The numbers don't lie -- or do they?

In a week full of bottoms dropping out, it gives me no pleasure to say that there's one bottom on the rise.

That would be mine. I was up 1.5 pounds on Monday.

Logically (and, as you can see, it's taken me 72 hours to even discuss it), I tell myself: It's my cycle. I always gain 2-3 pounds of water weight per month that promptly vanishes once this week is over. It's not my fault. The true test will be what registers after this weekend. Blah blah blah.

I won't get into the "fat is a feminist issue" discussion (though it absolutely is). I won't get into the utter ridiculousness of allowing a number to determine your feeling of self-worth, even for a moment or two. I will, however, rant on misconceptions.

Reading through obesity theory and discussion, it's clear to me that a vast majority of people think fat is always caused by a diet filled with fast food, sugary soda, chips, candy, etc. The blatant offenders. For some folks, this may indeed be the problem -- though again, the deeper problem for low-income families is often calorie value per dollar (I promise I'll get into this at some point in the future.).

But what if you DON'T eat fast food, processed food, candy, soda, chips, etc. -- and still gain weight? Then what? Because that's my predicament. Ask anyone who knows me and they'll say I'm a pretty healthy eater. I love vegetables. I eat lean meats, salads and soups in normal portions. I shop organic/wild/grass-fed, etc. as much as possible because I'm privileged enough to make that choice. Hell, I love health food stores and will try just about any weirdo seaweed, exotic seasoning, or vegetarian strangeness you can throw at me. I'm a vinegar and salt girl, not a sweet tooth. And so on.

What happens when people's assumptions about you as a lazy pig just don't hold? And how frustrated am I (and, I suspect, many like me) when other folks eat whatever they want, whenever they want it, with little or no consequence.

No matter what I do -- and this includes everything from liquid diets to eating lower-carb -- pounds have never melted off this body. If I'm lucky, they creep away ounce by painful ounce, often with no rhyme or reason as to what has happened food-wise that week. I now know it's my hormones. I know it's also my thyroid and a combination of other factors, 75% of which are simply not my fault.

Perhaps you can eat cakes and ice cream and pasta galore. I'm thrilled for you -- and extremely jealous. But some of us can't. Genetics are truly half the battle. I'm undoing years of bad dietary advice, coupled with wonky hormones, insulin resistance, and a broken metabolism. For many of us, it's not just "eat less, move more." If only it were that simple...

And if only that stupid scale would show progress in the right direction come Monday morning.