Can you get skinny by losing weight?

This is strange.  "Losing weight" is ubiquitously associated with a more attractive figure, skinny jeans, looking visibly trimmer.  And yet, "losing weight" refers to numbers on a scale! Stepping on a scale and seeing lower numbers does not relate linearly to a slimmer-looking body.  This is a strange phenomenon, when you think about it.  It is even stranger to associate what you are eating to the numbers on a scale to the way your body looks.  It is nonlinear, and I submit here is therefore the problem.

When you put your hand on a hot stove, the pain is immediate, and your reaction is immediate.  Linear response.  You are likely to remember it and associate it in your mind without difficulty.  But eating the next slice of pizza does not linearly translate into either the numbers on the scale the next morning, or the extra bulge on your hips somewhere down the line.  It is an intellectual knowledge of the sequence of events.  This lack of linear relationship is the bane of dieters, because when you feel hunger, you want to eat - it's biology.  Living in our current society, and being exposed to the ads on TV, the processed foods on the market, and your own emotions, when you eat to satisfy your hunger, you frequently eat more than you need, sometimes a lot more.  Much of our modern entertainment revolves around food.  You therefore find yourself celebrating, among friends, or watching a game on TV, all the while partaking of excess food, which eventually translates into higher numbers on the scale, and eventually becomes extra bulges on the hips.  It would be different if you went to a barbecue party, had an extra hamburger with all the trimmings, and immediately busted out of your pants.  Yes, that does sometimes happen, but I'm sure we have all attributed that to the discomfort of overeating - not to a permanent weight gain. 

A Yummy (and Healthy) Lunch

Who says eating healthy is boring? If you think a healthful diet consists of "rabbit food," you are sadly mistaken.  Moreover, you are ripping yourself off.

I usually eat a huge salad for lunch - not just any salad, but a salad made with almost everything in the kitchen: green beans, onion, garlic, tomato, radish, apples, raisins, nuts, and dressed with sesame oil and balsamic vinegar.  Oh, yes, salt and pepper (I don't skimp on seasoning).

But today I changed things a bit. 

Pam nonstick spray

1 can green beans (drained)

3 sliced mushrooms

1/2 sliced onion

1/2 sliced fresh tomato

1 egg

Parmesan cheese

(Calories: about 280 - and I'm being generous)

After spraying a pan with nonstick spray, I sautéed the seasoned vegetables until they showed some grill marks and the mushrooms and onions were soft.  I then cracked an egg over the lot and sprinkled a generous helping of parmesan cheese, covered the pan and lowered the heat.  A few minutes later, the egg had cooked, but the yolk was still soft, and the parmesan had permeated the dish.  OMG! Bliss.