In 1960, older Margaret's on the light end of the seesaw at age 6.
IF A POUND IS GAINED in the forest, and no one is there to see it, is it still a pound? This is the exact kind of question I’ve pelted my poor sister with over the years that I’ve seen my weight go up and hers go down; her side of the seesaw is ever higher up in the air. And trust me, there were more annoying exchanges, like these:
I’ve actually called and accused her of shipping parts of her body to me; sent her emails reminding her to come and take back her butt, which seems to have adhered itself to mine; Skyped her to reclaim at least one bra size to where it belongs. I’ve considered skywriting, homing pigeons, and the much-missed telegram.
Nothing. Nada. The girl almost never shows up, and when she does, she’s still skinny. So, the only thing for us to do was move on, and we have, and now for the first time in our lives we’re on a diet together, my sister and I.
And here’s the rub: We’re on the same diet—and it’s working.
Maybe it’s because we went on a diet for the right reasons. Both of us have varying inflammation issues, including asthma, as well as some sore joints aching around the landscapes of our very different bodies. Our mother had Alzheimer’s disease; our father had cancer. So, just like you, we have some family histories we’d prefer to dislodge, or at least discourage.
And like most things that happen in families, it was the older sister who dragged this little sister into this kicking and screaming. And now you see who’s bragging on the whole thing, right? That’s right: me.
Margaret, you were right. This is the best diet ever. You want to tell the nice people reading this all about what you talked me into? Please do. Though we do invite everyone to follow along with this as we see where this takes us, my sister and me, on our diet path toward our different but healthy bodies. (And P.S., TSP Sister Paige has a thing or two to say about the Body Mass Index, or BMI, speaking of our bodies and weight.)
Update September 24: The weigh-in results and more are in this later post.
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve admired Dr. Mark Hyman for a long time, as you know, Marion. First time I heard him lecture was years and years ago, when he was co-medical director at Canyon Ranch.
And then he wrote a number of bestselling books on the role of food (and other factors) in reducing inflammation in our bodies, and therefore disease. And then I met him a couple of times through my old job at Martha, and since he lives near me it turns out we have various friends in common and so on. I know that he lives what he preaches.
So when I wanted a sort of “back to school” restart this fall, I just thought of Mark’s work and knew he had this diet program…and then magically, I got an email newsletter from him and it said he was challenging subscribers to do the diet with him this month. And so I emailed you, and there we went.
In the first week you give up sugar and caffeine and alcohol and wheat; in the second week you also forgo dairy, and you add supplements and eat a great diet of vegetables and brown rice and beans and a delicious broth you make up for the week, and chicken, fish or tofu. There are healing things like an olive oil and fresh lemon potion in the morning first thing, and probiotics, and flax meal and so on. And lots of green tea, and water.
What I love is that it’s easy: there’s a shopping list, and a routine, and it’s not hard to do. And it all makes sense.
What I also love is that you are *required* to take a bath every night with lavender oil and Epsom salts and baking soda, for 20 minutes. Pretty mean torture, huh? :)
This is so intriguing! I’ve put it out there to my 3 sisters to see if we can get a 4-way diet going (also included 2 brothers and a husband, but I have my doubts ;o) It does sound pretty intimidating though… no sugar, caffeine, alcohol, wheat, or dairy? Of course, it makes perfect sense, but OH MY!
I have spent my entire life trying to find the perfect diet. I never did find it, though I lost a lot of weight a few years ago by submitting myself to a doctor-supervised program that involved a complete lifestyle change. Now, as I spend my after-dinner hours doing anything but eating (this is euphemistically known as “weight maintenance”), I wonder what else I could have been doing with all that time spent obssessing about diets. And I wonder about other women and all the wonderful creative stuff they could be pumping out into the world, if only they weren’t fixated with trying to reduce themselves, literally. Yet I’m glad I lost weight. The key for me does not seem to be so much diet as exercise. If I am exercising regularly (that means every day), I can generally eat enough to be satisfied. The other key is that I have to be assertive about what I want to eat/not eat/do/not do, as I have found that not all folks are supportive. Imagine that?
My two sisters and I have different body types and weights too. The most aggravating is that one of them is my identical twin, and I have always been more than 15 pounds heavier than her. You should see baby pictures in which I am noticeably bigger. I joke that I took all the nutrients in the womb.
Yes, it was Margaret’s assurances in part that led me to this diet, though having maintained some very strict regimens of my own, as well as having read up on Atkins/South Beach/You Name it going back to the Scarsdale Diet (ha!), I think of myself as very informed. And that’s why I said yes. I’ll post again soon on what we did differently as sisters, as well as how we chose some alternatives other than the good Dr.’s recommendations (hint: his supplements are quite expensive). So, follow along.
Hi, Christine. And welcome back to TSP. Lovely to read you here again. Yes, probably the caffeine thing scared me most. I live fairly sugar-free (oh yeah, except all that local homemade ice cream this summer; hmmmm: persimmon; hmmmmm, chocolate peppercino; oh yeah, and bar-b-que sauce; ah, and the honey I bake into my bread), and I don’t drink, but follow along and see how we tweaked it, and maybe it will get less scary for you, as well. Also, I’ve lost some significant weight, and remarkably, I happened to have 2 doctors’ appointments a few weeks apart, one right before the diet and one yesterday, and my blood pressure had plummeted. Yup. Will post more about that next. Stay tuned.
Hey, sister Sandy. Yes, you are well-versed on this issue. I heard your essay on public radio (yippeeeeeee for you!) about your weight loss, and cheered for you. We’re taking it good and slow with no real expectations, and finding results that are surprising us. Follow along and see how this goes. We love hearing from you.
Hey there, Tara. And welcome to TSP. Yes, I identify with that, and the day my sister does the right thing and shows up and takes back her butt I’ll be quite pleased, though in the interim I’m going for some peaceful health, as I’ve dubbed it. Stay tuned as we explore this for you, with you and for and with one another.
I only know you both from your pix on this blog, but WHY oh WHY do yo feel the need to DIET??? You both look to be at healthy weights (well, Margaret, you could actually stand to gain a few pounds), so what is all the stuff about DIETING??? YOU LOOK TERRIFIC, both of you. What’s the deal?
Hi, Stacey: And welcome to TSP. Such a good question. We both felt that we had some serious inflammatory things going on and, as I said in the copy, this includes asthma, which both of us have under control with medication, but both have had threaten our lives in terrible episodes. This is not a reduction diet, but a cleanse, a throw-out-all-your-bad-eating-habits diet, after which we re-introduce stuff diet. And I do appreciate your concern. I, too, think the standard for women is insane. (Make sure you read sister Paige on the topic). And yes, Margaret needs to gain healthy weight, absolutely. She’s the first to admit it. So sorry if we weren’t clear. I’m calling it “peaceful health,” meaning no caffeine, no sugar, no bad carbs. I lost a few pounds, but I have no goal to lose many more; I just always kid Margaret about how little she is versus how I am not little at all. Thanks for caring, though. We so appreciate it. And do come back soon. We love hearing from our new members of the sisterhood.