ZigOn Dieting
It seems that after twenty years of diet, exercise, miracle potions and a host of gimmicks, the American public has concluded that losing weight, for them, is a lost cause, according to an article in USA Today. Here's why: They take it off and put it back on. They are unhappy losing the weight, depriving themselves of their favorite foods, and then feel guilty regaining the weight. Today there's a major trend among millions of Americans who are saying, "To heck with it! I'm going to eat what I want and just suffer the consequences, but I'm not going to be miserable about it."
That's an unfortunate approach to take. I understand why they feel that way because for many years I was on that roller coaster. A quarter of a century ago I decided to lose weight on a gradual basis and in a ten-month period of eating sensibly and exercising regularly, I lost 37 pounds. I averaged losing one and nine-tenths ounces per day.
I'll bet you just said to yourself (if you have a weight problem), "I could do that."
Most attempts at weight loss are undermined by unrealistic promises made about a "revolutionary" new approach or product that "will take all the weight off permanently and you won't even feel hungry."
The answer: A change of lifestyle, a combination of eating sensibly and exercising regularly. Benefits are enormous. On November 24, 1999, at age 73, I stayed on the treadmill at the Aerobics Center over two minutes longer than I was able to stay on when I was terribly out of shape. I have a resting heart rate of 47, my cholesterol level was described by Dr. Larry Gibbons, the examining physician, as "perfect" at 156, and my blood pressure is 110/60. Those are the readings normally of a much younger man. And my enthusiasm for life grows every day.
