I like the Talking Heads song Once in a Lifetime. In it, the singer asks, “Well, how did I get here?” Later he goes on to say, “this is not my beautiful house” and “this is not my beautiful wife.” I like my beautiful house and I love my beautiful wife, but I am overweight and sometimes I ask, “Well, how did I get here?”
There is a picture I like of myself when I was in high school. Back then I had more of a V-shaped torso from my shoulders down to my mid-section. In the picture, which was taken at the lake, I am smiling cockily back at the camera, blissfully unaware of what the future held for me. When I look at that picture, I wonder how did I go from there to here?
I am not from New England, but I have heard a few times that if you put a live lobster in a pot of boiling water to cook, it clatters around and makes a terrible noise. However, if you put it in water that is at room temperature, and then heat the lobster and the water together, it never makes a sound.
In terms of my weight, I am more like the second lobster. As mentioned, I have always had a propensity to overeat. Next, I concur with the assertion in Dr. Kessler’s book, The End of Overeating, that the food industry has put forward a lot more processed, unhealthful food since the 1980s, which roughly corresponds with my adult life. During that same time there has been a documented increase in portion sizes as multiple restaurants vie to capture a bigger portion of the money Americans spend on “entertainment” eating. Finally, as we Americans have collectively put on more and more weight, it all becomes relative as to what is too big, when everyone around you is large also. Visit France for a little perspective, although I hear they are gaining weight too.
For me, the process was gradual, averaging a pound or two per year. And after 25 years, voila, baste me with melted butter and lemon and serve me with corn on the cob.
Consumption:
Cheerios and Bran Chex cereal with milk
20 almonds
Chicken and cheese Panini
Yogurt
String cheese
Artichoke soup
Blue cheese, goat cheese served on toasted bread
Caesar salad
Fried oysters in sauce
2 glasses of red wine
Exercise:
Ran for 30 minutes on the treadmill - 5.8 miles per hour
10 minutes on the rowing machine
10 minutes of weight lifting
According to My Fitness Pal, I consumed a whopping 2900 calories today, which more than negated the extra 500 calories I earned by working out – 400 over.
There is a picture I like of myself when I was in high school. Back then I had more of a V-shaped torso from my shoulders down to my mid-section. In the picture, which was taken at the lake, I am smiling cockily back at the camera, blissfully unaware of what the future held for me. When I look at that picture, I wonder how did I go from there to here?
I am not from New England, but I have heard a few times that if you put a live lobster in a pot of boiling water to cook, it clatters around and makes a terrible noise. However, if you put it in water that is at room temperature, and then heat the lobster and the water together, it never makes a sound.
In terms of my weight, I am more like the second lobster. As mentioned, I have always had a propensity to overeat. Next, I concur with the assertion in Dr. Kessler’s book, The End of Overeating, that the food industry has put forward a lot more processed, unhealthful food since the 1980s, which roughly corresponds with my adult life. During that same time there has been a documented increase in portion sizes as multiple restaurants vie to capture a bigger portion of the money Americans spend on “entertainment” eating. Finally, as we Americans have collectively put on more and more weight, it all becomes relative as to what is too big, when everyone around you is large also. Visit France for a little perspective, although I hear they are gaining weight too.
For me, the process was gradual, averaging a pound or two per year. And after 25 years, voila, baste me with melted butter and lemon and serve me with corn on the cob.
Consumption:
Cheerios and Bran Chex cereal with milk
20 almonds
Chicken and cheese Panini
Yogurt
String cheese
Artichoke soup
Blue cheese, goat cheese served on toasted bread
Caesar salad
Fried oysters in sauce
2 glasses of red wine
Exercise:
Ran for 30 minutes on the treadmill - 5.8 miles per hour
10 minutes on the rowing machine
10 minutes of weight lifting
According to My Fitness Pal, I consumed a whopping 2900 calories today, which more than negated the extra 500 calories I earned by working out – 400 over.
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