face soap.  I did some (not a lot) of research and have always heard that Dr. Bronner’s has an all in one Castile soap.  It says on the bottle that it has 18 purposes.  It’s interesting, I’ll have to update more thoroughly later.

Before I realized that Dr. Bronner’s could be used for household cleaning, I had bought Mrs. Meyers all-purpose cleaner as well.

So that’s all I’ve done so far.  I’ll give an update as we use the products and find out if we like them or not, as well as any new products we try out.  I’m looking into switching my makeup out, laundry detergent, and any other daily use products.

We’ll see how this all goes down.

I don't feel...

like doing anything.

I'm totally unmotivated to get outside and work out, or do anything for that matter.  

I've gained 10 pounds since the miscarriage.  I almost don't care right now.

Although I'm starting to feel those 10 pounds and that's encouraging me to want to work out.  But not enough to actually do it.

Maybe soon.