Weight loss won’t go by wayside

By Joel Myhre (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Saturday, March 1, 2008

So the four participants finished up our health challenge with reasonable success.

But in our meeting this week, it seemed clear that, while we like the results we’ve seen so far, none of us feel we’re finished yet.

I, for one, plan on losing some additional weight for, I admit, vane reasons. My 20th class reunion is coming up this summer. It certainly would be nice to get down to a weight somewhat closer to that of my younger days. I also have a pair of pants which, as I wear them as I write this, feel somewhat tight. I don’t want them to feel tight anymore.

But I, and the rest of the weight loss crew, also feel like the changes we made to allow us to lose weight should not go by the wayside.

I mean, there’s a reason why our weights crept up higher than they should have been. We didn’t eat healthy breakfasts. We snacked on chocolate donuts.

We drank calorie-laden beverages. We had seconds and thirds when firsts would have done our bodies fine. Too many times, we made the decision not to exercise.

At least in my case, all of those things have contributed to my weight going from 197 three years ago – one week before my first half-marathon – to my weigh-in weight of 218.

While I lost weight over the last two months, I’m positive that there’s nothing on a day-to-day basis that I would want to stop doing, or say to myself “Whew, that diet is done. Now I can go back to normal.” I have realized that “back to normal” means back to fatness.

I also know that, based on the upcoming golf season, I need to learn how to eat healthy, get used to not having fatty foods, and reducing portion sizes. Make no mistake: the walking you do in golf is just fine for your health. However, with a busy job and a family, I only have so much “me” time in a week. If I’m playing golf, then it will take away from the high-intensity exercise time that has helped me lose the weight most recently.

However, as the group Chicago once said, “It’s a hard habit to break.”

Congratulations, by the way, to Buzz Lundeen, who lost 16 pounds over the last two months. I’m sure the weight loss will pay off for him in spades.

Joel Myhre is the general manager of the daily Journal. He can be reached at joel.myhre@fergusfallsjournal.com.