As part of Bare Ass 2008! my campaign to lose weight and get healthy while raising money for hunger relief, I have been participating in a weight loss competition and improv show at The People’s Improv Theater in New York City. There is a cash prize and any money I win will be donated towards my goal.
Presently, I am in first place! The standings are based on percentage of body weight lost—which is good because most of the other players are big guys. Competing against men is a funny and frustrating thing. One guy literally did nothing the first month but mentally concentrate on losing weight and lost six pounds!
I meanwhile cut sugar, worked out like crazy, and was on the “got-dumped-hardcore-barely-ate-for-weeks” weight loss plan. Which is less expensive than Jenny Craig, more effective than Weight Watchers, but ultimately soul killing and unmarketable. I’m worried about this month’s weigh in because I’ve lost momentum and really need to bring it the next few days. There are a lot of sites and web articles out there with diet tips, but even more with health and diet myths. My favorite is this:
Myth – Fattening foods equal rapid weight gain.
Fact – Believe it or not, true weight gain is a slow process. You need to eat an extra 3500 calories to gain one pound of body fat.
Whenever I am down on my life and my perceived lack of achievement, I think of this fact. I gained approximately thirty five pounds from the fall of 2006 to the fall of 2007. Which means I managed to overeat an extra 122,250 calories in a little under one year. That may not be the Alex P. Keaton kind of overachieving, but it’s still a notable accomplishment. The positive truth that should be taken from this is that if you way overeat a big meal (like for instance watching LOST and eating your way through half a Chinese take-out menu on Valentine’s day like a WGWaFA I know did this year) this doesn’t equal automatic weight gain. Unless you let it get you down and keep overeating.
