Will Power

As I slip and slide on my trail to having a better body, I decided to take a look at where I have been and where I am going. Up until I was a junior in high school, I was short and plump or “husky” as my mother used to say. No sense sugar coating it. I was fat. Then sometime during that year, I began growing taller and before I knew it, I was almost 6 ft tall and hadn’t gained an ounce. I was also in great shape and was finally satisfied with my body and knew this was where I would stay for the rest of my life. Yea right!

Now fast forward to the present day. I Have since grown a half inch taller and put on a few pounds. Ok maybe a few more than a few. I am now overweight again. I have tried everything in the book to lose weight too. Most things work to some degree but it all comes down to will power. The basic answer to my or anyone’s weight problem is simple. ”Eat less”. I can use whatever excuses I want but eating more got me where I am today so eating less is what will get me back to where I was. I don’t need a GPS with a track back feature to figure this one out.

Over the years I have tried every diet plan known to man from Weight Watchers to the grapefruit diet. I did lose with many of the plans that I tried but in the end I gained all the weight back and then some. I put some of the blame on advertising because everywhere I look these days I see an ad for food. We humans no longer eat to live, we live to eat. And most of the TV advertising is on right at dinner time. But most of the blame lies with me. I got myself into this mess so I have to get myself out. I even came up with my own diet and it did work…for a while.

Greg’s Alphabet Diet:

It is really simple. The basis for this plan is variation. It is designed so that you eat a variety of foods. In theory and with moderation and a little common sense, it will work. You go through the alphabet one letter per day and you have to eat what starts with your daily letter. For instance, day one is the letter A so you eat something that starts with A like apples. Day two is B so you eat something like bananas. Day three is C so something like Cabbage. Some letters are tougher than others like Y or Z but then if you like Yak or Zebra you can make out pretty well on those days. I started out pretty good on my own diet. After all, I invented it so I wanted to make it work. The first time through the alphabet I did well and lost weight.

Round two came and I was getting more hungry by the day. No, starving is a better word for it. I began getting creative. Instead of eating Apples I had “A” Mc muffen. Pertty clever huh? On B day, I was out of bananas so I headed to town for more. That’s when I saw the sign. After sitting at a red light for what seemed like an eternity I realized that they had just what I needed inside. After all, it was B day and anything that started with a B was on my diet. I went inside and placed my order. I will have a #2 with a coke please. Oh and make it “B”iggie sized. Well that covered my B.

Things went downhill from there. Cheating became a part of my diet and I would have things like Cup of ice cream on my C day, and Dutch apple pie on D day. E day was easy. “Everything” was on my diet. And so I failed at yet another diet. I don’t recommend the Alphabet diet unless you have tons of will power.

So I have discovered that any diet is nothing more than a crutch. I mean some give you good meals and diet suggestions but each is just an “aid” for “eating less”. I am not saying anything good or bad about diets. Everyone is different and everyone responds differently to different diet approaches. Some people enjoy the meetings and some like the prescribed pills. I know what works for me....Nothing short of eating less. So here is my plan.

I am going to stay away from the TV and those dinner-time food commercials. I am going to eat healthy and in moderation. I am going to exercise and get back into shape. In a nutshell, I am going to make my body a temple. I am asking for strength daily after my morning reading because I know that only I can make myself thinner. I am going to ask God for help daily and my blog friends for support. So who is with me? Any and all prayers or words of encouragement will be accepted.

Have a great day,
Greg

PS: I am working on a prune, grapefruit and cabbage diet if anyone is interested. It is not only guaranteed to make you lose weight but also friends, family and your dignity. :)