You know what one of the best things about moving from a lifetime working for tiny companies in little industrial units to working for a global brand with its own office campus is?
On site catering.
That's right, for the first time in my life I have ready access to high quality gourmet food you'd pay quite a lot for in some restaurants, always there, always tasty and always cheap. For the price of a sandwich from some High Street lunchtime eateries I can have a full-on plate of top-quality nosh, and let me tell you, I take full advantage of that canteen!
I have a problem with food.
Other people deal with life's ups and downs with alcohol or fags, but me? I comfort eat. When you're my size you can pack away an astounding amount of food, so my life is a constant battle not to pack away too much. Being overweight is surprisingly easy to hide on a tall skeleton, so while most people think I'm pretty thin in fact I'm constantly skirting the upper end of the healthy BMI range.
I try to deal with it through exercise. If you can't eat less, you move more. But gyms are so deadly boring, and the half-hour brisk walk that used to be my morning commute has been reduced to a 5 minute stroll, so I'm left doing marathon walks at the weekend with my mother's dog. Bless her, she's only a little thing. I end up carrying her in this hot weather, she reaches a point of defiance at which she just sits down and refuses to move.
Depression is a funny thing. Perhaps I'm medicating it with sugar through my eating, which explains why I find diets difficult. So I've become a mostly vegetarian at work in an effort to cut the fat and gratuitous calorie count as far as I can. I have something of a taste for the roasts, fried fish, home-made hamburgers and pork belly that the chef serves to so many of my colleagues.
Fortunately I like veggie chili, stuffed aubergines and braised fennel. And our chef does a mean veggie stir fry. Eat like kings in the publishing business, we do!
As vices go it could be worse I guess. And my BMI has hovered at the same figure for years, so I'm probably in less danger than I think. But I'm acutely aware that only the high metabolism of a testosterone-crazed body is between me and obesity if I keep it up, and an oestrogen-led endocrine system could upset the apple-cart.
I'd probably be one of very few women who'd be glad for the fat to land on her thighs.
The first step in any rehabilitation is to recognise that there is a problem in the first place. Maybe it's time I started eyeing up the salad bar.
Well you are what you eat Jenny so if you want to look like a barrel eat on! If however you don't or don't wish to have to exercise so much, you know what you've to do. I know a guy called William Power, perhaps you need an introduction? LOL
ReplyDeleteShirley Anne xxx
BMI is a very blunt tool, as indeed is weiht as an indicator of fitness levels, how do you feel? good? then that's OK of course there always thse little lifestyle choices, like taking the lift or the stairs and all that sort of thing.
ReplyDeleteIf you loved your body you might not be so tempted...
ReplyDeleteWord of warning, as you know a body deprived of testosterone will loose some muscle mass which takes quite a few calories to maintain so you will have to still forego the rich diet...
Where your body chooses to distribute the fat from all that muscle is a lottery...
Its easy to use vices as a distraction to the real issues we have.
ReplyDeleteAs vices go this is not the worst and the fact you are not in the obese range is a good sign for your health. ( Be careful on the generalisations of the BMI scales. I am not far from Obese according to those and I run 20 + miles a week as well as dancing etc. Or rather I will do again after my recovery from SRS!!)
You certainly dont look to overweight.
It is worth being careful with the diet.
You know in your heart one, if not the main reason you comfort each. As you are not able to address that at the moment it could be worth trying to swap the distraction of food for another one.
Speak soon. xx
At my height the BMI scale is a little non-linear anyway. I'm always off the graph.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm acutely aware that estrogen changes you significantly and if I eat like a horse now I'll balloon out if I go on HRT unless I change something.