Twice in my
life, I have made it my goal to lose weight, and I have succeeded both times.
How have I managed to drop a significant number of pounds? You might say that
I’ve done it the old-fashioned way: by counting calories.
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| Losing Weight by Counting Calories |
I limit
myself to a daily calorie amount that is substantially under the number of
calories that a person of my age and size is supposed to be able to consume
without gaining weight. Google a phrase such as “how many calories can I eat to
maintain weight,” and you will find plenty of sites that will help you select a
number.
Next, I
adhere strictly to my low calorie count. I make up my mind that I will feel
hungry for the first day or two. My fattened body sends signals that I should
be eating more than I am, and I have to ignore the messages, which come in the
form of wanting snacks.
When I am unable to resist, I snack on popcorn that I have popped on the stove so as to limit the amount of fat to the smallest amount necessary.
I also must
steel myself to the fact that others will try to get me to eat more than I
should. For some complex reasons that are beyond me to explain, some friends want to
push food onto my plate whenever I have made the decision to lose weight. I am
firm with them: “No, all I really want is this salad; no, I am not having
dessert; and, no, I do not want a fruity cocktail.”
I exercise
regularly. My author friend Eleanor Y. Stewart and I walk 5.2 miles three times
a week, and, on many of the days in between, I ride a bike from 7 up to 12 miles. Walking and
riding alone will not help a person drop unwanted weight, but, in conjunction
with counting calories, such exercise can help the weight to come off quickly.
I also work
a half hour of calisthenics into three days per week. I go online to read about
age-appropriate exercises that I can readily do to stay in shape, and I will
not perform exercises that I feel are going to be harmful eventually. I
want my calisthenics to be simple, easy, and free of pain: just enough to keep
my muscles responding to what I need them to do each day.
I seek to
eat a balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, and meats while avoiding white sugar
and white flour. Essentially, I avoid breads, desserts, and anything that has
white sugar as a main ingredient. I am not recommending my diet to anyone;
after all, people have vastly different dietary needs. I can tell you only that
my diet works for me.
On both
occasions that I have counted calories to lose weight, I have lost over fifty
pounds, and I have kept the weight off for most of my life. Another way of
saying the same thing is that I have been slender far more years than I have
been pudgy.
