NEWS ALERT, AMERICA!

WATCHING OTHERS PLAY SPORTS AND SCREAMING IN FRONT OF A TV DOES NOT QUALIFY AS A WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAM!

HOWEVER, PLAYING SPORTS YOURSELF OFTEN DOES!

Over the last couple of years, I have gradually lost over 35 pounds and kept it off!  Losing it was hard, but keeping it off is much harder, especially when you grew up associating being "rewarded" with pastries, junk food and candy. I have maintained my ideal weight for well over a year by (a) watching what I eat and (b) watching TV! (The "secret" of my amazing weight-loss program will be revealed below.) I have been so successful with this program that more than a few people have asked me "Are you sick?" as if weight loss is usually equated with sickness rather than health! 

I am aware that there are a whole lot more over-weight Americans watching other people play sports than playing sports themselves! Along with that is the habit of loading up the living room with fattening snacks so as to have plenty to "reward" oneself during "scores" in the the "big game!" Instead of getting one's own fat-ass out there on a basketball court, football field, tennis court, soccer field or jogging path, they sit in front of a TV with fists full of snacks being entertained by watching other people exercise while they load on the pounds! Along with the growth of TV sports on multiple channels and the proliferation of sports bars in this country (not to mention the vast numbers of "fast food" TV commercials), there is a constant up-tick in obesity numbers! I have actually come to believe that more and more people are convinced that watching other people play sports is a sure-fire way to lose weight personally! It's a case of saying, "I like sports," as if it's the same as saying, "I like watching sports being played by other people!"

 

OK! Read no further to get the secret of my weight loss program by watching TV! I have a treadmill parked in front of my TV and I will not allow myself to turn on the TV and watch it until I am on my treadmill! I normally fast-walk two-hours every other day and one-hour on the days in between. The only short breaks I take are during snack food commercials to go to the bathroom. I weigh myself every morning and keep a tally, do not keep sweets and fatty snacks in the house and watch what I eat (and how much), especially when I am invited out for dinner. Even then, 95% of the time I say "no" to desserts, bread, pasta and fried foods. That's leaves 5% of the time for "special holidays and celebrations" when I try to skip a meal in advance and make choices of what I do eat and how much of it! The secret here is to stop before you feel "full!" It takes your stomach a little time to register "fullness." 

Instead of parking yourself on a couch in front of a TV or hanging out at a sports bar, surrounded by beer and snack food, to watch the "big game," why not go to the gym and watch it there, with your buddies, using weight-lifting benches or full-body weight-stack machines?

The last thing I did when I got to my ideal weight was to get rid of all of my pants that were 2, 4, 6 inches larger in the waist. I figured that I needed to get rid of this one last temptation to "go back" to my old ways! It motivates you to "count the cost" of buying more pants if you do not have a ready supply of the old sizes at your finger tips! 

 

OK, to be fair, I know that this is a whole lot easier when you are retired and live alone than when you live in a house full of people with whom you have to negotiate your food situation, but I still believe "where there's a will, there's a way! Unless you are "force-fed" like a goose to make foie gras, you can always say "no" to food! It just takes lots of discipline and self-control! The question is always, "How badly do you want to lose weight?" From past experiences, I know that "motivation" has to be there in great supply before I can even start the first day!