Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Does this ADD make me look fat?

I have to begin with an important disclaimer here. I'm not a fat hater. I don't think morality can be assigned to eating habits or quantity of adipose tissue or body mass. (You are not "good" if you eat your vegetables and "bad" if you have that slice of cake.) I don't think how our culture characterizes obesity is fair or accurate, and health is often secondary to our focus on appearance. Even the word "obesity" makes me cringe a little because of how it labels people. I've read up on the fat positive movement, and I think it has a lot to teach us about the damaging role of shame in health. But I also don't want to be fat.

I've been focusing on fitness and healthy eating habits lately, after frustrating post-pregnancy weight gain that seems unsurmountable with my breastfeeding appetite. I've started to make some changes. I have five goals: body appearance, food, fitness, sleep, and meal organization.
  • My body goal is to go down three sizes and firm up my core.
  • My eating goal is to transition into Dr. Gundry's Diet Evolution way of eating: no grains, lots of veggies, weekly meat. I've chosen this plan because his science makes sense to me, his plan is a long-term lifestyle change, and I've watched my husband lose 60 pounds and keep it off for the past year while on this plan.
  • My fitness goal is to develop a daily walking habit. Even better if it's with the family! (Or maybe not?)
  • My sleep goal is at least eight hours, but while my babe is still night-nursing, it won't be uninterrupted! That's okay. I'm thinking long term.
  • My organizational goal, maybe the most important, is to cultivate a habit of meal planning.

I've never had eating habits that maintain steady blood sugar levels--a fact which became very clear to me when I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes during both of my pregnancies and I had to closely monitor what was going in my body, how often I was eating, and how my blood glucose levels were responding. (I'm the kind of eater who realizes at 3 PM that she hasn't had anything but coffee all day, then scarfs down whatever is quick and easy. Pizza? Pasta? Cheese and crackers? Big quantities of whatever is on hand, because the body is so ravenous that the brain hasn't yet registered that enough has been consumed?) I need to plan my meals for health.

I was curious to see what the scientific literature had to say about mine and related struggles. It turns out (surprise, surprise) that ADD plays a big role in what I'm trying to sort out. Here are some studies from the last year.

(1) We suffer more binge-eating and bulimia. In one study featuring women who engaged in binge eating and bulimic behaviors, 28% of participants also had ADHD. There was a correlation between more severe binging/bulimic behaviors, depressive symptomatology and ADHD.

(2) We have more disordered eating habits. This study describes a correlation between abnormal eating habits, obesity, and ADHD.

(3) As women, we experience weight loss when using Ritalin as medication for ADD. Surprisingly, obese men don't. New research on men and women with BMIs <25 and >30 suggests everyone except obese men experiences the appetite-suppressive effects of Ritalin.

(4) There may be a possible causal relationship between ADHD and obesity. From this study: "If further studies confirm a causal relationship between ADHD and obesity, appropriate treatment of ADHD may improve eating patterns and, as a consequence, weight status of individuals with both obesity and ADHD."

And now a special thank you gift for those of you who made it to the end, an Adipose from Dr. Who. Get it? It's FAT!

2 comments:

  1. Wow... Our country's fat phobia (derision?) aside, there are any number of health reasons to avoid excess weight. (this coming from someone who has fought with weight and its consequences since 7th grade) The diagnosis of gestational diabetes definitely puts you in contention for a diagnosis later on. Maintaining diet, exercise, and weight will delay it, and definitely make it easier to control when that happens. I wouldn't overwhelm myself with trying all 3 at once. My take on this is to concentrate on the exercise portion first. Once that habit is established, than add an eating component; weight will follow... Exercise can counteract at least some of the bad eating habits until you can work on that...

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    1. Carolyn, that's a great point about not taking on too much at once. I tend to want to eat better the more I exercise, too, so that is a great starting point. Thanks!

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