Yes, I have some pounds to lose. Women “of size” have all been there. Goal weight on a sticky-note in the bathroom, a ½ cup high fiber cereal with skim milk in the morning, salad for lunch, apple and string cheese snack, fat-free yogurt, a sad chunk of boneless skinless chicken breast and steamed vegetables for supper. Yes, that’s what it feels like some days. Bland, repetitive foods. Four or five days a week at the pool. Walking for more steps. It’s exhausting. But I have keep telling myself that it’s all worth the effort. Pounds are slowly coming off.
The fact is … it’s hard. This perpetual desire to eat other things makes the basic physics of calories in = calories out all the more problematic. Every diet plan assures you that all you need is the right formula, the right eating plan, enough exercise, and the willpower to make it through. But I find that last bit to be the overarching struggle – to just stick with it. To stay motivated. It’s not like I don’t want to be thinner, I obviously do.
So why is it such hard work to take off the pounds? Is it the huge restaurant portions? Is it all the food everywhere? Family gatherings with food? Get-togethers over lunch? Boredom with the diet foods? Somehow, even with my apps tracking exercise and calories, I can’t seem to get it together every day. I find myself munching on foods not on my plan. I tell myself in the morning that I will absolutely not cheat, and yet the crackers and peanut butter appear in my hands sometime in the afternoon.
I was reading (as I always am) about a study that encouraged us to eat the foods our ancestors ate for thousands of generations – those ancestors who likely never struggled with obesity or diabetes. Maybe starchy root vegetables, fish, and seaweed are the answer. And maybe a calorie isn’t just a calorie. Maybe contemporary food products are the cause of inflammation and irritation. I don’t believe that somehow, in a few generations, we’ve become gluttonous sloths. There is an answer here somewhere!
Don’t worry; I’m not losing hope. I’ll still try to take walks. I’ll still swim my four days a week. And yes, I’ll even give greater consideration to eating the foods of my ancestors. That sounds really dramatic, but it’s mostly about ditching the processed foods, sugar, and refined grains – and I’m pretty much doing that. I guess the lesson for today is that I need to consume enough calories to sustain my physical activity level, and burn off some of my own fat to a new, lower bodyweight. That is the plan, after all. Only domesticated, grain-eating animals suffer from obesity – good food for thought.