About weight loss

We all lose weight for different reasons. Some lose weight for health reasons, your doctor is pushing you. Maybe like me your spouse is pushing you. Maybe you feel funny at work because your co-workers stare, talk behind your back. Or maybe you just want to wear the same clothes others wear. I lost weight because I became out of shape, out of breath when I was working outside or just vacuuming. My clothes didn't fit I had to buy pants with a 38 inch waist, and then finally I said "stop". I have to stop this insane way of over indulging. That's exactly what was happening. I was in my 30's and owned a restaurant that was doing well. Success was going to my head, and all I thought about was the business and shopping for things I wanted but couldn't afford before. My wife was power walking everyday and wanted me to join her, but I always had an excuse. I stayed at the restaurant about 14 hours a day. I'd take some Sunday's off, when I'd spend time with the kids or relatives; maybe walk thru the mall and do some shopping. My wife was the one that pushed me into exercising. We joined a local health club with all the equipment, pool, steam, sauna, machines, weights, track and aerobics classes. My wife probably made more use of the gym than I did. She did get me interested in Racquetball. We played about 4 times a week and then slowly I got more interested in the other things in the health club. The club opened at 6 a.m. so we could go before work. Even after several months of this routine of 30 minutes of racquetball and then using hand weights for another 20 minutes, I hadn't lost much weight. By this time I had sold the restaurant and had bought a different business that didn't involve food. I worked less hours and had more time for the gym but I still battled the weight problem. I had lost about 20 pounds over the past couple of years but was still way too heavy. My wife wanted me to change my diet, eat less, eat more greens and less meat. Reluctantly I was changing but with little results. Now that I thing back I was still rewarding myself. Drinking many high calorie drinks during the day. I wasn't counting calories and I didn't think about snacking. Now I know that snacking and store bought drinks can add 1000's of calories a day. I was only counting the food at meals and thought I was doing good, and that's what happens when your not serious about losing weight. I remember my mother smoked a few cigarettes a day, and even after her and my father had quit, when she was at work she was smoking. When she was around smokers then she would smoke. The same thing happens to over eaters. When they are around others who over eat, for example, a women who is doing fine at home following her diet, but at work she's tempted with the snacks in the lunch room and the sodas they keep in the frig. When everyone else does it, then you thing that a little bite isn't going to hurt. You get home after work and cook a meal for the family and all that food is a temptation and you consume too many calories; now your over your calorie count for the day and your not active enough at night to burn those calories and you gain weight. There are people and I was one that had been over eating most of their lives, and when I was young I burned all those calories, but with age comes a slower metabolism. You just don't burn as many calories a day as you use to. That's when most of us start to gain weight because we are still eating the same amount. If you want to feel healthier, feel like you did when you were in your prime, you want to get back to the weight you were when you got out of school. Usually that's when people are the healthiest. They're not taking any prescriptions, they're at their normal body weight. They don't have the opportunity to snack all day when their in school and they get exercise. Most people remember school years as some of the happiest times of their lives. I guess I remember those years as a time when I was in my best physical condition. Now I thing I've returned to that time. I lost 50 pounds since those restaurant years, I weigh the same as I did in high school but I have lost some muscle and strength which is natural so I still watch my calories, but not as close. I've keep the weight off for one year now and I don't want any of it back. I hate this phrase but I'm going to use it, " I feel great for my age", I feel like I'm 40 again and I don't ever want to go back to feeling tired and bloated. I know for me the whole secret to feeling better and looking better was to lose the weight. I don't have to take any prescription drugs I can eat anything in moderation, but I know about 1800 calories is my daily limit. When I go over, I'll gain weight. You decide for yourself, "How bad do you want to lose weight?