Can you have your cake and eat it ?

If losing weight was easy, then we would all be slim. One of the reasons we so admire the slender is because their taughtness and firmness is a testament to the hard work, tenacity and sheer willpower that goes into maintaining their physique.

In the western world being slim and staying slim is seen as an ideal, but few seem prepared or able to make the commitment. Everyone is looking for an easy fix, a miracle diet, pill,  cream, surgery !

It is a common belief that some people are naturally slim and can eat anything ( I have yet to meet one of these !) Aside from how we look , it is increasingly documented that weight control and exercise are crucial in the battle to be healthy and long lived. But like smoking and drinking and driving too fast, we still indulge. Why ? Because we want our cake and we want to eat it all, NOW ! Not a small slice once a week but a whole cake every day, plus crisps, chocolate and a bottle of wine oh ! and a large pizza with extra cheese please ! We don’t like moderation.

Many of the diseases today are preventable, if we only looked after ourselves better. But temptation is around every corner and our lifestyle and diet choices  make it feel like one long struggle.

As we get older it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain a lump free silhouette and still imbibe as we did when we were young. Every glass of wine and every plate of chips takes its toll. When I see someone slim and middle aged, I can guarantee you that they work hard at it. I always hope that they achieve their physique by truly caring for themselves, by choosing exercise they enjoy and eating what they want in moderation.

Magazines and newspapers are full of people falling on and off the dietary wagon and therein lies the problem, diets don’t work ! Losing weight is about much more than what we put in our mouths. It’s about how you feel about yourself in the world, about self-care and self respect and about being brutally honest with yourself.

Is it any wonder that life loses its spontaneity and joy when viewed through a lens that points solely at what we can and can’t eat. I believe that everyone has food issues.  It’s one part of us that is wholly necessary to our survival and as such its normal  that what we eat should play a large part in our lives, We have managed to demonize food but as hunter gatherers that is what would have taken up most of our time. Thinking about food, planning, gathering and preparing and eating. Its only now when food is all around that we have a problem.

Successful, long term weight loss really boils down to knowing yourself and what works for you. More importantly its about liking yourself enough not to punish your mind and body with a never ending circuit of unrealistic and in some cases downright dangerous diets. Successful weight loss is not about deprivation but about finding a balance in all areas of your life.

Published in the West Cork Preople August 2010