Oh Noe, it's SO CRAZY! I have been everything from a UK size 4 when I was dancing and running long distance up to a 16 over the course of my 27 years as an adult.
Now both ends took some effort to get to: the upper one was reached after I'd put on some weight from a year of not being able to walk (shattered foot accident), then had very busy jobs that involved not leaving my desk for days on end (a bit more weight), then a really stressful job that involved a lot of chocolate to stop acts of homicide at the same time as a very bad foot year (and more weight). I was not fit at this point, though I could still walk 10km, I had to take it easy on hills and stairs.
Being a size 4 while dancing and running was easy (I have a small frame), because I also rode my horse almost every day and did swimming and school and then university sport. So I could shovel in food and it would just get burned off. But being a size 4 after I stopped dancing and running was the harbinger of the least-healthy period of my life, when I actually considered checking myself into the hospital as I was constantly ill, fatigued and just bleagh.
My boyfriend at the time said, 'Why don't you put on a bit of weight, we can always buy you new clothes,' and lo! It was a miracle cure!
Right now, I'm the fittest I've been since 1995 (taxi/bike accident) and probably a bit fitter than I was that year. I am very close to my peak of fitness since I was 20 and stopped dancing. I'm a size 12/14, my thighs still wobble when I stomp and there is definitely lard on my arse ;-) Although I have abs, they have insulation. But my body is strong and capable again, and although my bloody deviated septum means that every cold is an adventure in snot, this year my lungs just went 'Meh, we can cough that crap up' rather than 'Oh Waily! We are oppressed!' as they have in recent years. It's lovely getting back to what a body can really do!
No fat diets do make people crazy for that exact reason, their body is just shrieking out for a bit of healthy oil to feed to their brains. Tell em to kick over to the Mediterranean or Low-GI diet if they really want life-long health benefits to go with weight loss. There is so much scientific literature available on the ridiculousness of no-fat and no-carb diets that I just do not understand why people still do these things to themselves!
no subject
Now both ends took some effort to get to: the upper one was reached after I'd put on some weight from a year of not being able to walk (shattered foot accident), then had very busy jobs that involved not leaving my desk for days on end (a bit more weight), then a really stressful job that involved a lot of chocolate to stop acts of homicide at the same time as a very bad foot year (and more weight). I was not fit at this point, though I could still walk 10km, I had to take it easy on hills and stairs.
Being a size 4 while dancing and running was easy (I have a small frame), because I also rode my horse almost every day and did swimming and school and then university sport. So I could shovel in food and it would just get burned off. But being a size 4 after I stopped dancing and running was the harbinger of the least-healthy period of my life, when I actually considered checking myself into the hospital as I was constantly ill, fatigued and just bleagh.
My boyfriend at the time said, 'Why don't you put on a bit of weight, we can always buy you new clothes,' and lo! It was a miracle cure!
Right now, I'm the fittest I've been since 1995 (taxi/bike accident) and probably a bit fitter than I was that year. I am very close to my peak of fitness since I was 20 and stopped dancing. I'm a size 12/14, my thighs still wobble when I stomp and there is definitely lard on my arse ;-) Although I have abs, they have insulation. But my body is strong and capable again, and although my bloody deviated septum means that every cold is an adventure in snot, this year my lungs just went 'Meh, we can cough that crap up' rather than 'Oh Waily! We are oppressed!' as they have in recent years. It's lovely getting back to what a body can really do!
No fat diets do make people crazy for that exact reason, their body is just shrieking out for a bit of healthy oil to feed to their brains. Tell em to kick over to the Mediterranean or Low-GI diet if they really want life-long health benefits to go with weight loss. There is so much scientific literature available on the ridiculousness of no-fat and no-carb diets that I just do not understand why people still do these things to themselves!