OK - Being high waisted is a curse - we all know that! But here is a new twist on it - at least for me... Which is my waist measurement? I have always measured my waist as my narrowest part of my torso... Which this morning was BELOW the 37" that indicate potential health risks from being too fat (according to YOU: On a Diet)... However the space around my belly button (which is where they say your waist is...) is BIGGER than the 37". The book also says that for obese people you just measure holding the measuring tape level. I wasn't that bad... I clearly had spots I could measure - although the part around my belly button was harder to keep level... my narrow part waist stayed level.
I think that it doesn't matter which part I measure - I need to lose 4-6 inches regardless!! The book focuses on belly fat. I may have said this already. It says that the fat we have all over our bodies is not good in great quantities - but it is the fat in our core that potentially causes major health risks. It has a lot of funny drawings showing our omemtum layer (which is the stored belly fat). They describe it as stockings hanging off a shower curtain rod. It is supposed to be transparent and web-y and fairly insubstantial (but there - because we need it!) but that is also where the fat cells get most of the overflow from our poor eating. So what we end up with is the Michelin Man sitting on our stomach - not at all insubstantial. This causes a lot of health problems because the sheer bulk of it pushes our organs out of shape and position. This is how we end up with GI problems, shortness of breath, overworked livers, lungs and heart... and ALL sorts of other things! OH! Sit ups don't do anything to get rid of the belly fat directly - but building muscles DOES burn fat more effectively than just about anything - but (ironically) it is the bigger muscle groups that do it more (Shoulders, gluts, quads... and abs.)
This is a very interesting book.
I was 213.2 today. I walked for 11 minutes this morning. So I have just 19 to go. 8-) I discovered last night that I can walk on my treadmill in my PJs and bare feet. I can't walk as FAST as I would in shoes (I am not sure why - maybe because I feel a little more unsteady with no shoes). This is good news because now I can't use the getting changed thing as an excuse.
One thing I misread and want to clarify - Not two cups of coffee - two diet sodas. Coffee is fine - so Sarah - if you want to ADD one in the afternoon that is fine. Caffeine is good to kick start your metabolism - but it is the antioxidants in coffee that is really benenfitial - so decaf has the same affect. It has seven times the amount of the second place contendor - bananas.
The other thing they include on this diet is ONE alcoholic drink an evening. It isn't a requirement - but the health benefits of a controlled amount of alcohol outweighs the disadvantages. So - Emily, you don't have to give up your nightly beer - as long as it is only one.
3 comments:
You should really read your Family Circle magazines. All that stuff about belly fat having more of a health impact because it affects your organs and sit ups doing nothing to reduce stomach flab (no targeted exercise will eliminate fat in any particular area--it'll just tone or develop the muscle underneath) and so forth is what they've been printing for years. That and the 30 minutes of walking daily. I think they re-run that article every four months!
Good news on the coffee! Pity the stuff at work is so crappy. Maybe when we move to our new office location I can borrow a coffeepot and bring my own stuff. Of course I'd still have the awake-all-night problem.
I DO read Family Circle - but mostly I read the dessert recipes. 8-) Actually I read the walking articles - but I think it is actually WAY more often than four months... They just switch it up each month - kind of like their diet article each month. HEY maybe I will just do the FC diet each month - switch when I get a new magazine...
Do decaf in the afternoon - I think it will fill you up - but not keep you awake as much... Or is it that you WANT to stay awake, so you can be up with Connor?
I'm glad to hear I don't have to give up my nightly beer -- only lately it's been nightly wine -- and last night it was three nightly wines. And wine is less caloric than beer, but I think three glasses is a bit much! (At least the first two were smallish!)
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