Too Much Drinking, Now I Need To Diet

Seems that I live on an island full of fat bastards.  25% of the population of the Isle of Man are clinically obese (have a BMI over 30) with over 50% being overweight.  I’d hazard I guess that a reputation for being “80,000 alcoholics clinging to a rock” and a national dish of “chips, cheese and gravy” has something to do with it.  Drinking is very much a cultural thing here and it’s something that we’re very proud off.  I often remember being in the pub on a Wednesday night having a few beers after work when the lads from the local football team would come in.  What better way to warm down from a few hours of training than to go and have a skin full, who knows you might get lucky and have a lock-in?  Seriously though, every hobby around these parts has a large social drinking element.  Beer bellies at 21 is the usual, I don’t mind saying that I was a perfect example.

So the IOM Government has decided to conduct a weight loss study try and find the most effective way of losing weight.  They initially asked for 300 volunteers, they actually received 600 applications!  400 people have been accepted on to the study, they will be split into 2 groups and will try 2 different methods of weight loss.  My wife went to her first meeting last night.  The received a long lecture on the basics of how our bodies work (yes they went with a car/fuel analogy).  For my wifes part she has to go on a calorie controlled diet for 6 months, this includes counting and recording every calorie she consumes.  It will also mean that probably for the first time in her life she going to discover what professional nutritionlists consider to be a normal portion size.  I shall not be adjusting my meals (I’m down to 11 stone 7 pounds now) It will be interesting to see how all this government sponsored science on a bunch of people who haven’t had the will power to lose the weight themselves stacks up compared to my own weight loss routine.   In my opinion you don’t need to record everything you eat, just eat less than you burn.  The one magic ingredient that you need is called will power to stick to it.  All the studies in the world aren’t going to help you with that.  Starving yourself to only eating 1200 calories a day is not a long term lifestyle change.

Anyway my wife was quite happy to be on the calorie controlled diet side of the study, we were talking last night and came to the conclusion that the other side must be increasing your activity.  That would never do!