Half-ton hooey

Saw the documentary yesterday about the formerly half-ton man, Patrick Deuel. I am fascinated with shows like these, and I always learn something new, whether it be about obesity, or about myself. Maybe, with this documentary, it was a little of both.


During one of the interviews, Mr. Deuel wouldn't allow his wife to answer a question about how much her husband was eating. Mr. Deuel bellowed loudly, being a bully and over-riding his wife's attempted reply, insisting that he didn't eat any more than the normal person, and that his weight problem was all genetic.


I've been lying to myself for years, insisting that I didn't eat any more than anyone else. (Well, maybe no more than Mr. Deuel.) Anyway, if I'd had the guts to log everything that I ate and drank, I think that facts would have presented a much different picture than my self-delusions did. I might not have eaten great quantities of food, with my too-tight Lap-band, but I sure did eat a gazillion calories. You can't maintain high body weight without sufficient calories to maintain that weight. For me, even though I was eating low-carb, my Lap-band made it impossible to eat anything low-carb and low-fat. So, instead of burning body fat, my carcass had plenty of dietary fat to burn, with tons (excuse the pun) left over to store.  And I can't believe how our grocery bills have changed now that I'm sleeved. 


One of the interviewers asked Mrs. Deuel why she didn't tell her husband that the gross amounts of snack foods would no longer be provided, and that her husband was going to eat healthily, since Mrs. Deuel was doing all the cooking and food shopping. She said something about her husband becoming angry. Mr. Deuel looked right at the camera and replied that anyone who didn't give him what he wanted would be "torn to shreds." Excuse me?


I never realized that my obesity involved such selfishness. I used to eat my kids' Christmas and Easter candy for years, until they got old enough to notice. I used to steal from my own kids. I would sneak food out of the 'fridge and eat it in the back bedroom. I would be the one to finish all the "goodies" in the house. I would buy carbage while grocery shopping, and eat it before I got home, so that no one would know. That's money I spent on me, not we, at a time when there wasn't much money to go around. Such selfishness.


Lastly, during the documentary, some medical researchers were interviewed about food and brain activity. I already knew that eating our favorite foods triggers dopamine , a brain chemical that controls the pleasure center of our brains, much like crack for an addict. What I didn't know is that, eventually, the dopamine receptors shut down, forcing us to eat even more to get the same feelings of pleasure. The more we over-eat, the fewer receptors we have. What a vicious cycle. We eat to feel better, then have to eat more to feel better, become obese, feel worse, have to eat even more to feel better...


I guess less can be more. Eat less carbage, and the cells' insulin receptors will come back to the surface, lowering our blood sugar. Eat fewer "trigger foods," and our dopamine receptors will re-activate, mellowing our mood. Eat less food in general, and our body weight might settle at a more normal number on the scale. 


But this can only be accomplished with dietary honesty. Some of us can enact accountability by using Weight Watchers. Some might need to use Nutrisystem or Jenny. For others, using a log like Fitday.com might be enough. But I was deceitful with myself and others. Even with all of these tools, I still fell back into my old ways. And even with the sleeve, vigilance is necessary. For me, I have one of Kaiser's best surgeons, who is also strict, and I will see him regularly throughout this journey. He scares me a little, which is perfect for lil' ole' me. I, dear readers, am an absolute imp.


The Bionic Broad out.