Greeting, WHEEbles! I'm working overtime this week, so this isn't going to be a long diary. Rather, I thought I would blog about a couple of shorter subjects - but feel free to treat this as a WHEE open thread as well.
WHEE (Weight, Health, Eating and Exercise) is a community support diary for Kossacks who are currently or planning to start losing, gaining or maintaining their weight through diet and exercise or fitness. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are working on your weight or fitness, please -- join us! You can also click the WHEE tag to view all diary posts.
You want a success story? HERE's a success story!
OK, this isn't a WHEE success story, but it's certainly an inspirational story nonetheless. João Correia was a young bicycle racer who joined a Portuguese pro team in 1995 and started at Fordham University the same year. He had problems adjusting to school and quit racing in order to get through school, and became a publishing executive after graduation. He put on 60 pounds, although he did continue to do some cycling. In 2006, he got into a recreational "race" with a client, who wasn't aware of his racing past, but was able to tell that Correia had skills and encouraged him to give racing another shot.
Correia went for it, training hard and dropping the excess poundage. In 2007, he entered the Portuguese national championships and placed 12th in the time trial. In 2008, he turned pro once again, after almost 13 years away from the pro ranks. Last fall, at 34 (!), he joined the Cervélo pro team, which is currently ranked 7th in the world.
When my weight started dropping last fall, I thought about getting back into racing, but decided against it. Reading Correia's story, I'm almost tempted to change my mind -- until I consider that I was never at his level, even when I was as young as he was the first time he turned pro. But it's a HELL of an inspiring story!
Are your eyes bigger than your stomach?
Why did Correia put on so much weight after quitting bicycle racing? For the same reason I did the same thing - because although he and I stopped riding like bicycle racers, we both continued EATING like racers. The NY Times story about Correia says:
"My business was a relationship business, and you build a lot of relationships at the table," he said. At dinners with clients, he said, "I’d start out with a whole piece of mozzarella di bufala, get a full order spaghetti Bolognese, then maybe the rabbit, some wine, some grappa."
I can definitely relate. Until a couple of years ago, my standard serving of spaghetti was a big dinner plate filled to capacity. My usual Chinese food lunch was a visit to the all-you-can-eat lunch buffet at the restaurant near my home, with at least two full plates and sometimes a bit more General Tso's chicken or a couple of egg rolls after that. Now, almost two years after first reading Brian Wansink's Mindless Eating and after six months of rigorous calorie counting, I find myself satisfied with a much smaller plate of spaghetti, and almost uncomfortably full after a single plate at Chopsticks. But has my stomach actually shrunk? Or am I just more aware of those feelings of fullness now?
According to another recent NY Times story, there is some evidence that one's stomach capacity actually can increase in response to binge eating (like Correia's meals with clients, or my trips to the Chinese food buffet), and decrease following very rigorous (under 1000 calories / day) dieting. In the calorie restriction study, gastric capacity was reduced more than 25% after just four weeks of that draconian calorie restriction. Perhaps my months of less-strict calorie restriction have led to a smaller stomach capacity, enabling me to feel more satisfied with less. Or perhaps it really is just that I'm more aware of the feelings of fullness that I could have become conscious of all along.
Scheduled WHEE diaries:
January 7
Thurs AM - ???
Thurs PM - Sychotic1
January 8
Fri AM - ???
Fri PM - Wee Mama
January 9
Sat AM - kismet (calorie values of everyday food/what a week of "clean eating" looks like)
Sat PM - Edward Spurlock (Kessler, Ch 39)
January 10
Sun AM - ???
Sun PM - ???
January 11
Mon AM- NC Dem- Chest exercises
Mon PM ???
January 12
Tues AM - ???
Tues PM - Clio2 (Kessler, Ch. 38)
January 13
Weds AM - ???
Weds PM - Edward Spurlock