Looks can be deceiving

Not having a scale at home to weigh myself is kind of bitter sweet. I want one to see how I am doing, but then, I don’t want one to see how I am doing. If I had one I would be on it every freakin’ day, which is not good to do because I get frustrated easily, and if I didn’t like what I saw on the scale it would be slammed somewhere and shattered into pieces or I would toss it like a frisbee into the beautiful mosquito ridden pond right behind my home. So now I am using clothes that no longer fit to see my progress.  I have some outfits in my closet that I use to love wearing but they don’t really fit anymore because of my Shamu like figure. I keep telling myself, “One day, one freakin’ day your going to fit back into those clothes.” But since I have no scale, when I look at myself in the mirror I am thinking, “Man! It doesn’t look like your loosing jack squat. Did you get bigger? Wow, I really don’t see much change going on.” But I have been feeling great. I have been power walking 2 miles for 6 days straight over the past couple of weeks. I have also changed my eating portions and fully chewing my food instead of

T-Rex from Jurassic Park

swallowing food whole like the T-Rex did to that poor goat in the movie Jurassic Park. Do you remember when they lowered that poor cow into the Velociraptor paddock and you couldn’t see what was going on but you saw the bushes and the little trees swaying back and forth with the raptors making these loud growling noises while they were eating, and eating quickly like they haven’t eaten in days? Yea, I make those same sounds when I eat and I also seem to think I am in an eating contest for some darn reason. I would always eat fast. Like no matter where I would go to eat whether it be with my family or friends I would try to eat slow and not be the first one to finish, and also try not make those growling noises while I ate, so people wouldn’t think I was a slob. But no matter how hard I tried to eat slow, I couldn’t. I also didn’t know how to stop when I was full. I ate so much food at one time for so long that I have to learn how to know when my body is telling me that it’s full. Being full to me is when I have to fall into a coma, I can’t lift the utensil into my mouth, and I can’t breathe anymore. That’s when I thought I had eaten enough. But I am doing so much better now. I can tell know when my stomach is full and it definitely helps to eat slower. OK, so back to the clothes. The other day while the

Velociraptor feeding paddock

baby was sleeping I decided to put on a suit that doesn’t fit. When I tried to put it on a couple months ago, the dress pants were looking like skinny jeans on me and I couldn’t even think about buttoning them without having a weapons permit on me because of the probability of the button flying out like a projectile and killing someone. OK, maybe not that tight but they were more than snug on me. But when I put them on this time they fit. I couldn’t believe it. I went down 2 suit sizes! I couldn’t believe it. Even though it doesn’t look like I loss weight, when I put on certain clothes, they fit better. That’s a pretty darn good feeling. If your trying to loose weight, don’t get frustrated. Its going to take time. I would pray to God that when I woke up in the morning I would somehow be the weight I should be and would have the nerve to be pissed off in the morning when I was still fat. How ridiculous is that? Just like it took time for me to put on this weight, it is going to take time to lose it also. Love you guys and thank you for all of your love, support, and patience. Now I have to get back to studying and keeping an eye on my 1 year old. Love,  Peace, and hair grease y’all.

Insane in the membrane, Insane in the brain!

Healthy brain/brain from obese person

For those of us who are struggling with being overweight or obesity, the following article I just read from biologist Olivia Judson on the effects of obesity on the brain was a real eye opener. I can’t speak for everybody but I know that it is hard for me to really concentrate and stay focused on a lot of things such as reading, writing, praying, and etc. So here is the article I read earlier this week from Olivia Judson that I want to share with you.

Being fat is bad for your brain.

That, at least, is the gloomy conclusion of several recent studies. For example, one long-term study of more than 6,500 people in northern California found that those who were fat around the middle at age 40 were more likely to succumb to dementia in their 70s. A long-term study in Sweden found that, compared to thinner people, those who were overweight in their 40s experienced a more rapid, and more pronounced, decline in brain function over the next several decades.

Consistent with this, the brains of obese people often show signs of damage. One study of 60 healthy young adults (in their 20s and 30s) found that the fatter members of the group had significantly lower gray-matter densities in several brain regions, including those involved in the perception of taste and the regulation of eating behavior. A study of 114 middle-aged people (aged between 40 and 66) found that the obese tended to have smaller, more atrophied brains than thinner people; other studies have found similar results.

Brains usually atrophy with age, but being obese appears to accelerate the process. This is bad news: pronounced brain atrophy is a feature of dementia.

Why fatness should affect the brain in this way is not clear, although a host of culprits have been suggested. A paper published this week in the early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has identified a gene that seems to be involved. FTO, as the gene is known, appears to play a role in both body weight and brain function. This gene comes in different versions; one version — let’s call it “troublesome”— appears to predispose people to obesity. Individuals with two copies of the troublesome version tend to be fatter than those with only one copy of it, who in turn tend to be fatter than those with two copies of the “regular” version. Now, the troublesome form has been linked to atrophy in several regions of the brain, including the frontal lobes, though how and why it has this effect remains unknown.

But genes are not the only guilty parties. Obesity exacerbates problems like sleep apnea, which can result in the brain being starved of oxygen; this can lead to brain damage. Obesity often goes along with high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes, all of which are bad for the brain in their own right. Indeed, one study has shown that if, in middle age, you are obese and have high blood pressure, the two problems gang up on you, increasing the chances of your getting dementia in old age more than either one would do on its own.

Fat tissue itself may be a problem. Fat cells secrete hormones like leptin; leptin acts on the brain in a variety of ways, and is thought to play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s. Obesity may thus disrupt the normal production of leptin, with dangerous results. Fat cells also secrete substances that cause inflammation; chronic inflammation of the brain, which is often found in the obese, impairs learning and memory and is also a feature of Alzheimer’s.

Diet may play a role, too. Studies in mice have shown that eating a very-high-fat diet increases brain inflammation and disrupts brain function. And the onset of brain decay may itself play a part. Since the regions of the brain most affected by obesity appear to be those involved in self-control and the regulation of appetite, erosion of these abilities may lead to greater obesity, which may lead to more rapid brain erosion, in a downward spiral.

Whatever the causes, the implications are grave. In the United States today, around one-third of adults are obese. At the same time, dementia is already one of the most costly and devastating health problems of old age. The possibility that obesity today will lead to higher rates of dementia in the future is, therefore, deeply alarming.

The obvious question is: can obesity-associated brain damage be reversed? No one knows the answer, but I am hopeful that it can. Those two old friends, a healthful diet and plenty of exercise, have repeatedly been shown to protect the brain. Foods like oily fishes and blueberries have been shown to stimulate the growth of new neurons, for example. Moreover, one study found that dieting reversed some of the changes to brain structure found among the obese. Which suggests an interesting study. The most effective — and radical — treatment for obesity is bariatric surgery, whereby the stomach is made much smaller or bypassed altogether. Do people who have taken this option show a reversal, or at least a slowing, of brain atrophy?

But whether you are fat or thin, young or old, the best hope you have of guarding your brain is to eat well and exercise. Anyone seen my running shoes?

So there it is people. All the reason more to get your behind healthy. I don’t know about you but I have way too many things to accomplish and see on this earth. I will not allow obesity to keep me from accomplishing them. To all of you following me on this journey. Keep fighting against your laziness and stay strong. I love you all dearly.