8-15-12 246/242/200

Got on the scale today and another two pounds gone. Certainly losing weight is easier in the beginning, with the enthusiasm, etc.

But, few calories, more activities outside (I pulled weeds for an hour after work instead of staying inside watching television and being close to food), daily exercise (just got off my recumbent bike where I just spent 30 minutes while watching political tv), no alcohol, etc.

I also ask myself regularly whether I am glad I lived the last 24 hours the way I did and the answer for the last several days has certainly been, "Yes!"

Seems to me that in some important ways we are in our own Olympics from time to time, with corporations, advertising, etc., arrayed against us. Kelly Brown, of Yale University, has called ours a "food toxic environment" and we can see enticing appeals everytime we turn on our TV, read a magazine, listen to the radio, drive past fast food restaurants, etc. Every day that we are good on our diet programs -- that is, restrain ourselves and not overeat, etc. -- the food advertising people have lost. Their desire is to get all of us to overeat and to do so continuously, with the foods and drinks they sell us.

At least that sure is the goal of many of them, and I know of no fast food restaurant that will tell people, "You know -- you're overweight, you're diabetic, and your blood pressure is to high -- we're not going to serve you another burger!" Instead, that control has to come from other sources, and one of them for me (at times) is anger at the system and a willingness to put myself on a somewhat lengthy fitness program, one that lasts for 100 days at the start and hopefully will last at least a year or two after that -- hopefully forever.

In the past, my 100 Day programs -- once completed successfully -- DO persist for six months or more.

I am not asking for continuous endless perfection but for something that works for me in the real world. Similarly, athletes often work themselves up into condition for a season and then slack off at down times. Heavy football players may easily stack on 40 pounds during the off season and then sweat and diet to get the pounds off. And so many of them are rich, have access to all the trainers and equipment they want, etc. So, it's a lot harder for single civilians like me -- especially someone like me who enjoys food and drink.

I sure don't think that I will ever be able to easily eat half of a tuna fish sandwich and turn down the other half, nor will I ever do well at many all-you-can-eat buffets, and so I will try to avoid them as much as I can and will stick to coffee for some of my meals.

I remember one of the simple weight loss success stories of a woman who ate a lot of food because she made dinner for her family regularly and ate the leftovers, etc., and her simple solution was to eat a dinner on a tray in front of the TV and let her family clean up the plates, etc., thus sparing her the temptation. Terrific change in her routine! Very successful approach causing her to lose more than 50 pounds. And 50 pounds is more than cosmetic for many people, it's the difference for many people between full-blown diabetes, hypertension, a stroke, etc., and health. (Also very interesting about how a significant weight loss -- even if not maintained -- will have a very beneficial effect on preventing diabetes for a long time. So it doesn't have to be permanent to be very helpful.)

But arrayed against us are not only advertisers of food, but also people with their own schticks to sell, many of which are foolish, and none of them fool-proof. We also encounter regularly those who want to give us "good advice" even though they probably know that the "good advice" will be harmful to our efforts to achiever our health goals.

"The perfect is the enemy of the good" is one of my favorite sayings, and if we see people who are doing pretty well, we should say, "Good job! Keep at it!" rather than say, "Have you considered this weakness or that weakness? Aren't your friends concerned about what you're doing?" etc. We can always find critics, and I sure believe that even a jackass can kick down a barn..

I hope everyone finds what works for them and that everyone can be "good enough for long enough" to improve their health! Many, many roads lead to Rome and I hope we all find our own effective way to get there!

Yours,

Caleb