The Tale of the Tape

I heard a couple of new terms this week that I thought I'd share...

The first was at my Weight Watchers meeting. We were talking about what works and what doesn't in losing and maintaining our weight. One member said, "Exercise alone doesn't work for me." That's when our leader said, "Oh, you mean the Gym-Burger Diet?"

Gym-Burger Diet: Go to the gym and workout, then go to the drive-through for a burger.

I am well acquainted with this diet - just hadn't heard the term before! I remember convincing myself, "I ran 5 miles today, so I can eat whatever I want." The Gym-Burger Diet does not work!! On average, I burn between 400 and 500 calories on a 5 mile run. "Fast food hamburgers can be very high in calories. According to the website, A Calorie Counter, a regular McDonald's hamburger has about 250 calories, while a Homestyle Burger from Dairy Queen contains 350 calories. The bigger the burger, the more calories. A Quarter Pounder with cheese has over 500 calories, while the Burger King Whopper with cheese has over 750 calories." (Brighthub.com) And this doesn't include fries or onion rings or a milk shake...


Another term I heard for the first time was "Vanity Sizing."

Vanity sizing, also known as size inflation, is used to refer to the phenomenon of ready-to-wear clothing of the same nominal size becoming larger over time. Many commentators have suggested that "vanity sizing," as its name suggests, is designed to satisfy buyers' wishes to appear thin and feel better about themselves.

I have wondered about this. I recently read in a magazine about a woman who was shorter than me, weighed more than me, and claimed to be a size smaller then me. I have a variety of sizes in my closet, not because my weight changes very much, but because of how certain clothes are made. I'm not willing to pour myself into a smaller size and look ridiculous in the process. But it is interesting to know that a size 6 is no longer a size 6.

Of course, we all know the scale lies. I've stepped on and off the scale several times and gotten different numbers. But the tape doesn't lie! Take a measuring tape to your middle and it will tell you how you've done on the Gym-Burger Diet!

Remember, muscle weighs the same as fat!! It just takes up a lot less space. This is an excellent explanation: "A woman weighing 150 pounds with 19% fat will look much smaller (and be much healthier) than a woman at 150 pounds with 35% fat. They weigh the same, yet the composition is different. Because muscle is more dense than fat, the person with less fat and more muscle will look smaller." (One More Bite).

Five pounds of muscle:

Five pounds of fat:


I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad about what size you're wearing. I know it can be disheartening when you have to go up a size (or two). I broke the zipper on a size 12 just before I joined WW for the first time. Honestly, all of this is just very interesting to me because there is so much more to a healthy body than the number on the scale or the label on your skirt.

Come back tomorrow and I'll tell you how few miles I've run this week!