One of our long-term members and recent 'sleever,' AllieGB, pulled together a list that was both amusing and completely true. The list below gives us an insight into the excuses we all make for why we're not losing weight. Weight loss surgery is as much of a mental change as it is a physical one. We have to get our heads right before we can make the Sleeve Gastrectomy work for us.
1) Muscle weighs more than fat
Not unless you're rewriting the laws of physics it doesn't. A pound of feathers and a pound of lead weigh a pound.
What people mean is (sometimes) the same volume of fat weighs less than the same volume of muscle. Well listen to this, one pound of fat is the size of a grapefruit; one pound of muscle is the size of a plum. One does nothing, the other burns fat. So for a person who is 100 lb + overweight to say they are not losing because they work out, and muscle weighs more than fat, it's just one of those little lies we tell ourselves! To have a BMI in the overweight category and have little body fat, you're an Olympian. Usain Bolt is technically overweight.
Furthermore, all those huge muscles you're gaining use up fat, so basically you're saying all this working out is losing fat weight, replacing it with muscle. That's like saying your foot can turn into your ear. Muscle is hard to build, no one in the gym five times a week and who is hugely overweight is making so much muscle they are maintaining their weight. They are either not working out as smartly as they say they are, or they are replacing those calories in food.
2) I'm not losing weight but I am losing inches
Do you know anyone who is a 28 inch waist and weighs 300 pounds? Thought not. The weight may be distributing itself, but unless you've lost weight...you haven't lost weight.
3) I can't exercise because...
Why not say that which is true (of me especially): 'I don't want to exercise so I find excuses.' Oh, I've got plenty, and mine are good ones too. I can't walk and I only have 50% muscle strength in my body. Does this mean I can't jog or walk? Yes. Does it mean I can't move my arms or use a hand bike? No. The reason I don't is because it's hard and I can't make myself. But at least I'm honest about it. (Most of the time.)
4) I have to keep chips and cookies in the house for guests/family/the postman
Tell me something. If you were a real anti-smoker and your son smoked would you keep cigarettes in the house for him? Of course not. Secondhand smoke kills; so does secondhand cookie.
5) Eating well costs too much
Oh, come on now! My friend says this and then she spends $20 on a takeaway. One meal and it's gone. I could get a reasonable amount of fruit and vegetables from a market or discount supermarket and it would last longer than one meal. What we mean is that getting a burger is easier than buying, washing, and cooking food. All of which burns calories too, by the way. Like I said, do it if you want to, but don't expect anyone to believe it when you say this.
The list and comments are reflective of AllieGB's thoughts and her own experiences. If you have any to add to the list, please leave them in the comments too!
Photo credits: BiteSizeWellness.com; Some rights reserved by winnifredxoxo; TipsTimes.com