144.4 Yo Yo Dieting and a Headstand

Yesterday, I lost 1.4 pounds that I gained the day before. Yes, I am yo yo dieting, but only with a pound or two. I am sure a pound or two is an insignificant amount of weight gain or loss, regarding the health benefits of staying thin. My biggest health concern now is how long it is going to take for all this excess size 20 skin to shrink and fit my new size 8 body. My RN mom says if I were 60 years old, it probably wouldn't, but at 48 it eventually will.

In fact, research presented at Ohio University in June of 2011 indicates that yo yo dieting rats lived almost as long as rats on permanent low fat diets. The yo yo dieting rats lived 25% longer than rats on permanent high fat diets. These rats were yo yo dieting in four week cycles. Four weeks on a low fat diet and then four weeks on a high fat diet.

The other day I got the urge to do a headstand once again. I used to do these daily, when I was a kid and on into my early 20s. I have always had exceptional balance, and a headstand is all about balance. It is also dangerous and just about impossible while weighing too much, though! This is my first headstand since at least 1994, if not earlier. I stayed up for a minute. This was really just for fun, although I guess you could make it into a workout by seeing how long you could stay up. It works just about every muscle in my body.

Yesterday we went shooting, walked the dogs half a mile near the range, and then picked up brass for two hours. Picking up brass means slow walking, squatting, bending, reaching and hunching. Here is what I ate and lost 1.4 pounds, along with this physical activity:

Small bowl of Special K, strawberries and organic soy milk
Baked chicken, Brussels sprouts, onion and carrots
Ritz crackers n cheese dip snack pack
Handful of raw baby carrots
Small slice of Costco combo pizza
Baked chicken, Brussels sprouts, onion and carrots
One Reeses Peanut Butter Cup
Small bowl of strawberries