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F-A-T: The Real Meat
 Posted by Trish Milburn Oct 6 2011, 12:01 am in food, guest blogger, weight loss, Writing
There’s a three-letter word that’s been the cause for hundreds and thousands of articles, posts and an entire fitness industry… F-A-T. It’s there on the body. It’s there in the writing. The diet industry alone in the U.S., according to Media Awareness Network, totals a staggering $100 billion a year. Then there’s the health club industry where mammoth enterprises like Bally, Lifetime, Anytime and others have sprawled across the nation, complimenting health stores like GNC, Food Warehouse and The Vitamin Shoppe. Most of them are prepared to arm you with the latest nutrient, vitamin, exercise equipment and Tae Bo routine to punch off the pounds in much the same way you’ll find hundreds of writers’ workshops, webinars, seminars and conferences that will help you knock the fat out your writing. Almost every health club employs qualified instructors, a list of dos and don’ts and some tried-and-tested methodology so that you, the client, stick to the routine and results happen. Almost every professional writer tries to stick to the writing rules, some tried-and-tested methodology used by published authors and a disciplined writing routine so that results happen… i.e. a publishing contract. What no one talks about (or perhaps don’t know of) is the False Fat. It’s there on the body. It’s there in the writing. False Fat, according to authors Elson Haas and Cameron Stauth of The False Fat Diet is “the bloating and swelling (in your body) caused by allergy-like food reactions.” According to Haas and Stauth, “This false fat is not your fault and can be shed almost immediately.” The False Fat in an author’s initial writing draft is not the writer’s fault either. It’s the extraneous material that absolutely must be squeezed out on paper (or a Word doc) to bring out the whole story. Haas and Stauth explain that when your body reacts to a toxin or foreign invading particle in your body—including allergy-causing foods—“It flushes the site of the toxin (area under attack) with water to flood it away.” The body, according to the authors, will hold onto this water and continue to dilute these substances to reduce their negative effects (on you)… in turn causing cells and tissues to swell. “This often accounts for swelling under the eyes, chin, in the hands, feet, ankles and midsection.” Food allergies, according to Haas and Stauth, also initiate the release of hormones within the body that cause further fluid retention and the intestinal membranes to swell. The disruption of cell chemistry causes more fluid storage; the release of chemicals like histamine cause blood vessels to expand and contract, leaking fluids into tissues as a result. Further inflammatory reactions lead to aches, pains, and possibly hives, because of capillaries swelling near the skin’s surface. Haas and Stauth continue to explain that proliferation of abnormal bacteria and yeasts lead to fermentation of food in your gut – primarily carbohydrates. This leads to formation of gas, including methane, more commonly known as gas. Another contributor to the build-up of gas is high stress levels in the body when you are eating a lot of processed foods and thereby cutting down the level of hydrocholoric acid needed to digest food in the stomach. Swelling. Bloating. Puffiness. Sponginess. They all make you appear and feel fat; but it’s mainly water retention and gas in your body. A quick solution is to go for food allergy testing and see if you, after all those failed attempts at weight loss, are simply allergic to certain foods. Then work with the doctor and/or nutritionist if you test positive. Too verbose. Exceeding word count limit. Get to the point. Repeating yourself. These are some of the phrases you might have received as feedback on your latest work-in-progress. A quick solution is to map out the bare bones of your story and see if you, after all those failed attempts, are using the minimum details needed to express your story to its maximum… In either case, the real ‘meat’ is what you need. The surrounding padding or fluff only adds weight to what you already carry and will eventually become a burden. Not every health expert, fitness guru, editor or agent will come knocking on your door to tell you how to do it. If you’re lucky you’ll get guidelines, great advice and a referral or two. But in the end it’s up to you to pull out the extraneous material. So next time look at yourself, your story, and if you don’t like what you see, don’t give up by thinking you’re helpless and waterlogged. The answer lies in the ‘meat’ and bare bones of you as a person and your characters. Measure the true weight of your words and put only those down because the rest is all fluff and padding that will serve better as insulation for the winter ahead. I feel a chilly breeze heading my way; should I put on that jacket and fluff up in extra padding or should I just sit in my bare bones and shiver? You see, I can’t contradict what I’ve just said… what should I do?  Anju's cover Anjana (Anju) Gattani is an international freelance journalist and fiction author. Her debut novel DUTY AND DESIRE, contemporary women’s fiction (with an international twist) is slated for release on Dec 1, 2011. She is a member of Georgia Romance Writers, Romance Writers of America, a columnist for Khabar, an Indo-American magazine, and is at work on her third novel. Anju grew up in Hong Kong under a British education system; she has also lived in India, Singapore, Australia and New Jersey, Connecticut and Atlanta in the U.S. Anju hopes her novels will one day bridge cultures and break barriers. Visit Anju at www.anjugattani.com.
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Very well said, Anju. I say, bundle up first. You’ll warm up, then shed all that extra padding. The delete key is my best friend, and I’m not afraid to use it. Thanks for making me think this morning.
Hi Tarah,
Thanks for stopping by. Yes the ‘delete’ key is so important – the writing and in our lives. Extra fluff and padding is stuff we can do without as we move forward in life. Thanks for making me think too!
Anju
Great article, Anju.
If only losing fat on my body was as easy as losing it in my writing! I tend to write long and edit down. The last few thousand words are the hardest, for sure.
Hi Anna,
Thanks for sharing! I find losing fat on both hard… so it’s always a challenge for me. My current w-i-p is making me wonder how long this book is going to be… the biggest relief is put it all down, slice off chunks and then trim the remaining fat.
Anju
Great analogy, Anju! And congrats on your sale! I can’t wait to get an autographed copy of your book in my hand!
Thanks for your support, Pam!
I know how tough the road to publishing is and cutting back on fat – false fat- was one of the greatest gifts to nailing the ms. down… writing and lifestyle-wise.
Anju, I’m getting so much better at cutting fat. At least in my writing. My body is something I won’t talk about. It was hard for me to find a balance in my writing. If I cut too much fat, my sentences tended to be short and choppy. If I didn’t cut enough they seemed to run on forever. Now I read my work out loud and listen for the flow of the sentence. That’s helps me to leave just enough fat to flavor the story.
Good to know, Pamela.
It took a loooong time for me to figure out what to cut and where and then HOW to do it! It was a learning process that took years and years because the craft of writing simply took that long for me to process and then apply to my work.
Great post and soooo true! I have a problem with water retention and take pills for it. I get all swelled up and look like I’m 20 lbs. heavier. I shed the water each day and thank the heavens that I’m able to:D
Hi Leanne,
Thanks for sharing. Reading that book taught me so much… I’m still reading and learning and understanding more with each page.
Very astute analogy. Looking forward to reading ALL your novels!
Soniah
Hi Soniah,
Thanks for visiting and sharing your thoughts! Can’t wait to share the novel and characters I’ve been living with for so many years.
I agree with Anna. If only I could shed the weight as easily as I can shed the verbage!
Hi Victoria,
Thanks for sharing. Letting go of verbage still causes me heart burn at times
Thanks for being with us again today, Anju. It’s amazing how many parallels there are between weight-loss journeys and writing.
Hi Trish,
Thanks for having me. You run a wonderful blog that simply runs so many parallels with a writer’s life… I think we just have to look deep within ourselves to discover them.
Anju, a very interesting juxtaposition of health and writing. I enjoyed reading it!
Hi Parthiv,
Thanks for visiting; I’m glad you enjoyed the piece. It was interesting to put together considering how much health and writing have in common!
Love this! I did not know about the allergy connection. Will definitely look into that. I also loved the comparison to our writing. I can definitely see some of this in my own.
Great post, Anju.
Tami
Hi Tami,
Thanks for visiting and I’m glad you enjoyed reading the post!
So if I read this correctly, then red meat is good for me (always a plus as I’m a guy) and stress makes me fat.
I can definitely see the latter. I’ll believe the former.
Very informative,
Walt
Hi Walt,
Thanks for visiting… stress, I learned recently, does make you fat. As for the red meat… can’t say I’m afraid. You’ll have to go to the real experts for that
Interesting. I think I will have to read more about these “false fats” in the diet. And coincidentally enough, I just started editing my current wip and most of what I’m doing is deleting.
Hi Maura,
Thanks for sharing! I was totally surprised by the concept of ‘false fat’ myself but the more I read the more I realized it was there in the writing too. I learned, long back. that the delete key is my best writing friend too! Happy writing!