Thoughts about dieting. We are all sitting in the same boat!

So I have been dieting for the last 4 weeks.

I am not obese or even really overweight. But after stepping on the scale about 4-5 weeks ago one morning, I was shocked to see that the scale had reached 185 pounds - the heaviest I had ever been. And I had developed those famous love handles around the waist. I realized that the lack of daily walks with Buster - those rough winter conditions - the opening of Panera 5 minutes from the office - I had gotten hooked on those chocolate pastries - plus delivered office luncheons 2 times per week with all those leftovers - had made my pants shrink around the waist line. Or something like that.

So I decided to go on a diet...!

When I had gone through my first midlife crisis about 7 years ago - the famous "Four O" - I turned to good old Dr. Atkins, who enabled me to lose about 25 pounds during the summer months with a hefty dosage of obsessive compulsive running through Maudlesy on the side. In the end, I actually looked rather sick than healthy. Too thin. My mother thought I was sick when she came to visit me. I was craving carbs so bad, that I turned into a chocolate addict for a while when I was done. It took about 2-3 years to regain 2/3 of the weight, and another 3-4 to top my previous high weight.

And as we learn from our mistakes - or not - I tried to go for it again over the last 4 weeks. This time I called it the South Beach Diet - sounded more contemporary to me.

www.southbeachdiet.com

I do know a lot of people, especially guys, who have had great success with that approach in terms of pure weight loss - at least for some time. Same concept: Lots of eggs, cheese, meats, some vegetables - the low carb ones - and a ton of salad, but careful with the dressings. No bread or baked goods, no pasta, no sweets, no potatoes, no soda, no alcohol. And gallons of water.

I lasted only 4 weeks this time - and who has time for exercise? Down about 15 lbs, I relapsed 4 days ago, when a patient brought me "Ritter Sport" Chocolate from a Germany trip. And that felt so good! Since then over the last few days, I went to Chili's for a family dinner and to an end of season baseball cookout with pizza and some beers. Plus another couple of those office luncheons. And here we go - the needle is moving up again.

Now I sit here all confused what the next step is going to be. And a lot of folks feel exactly just like that - no matter what diet path they had chosen. Once the weight goal has been reached, what to do next? Off the diet - back to the old bad habits - weight goes back up.

And in the end, the answer seems so clear. Is it really so hard to just try to exercise on a more regular basis, make better decisions what to eat, and try not to eat too much. And everybody needs a treat sometime, but one should have to earn those treats and work for them. A cookie for a workout type thing. But this really is a tough battle and requires a daily commitment. It is amazing and stunning how simple it seems to be, and how difficult it is to execute. And I can't imagine how hard it must feel for all those patients out there who have serious weight issues and feel they have to climb this huge mountain. But even if a person is 100 pounds overweight, a 35 pound weight loss over a year can make a difference. That would be just about 3 pounds per month. Or less than a pound per week. A full propane tank weighs about just that - about 35 pounds. Imagine not to have to carry that on your back after one year.

So it is not only my job to try to encourage my overweight patients to change their ways, but also the job of every family member, friend and coworker. And this means constant and daily encouragement.

And to try to lead by example.

Off we go!