One of my favorite shows is NBC's "The Biggest Loser." I love the show because it has such a positive message: You can change your life.
If you haven't seen "Biggest Loser," a lot of the show features the obese contestants exercising. However, the trainers also teach contestants a healthy diet, and together with the activity it helps them lose massive amounts of weight by the last episode.
Truly, I personally am fascinated by the contestants' stories about how and why they gained so much weight. If you have not seen the show, it airs at 7 p.m. CST Tuesdays, and this season has just started. Turn it on sometime; it's inspiring.
On the flip side, I'm incredibly blessed with a job that allows me to spend a lot of time interacting with teenagers. (I can hear all of your jealous screams now, wondering how I got all the good fortune.)
I absolutely adore my students, the majority of whom are girls, but one problem I have with spending time with beautiful and skinny teenagers is it creates an unrealistic body image for me. If you spend enough time with teens, whose bodies are tiny due to activity level and youthful metabolism, you start to wonder how they eat Little Debbie snackcakes at such an alarming rate while still fitting into their skinny jeans.
Which brings me to my point: It is perplexing to me that some folks can be unhealthily thin and some others can be unhealthily heavy and the rest of us fall in between, all because of our eating and activity habits. Notice I didn't say, all because the good Lord blessed us with different speeds of metabolism.
Millie Metabolism is an ornery little booger who often pops up in conversation. She's the convenient excuse. "I'd be at healthy weight if it weren't for that Millie. She's just tooooo slow."
As many of you may know, your metabolism, loosely defined, is the rate at which your body burns calories, or the number of calories your body needs just to get through your typical day.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, I hate to break it to you. I know it hurts to part with old friends. But in all actuality, your Aunt Millie most likely isn't slower than your skinniest friend's Millie. It's a scientific fact that obese people actually have a higher metabolism than thin people.
Think about it: Would I burn more calories tomorrow if I gave my two-year-old Ruby a piggyback ride all day tomorrow, or if I gave one to my husband Wayne? Obviously, if you have more to carry around with you, you will burn more calories.
The first time I heard this was three or four years ago. I was watching "Oprah" (don't judge; it was before her show started to stink), and Dr. Mehmet Oz was on the TV talking about weight loss.
Previously I had been quite certain that metabolism was a key factor in a person's final weight. I was darn sure that my Millie was not created equally; in fact, I was certain she was the turtle of all turtles, and that fact made me feel justified in my weight loss struggles.
Dr. Oz burst my bubble. If you are wanting him to explain it to you, here is an article I somehow dug up about this topic. I was upset at the time, but now I have come to the conclusion that he helped me not hide behind convenient excuses.
Now, I am not saying people's metabolisms don't vary. Many factors can affect your metabolism, especially including your age and body chemistry. I am quite sure as well that other medical factors can affect your weight. I am not a nutritionist, or a scientist, or a doctor, so I can't really explain all that stuff to you.
What I can say is, people of your age, gender and general body type probably have similar metabolisms to yours, so really all you can do to control your weight is watch your caloric intake vs. your calorie expenditures.
To do this, I have a daily contest with my Millie. I try to make sure the number of calories I eat is less than the number she plans to burn on her slowest day.
Try it with me: Read my blog for ideas on how to beat your Millie!
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