How come it is so easy to gain weight but so hard to take it off? I have been on a diet for at least half of my life. My best estimate of weight gained and lost over my lifetime is close to a thousand pounds. It seems that it takes about 5 times longer to lose weight than it does to gain...and the older we get, the harder it is to lose.
Over my lifetime, I have been on just about every diet imaginable...and they all work to some degree. What they don't do is ingrain the idea of maintaining weight into our pleasure seeking, feeble minds! To date, I have participated in the following: Stillman's Water Diet, The Grapefruit Diet, NutriSystems, The South Beach Diet, The Zone diet, The 14 day Diet, the 10 Day Diet, Phen-Fen, Dr. "Feelgood's" Magic pills, Atkins high protein-low carb Diet, The Cookie Diet, A Nutritionist's Diet, Weight Watcher's, The Juice Fast, The Fast Fast and finally, Jenny Craig. (I am sure that I have left some out!) I have lost 40 to 50 pounds more times than I can count.
We all know that exercise plays a major part in losing weight. But recently there was a published report that concluded that too much exercise contributes to weight gain. The theory is that with exercise, the body craves more calories so we overeat. Then there are those that say that to lose weight you should increase your cardio exercise and not do any strength training. Others say that the key is strength training and one should decrease cardio work. What is the right formula? I guess if you break it down to its simplest form, the answer is to consume less calories than you burn each day. But it is never a level playing field...if you have high metabolism, then you burn more calories during the normal course of your day...but I must have the metabolism of a turtle!! I exercise everyday more than almost anybody I know and do not grossly overeat...you'd think I would not have a weight problem! Must be the genes!!
Somone once said to me that they eat to live and I live to eat...not exactly true but I do love food. I love gourmet food, I love good food, and I love crummy, bad for you food like diner fare, southern fried delicasies and other assorted goodies. That doesn't mean I only eat that stuff. I eat plenty of salads, veggies, fruit, fish, skinless chicken, ground turkey instead of beef, whole grains and the like....but it almost seems like it doen't matter what I eat. And it seems to me that I eat about half the quantity that I ate as a much younger person. But I still fight the weight problem everyday!
Presently, I am back on The Jenny Craig program....or what I call Dieting for Dummies. Eat what they tell you to and you will lose weight. It's when I start to make substitutions that things get tough. For instance, an ounce of Scotch equals 2 fats...so I have to figure out what to cut out to accomodate an evening Scotch! Do I miss the good stuff? You bet...but the goal is back in sight and I will be back to High School Playing weight by my birthday! And then I will eat whatever I damn well please ....so I can start the cycle all over again!
And The Journey continues....................................
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