Post Partum Weight Loss and Being a Woman.

I can’t decide if this article is about a very insightful book, or if it’s just a joke. When it’s Not on your Plate It Doesn’t Count: The Top Ten Reasons Women Have Trouble Sticking to a Diet from Maclean’s magazine is a review of the book Ten Habits the Mess Up a Woman’s Diet by Elizabeth Somer. Women fail at dieting, it seems, because we’re dishonest, delusional and eat other people’s food.

I always thought the dieting rules like “It doesn’t count if you eat it standing up,” were just jokes between women. I didn’t know they were commentary on a real phenomenon.

As usual, thinking and reading about the whole concept of dieting made me depressed. I have hope, though, that the tide might be turning in my favor. Chatelaine is a Canadian women’s magazine that has started focusing more on health and wellbeing in articles about food and nutrition. In particular, Brighten Up Your Meals by Jennifer Danter deals with fighting the winter blues with the vegetables on your plate.

I am not sure if there is a link between Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD or the winter blues) and post partum depression, but I think the last thing any new mother needs is a case of SAD on top of whatever mood altering her hormones are busy doing. If that means finding happiness in a bright orange sweet potato, then I am all for experimenting.