Research Shows, Life Isn't Fair

This just doesn't seem fair.

Direct from the annals of Research That Is Really Not That Helpful, in 2010 a study established that some people are genetically predisposed to respond more quickly than others to exercise.

The findings mean that two different people who do the exact same physical training may progress in their fitness at different rates.

This is, in short, a crock. A sham. A bamboozle. The fact that my fitness at any given time is a direct reflection of the amount of work I've put into it is a truism that has always both frustrated and driven me. 

But now it turns out that my truism is not, technically, true. Based on my physical makeup, the work I put in may or may not have the impact it would have on someone else.

A company called XRGenomics has devised a test that can determine how likely you are to respond to aerobic training. The test's predictive power is tied to the genetic marker that determines your VO2 max, which is the volume of oxygen that your body is capable of processing in a given period of time. The higher your VO2 max, the better you'll do with aerobic exercise.  

So the question is- would you want to know? 

The test makers point out that, if you knew that you were not so blessed genetically for aerobic activity, you could focus your fitness efforts on something like strength training instead. Alternatively, just knowing the fact that it was going to take you a little longer than average to build up aerobic capacity might save you from giving up prematurely if you failed to see results as quickly as your peers.

But I don't know- I feel like, if I knew going into it that I was only going get 75% of results that my counterpart was going to get for the same work, I would be disheartened. 

Maybe Obama can get a Lily Ledbetter Act for my alveoli on the agenda for a second term.

Want to read more? Are You Likely To Respond to Physical Exercise, by Gretchen Reynolds, NYTimes. October 10, 2012.

Back to Basics

Only a 1 because 0 isn't an option.

As a general rule, I am a very stable person. If you created a disposition scale of 1-10, wherein 1 is totally despondent (Pippa getting a bath) and 10 is beyond thrilled (Pippa in the car after eating ice cream for the first time), I am typically around 7 or 8. 

Favorite toast? Marble rye- a little rye, a little pumpernickel.

Favorite ice cream? Late Night Snack- a little salty, a little sweet.

Favorite cocktail? Gin and tonic- a little tart, a little crisp. 

Wheeee!!! A perfect 10.

Which, I think, is why Paleo threw me for such a loop.

True, it did a pretty good job of meeting the criteria I set for diet acceptability. It was adaptable to different social situations, it's a diet that Ron was willing to try, and we didn't have to buy any weird new foods.

But just because we didn't have to add anything weird doesn't mean it wasn't weird to cut things out. I wrote a couple of times about how meals just felt strange- unbalanced- without a starch.

Like this. Except she's still super-awesome.

Also, because we were leaning so hard away from starches, we leaned way too far towards protein, especially meat. I felt slow, greasy, and off-keel.

When I called it quits a couple of weeks ago, I intended to launch right into research and experimentation with the Maker's Diet, aka the What Would Jesus Eat? Diet. Basically, it restricts your diet to what would have been available in biblical times.

When the time came, though, I found I really didn't want to do that. Like, at all. I needed a couple of weeks to eat normally and to regain my balance. 

I also needed to stop obsessing about what I was eating.

Diet plans like Weight Watchers recommend not making major changes to what you eat when you're trying to lose weight, and for me, that's key.

Maybe a little...no. Nope. Not a all.

Switching to a drastically different eating pattern like Paleo required a ton of mental energy, thinking through every bite I ate, researching recipes, and making multiple trips to the grocery store every week. What am I, a wizard? I have too much going on beyond what I'm eating to invest that much mental energy into every meal.

So, where does that leave me, and this experiment?

For now, I'm going back to basics. There have been a lot of really interesting articles recently, about organics, balanced eating, and exercise, and I'm going to spend some time thinking and writing about those. I'll also be trying out and sharing some new seasonal recipes. I'm going to restart my food diary, which has been a really useful tool for me in the past. Also, Ron and I signed up for the New Orleans marathon in February, so I'm going to get back into running and training regularly.

If you have any suggestions or ideas for topics, I'd love to hear them.

And maybe, after a little chance to regain my balance, I'll be ready to take on a new diet. As for now, I'm working my way back to an 8 on the diet disposition scale: Pippy on a sunny day.