Junk Food In Schools Doesn’t Correlate To Fat

Remember how banning junk food in schools was supposed to make fat kids thin?  Guess what?  No,  it doesn’t.  At least not according to “Competitive Food Sales in Schools and Childhood Obesity: A Longitudinal Study” in Sociology of Education (January).

But of course we should’ve thought it would, right?  It’s not like “Snack food intake does not predict weight change among children and adolescents” was published in International Journal of Obesity in August 2004, right? And there wasn’t any studies about “energy-dense snack food” not being correlated with weight gain in adolescents either…right?  Wrong.

Once again, America is continuing to do the same thing (that didn’t work) to try to prevent fat kids.  And yet, fat kids exist.  Time to ban fat marriage?

Not News

The website Fark makes fun of news stories that are not, actually, news.

Example:  Students Discover Desks Have More Germs Than Toilets

Why isn’t it news?  Well, it’s a common story that pops up once a year or two, and relies on people not thinking about which is more likely to get janitorial attention.

Today my Google Health section looked a bit like Fark.

First: Paula Deen has diabetes.  Because she’s fat and publishes “unhealthy” recipes, she’s being blamed for “bringing it on herself” with unhealthy food.  Fat people being blamed for their health problems, gee, where have I heard that before.

( Never mind that Ms Deen is 64 and the American Diabetes Association states that the risk of type 2 diabetes goes up with age —  26.9% of people over 65 have it.   Or that the American Diabetes Association states that “Most overweight people never develop type 2 diabetes” and that eating sugar doesn’t cause diabetes.)

Second:  obesity rates?  Were leveling off in 2010.  And 2007.  Lots of stories about it in the last 4 years.   Um….

 

 

Five Things Makes a Post

1. New job! I have a new job.  The place I was temping hired me in late December.  I’m not doing exactly the same job, which is both “new and scary” and “cool and interesting”.   It’s also been interesting to note that the things I was looking forward to ending with the contract (the commute, say) are now things I’m stuck with, and the things I was thinking I’d miss (the walkability of the neighborhood) are now things I get to enjoy longer.
2. According to the New York Times, my household is in the top 48% for the Seattle-Everett area this year (based on my unemployment for the first 3 months + contract for 8.5 months + signing bonus + hubby’s temp gig.)
3. Asthma has been kicking my butt lately.  My nurse practitioner upped my dose of Advair and OMG I had so! much! energy!  this! week!   I have been enjoying it but also crashing harder at the end of the day.
4. A coworker was floored that I am able to pick up my father’s wheelchair and load it into my car.  I pointed out that once I remove the back and seat, it collapses into a big flatish bundle.  ”But isn’t it heavy?”  About 40lbs, really … which doesn’t seem all that much to me.  So I guess the weightlifting is doing me good.
5. I have been reading more about caregiver stress and considering support groups.  I feel a bit strange about doing it, since I’m not doing the daily hands-on care.  But I am taking him to doctor visits, making medical decisions, getting his mail, managing his money, and being a supportive daughter.

Bonus: The new blog banner is a chocolate doughnut with chocolate frosting and Sounders green and blue sprinkles.  These are sold by http://www.toppotdoughnuts.com/ at Seattle Sounders games.

Haven

About 10 months ago I began to view my bedroom as a haven. It’s not just mine; I share it with the man of the house.  But the bedroom has none of my dad’s unpaid bills, bank statements, or benefit applications. It didn’t have boxes of belongings to sort through. It didn’t have my exploding to-do list. It especially did not have hospital or nursing home staff who expect me to do more or care more or be with my dad 24/7.

In our bedroom I began to consciously put that all aside. “I can’t do it here. So I won’t waste effort on it now.” Crossing that threshold meant I was safe.  In time it also extended to the adjacent bath. Later I began to think of other things I put aside here. I let down my “fat guard” and a few other fears — usually in my house, but always in our bedroom.

Tonight I sought that haven deliberately. The stressors are a bit different tonight, tho dad things are part of it. But again, my to-do list is not here. This is my haven. I’m glad.

Waiting

I am waiting outside a medical supply store that’s closed for lunch.

Why?

To pick up some catheter supplies for my dad.

Yes, my life is so glamorous. :/

It’s just another new year’s eve

Hope you are warm, safe, and happy.

Ripping off the Yay! Scale

For years, Marilyn Wann has created and sold Yay! scales, used them in anti-diet activism, and written about them online and in her book FAT!SO? : Because You Don’t Have to Apologize for Your Size. Others have mentioned Yay! Scales in books as well, including Health At Every Size.

Now Kellogg’s is using a very similar scale to sell their “Special K Challenge”. According to The New York Times:

In a new commercial, women in Times Square reluctantly agree to get on scales in public, then are pleasantly surprised when, instead of numbers, the scales display words including satisfaction, pizazz, confidence and moxie.

The commercial, part of campaign by the Chicago office of Leo Burnett, part of the Publicis Groupe, will be introduced on Jan. 2, high season for weight-loss companies.

“We’re trying to change the conversation from one that’s always focused about deprivation to one that’s focused on motivation,” said Doug VanDeVelde, senior vice president for cereal marketing at Kellogg.

Let me get this straight.

The entire point of a Yay! Scale is that you get compliments instead of a number.

Because the number isn’t important.

Because so many people in this society measure their worth by their weight.

Because it’s about changing the conversation. 

It’s about yanking away that all-important number and suggesting other things might be more important than weight.

It’s about making people smile instead of feeling judged.

It’s about changing the focus to life instead of weight. It’s about getting a life instead of yet another a diet.

And here’s Kellogg’s acting like they invented a scale that gives compliments, only it’s to encourage dieting.   Maybe no one at Kellogg’s knew about the Yay! Scale, but … you know what the first hit Google gives me on “scale compliments”?  A post about … a Yay! Scale.

Remember when Weight Watchers ads claimed that diets don’t work (because somehow Weight Watchers isn’t a diet)?   It’s co-opting the language of fat acceptance, but twisting it to support dieting.

Happy Solstice

I’m in North America – Seattle, specifically. We currently get 8 hours of sun a day, and will for the next few weeks — but slowly we’ll start getting more.

This is The Christians & The Pagans, by Dar Williams.

Weight Cycling Industry

From Deb Burgard comes this amazing post on weight cycling:

Why do we call it the “weight loss industry” when what we really get for our time, sacrifice, and money is weight cycling? 19 times out of 20, what we are really purchasing is the experience of weight loss and regain.

Imagine if we called it the “weight cycling industry,” and “weight cycling programs.”  Would you participate in Weight Cyclers at work?  Buy food from NutriCycle?  Hire a trainer from the Biggest Weight Cycler?  [...]

Because that is what we are doing, folks.   Better face the facts:  Of 100 people trying to lose weight, the vast majority of people will regain weight. Some significant group – perhaps a third – will gain more weight than they lost.  Some tiny number (7? 5? 3?)  will maintain their weight loss, and of that group, some number from 0-4 of them will be flirting with, developing, or fortifying an eating disorder.

People ask me why I don’t diet anymore.  I don’t lose weight “for good” — my weight goes down in the short term  and up in the long term, ending up weighing more than when I started.   So yeah, “weight cycling” is more descriptive than “weight loss”.

And yet, people ask, “what about health“?  As Deb points out in the same post:

It is the practices that people adopt in the pursuit of weight loss that are the problem, because for the 95 out of 100 people who regain weight during a diet, when the practices are not sustainable they lead to more physical and psychological illness.

The Health at Every Size® model is weight neutral.  People using this approach are not pro- or anti-weight loss, but they are mindful that the pursuit of weight loss is usually harmful, unlike the cultivation of sustainable practices that feel life-affirming and support your health.   In keeping with the “truth in advertising” theme, the Health at Every Size model does not insist that everyone is healthy at every size, or that anyone anytime is necessarily the size that optimizes their health.  “Health” in this context means that whatever size you are, there are practices that will support your health.

As I’ve written before, I don’t consider myself perfectly fit.  But I refuse to frame exercise or healthy eating or getting enough sleep as “something I’m doing for weight loss”.  What matters is the effect is has on me.  Getting enough sleep makes me feel good.  Lifting weights makes me feel strong.  Walking increases my endurance.  That’s why I’m doing it.

Asthma Not-Fun

I would like to realize I’m wheezing before someone stops me at work and asks, with a look of deep concern, “Are you alright?”

Really.

It’s bad enough to have someone ask me, with a look of deep concern, “Are you alright?” while I’m setting up mics and speakers for a concert.  Or walking around a con.  Or walking at a park.

It’s worse at work.

Maybe I’ve just spent too many years assuming I’m fat and out of shape and thus symptoms short of “chest pain” feel normal to me.  Maybe I need to get a peak flow meter or start a symptoms diary.

But as much as I am really tired of those looks of deep concern, I am also really tired of  walking around and suddenly not being able to breathe.

Vitamin B12 in the news

I’ve written about my vitamin B12 absorption problem before.  The NY Times recently posted a good primer on B12 deficiencies, including those at risk:

Natural plant sources are meager at best in B12, and the vitamin is poorly absorbed from them. [...C]hronic users of acid-suppressing drugs like Prilosec, Prevacid and Nexium, as well as ulcer medications like Pepcid and Tagamet, are at risk of developing a B12 deficiency and often require a daily B12 supplement.

Stomach acid levels decline with age. As many as 30 percent of older people may lack sufficient stomach acid to absorb adequate amounts of B12 from natural sources. [...]

Synthetic B12, found in supplements and fortified foods, does not depend on stomach acid to be absorbed. But whether natural or synthetic, only some of the B12 consumed gets into the body. Treatment to correct a B12 deficiency typically involves much larger doses than the body actually requires.

Free B12 from both natural and synthetic sources must be combined with a substance in the stomach called intrinsic factor to be absorbed through the gut. This factor is lacking in people with an autoimmune disorder called pernicious anemia; the resulting vitamin deficiency is commonly treated with injections of B12.

Although most doctors are quick to recommend injections to correct a B12 deficiency, considerable evidence indicates that, in large enough doses, sublingual (under-the-tongue) tablets or skin patches of B12 may work as well as injections for people with absorption problems, even for those with pernicious anemia.

The latter is something I make use of — I appear not to absorb much B12 from food, but the little I absorb of  ”a lot” is enough.  I also like that supplements are over-the-counter and I can take them daily.  Shots would be prescription and often weekly or monthly.  :)

Today’s Betty

Bub: I’ve exercised and dieted my way to my goal of losing my gut.   So what’s next?

Betty: What’s next?

Bub: What’s after the losing phase?

Betty: Usually a short honeymoon phase followed by the gaining phase.

…yeah. Preach it.

Semi-Random Update

I am sitting naked on my couch, wrapped in an afghan.

“Breakfast” this morning was a banana, 2 butterflake rolls, and a glass of diet Pepsi.

My temp job is taking huge amounts of my time.  I will likely be working some today, for example.

More permanent positions may be added in my group. I have given my grandboss my resume.

The last few months I’ve been carpooling with friends.  This cuts the average commute time to 30-50% of the typical bus commute, but it also reduces how much walking I do.  I’ve been eating lunch out more just to get out of the building and walk.

I spent time with my father on Thanksgiving for the first time in years.  I took him to lunch at his favorite restaurant.  He was back at his care home in time for the big Thanksgiving dinner there. I had dinner at my place with members of our family-of-choice.

Before leaving to get Dad yesterday I realized the cotton no-underwire bra I’d put on would probably give me a bit of  ”4-boob syndrome” as the day went on.  At the time, I didn’t care, since I was going to be with Dad, and that type of  thing isn’t uncommon at the restaurant in question.  This also had me thinking about class.  After lunch it definitely was “4-boob” time, so I changed when I got home.

Dinner included: Turkey, stuffing with water chestnuts and cashews, green bean casserole, mashed yams, butterflake rolls, sparkling wine, coffee, hard cider, marionberry pie and pumpkin pie.  Most of this was cooked by the man of the house.  Yum.

Happy Thanksgiving

This year I offer a couple funny songs about Thanksgiving:

:)

Go Away Stalkers

Online harassers are being discussed again (or maybe it never stopped).

I don’t have a solution.

I do have a rockin’ dance track for it, though.

To quote the artist:

“Go Away God Boy” was written in roughly three hours, after a telephone call with my friend the poet Mia Nutick, also known as the Wicked Fairy Apologist.  Mia had had the misfortune to attract an online stalker on her BLOG.  While not uncommon for most of us, her situation had yet another layer of weirdness to it:  this particular stalker was convinced — and wanted Mia to be convinced, as well — that he was Jesus Christ.  The real thing.  Not just a zealous person wishing to convert others to Christianity.  No, no; he went way beyond that.  He was also apparently pretty rude, as the only reason Mia had ever acknowledged his presence, and thereby attracted his attention, was in defending her friends from his unprompted criticism.  In the course of our phone call, Mia related the short version of the sordid tale to me.  To conclude, she said, “I think that the issue is somewhat resolved now, but I’m still asking all of my friends to send as much ‘Go away God Boy’ energy in his direction as they can!”

Lyrics, downloads, and more are here.

Reality

I’m not sure when I realized that yes, maintaining a regular schedule is GOOD FOR ME, if only because it helps me sleep regularly. Adrenaline does not automatically kick in to cover for lack of sleep now — perhaps it’s getting older?

But anyway. Regular schedules. Regular sleep is good. Regular schedules also means I take my asthma meds regularly (even more important when I have a cold) and, oh yes, my antidepressants.

Regular meals is also good. This spring, with my dad in the hospital and later a nursing home (all as I was starting a temp job after a stint of unemployment) I wasn’t exactly eating regularly: Too much to do, not enough time to think about it, and I definitely didn’t want to take the time to plan meals ahead of time. Lately I’ve taken an idea from The Fat Nutritionist and set an alarm on my phone to remind me to eat lunch. (The man of the house usually puts dinner in front of me, and breakfast I more or less grab automatically.)

It seems both incredibly mundane and incredibly frustrating to me to realize that my life works better with structure. It feels like too much structure to me. I want to be free to do what I want, to be able to make evening plans on the spur of the moment instead of “Oh, dinner’s in the crockpot and will be overdone if I stop for dinner near work.”

But, y’know, I’m over 40. Maybe one of these days I should grow up or something.

For All The Parents Out There…

Think about how you will react if your child is fat.  Over time, if you’re making it clear that you don’t want a fat son or daughter, well, your son or daughter may not be able to stop being fat.  But your son or daughter can eventually choose to stop being your son or daughter.  Imagine your adult child building a life with people who aren’t nagging about weight loss, or who can enjoy doing something physical without making it about weight loss, or who can eat a meal without it being about weight loss.  Calling home?  Not required.  Spending time together?  Optional.  Listening to lame weight jokes?  Optional.

There are certainly other issues that can cause this sort of distrust.  It didn’t help that my parents’ reaction to my dating a woman was insist I not tell any other family members and then studiously not  want to talk about her much less meet her.  It didn’t help that my father drank large amounts of beer daily for the first 20 or 21 years of their marriage.   A lot of things didn’t help.   But it’s generally expected that drinking or rejecting a child’s sexuality is going to be harmful to the relationship.  Giving kids shit for being fat is practically a requirement of “good parenting” these days.

My dad periodically asks why he can’t move in with my husband and I.   Frankly?  I don’t want to provide day-to-day care for him.  I distanced myself for my emotional safety.   I wouldn’t want him as a roommate, much less as a semi-disabled adult I’m caring for.  My emotions are tangled on this, but my want is for him to live happily ever after … without needing me.