By Judith Garfield
Living in an old farmhouse has its rewards.
Because it is always cold inside during the winter months, I can eat pretty much whatever I want without gaining weight. How is this possible, you ask?
I shiver.
S. says this is a good weight loss technique that not many people know about.
“Just think of all the calories you’re burning,” he always reminds me, as I throw on yet another layer.
One day recently he came in looking concerned. His horse Paloma had lost a troubling amount of body weight in one night due to an unexpected cold front. She had been outside without a blanket.
Wow, I thought, we should tell Oprah about this. This could be a breakthrough in weight management. Apparently, scientists are catching on.
A new paper recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine indicates that nearly every adult has little blobs of brown fat that can burn huge amounts of calories when activated by the cold, as when sitting in a chilly room that is between 61 and 66 degrees.
Hah! You call this news.
We who live in drafty old farmhouses have known this for years.
And I bet before you know it, scientists will soon agree with my theory for the warmer months.
Live in a house with three stories and no air conditioning. Have a significant other who works and or plays in the dirt a lot. Make sure the washer and dryer is in the basement and under no circumstances hire anyone to help.
You will sweat. A lot. It should be no problem keeping that weight off.
For an entertaining read about keeping the weight off, cartoonist Carol Lay has a great new book called “The Big Skinny.” With wit and artistic talent, she charmingly chronicles her saga of finally learning how to eat right and stop dieting.
So remember: keep moving. Shiver or sweat. Your choice. Both are excellent calorie burners.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Shivering Myself Skinny
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8 comments:
Hi L.C.:
For those of us who do not live in an old farm house to shiver in------ here are some tips for staying thin:
1. If no one sees you eat it, it has no calories.
2. If you drink a diet soda with a candy bar, they cancel each other out.
3. If you fatten up all of your friends, you look thinner.
And finally, food used for medicinal purposes such as hot chocolate, brandy and triple layer fudge cake, NEVER counts.
I shiver and sweat, but it's about the economy and market.
I should be down to nothing like my portfolio
Very interesting. You don't look like you need to shiver or sweat! I agree with the other commentor, what about worrying? Where does that fit in the weight loss game?
i'll wait for someone else to comment on the possibility of a 'shiver gym'.
Hi LC- I shiver and sweat all the time, its called menopause-
:-(
I think that it's about time that I receive thanks from my hubby for stealing his covers on cold winter nights. (I've been trying to replicate the miraculous weight loss that Paloma, your horse, experienced after the unexpected cold snap.) I was, after all, just trying to help.
Jane in PA
Night Sight Farm
Cute, very cute.
Nadia's positively disappearing in front of me.
And, surprise, surprise, she's still not too happy about the shivering, even if it's aesthetic.
Can we market this place as a 'Gym.?'
Salut LC:
We might also offer a lexically related idea about getting thin: call it the 'sliver' method.
This refers to both subtraction and addition.
a. (-)portion control, where a sliver replaces the normal slice, slab, or serving.
b. (+)or, adding a 'sliver' of something into your food which would curb the appetite. For example a sliver of exlax or bits of wood (technically this would be called a 'splinter')
Slivering is not for everyone, of course, and could lead to more than just weight loss.
Sliver yourself skinny!
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