My Brain Is Making Me Fat?!!
I used to love the Garfield comic strip which featured the lasagna-loving cat saying “I’m not overweight, I’m under tall.” At 5′1″, I totally relate.
Like many “under tall” people, I keep wondering why the heck I’m not losing weight. No, I don’t exercise fanatically; I don’t like to sweat unless I’m sitting on the beach sipping mai-tais while on one of those Orlando vacations.
But I do walk over 8,000 steps per day according to my pedometer, at least an hour of which involves doing housework sufficiently strenuous enough to raise my pulse to the weight-loss target zone. And still my fat won’t budge.
Turns out, the problem might be all in my mind. Literally.
Researchers split 14 university student volunteers into three groups for a 45-minute session of either relaxing in a sitting position, reading and summarizing a text, or completing a series of memory, attention, and vigilance tests on the computer.
The scientists had determined beforehand that the thinking sessions consumed only three calories more than resting. After the sessions, the participants were invited to eat as much as they pleased.
Though the study involved a very small number of participants, the results were stark.
The students who had done the computer tests downed 253 more calories, or 29.4 percent more than the couch potatoes. Those who had summarized a text consumed 203 more calories than the resting group.
Blood tests showed that the participants glucose levels fluctuated more dramatically following intellectual activity, and that may cause the brain to demand more food to balance the glucose levels.
If you think about it, there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence to support this theory. Consider, for instance, the notorious Freshman 15. Maybe they’re not so much attributable to cafeteria food as the increased intellectual demands of college life? Or bloggers: how many of us can recall being thinner before we joined the blogosphere?
So, with all apologies to Garfield, I have a new explanation for being fat: I’m not overweight, I’m just really freaking smart.
6 Responses to “My Brain Is Making Me Fat?!!”
hmm… I’ve always had the feeling that I’m way more overweight than you are, so that means I’m way smarter than you, right?
Not only that, I’m getting smarter every day. Ha!
Yeah, that’s the ticket!!
Me too. I’m a genius. (And hey, we’re the same height!)
Have you seen this month’s episode of “You: On a Diet” on Discovery Health? There’s a young girl on the show who’s our height and weights 198. She’s trying so hard to lose weight, and I just felt so bad for her.
When you’re as short as we are it’s tough! Even going on a walk with VH means that I have to take 2 steps for every one of his. I’m worn out after 5 minutes when he’s just finished warming up.
As a guy, I can say that I’d rather have a slightly overweight woman with great self-esteem than a thin woman with no self-esteem.
So, another way that it’s all in your mind. Feel attractive, and you will be.
Thats so true for me. I often get headaches after writing and I just have a big hit of sugar and Im fine.
Nice blog! This is my first time here and I really like it.
This is an awesome post by the way!