Secret number 1: \u00a0Don\u2019t snack after dinner. <\/p>\n
Secret number 2: \u00a0Don\u2019t snack between breakfast and lunch.<\/p>\n
Secret number 3: \u00a0Just because you work at home doesn\u2019t mean you should sit around all day until the kids get home from school.<\/p>\n
Yes, OK, this isn\u2019t very insightful. \u00a0But, heck, it took me a while to figure this out. \u00a0I started working at home about three years ago, and starting gaining weight. \u00a0Not a lot \u2014 about 10 pounds, ultimately, and not all at once, but this after I had finally lost the last of the baby weight and even bought some new pants (genuinely new<\/i>\u00a0new clothes, not from the thrift store). \u00a0And I\u2019m small, so 10 pounds make a significant difference. <\/p>\n
In any case, for quite a while, I told myself, \u201cthis must be due to that post-40 hormone-change weight gain. \u00a0Too bad.\u201d \u00a0It took me quite a while to realize that, while the weight gain started after I hit the big 4-0, it was more likely related to beginning to work at home: \u00a0not having the exercise of walking to the office from the train station, and instead having the temptation of the fridge and pantry. \u00a0Besides which, my schedule changed from three days working, two days hanging out with a preschooler, to five days of working five hours per week, with the late afternoon spent supervising homework \u2014 and that preschooler was now old enough that I couldn\u2019t pop him into the stroller to go on a walk.<\/p>\n
So it took me an embarrassingly long time to figure this out. \u00a0First I started exercising, both going (sporadically) to the local cut-rate health club (no, not Planet Fitness; it\u2019s Fitness 19 \u2014 $9 a month, if you don\u2019t mind not having showers at the facility) and, starting this past fall, using the exercise bike at home when I can manage to get up early enough. \u00a0And that was enough to stop gaining any more weight. <\/p>\n
Then, say, at the new year or so, I finally realized that the biggest change in the past couple years was that I was snacking a lot more than in the past. \u00a0So \u2014 finally \u2014 for Lent, I gave up after dinner and morning snacking and have managed to lose half of that weight gain, and have come to the realization that I have to give up snacking permanently.<\/p>\n
I say this not because I think my readers are especially interested in my weight gain-and-loss adventures, but because it has me thinking about weight gain and loss in general.<\/p>\n
Really, I\u2019ve never had any weight troubles, back in my college and grad school days. \u00a0I always just thought of myself as someone who could eat whatever I wanted \u2014 but the reality is that I didn\u2019t really overeat and I got in a lot of exercise, not necessarily running or working out, but just a lot of day-to-day walking. \u00a0When I started working 40 hours, I gained, say, 10 pounds or so, but I didn\u2019t worry much, and I gained a ton of weight when I was pregnant, and the lost it again. <\/p>\n
Do I have a \u201cfast metabolism\u201d, a near-magical ability to metabolize food so quickly that I just don\u2019t gain weight? \u00a0I don\u2019t think so, really. \u00a0Until my first pregnancy, I just didn\u2019t have a big appetite. <\/p>\n
I look at my middle and oldest son. \u00a0My middle son is skinny \u2014 very skinny. \u00a0Does he have a fast metabolism? \u00a0No. \u00a0But he\u2019s very active \u2014 not super-involved in sports, but always in motion. \u00a0When he talks to you, he has to walk around the living room rather than standing still. \u00a0And, though he likes his sweets, he\u2019ll be just as happy to eat a bag of baby carrots. \u00a0My older son isn\u2019t overweight but always shows up on the growth charts as \u201cjust right\u201d \u2014 and I\u2019ll sometimes watch the two of them; the younger pacing around the room and the older slumped on the couch. <\/p>\n
So I know that Glen Reynolds\/instapundit.com is a big fan of Gary Taubes and super-low-carb diets. \u00a0And to me, that just seems like magical thinking. \u00a0Really \u2014 I did read the book, though I admit I don\u2019t remember the details. \u00a0And, in general, I just don\u2019t buy the idea that different people can have different metabolisms that mean that, solely by the metabolism alone, some people can eat hardly anything and still gain weight and others can eat the entire fridge and stay skinny. <\/p>\n
So this is a completely fact-free post.<\/p>\n
But, anyway, what do you think?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Secret number 1: \u00a0Don\u2019t snack after dinner. Secret number 2: \u00a0Don\u2019t snack between breakfast and lunch. Secret number 3: \u00a0Just because you work at home doesn\u2019t mean you should sit around all day until the kids get home from school. Yes, OK, this isn\u2019t very insightful. \u00a0But, heck, it took me a while to figure […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n