Losing Weight: the REAL Plan (part 2 of 2)

A continuation of last week's entry...

3) You Must Suffer:
Accept it, deep down inside. If you want to lose weight, you will and must suffer. Anyone who tells you you can lose weight easy, without pain, is trying to sell you something or lying to you for some other nefarious reason. If you are not suffering, take it as a sign that you are doing something wrong. Once you fully accept this, you will bear your suffering as a mark that you are accomplishing something, and you won't wince out because it's too hard - you'll expect it. But fortunately, the suffering doesn't last. If you get into the habit of eating less, your stomach will adjust and before long you'll get full on things that would never satisfy you before.

4) No Non-Meal Eating
Somehow, the tradition of breakfast, lunch, and dinner has become all but history. Now people just grab food at random and eat it whenever. At home people just run to the fridge at any old time. Many work places have a community table area where food just mysteriously appears and everyone grazes off of it like a salt lick. Even getting gas you're expected to just grab something to munch on. What meal is beef jerky supposed to be eaten with? Is everyone going for survival hikes in the wilderness on the weekends or something?

If you want to do the health thing where you eat tiny bits of healthy foods, strewn throughout the day, which add up to a reasonable amount, then that's great. But that's not the sort of unrestricted munching I'm talking about here, and many people don't have time for that. So, in general, you have to say to yourself, "I'm only going to eat at meal times" and if offered food (which you will be) simply tell them you've already eaten. They may look at you funny, as if to wonder, "Are you mad?"

5) No Fast Food - Ever
Fast food companies will tell you that they exist as an occasional outing, to be a part of an overall balanced diet. Baloney - It's pure garbage. Don't eat it. That includes the "healthy" menu items like fried chicken patties and lard-drenched salads, and it certainly includes anything in a convenience store. There are a sizeable number of nutritionists that will say not only that fast food should rarely be eaten, but that it should never be eaten. In general, I've found that it's best not to eat something if a caveman wouldn't recognize it as food.

There are some restaurants that may be technically fast food, but serve decent natural foods that aren't fried, fake, or fatty. But even here you have to be careful to select the right items. It's best to stay away from such places and adjust your lifestyle if needed to avoid them. Instead, try eating at traditional restaurants if you eat out, but even there, watch the portions and content. Share or eat only half your food because nearly all of them give you way too much.

6) Accept Being an Outcast
As mentioned, the American culture is based almost entirely around food (and other consumerisms). Companies that sell food want you to buy 2 gallon colas and drink them in one sitting. They want you to order an appetizer, meal, and desert - each one large enough to be a meal in its own right. Basically, they want your stomach and appetite stretched as far as it will go because that will make you buy more. It doesn't matter to them much that you'll die in your forties because your kids will eat as much or more than you do.

So, all of the commercials, films, TV shows, and music videos have been custom tailored to promote a lifestyle of maximum consumption. As a result, our social lives are based around "going out to eat" and we find ourselves forced into fast food out of convenience, cost, or cool. The American lifestyle is not healthy. That means that to be a healthy person, you've got to accept the fact that you'll be a bit of an outcast in your own culture. You'll be the one who has to say, "I can't eat anything there" when everyone in the car wants to go to Tubocrapy's Burger Bar. You'll have to be the one who stops eating half way through the meal. You'll have to be the evil one at work who never eats the brownies poor Ms. Boothby makes for the office. Accept it, and accept it now, because you live in fatville and the only way to not be is to be a rebel.

7) Exercise
Fortunately, it doesn't have to be a lot but, especially if you work behind a desk like I do, then it's essential. Start out low and slowly work your way up to a level you can live with. Pick something physical that you will be okay with doing (or might even enjoy), but it also needs to be something you can do conveniently. If it's a lot of trouble, like driving somewhere, forget it. You'll do it a few days, maybe weeks, then stop. I also recommend doing it in the morning since I'm lazy after working all day, but that's just me. So there's the cold hard truth about weight loss. Everyone else is too scared to sound so harsh because they're afraid you won't buy their books. But after you've tried all the other nonsense out there, you'll eventually work your way back to this - that is, if you ever really want to lose weight and keep it off.

So, that's it. It's not pretty, but unless one is preparred to accept some cold hard fact, I don't think one is truly willing to do what's necessary to lose weight and keep it off. I've gained a bit back over the holidays, which in the long run I don't think will be too bad, as long as I get back into my good habits again. Now to DO it...

Please Note: One thing in trying to lose weight I would NOT do, is EVER click on or visit www.nulife-weightloss.com. This company likes to spam comments on people's blogs repeatedly (the reason comments have been disabled on this post). This shows they have no scruples and thus can't be trusted for any other service. Please do not go to that site or do business with them. Thanks.