I don't like to rant or lecture, and I'm sure you Badasses don't come here seeking a church-worthy sermon. But when something really bothers me, my Irish-Italian temper simmers for awhile like Grandma Colavecchio's Sunday gravy. Then it starts to boil over. And that's when I need to vent.
These 500-calorie diets and other extreme rapid weight-loss plans bother me. So I need to vent.
They bother me because they're emblematic of our impatient and unforgiving society, where women are pressured to go under the knife or starve themselves to meet some impractical and unfair notion of "perfection" and "beauty."
They bother me because they seem like a way for the clinics to prey on the vulnerable -- to make money off their customers' struggles, off the insecurities that convince us we cannot lose weight without a magic pill.
And they bother me because they are unhealthy, bordering on dangerous.
Listen, I know that battling the scale isn't easy. Saying no to snacks and desserts isn't easy. Neither is working out and pushing our bodies to burn calories and build muscle. But the solution is not to make our bodies run on a third of what it needs just to sustain organ activity and normal body functions. The solution is not to take a pill that tricks our stomachs into feeling full, chased by a B12 shot to trick our bodies into feeling energetic.
These 500-calorie weight loss clinic deals are the worst example of extreme diets that are not sustainable. Sure, you'll drop lots of weight. How could you not, if you're basically eating the equivalent of one meal a day?
But guess what that does to our bodies? It sends our Badasses into hunter-gatherer-survivor mode. The average person needs at least 1,000 to 1,200 calories just to provide the fuel for basic body functions (heart pumping, blood flowing, legs moving from car to office).
So when we give the body a fraction of that, the metabolism slows (the exact opposite of what we want!) because it thinks it is starving (which it pretty much is) and hangs on to what little food is coming in. Sure, the weight drops fast at first. Work camp victims and tortured prisoners lose lots of weight, too (the Badass CEO says sarcastically as she rolls her eyes).
But as soon as we lose the weight and then go back to a normal, balanced diet, the weight is likely to come back -- and then some.
After awhile we go back to the 500-cal starvation or whatever the extreme diet of the month is, and whattaya know? We have started the yo-yo cycle that not only stresses our organs and breaks down muscle mass but screws up our metabolism for a long long time. It is no longer a humming, finely tuned calorie-burning machine.
It is a confused, inefficient, hungry vessel. A Weak-Ass, not a Badass.
I have shared with you all my past struggles with extreme dieting, so I suppose my sensitivity stems from having been guilty of excessive food guilt. But I also feel strongly about this because I know others who have battled, and I have dear friends who are proof of what this whole fitness lifestyle should be, and how effective it is.
The Badass Journey is about balance. Strength. Moderation. Fun. Determination. Endurance. And patience. It is about falling and getting right back up. It is about losing 1 to 2 pounds a week through regular exercise and a sensible, clean, healthy diet. Is about being real.
And guess what? A measly 500 calories a day is not real.
Ok! I have vented, and I feel better. And guess what? It's almost FRIDAY! This week I directed a stage show, ended one career and tomorrow I start a new career.
My new colleagues, some of whom also attend my Boot Camps and indoor cycling classes, are already asking whether I'll lead them through in-office exercise breaks. To which I say, in a salute to Annie, the first stage show I ever saw: "I think I'm gonna like it here!"
Coming tomorrow: One pullup bar, a couple of resistance bands, lots of possibilities!