Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: It's a Crime how hard it is for Women to lose Weight

It's not fat genes that are putting us in fat jeans: it just sucks being a woman. Women have no problem maintaining their weight when they live in areas where food is somewhat scarce and they have to work in the fields or at aerobic jobs from sun-up to sundown. This is probably why in so many economically struggling societies, it is a tradition to allow the men to eat first. Maybe the males are just being bullies and the females are not considered worthy of an equal place at the table, but maybe these men who work equally as hard as the women (or have the even more physically demanding jobs) simply need the extra calories to survive.

Women don't have to worry about gaining fat under these circumstances but, if that isn't the lifestyle most of us lead, the bad news is, we don't need all that many calories to maintain a healthy weight and low body fat. While not having to slave away twelve hours a day under tough conditions is a blessing, we now have to pay the price with the extra fat layers on our bodies that we really don't need. In today's world, unless you exercise a lot, the Standard American Diet includes far more calories than most of us need.

So when we go to lose weight, we cannot understand why those pounds hang around. We think we are being pretty careful with what we eat, following a diet of only 1200 or 1500 calories a day, but the weight stays on. When we fail, we begin to believe that we are genetically doomed; we have fat genes that won't let us lose weight.

Sorry, ladies. If this were true, you would see some fat women in the photos of the Auschwitz survivors. But, the reality is, they didn't eat many calories and they got very skinny.

I am going to prove how little we women need to eat. I embarked on my new diet on October 4, 2010. On November 16, I am sailing to the Caribbean on the Queen Mary II. I have nothing to wear. Well, that is not true. I have things to wear but I can't get into any of them, including my bathing suit. So, from last week, I had six weeks to lose 17-22 pounds, not an easy task in so short a time. But, I set out and I am eight pounds down so far. Now it will get harder because the first ten are always easier to lose than the last ten when you are trying to get rid of the last twenty pounds. I started at 152 and I want to be between 130-135 (depending on any muscle gained if I actually lift weights) when I board the ship.

I will take you along on my diet and you will be able to see for yourself just how little one must eat to lose weight when you are a female. Next time your boyfriend or husband mocks you for struggling to get the pounds off while he is losing like crazy, still eating potatoes and drinking beer, shove my diet diary in his face and ask him how long he would stay on a diet like this! Also, seeing how my diet plan works will help you decide if you need to modify your own for success.

By the way, NO DRUGS are involved in my weight loss program. A lot of times you will read how a celebrity has lost weight really quickly and she will claim she did it while eating a healthy, slightly reduced calorie diet. Bullocks. A good number of them are taking diet drugs like phenteramine to get that weight off. The stuff works fast because you race around like a energizer bunny (it is speed, folks) and you don't eat. It is also very unhealthy. The celebs don't want to admit using drugs, so they lie and we wonder why we don't have the kind of quick success they have on the "same diet." I am telling your the truth here; no drugs are along for the ride on my diet.


My diet so far: read it and weep.

MONDAY Oct 4 - 152 pounds

Bought foods and didn’t eat until I went shopping at Whole Foods late in the afternoon. I bought a salad and made a banana-blueberry ice cream (4 bananas) in the evening. Two frozen bananas in the “ice cream” and some fresh blueberries. So low calorie but what a great fulfilling dessert!

No exercise. Back injury.

TUESDAY Oct 5 – 150 pounds

Papaya/banana/kale green smoothie. Not that good. Spiced it up. Three glasses. One papaya, one banana.

Banana/strawberry ice cream – 2 frozen bananas and fresh strawberries. Always yummy! Great with blueberries, too.

2 bowls of stews made with tomatoes, celery, cucumber, squash spinach, and a T of honey. I made the curry/cilantro version. On the second bowl, I added a sliced up banana and it thickened the stew and turned it into a version of Puerto Rican Mafongo! Great find!

No exercise. Back injury.

WEDNESDAY Oct 6 – 148 pounds

One glass leftover papaya/banana/kale green smoothie.

3 dishes of “oatmeal”. Two with one mashed banana and chopped strawberries and one with one mashed banana and a sliced thinly apple. All sprinkled with cinnamon. The one with strawberries made a nice breakfast that did remind me of oatmeal with the crappy mucky part. Apple version tastes like apple cobbler or apple pie!

Five large stuffed “burritos” made with nori. Stuffed with carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, spinach, red pepper, add cilantro. Added Matouk’s hot sauce and pickled ginger. Turned out like big sushi rolls. Loved it! Very filling and made a nice, big meal that had pretty much no calories!

No exercise. Back injury.

THURSDAY Oct 7 – 147 pounds

Two glasses of canteloupe/parlsey green smoothie. Delicious and refreshing!

One salad of spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, handful of washed dulse and mango/tomato/lemon nonfat dressing. A little bland but filling. Need to find a way to make it a little more thrilling. But, almost zero calories! Added a t of honey and a t or more of Dijon mustard. Makes it a bit more interesting. I used it as a dip but still not exciting enough for that. Could be used as a dressing but I still think it needs more something. I like the mango and tomato base, though. I now have added garlic and cider vinegar and it is a bit better and then, curry, better still. I will try it on a cabbage dish.

I/2 cup lime pudding. I was aiming for key lime flavor. Didn’t quite work out! 1 cup has 1 banana, ½ pear, and ¾ of a lime, including skin. The skin didn’t work out here. I used it in a different recipe and it added zing. Here it adds too much zing and the pieces and little pieces were still intact. So, I ended up with what had the consistency and taste of applesause with lime and little annoying bits.

Had my “oatmeal” with one banana/strawberries but this time I sprinkled it with carob powder. I have never been that found of carob powder and it didn’t this dish didn’t taste anywhere as good as the one sprinkled with cinnamon.

5 more of my stuffed “burritos” with pickled ginger.

No exercise. Back injury.

FRIDAY Oct 8 – 146.5 pounds

Bowl of “oatmeal” with 2 bananas, 1 apple and cinnamon.

I glass of cantaloupe/parsley green smoothie left over from yesterday.

No exercise. Back injury.

SAT OCT 9 – 146.5 pounds

Bowl of gazpacho soup and glass of white wine at restaurant

Piece of chocolate at hair salon

Salad at restaurant with dried cranberries; nonfat dressing

I bite of pizza crust

No exercise. Back injury.

SUN OCT 10 – 146.5 pounds

1 Thai papaya salad with peanuts and one glass white wine

6 pizza bites with mustard

No exercise. Back injury.

MON OCT 11- 146 pounds

2 salads with mango/tomato/balsamic vinegar dressing – Frederic Patanaude. This is a great dressing!

3 glasses of smoothie – watermelon, cucumber, tomato, banana, and dill. Very tasty and refreshing!

No exercise. Back injury.

TUES OCT 12 - 147 pounds

Grr. So it is a starvation day since I went up. Had carrots and salsa and the previous days watermelon drink with kale added. Liked it much better the way I made it yesterday.

No exercise. Back injury.

WED OCT 13 – 146 pounds

I salad with half a cup of mango/tomato/balsamic dressing

Pile of cabbage with the other half of the dressing.

One cup of Pakistani rice

Jogged on twenty minute lap around the lake and then one more lap walking with six sprints

THURS OCT 14 - 145 pounds

Banana “oatmeal” with pear and cinnamon. One banana and one pear.

3 Watermelon green smoothies – ½ baby watermelon, 1 banana, 2 tomatoes, 1 cucumber and dill

1 cup Pakistani rice

No exercise. Too tired and it rained all day.