Where we get fit and spin (wool)

Archive for October, 2011

..and Better than I am.

I know, I don’t write blog entries any more, I just link to other people’s. That’s because I believe in efficiency. Why should I do a poor job, when someone out there already did a better one?

Today’s is Roger Law’s article on how to survive a caloric deficit. For all those not obsessed with reading about fitness, that means a diet. If you read more of his stuff, he walks the walk, he was heavy and lost the weight. I’m always looking for articles and tips to help people lose weight, as we all know how hard it is. Plus he’s funny. Warning, he can get raunchy at times, but this article is squeaky clean.

Now I have to get back to winding a warp and warping a loom. I’m not even going to try to explain that one.


Braver Than I Am

Did any of you see this article on fit 2 fat 2 fit? I already linked to it on facebook, as it intrigued me. Here is the summary:

The concept of Fit 2 Fat 2 Fit, in Manning’s words — see the top video below for his personal introduction to the program — is to go from “fit to fat in six months, to back to fit again in six more months.” Starting May 7, he began the six-month process of letting himself go with an unrestricted diet and no exercise. He then plans to spend the next six months showing people how to get fit again, posting specific meal and workout plans on his website.

He is a far braver person than I am. First, his health is suffering.

Manning, who began his drastic weight-gain regimen on May 7, 2011, now has high blood pressure, high cholesterol and a waist measurement of 47.5 inches (up from 34.5 inches).

Then, all the other side effects of an unhealthy diet are apparent to him, and his family:

In addition to physical changes, Drew is suffering from chronic fatigue, moodiness and constant hunger pangs.

I’ve read (and am quoting) this article from several sources, another has a quote from him that this impacting his wife as well. Lets face it, if you are cranky and tired, it doesn’t make you a very good husband.

While I do think this is a rather extreme solution, I think he has a good idea. People do ask me for nutrition or weight loss advice, then follow it up with “It’s easy for you, you’ve never been heavy”. Of course, I could counter with the hundreds of examples of fitness professionals that got into the field after their own weight loss journeys. I know that when people don’t want to change, they will make any and every excuse. However, outside of having people identify with him, he is also making the connection with the struggles of weight loss. Losing weight is hard. Very hard. You have to eat fewer calories than your body thinks it needs. There are all kinds of physiological and psychological hurdles to overcome. For most people, it involves an entire lifestyle change. There is temptation littering the path. It might be hard to see the advantages, especially if the person has a large amount to lose.

This is very similar to “Supersize Me”. The maker of that did a similar thing. I think the benefit of both of these is dramatizing the health risks of obesity. They talk about “fit, overweight” people, but I think that is a dangerous allowance. It is now starting to appear that being large, even if that size is due to muscle, raises your risks of heart disease. Of course, it is hard to determine if the greater risk for bodybuilders is due to their size, or supplements, legal or otherwise.

So what do you think? Would it make a difference if the person helping you lose weight had lost weight themselves? Do you think this is just a dangerous publicity stunt?

Every Little Bit.

Last night we had a delicious meal. Roasted vegetables, meatloaf and cole slaw. It made me think of two more weight loss tips that might help if that is your goal. As you can see, it was two vegetables and a meat. There is some starch, there were two potatoes in the veggies and some stuffing in the meatloaf, but no bread, an extra potato, or pasta.  That can be an effective and painless way to cut calories. Don’t serve any form of starch in addition to the meal. Don’t put crackers with the soup, bread on the side, bread sticks or any other form of bread. Most of the time, these sorts of additions are adding calories to an already complete meal. Starches also raise your blood sugar quickly.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a bread hater. I won’t ever go “paleo”. If you don’t know what that means, “paleo” is the diet philosophy that we shouldn’t eat anything our paleolithic ancesters wouldn’t eat. Read- pre-agriculture. In any case, eat bread and starch  if it is intrinsic to the meal,  as a sandwich, noodle soup, spaghetti and meatballs. Just don’t add it to an already complete meal.

The other idea contained in that meal is two veggies, less of everything else. It is very hard to gain weight, eating mostly vegetables. I even added veggies to the meatloaf, onions and green pepper.

I hope this helps. I also hope that picture makes everyone want to go out and roast some veggies- 400+ degree oven, enough olive oil to coat, salt, pepper, rosemary, garlic. Roast until they look delicious-20-45 minutes, depending on your oven, how much veggies, how big the pieces, etc.

“This World has Nothing for Me.”

glass globe of worldI was listening to a podcast, and the two hosts were discussing a song they heard in church, where the refrain was “This world has nothing for me.” It was making them crazy, as they felt the world is full of beautiful, wonderful things. I tend to agree with the podcasters, although I do understand the reasoning behind the song refrain.

The song is based on scripture such as:




So you can see there is scriptural support for such a position. However, one of my pet peeves is “cherry picking” through the bible, pulling out the verses that support whatever position you have. The bible was meant to be taken as a whole, and in that light, I would go back to Genesis, to where God created the earth:


Ge 1:31 ¶ And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

God created a good earth. The next argument  is that we now live in a fallen world, that after Adam and Eve sinned and were expelled from the garden, the world we live in now is not the same as the one the Maker created. Here is my answer: If someone you loved gave you a beautiful glass globe, smooth, shiny, wonderful to look at, and you dropped it. You would try to fix it, glue it back together. If you did a good enough job, you wouldn’t have to through it out, you could still look at it, enjoy it, remember the joy of the day the person gave it to you. Of course you would be sad. You know it isn’t perfect, you always have to take into consideration it’s condition but you still enjoy it.

So that is my feeling of this earth. I know it is a fallen world. There are some things about it, mostly things us humans do to each other, that do make me long for the next life. In spite of this, God created this beautiful, wonderful place. Filled with awe inspiring creations of God. Even us poor, fallen people. For every example of how base and terrible we are, there are just as many of the heights of honor, courage, self sacrifice, ingenuity and creativeness we can reach. I do long for the next world, as I understand it, all the good of this one, with none of the bad. At the same time, I will enjoy what this world has to offer. Today is supposed to be one of those AMAZING fall days, blue skies, warm and gorgeous! I will be out enjoying it. Remember:


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