Weigh-in Tuesday... with The Ballad of The Ugliest Breakfast

Come and snuggle in, kids, and I'll blow off your lids
With the tale of a breakfast so ugly
That if you were too cool for the nerds at your school,
You would point and you'd laugh at it smugly.


And just what could deserve all your jokes? (O, the nerve!
Shallow folks, why must you be so snotty?)
'Twas a hideous beast. Craggy, wrinkled and creased
with a wart half the size of her body.

  


 
If you look past her skin - to her beauty within -
She seems much like her heartier brothers.
Ah! But there's no mistaking the taste. They are faking;
She's better by far than the others.

  


True, she may be a brute, but she dresses up cute.
You can't say she lacks flavor or style.
Yet she's missing a - je ne sais quois - for the kissing.
Our heirloom's been lonely awhile.

  



Then it's lucky for her, a particular sir
seeks a partner to turn up the heat.
He will be rather droll as he asks her to stroll
on the sunny-side-up of the street.

   



He's buttery yellow, she's tart and she's mellow.
I'd say that it's certainly not
Surprising that their rather salty affair
quickly turns into something so hot.

If you please, don't poke fun if you chance to see one
so odd-looking that some might deride it.
Do not judge it by looks. The best people and cooks
know what matters the most is inside it.

  

   
You can find my full recipe for The Ugliest Breakfast at LiveStrong.com.  If you enjoyed this, would you consider sharing the post or the LiveStrong link on your favorite social network (Facebook/Digg/Reddit/Pinterest/etc) or sending it to someone in need of a tomato parable? You could even give it a little Google + love (there's a +1 button at the bottom of the page.)  Thanks, everyone - I fell in love with this little tomato, and I want to share her with the world.

***

In other news, I think the positive thinking is working.

For one thing, that poem came out of nowhere.  Well, not nowhere. The heirloom tomato, part of which was my breakfast yesterday, certainly inspired me to cook. The cooking inspired me to take pictures.  The pictures inspired me to write.  And all of that certainly inspired me to be mindful about savoring my food, much like the Farmer's Market breakfast did on Sunday.

For another thing, I'm down another pound today.  That brings the total to 65, for those of you playing at home.

How about you? Are you thinking positively?  Or are you down on yourself?  If so, what do you do to change it?  I hope if you've been thinking negatively about yourself, that you'll take care of yourself today by thinking of at least one positive thing about yourself today.  Just give it a try.  What can it hurt?

A no-plateau Weigh-in Tuesday! Plus a "burning question" about being fat and fit.

This morning, I'd like to start with a little good news.  I have officially beaten my plateau.  This week I lost three pounds (including the two pounds I had gained, plus an additional pound) which brings my loss to 60 pounds!  I started at 366, and I'm at 306 today. I take a progress photo every 20 pounds, so I'm due for another one now.

It feels great to know that I've made it past the stalling.  The surgery and ensuing rest period has been a bummer, but I've done well with food this week, and I was able to take walks and to work out at Slimmons.  Soon I'll be able to get back in a pool, and I'm incredibly excited about this. I didn't realize just how much swimming meant to me until I wasn't allowed to do it.  I feel energized to hit the full week of workouts, and happy to know that my next mini-goal is only six pounds away!  That's right... seven more pounds (less, actually) and I will be under 300... for the first time in probably nine years.  To most people, I realize that 299 sounds like a lot.  It is.  I'll still be morbidly obese, with quite a few mini-goals until I reach plain-ol' ordinary obese.

The question of weight categories brings to mind an article I read in the July/August issue of Health Magazine.  Their pro/con column, "The Burning Question," asked "Can you be fit and fat?"  Two different doctor-professors weighed in on the matter, one on the side that overweight people who are active have half the risk of mortality of normal-weight people who don't exercise at all. (He makes the case that it only applies to overweight people, not the obese.)  The other doc-prof says no; exercise isn't enough - you must also watch what you eat.  Well, duh.  I watch what I eat.  I exercise and am in reasonably good shape.  But am I healthy?  I guess that's the question.

Seems to me like they were replying - though not directly referring - to the movement known as "Health At Every Size" (or HAES) - which I was first introduced to through the Fat Acceptance movement.  There are three main precepts to HAES:

1. Self-Acceptance: Affirmation and reinforcement of human beauty and worth irrespective of differences in weight, physical size and shape.
2. Physical Activity: Support for increasing social, pleasure-based movement for enjoyment and enhanced quality of life.
3. Normalized Eating: Support for discarding externally-imposed rules and regimens for eating and attaining a more peaceful relationship with food by relearning to eat in response to physiological hunger and fullness cues

I feel like I really address all three of these.

I accept who I am - I know where I've been, what actions I've taken in the past and presently.  I know how I got to this weight.  I still see my beauty and worth at this weight - and my weekly Fashion Friday posts are an effort to highlight that for myself, for the times it's harder to remember.

I am active.  It sometimes goes beyond social, pleasure-based movement, because even if I am not specifically enjoying the exercise (as is sometimes the case) the pleasure I feel after a workout, and the energy it gives me for other things, definitely enhances the quality of my life.

I work very hard at normalized eating.  In the past, I have had difficulties with moderation, and with behavioral/emotional eating.  In fact, that's not in the past.  I think it's likely I will have those difficulties all my life, but the difference between my behavior now and my behavior before is that I am up-front with myself about those struggles.  Instead of avoiding discussion about food choices, I seek it out.  I lay out plans to help avoid the less-healthy choices I make when I'm tired, bored, or simply don't have a road map for my food.  Plus, the KIND of food I eat matters.  I'm eating lots of vegetables, fruit, and whole grains, plus lean protein and healthy fats.  I don't eat out much, and I don't eat fast food at all.  I do count calories, which is not something recommended by HAES - but I don't punish myself for over or underconsumption if I'm hungry or full.  It's merely a tool I use to keep my behavioral eating in check.  It never fails - after a couple of days of not recording calories, and I begin to slip into behavioral patterns again.  It's all about being mindful, and calorie-counting helps me do that.

When it comes to Health's "Burning Question," I think I have a better answer than either doc/prof:  each body is different.  It's ridiculous to generalize.  We don't need generalizations from magazines.  We need to work directly with our medical teams to find out the specific ways we can improve our health.  I do that - so there's a good chance I'd live longer than some average-weight fella who doesn't exercise and eats fast food all day.  Or, who knows, maybe I'll get hit by a bus.  So it's not just about the length of a life, it's about the quality of that life.  The point is that I know I'm worth taking care of - and I'm taking care of myself as best as I can.  And I hope that you will do that for yourself, too.