Lexington, KY - "Eat This, Not That," the book written by Men's Heath editor-in-chief, David Zinczenko, has become extremely popular over the last year. If you watch TV or read popular magazines, it has been hard to miss Zinczenko spreading his information on how to make better food choices that will save you thousands of calories.
His book typifies the attitude change that I see taking place in our society today. It seems like we have reached a tipping point of sorts, involving food and weight issues. Zinczenko's book emphasizes that you have choices when it comes to what food you put in your mouth, and depending on the choices that you make, you may eat a lunch that is close to 2,000 calories or have something similar for only 600 calories. The choice you make will result in either you continuing to gain weight or turn the tide and begin losing weight.
It was just a few short years ago that all of the attitudes regarding how best to lose weight were focused on the type of food you eat. Popular diets were either all about carbohydrates or all about avoiding them - no-fat diets or "smart" fat diets, raw foods vs. cooked foods, no white foods, etc. The point is that none of these diets focused on the real reason you gain weight: if you are overweight it is because you consume, or consumed, too many calories. Instead, these diets let eaters off the hook, convincing them that if they just chose a different type of food, even if they ate it in mass quantities, they would lose weight.
These blame-the-food diets have been quite popular over the last 20 years. And if you look at the trend in the rate of overweight and obesity over the last 20 years, it is plain to see that these diets didn't help. In fact, the rate of obesity in our society is higher than it has ever been.
It is clear to me that the only way America is going to dampen the obesity epidemic is for everyone to take personal responsibility for the choices that they make. You have to admit that you do have a lot of control in how your body develops, ages and even dies. You are the boss of your own life. You can make whatever choices you want. If you want to be overweight and unhealthy, it is your choice (although, millions of people making that choice is a major reason why healthcare is so expensive for everyone).
If you would like to start making more positive choices, then I applaud you and am willing to help. My best advice is to start small. Don't go making huge changes in your life all at once; you will quit before the first week is up. Make small changes to your diet; buy the book "Eat This, Not That" and begin to learn how a few small changes can make a big difference in your daily caloric intake.
As for exercise, again, start small. Go for a walk that is about a mile, or 20 minutes. Do this at the same time Monday through Friday. Try to double that distance at least one day on the weekend and take one day off. Slowly build where that walk or jog is closer to three or four miles. Then begin to add some strength training. Substitute a good weight workout (30 - 45 minutes of lifting) for your walk two of the six days you exercise. Have a qualified personal trainer work with you to develop a good routine.
By subtracting a few hundred calories a day from your food intake and adding a few hundred calories burned through exercise, you will lose extra weight at a slow, but steady pace. The best part about losing weight with a process like this is that weight lost this way is rarely gained back.
I am sorry if some of my words sound harsh, but I feel it necessary to be very direct: you are in charge of you - how you age, your health, your quality of life. Don't waste time blaming other things; the choices you make are yours and yours alone.