MY TWO CENTS ON WEIGHT LOSS ETC.

So this new year has me a little confused and annoyed already, and it can't be healthy or good, I've got to change my attitude just a little.  What am I confused about you ask (well, ask, so I can answer it)? I am confused because it seems so many people are having such a hard time with weight, health, exercise etc. I don't want to talk about my experience when it comes to weight, cause I haven't had any, but I do want to talk about one of my friends. She has had a weight problem all her life,both her parents were obese, so genetically she is already predisposed to being heavy. She was rather heavy when I met her, in her early 40s or late 30s. She had decided to lose weight for personal and health related reasons. it took her a couple of years because she did have quite a bit to lose, but she did it, with portion control and exercise. Once, while we were hiking, she told me how she was able to shed the pounds and keep them off. No secret pill, diet or out of this world workout regimen. All she did was good old fashioned calorie counting. Let me explain.

After all the diet news, carbohydrates vs. protein, bread, no bread, morning workouts vs. evening workouts blah blah blah, the fact remains that weight loss is simply a numbers game. If you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight. Pretty simple if you ask me. The trick is to know how many calories you are consuming, which can be a little tedious and time consuming to do. In addition, people seem to overestimate how many calories they burn doing any type of physical activity, so that can be a bit of a problem too. However, the information about weight, health, and nutrition science is plentiful anymore, so if one really wants to lose weight and get healthy, it can be done.

I hope I'm not coming across as a skinny know-it-all, who spews crap she really knows nothing about. That's not my intention at all. Both my brother and sister have always struggled with weight, so I grew up in a family that was on a perpetual diet. Although, I have always been into sports (and I think that is what has helped me stay trim all my life), I did notice my metabolism slowed down a bit after I turned 40. I knew then that I had to do something if I wanted to continue eating Nutella, pasta, bread, cheese and chocolate. So I modified m exercise regimen, I increased my cardio, added weight training, started cycling, and now i'm into triathlons. it helps that I really do like sports and am very competitive, but there are so many choices of fun things to do, there must be something out there for everybody. Another thing I have always done is read about nutrition, fitness, and health.. Having a background in science helped obviously, but I really like medicine and if I could go back in time, I would probably go into that instead of teaching.

How about you? How many things have you tried to lose weight? What kind of exercise do you prefer? Are you dieting right now? Do you plan to get into shape this year? If so, how? How about a mini triathlon?