What works once doesn’t always work again

by 100poundsofchange

I’ve tried every method in the book to lose weight, an age old phrase spoken by many overweight people before me. The sad part of most methods of weight loss are that they’re hard to stick to, and when you go back to them they seem to work less effectively than the first time. In some cases I’m convinced the body adapts to whatever deficit you’ve managed to create and fights back. There are rare exceptions to this, but typically they’re the hardest to follow for extended periods of time. I thought at one time low carb dieting was the miracle, and my first 150 pound loss agreed. Subsequent attempts at this diet have yielded extremely varied results. Low fat dieting has never worked. And constant exercise gets me more fit, but ultimately increases hunger linearly with calorie expenditure netting a fat guy who can jog long distances.

My current regimen combines a food discipline that is hard to stick to, but also incorporates the enjoyment I get from weight training. This week marked the 48th week straight in a row that I have gone to the gym and did weight training. I’ve made sure to go when I was feeling ill (which has become incredibly infrequent since I’ve been going to the gym), and even while on vacation. No matter how my weight is fluctuating, I find the tiniest bit of solace in the fact that my muscles are growing even if my fat isn’t disappearing. I have a part of my brain that tells me even if I splurge on an occasional 2 pound burrito, as long as I continue lifting weights at least a small part of me is improving some aspect of my health.

People champion my efforts to keep going to the gym, however it’s quite the opposite when it comes to eating behaviors. Everyone has their own take on what they mandate is healthy eating. I don’t mind that everyone has their own opinions, but when they spout it off as if it’s a universal truth, I have a problem with it, especially if it contradicts medical science (of which i read extensive medical journals on), or even personal experience. I don’t pretend to tell people what they should do, I merely express what works for me and let them infer whatever benefit they may get from my personal experiences. In addition to dietary criticisms, I’ve mentioned in the past that people try to push food on you in a way not unlike people pushing booze on an alcoholic. I’ve had to simply stop telling people “I’m trying to eat healthy” and instead defer to the excuse that I’m trying to save money. Oddly enough people don’t try to push it when money is involved. How do people not get that managing finances is no different than managing food consumption. We splurge on things that are poor ideas, sometimes we have to cut back on things we’d rather have, and make sacrifices for personal wellbeing. The idea that it’s food and they have dissimilar health obstacles that an overweight person has seems to break the idea of the food/money analogy.

I really like food, I enjoy cooking, but I enjoy life as a thin and in shape person more than anything else I’ve experienced in life. Hell even the act of eating food when you’re in shape has less of a guilty undertone to it (as long as you’re not regularly consuming a pint of ice cream in a single sitting). I miss that state of mind and wellbeing so much every day, and It’s only been 2 years since the last time I was within spitting distance of being considered physically fit by even strict governmental standards. You’d think that something so life changing would be such a motivation in itself to overcome poor food choice, occasional sloth, and general lack of willpower when it comes to losing weight. I think everyone has a different monkey on their back to solve, whether it be a sweet tooth, or disliking exercise. I personally have a single problem when it comes to reaching my goal, energy levels.

To Be continued….

Current Weight: 273 pounds