Several studies are sited in chapter 5 of Rethinking Thin. The Ancel Key's study (now sited in both of our books) proves very clearly that when human being's cut back significantly on calories and food is restricted, phycological mechanisms kick in to help keep our bodies from starving. When denied energy, human beings will become fixated on food and anything that has to do with food to the exclusion of almost anything else. The study also shows that once people who have been hungry and have lost significant amounts of weight are then allowed to eat again, they exhibit irregular and out of control eating which takes many months to normalize again, if it ever does.
How much do genetics play a role in weight?
Many other studies are sited in chapter 5 that seem to prove irrefutably that a person's weight is much more determined by genetics than any other factor including diet, desire to be thin, or a person's environment. If you really stop to think about it, I'm sure you can find examples of people everywhere who seem to be able to eat anything they want and never gain weight and people who gain weight much more easily. We just assume (falsely in most cases) that the naturally skinny people must just have better self control than the people who are more overweight.
As you read the chapter think about what all the studies combined are telling us about dieting and weight. What do you think the author is trying to tell us about what we know about biology and the generally accepted ideas about dieting and weightloss that are prevelent in our society? How do the scientific studies sited in chapter 5 relate to what we are learning in intuitive eating?
A last cartoon for this week:
I checked out Intuitive Eating, and I'm reading that one. I'll have to get Rethinking Thin so I know exactly what you're talking about.
ReplyDeleteWhen I had Seth, he was a runt. He was smaller than average for almost the first year he was alive. So when I went to have Ezra, I brought the preemie clothes that Seth wore home from the hospital. To my astonishment, Ezra was bigger and the clothes didn't fit. Ezra rapidly gained weight, and he's now, at 5 months, wearing clothes Seth wore at 10 months. It's funny that I would be so surprised, but because they both came from the same parents, and I breastfed both, I thought they would be the same size.
It was a reminder to me that all bodies are made differently, and one person's optimal weight is different from another's. If we weren't influenced by society, then I think we would have an easier time accepting that. The message our culture sends is that we're almost not as good if we're not thin enough. That makes it harder to trust our own bodies and what they're telling us they need.
Thanks Bryanna, this is a perfect example of the message I'm trying to get across. You're so right about society and the relentless messages that make it near impossible to accept different types of bodies. I know it possible though if we decide to reject these negative messages. Once again, I'm so glad you're joining the group!
ReplyDeleteI know it's possible too, but it seems like it's a lot easier said than done.
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ReplyDeleteWhen I read this chapter it made me wish that the medical community would read it! Ever since BMI (body mass index) became popular (as a medical coder I can tell you there are even diagnosis codes for it!), I have been frustrated that they determine what a person should weight to be considered healthy simply based on their height. As a short person I've always felt this to be unfair. It doesn't take into consideration any factors that may change what is healthy for you - build, fitness level, genetics...
ReplyDeleteYes! The body mass index can be very misleading. I have a friend who is very muscular. She has very little, if any fat on her body, but her body mass index says that she is obess. She is far from it! It does beg the question... what is a healthy normal weight? Since the answer to that question is very difficult to answer I think we should all stop fretting about it and just try and learn to be okay with ourselves, learn to eat intuitivly, and live life!
ReplyDeleteI remember first reading about the Ancel Key's study in Intuitive Eating and being blown away by how much it made sense in my own patterns of binge eating - or in patterns I see within my family. If I restricted certain foods of tried to be "good" by not eating things, inevitably I would binge on those very things. This is a much smaller example of the full scale starvation that the participants endured and probably not as biologically strong of a point but I think biological mechanisms are often at work in our "diet failures." In some ways I see those diet failures as successes, our bodies are telling us "forget this. This doesn't work and it's not going to help me live." Bodies want to survive; they are created in so many ways to do that and when you starve them, they will resist.
ReplyDeleteI heard this when I was at BYU by a gentleman in one of my wards who was being kind of a misogynist and objectifier of women. He said, "if you want to know what a woman will look like in 30 years look at her mom." He was saying it to someone else to imply that you can't just date someone now because they look good (read thin) - you have to determine if they'll still look good (thin) in 30 years and then you can go for them.
It made me mad at the time, and I don't agree at all with his need to be with someone who looks "good" (thin) but I do agree with the fact that body types are genetic. Instead of something to be reviled ("I got my mom's fat thighs" or telling our daughters "I"m so sorry you are going to be like me") I think learning to accept and even celebrate this is really important.
I see it as a way of celebrating our connections to one another. We are connected and our bodies reflect that and the variety across us all is such a beautiful reflection not only of our links to one another (we look like people in our family and our bodies are like people in our families) but also the diversity in God's family. I believe that just as Bryanna described seeing (and loving) her son's different bodies, God sees and loves us for all our unique differences - including our bodies. I'm kind of struggling to express myself here so I think I'll have to stop.
Giving birth was such a powerful thing for me - to see what my body could do and then to see this new little beautiful body that resulted. Being a mother has made me familiar with another person's body in ways that I can't say I was even familiar with my own. When you wipe someone's bum after defecation, or bathe a tiny body - you come to know that body in intimate and tender ways. And I can say that I will always love Joyce's body because of this experience of tenderly caring for it. And I see Joyce AS her body - in whatever beautiful shape it will take throughout her life.
I think it's a revolutionary act in loving someone (and ourselves) to accept and love the body (not when it's "perfect" or "thin" but) because it IS who we are.
I'm afraid I don't make much sense - and I wrote so much. I'll try to get better at clarifying my thinking.
Julie:
ReplyDeleteI think you made great sense. For people who should understand what beautiful gifts from God our bodies are, we sure do a lot of berating and hating! I agree completely that it is a revolutionary act, with all the messages we have coming at us today, to love someone, ESPECIALLY ourselves, when we aren't perfect. Not only is it revolutionary, but I think it's what God wants us to learn to do. If we can do this, I think we will naturally be inclined to take care of ourselves. So often I think we have it backwards. We think we can love ourselves only when we look "right", but if we truly learned to like and appreciate ourselves even when we didn't look "right" I believe that we would be naturally more inclined to take care of ourselves. This sounds confusing, but I don't know how else to say it.