15 February 2013

And just like that...I'm gaining again. 

I haven't really been doing anything special.  Just eating whenever I can, working out a bit, loafing around when I can.

Part of what's helping is the fact that I'm working my way through Superstore's new lineup of gluten free baked goods.  Some of it's awesome (the chocolate chip cookies) and some of it is just kind of, I dunno, weird (lemon poppy seed loaf).  All of it, in spite of the fact that they don't list calorie counts on the labels, I can tell eating these things is helping.

I've been doing a bit of research online and learning some pretty bizarre things.  Google "obesogen" and see what comes up.  It's kind of fascinating and also a little scary.  Tributyltin - a fairly commonly used chemical in marine paint - has not only the potential to make you fat...but your children...and your grandchildren too!

Now I've already come to the conclusion that I'm not going to be creating any kids in this lifetime so there's no worries about passing this on to the next generation but I admit I'm a little awed at a single chemical's ability to make someone permanently fat.  I'm also frightened by all the other things purposely exposing myself to this stuff might do.  Not really a big fan of hopping onto the cancer train.

Some other things catch my interest though: Bisphenol-A and its close cousin Bisphenol A diglycidyl ether.  Really easy to find (it's in food can linings, thermal cash register tapes, and epoxy), problematic for people who want to be thin, and possibly a cheater's shortcut for someone like me.  It seems almost magical that a daily low-dose exposure to these things actually triggers, on a genetic level, the body to fill up the existing fat cells, and to create new ones.  I've just waded through a pile of crap on Google - some of it's simply scare mongering but there's also a number of scholarly works that go into excruciating detail as to why these compounds make you get fat.  It's especially interesting that one of the studies notes that the fatter you are when you're exposed to these chemicals, the more profound the impact they have in making you get even fatter. 

And then there's the naturally occurring stuff like policosanol (sugar cane extract) and uridine (basically the same thing) that appear to be non-toxic but also cause the body to put on more weight as fat.  As far as I can tell I've got a good shot at finding this stuff locally for a decent price.  Taking a pill also seems somewhat less embarrassing than rubbing used cash register tapes all over my belly.  I'll leave you with that image.