There was that study that was in the news a couple weeks ago about Amish people with a genetic variation that causes people to gain weight – except that the ones who were moderately active for 3-4 hours a day were not fat. The kinds of physical activity the study was talking about included brisk walking and housework. Well, when I was in my 20s I was working two jobs – waitressing and cleaning – and did not have a car, so walked 3.5 miles every day to get to work. Over 12 hours per day of physical activity, and I was a size 22 – too fat to be a plus size model. Please do not insist that I must have been eating like a cow, because I was a vegetarian at the time, and poor into the bargain, so not eating a lot of snack foods, and getting lots of low-fat bean soups as my staple diet.
Also, in my mid-30s, I rode my bike 11 miles every day, six days a week for a year, and was taking tai chi classes, and only lost 2 sizes. This was in a period of time when I kept a careful food journal, showed it to a doctor, who said, “If this is all you are eating, you should be losing weight.” So I should have been losing weight.
Anybody know why I wasn’t?
Yeah, thyroid – had it checked out after I quit the second job, and yes, it was low. So, thyroid medication plus only 8 hours per day of physical activity equals still being fat. Thyroid meds plus riding my bike everywhere I went including exercise classes and a job as a caregiver that involved lifting adult human beings equals me being fat. As for building muscle, isn’t the amount of muscle required to lift adult human beings enough?
As for what my doctor said, she said, “If that is all you are eating, you should be losing weight.” I’m sorry, I thought I mentioned that. I probably forgot to mention that every time I bother to mention dissatisfaction with how much weight I lose on diets to a doctor, I get sympathetic-sounding replies that years later I realize mean they think I am lying or too stupid to know what I am talking about and therefore do not deserve them to actually help? I mean, seriously… I was NOT losing weight, and that is what I was eating. Please help me.
