On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 13:17:31 -0700, Rich S. wrote:

layman's article in (IIRC) Reader's Digest last month on this subject. It is
more complicated than simply lack of will power or eating habits.

I don't think it's that complex. I heard on the radio today that
basically 2/3's of the population is overweight. Now there can't be that
many genetic/medical problems because it doesn't occur in a lot of other
countries.

I'll give you a personal example. As of Jan 1 2004 I weighed 215 lbs and
had a blood pressure that was around 138/88 and as of this date I weigh
168 lbs with a blood pressure of 112/72 on average. Want to know my
secret, it wasn't some fancy diet or medicine or genetic modification to
fix natures mistake. I cut out the sweets during the day and stopped
drinking soda like I had been.

I did a quick off hand calculation of my caloric intake then and now.
That gave me a daily total of around 3500 to 4000 calories each
and every day, then.

I now eat the serving sizes suggested and for dinner I try to limit my
deserts to one slice of cake if I have it, and try to end up with a total
intake of around around 1800 - 2000 calories each day.

I just had a physical done last Friday and for the most part I'm in good
health even though I still have a higher cholesterol level of around 225.
My ratio of good to bad is excellent and in fact it's better than average
so the doctor doesn't seem overly concerned about it, but he would like to
see it lower if I can do it. Of that I'm not sure how because I'm not
eating foods that would make it high. He did talk about overweight
problems in general being due to over eating and the way I fixed it was
how it should be done. PS, my so called diet was started under advice of
the medical profession, a dietitian suggested a simple balanced meal and
it worked.

Watch the people around you the next time you eat out. I'll bet you see
them overeat by a HUGE amount. Go to KFC, Hardee's, McDonals, etc. and
watch. You'll see the majority of people consume over 1000 calories at
one sitting, imagine them doing the same for 2 more meals. Now you'll see
why eating is why we're overweight as a nation.

That is the meat of the problem if you ask me and my observations confirm
it. Yes, some people have a real problem and can't help it, that's what
the RD article suggested. It didn't say 66 percent of our population had
real medical problems. That figure came from a CBS radio broadcast today
on obesity in our nation, take it for what it's worth because it came from
CBS.

Calories are calories regardless of where they come from and if you
have too many you're going to gain weight, it's that simple.

The war is not yet won. Although I have lost all the weight I intend on,
now I must maintain it and I fear that's the hardest part to come. I feel
better now than I did at the beginning of the year and my knees hurt less,
so I figure I did a good thing by curbing my desire for sweets which is
where most of calories came from.